responses results showed: Topics by WorldWideScience.org

Sample records for responses results showed

Herbarium specimens show contrasting phenological responses to Himalayan climate.

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Hart, Robbie; Salick, Jan; Ranjitkar, Sailesh; Xu, Jianchu

2014-07-22

Responses by flowering plants to climate change are complex and only beginning to be understood. Through analyses of 10,295 herbarium specimens of Himalayan Rhododendron collected by plant hunters and botanists since 1884, we were able to separate these responses into significant components. We found a lack of directional change in mean flowering time over the past 45 y of rapid warming. However, over the full 125 y of collections, mean flowering time shows a significant response to year-to-year changes in temperature, and this response varies with season of warming. Mean flowering advances with annual warming (2.27 d earlier per 1 °C warming), and also is delayed with fall warming (2.54 d later per 1 °C warming). Annual warming may advance flowering through positive effects on overwintering bud formation, whereas fall warming may delay flowering through an impact on chilling requirements. The lack of a directional response suggests that contrasting phenological responses to temperature changes may obscure temperature sensitivity in plants. By drawing on large collections from multiple herbaria, made over more than a century, we show how these data may inform studies even of remote localities, and we highlight the increasing value of these and other natural history collections in understanding long-term change.
Construction and comparison of gene co-expression networks shows complex plant immune responses

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Luis Guillermo Leal

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Gene co-expression networks (GCNs are graphic representations that depict the coordinated transcription of genes in response to certain stimuli. GCNs provide functional annotations of genes whose function is unknown and are further used in studies of translational functional genomics among species. In this work, a methodology for the reconstruction and comparison of GCNs is presented. This approach was applied using gene expression data that were obtained from immunity experiments in Arabidopsis thaliana, rice, soybean, tomato and cassava. After the evaluation of diverse similarity metrics for the GCN reconstruction, we recommended the mutual information coefficient measurement and a clustering coefficient-based method for similarity threshold selection. To compare GCNs, we proposed a multivariate approach based on the Principal Component Analysis (PCA. Branches of plant immunity that were exemplified by each experiment were analyzed in conjunction with the PCA results, suggesting both the robustness and the dynamic nature of the cellular responses. The dynamic of molecular plant responses produced networks with different characteristics that are differentiable using our methodology. The comparison of GCNs from plant pathosystems, showed that in response to similar pathogens plants could activate conserved signaling pathways. The results confirmed that the closeness of GCNs projected on the principal component space is an indicative of similarity among GCNs. This also can be used to understand global patterns of events triggered during plant immune responses.
Chronic myeloid leukemia patients sensitive and resistant to imatinib treatment show different metabolic responses.

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Jiye A

Full Text Available The BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib is highly effective for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML. However, some patients gradually develop resistance to imatinib, resulting in therapeutic failure. Metabonomic and genomic profiling of patients' responses to drug interventions can provide novel information about the in vivo metabolism of low-molecular-weight compounds and extend our insight into the mechanism of drug resistance. Based on a multi-platform of high-throughput metabonomics, SNP array analysis, karyotype and mutation, the metabolic phenotypes and genomic polymorphisms of CML patients and their diverse responses to imatinib were characterized. The untreated CML patients (UCML showed different metabolic patterns from those of healthy controls, and the discriminatory metabolites suggested the perturbed metabolism of the urea cycle, tricarboxylic acid cycle, lipid metabolism, and amino acid turnover in UCML. After imatinib treatment, patients sensitive to imatinib (SCML and patients resistant to imatinib (RCML had similar metabolic phenotypes to those of healthy controls and UCML, respectively. SCML showed a significant metabolic response to imatinib, with marked restoration of the perturbed metabolism. Most of the metabolites characterizing CML were adjusted to normal levels, including the intermediates of the urea cycle and tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA. In contrast, neither cytogenetic nor metabonomic analysis indicated any positive response to imatinib in RCML. We report for the first time the associated genetic and metabonomic responses of CML patients to imatinib and show that the perturbed in vivo metabolism of UCML is independent of imatinib treatment in resistant patients. Thus, metabonomics can potentially characterize patients' sensitivity or resistance to drug intervention.
RESULTS, RESPONSIBILITY, FAULT AND CONTROL

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Evgeniy Stoyanov

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The paper focuses on the responsibility arising from the registered financial results. The analysis of this responsibility presupposes its evaluation and determination of the role of fault in the formation of negative results. The search for efficiency in this whole process is justified by the understanding of the mechanisms that regulate the behavior of economic actors.
Hunted woolly monkeys (Lagothrix poeppigii show threat-sensitive responses to human presence.

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Sarah Papworth

Full Text Available Responding only to individuals of a predator species which display threatening behaviour allows prey species to minimise energy expenditure and other costs of predator avoidance, such as disruption of feeding. The threat sensitivity hypothesis predicts such behaviour in prey species. If hunted animals are unable to distinguish dangerous humans from non-dangerous humans, human hunting is likely to have a greater effect on prey populations as all human encounters should lead to predator avoidance, increasing stress and creating opportunity costs for exploited populations. We test the threat sensitivity hypothesis in wild Poeppigi's woolly monkeys (Lagothrix poeppigii in Yasuní National Park, Ecuador, by presenting human models engaging in one of three behaviours "hunting", "gathering" or "researching". These experiments were conducted at two sites with differing hunting pressures. Visibility, movement and vocalisations were recorded and results from two sites showed that groups changed their behaviours after being exposed to humans, and did so in different ways depending on the behaviour of the human model. Results at the site with higher hunting pressure were consistent with predictions based on the threat sensitivity hypothesis. Although results at the site with lower hunting pressure were not consistent with the results at the site with higher hunting pressure, groups at this site also showed differential responses to different human behaviours. These results provide evidence of threat-sensitive predator avoidance in hunted primates, which may allow them to conserve both time and energy when encountering humans which pose no threat.
Female mice deficient in alpha-fetoprotein show female-typical neural responses to conspecific-derived pheromones.

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Olivier Brock

Full Text Available The neural mechanisms controlling sexual behavior are sexually differentiated by the perinatal actions of sex steroid hormones. We recently observed using female mice deficient in alpha-fetoprotein (AFP-KO and which lack the protective actions of AFP against maternal estradiol, that exposure to prenatal estradiol completely defeminized the potential to show lordosis behavior in adulthood. Furthermore, AFP-KO females failed to show any male-directed mate preferences following treatment with estradiol and progesterone, indicating a reduced sexual motivation to seek out the male. In the present study, we asked whether neural responses to male- and female-derived odors are also affected in AFP-KO female mice. Therefore, we compared patterns of Fos, the protein product of the immediate early gene, c-fos, commonly used as a marker of neuronal activation, between wild-type (WT and AFP-KO female mice following exposure to male or estrous female urine. We also tested WT males to confirm the previously observed sex differences in neural responses to male urinary odors. Interestingly, AFP-KO females showed normal, female-like Fos responses, i.e. exposure to urinary odors from male but not estrous female mice induced equivalent levels of Fos protein in the accessory olfactory pathways (e.g. the medial part of the preoptic nucleus, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, the amygdala, and the lateral part of the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus as well as in the main olfactory pathways (e.g. the piriform cortex and the anterior cortical amygdaloid nucleus, as WT females. By contrast, WT males did not show any significant induction of Fos protein in these brain areas upon exposure to either male or estrous female urinary odors. These results thus suggest that prenatal estradiol is not involved in the sexual differentiation of neural Fos responses to male-derived odors.
The Lateral Occipital Complex shows no net response to object familiarity.

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Margalit, Eshed; Shah, Manan P; Tjan, Bosco S; Biederman, Irving; Keller, Brenton; Brenner, Rorry

2016-09-01

In 1995, Malach et al. discovered an area whose fMRI BOLD response was greater when viewing intact, familiar objects than when viewing their scrambled versions (resembling texture). Since then hundreds of studies have explored this late visual region termed the Lateral Occipital Complex (LOC), which is now known to be critical for shape perception (James, Culham, Humphrey, Milner, & Goodale, 2003). Malach et al. (1995) discounted a role of familiarity by showing that "abstract" Henry Moore sculptures, unfamiliar to the subjects, also activated this region. This characterization of LOC as a region that responds to shape independently of familiarity has been accepted but never tested with control of the same low-level features. We assessed LOC's response to objects that had identical parts in two different arrangements, one familiar and the other novel. Malach was correct: There is no net effect of familiarity in LOC. However, a multivoxel correlation analysis showed that LOC does distinguish familiar from novel objects.
A zebrafish model of glucocorticoid resistance shows serotonergic modulation of the stress response

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Brian eGriffiths

2012-10-01

Full Text Available One function of glucocorticoids is to restore homeostasis after an acute stress response by providing negative feedback to stress circuits in the brain. Loss of this negative feedback leads to elevated physiological stress and may contribute to depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. We investigated the early, developmental effects of glucocorticoid signaling deficits on stress physiology and related behaviors using a mutant zebrafish, grs357, with non-functional glucocorticoid receptors. These mutants are morphologically inconspicuous and adult-viable. A previous study of adult grs357 mutants showed loss of glucocorticoid-mediated negative feedback and elevated physiological and behavioral stress markers. Already at five days post-fertilization, mutant larvae had elevated whole body cortisol, increased expression of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC, the precursor of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH, and failed to show normal suppression of stress markers after dexamethasone treatment. Mutant larvae had larger auditory-evoked startle responses compared to wildtype sibling controls (grwt, despite having lower spontaneous activity levels. Fluoxetine (Prozac treatment in mutants decreased startle responding and increased spontaneous activity, making them behaviorally similar to wildtype. This result mirrors known effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs in modifying glucocorticoid signaling and alleviating stress disorders in human patients. Our results suggest that larval grs357 zebrafish can be used to study behavioral, physiological and molecular aspects of stress disorders. Most importantly, interactions between glucocorticoid and serotonin signaling appear to be highly conserved among vertebrates, suggesting deep homologies at the neural circuit level and opening up new avenues for research into psychiatric conditions.
Dementias show differential physiological responses to salient sounds.

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Fletcher, Phillip D; Nicholas, Jennifer M; Shakespeare, Timothy J; Downey, Laura E; Golden, Hannah L; Agustus, Jennifer L; Clark, Camilla N; Mummery, Catherine J; Schott, Jonathan M; Crutch, Sebastian J; Warren, Jason D

2015-01-01

Abnormal responsiveness to salient sensory signals is often a prominent feature of dementia diseases, particularly the frontotemporal lobar degenerations, but has been little studied. Here we assessed processing of one important class of salient signals, looming sounds, in canonical dementia syndromes. We manipulated tones using intensity cues to create percepts of salient approaching ("looming") or less salient withdrawing sounds. Pupil dilatation responses and behavioral rating responses to these stimuli were compared in patients fulfilling consensus criteria for dementia syndromes (semantic dementia, n = 10; behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, n = 16, progressive nonfluent aphasia, n = 12; amnestic Alzheimer's disease, n = 10) and a cohort of 26 healthy age-matched individuals. Approaching sounds were rated as more salient than withdrawing sounds by healthy older individuals but this behavioral response to salience did not differentiate healthy individuals from patients with dementia syndromes. Pupil responses to approaching sounds were greater than responses to withdrawing sounds in healthy older individuals and in patients with semantic dementia: this differential pupil response was reduced in patients with progressive nonfluent aphasia and Alzheimer's disease relative both to the healthy control and semantic dementia groups, and did not correlate with nonverbal auditory semantic function. Autonomic responses to auditory salience are differentially affected by dementias and may constitute a novel biomarker of these diseases.
Corticosterone stress response shows long-term repeatability and links to personality in free-living Nazca boobies.

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Grace, Jacquelyn K; Anderson, David J

2014-11-01

The concept of "coping styles", or consistently different responses to stressors, is of broad interest in behavioral ecology and biomedicine. Two critical predictions of this concept are individual consistency of neurophysiological and behavioral responses (relative to population variability) and a negative relationship between aggression/proactivity and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis reactivity. Recent studies failed to provide strong support for these predictions, especially outside of strictly controlled conditions, and long-term measures to test the first prediction are rare. Here, we demonstrate individual repeatability across 2-3years of maximum circulating corticosterone concentration [CORT] and area under the [CORT] response curve (AUCI) during a standard capture-restraint test in wild, free-living adult Nazca boobies (Sula granti). We also show that the stress response predicts the personality traits aggression and anxiety in these birds (measured in the wild); however, the strength of these results was weak. Maximum [CORT] and AUCI showed higher repeatability between years than baseline [CORT]. After controlling breeding status, sex, mass, date sampled, and their interactions, baseline [CORT] was most closely related to personality traits, followed by AUCI, and then maximum [CORT]. The direction of these relationships depended on whether the testing context was social or non-social. [CORT] parameters had little to no relationship with cross-context plasticity in personality traits. Our results generally affirm two critical predictions of coping styles, but match the emerging trend that these relationships are weak in the wild, and may depend on testing context. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Dementias show differential physiological responses to salient sounds

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Phillip David Fletcher

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Abnormal responsiveness to salient sensory signals is often a prominent feature of dementia diseases, particularly the frontotemporal lobar degenerations, but has been little studied. Here we assessed processing of one important class of salient signals, looming sounds, in canonical dementia syndromes. We manipulated tones using intensity cues to create percepts of salient approaching (‘looming’ or less salient withdrawing sounds. Pupil dilatation responses and behavioural rating responses to these stimuli were compared in patients fulfilling consensus criteria for dementia syndromes (semantic dementia, n=10; behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, n=16, progressive non-fluent aphasia, n=12; amnestic Alzheimer’s disease, n=10 and a cohort of 26 healthy age-matched individuals. Approaching sounds were rated as more salient than withdrawing sounds by healthy older individuals but this behavioural response to salience did not differentiate healthy individuals from patients with dementia syndromes. Pupil responses to approaching sounds were greater than responses to withdrawing sounds in healthy older individuals and in patients with semantic dementia: this differential pupil response was reduced in patients with progressive nonfluent aphasia and Alzheimer’s disease relative both to the healthy control and semantic dementia groups, and did not correlate with nonverbal auditory semantic function. Autonomic responses to auditory salience are differentially affected by dementias and may constitute a novel biomarker of these diseases.
Dementias show differential physiological responses to salient sounds

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Fletcher, Phillip D.; Nicholas, Jennifer M.; Shakespeare, Timothy J.; Downey, Laura E.; Golden, Hannah L.; Agustus, Jennifer L.; Clark, Camilla N.; Mummery, Catherine J.; Schott, Jonathan M.; Crutch, Sebastian J.; Warren, Jason D.

2015-01-01

Abnormal responsiveness to salient sensory signals is often a prominent feature of dementia diseases, particularly the frontotemporal lobar degenerations, but has been little studied. Here we assessed processing of one important class of salient signals, looming sounds, in canonical dementia syndromes. We manipulated tones using intensity cues to create percepts of salient approaching (“looming”) or less salient withdrawing sounds. Pupil dilatation responses and behavioral rating responses to these stimuli were compared in patients fulfilling consensus criteria for dementia syndromes (semantic dementia, n = 10; behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, n = 16, progressive nonfluent aphasia, n = 12; amnestic Alzheimer's disease, n = 10) and a cohort of 26 healthy age-matched individuals. Approaching sounds were rated as more salient than withdrawing sounds by healthy older individuals but this behavioral response to salience did not differentiate healthy individuals from patients with dementia syndromes. Pupil responses to approaching sounds were greater than responses to withdrawing sounds in healthy older individuals and in patients with semantic dementia: this differential pupil response was reduced in patients with progressive nonfluent aphasia and Alzheimer's disease relative both to the healthy control and semantic dementia groups, and did not correlate with nonverbal auditory semantic function. Autonomic responses to auditory salience are differentially affected by dementias and may constitute a novel biomarker of these diseases. PMID:25859194
Rats with decreased brain cholecystokinin levels show increased responsiveness to peripheral electrical stimulation-induced analgesia.

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Zhang, L X; Li, X L; Wang, L; Han, J S

1997-01-16

Using the P77PMC strain of rat, which is genetically prone to audiogenic seizures, and also has decreased levels of cholecystokinin (CCK), we examined the analgesic response to peripheral electrical stimulation, which is, in part, opiate-mediated. A number of studies have suggested that CCK may function as an antagonist to endogenous opiate effects. Therefore, we hypothesized that the P77PMC animals would show an enhanced analgesic response based on their decreased CCK levels producing a diminished endogenous opiate antagonism. We found that the analgesic effect on tail flick latency produced by 100 Hz peripheral electrical stimulation was more potent and longer lasting in P77PMC rats than in control rats. Moreover, the potency of the stimulation-produced analgesia correlated with the vulnerability to audiogenic seizures in these rats. We were able to block the peripheral electrical stimulation-induced analgesia (PSIA) using a cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8) administered parenterally. Radioimmunoassay showed that the content of CCK-8 in cerebral cortex, hippocampus and periaqueductal gray was much lower in P77PMC rat than in controls. These results suggest that low CCK-8 content in the central nervous system of the P77PMC rats may be related to the high analgesic response to peripheral electrical stimulation, and further support the notion that CCK may be endogenous opiate antagonist.
Classifying Multi-Model Wheat Yield Impact Response Surfaces Showing Sensitivity to Temperature and Precipitation Change

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Fronzek, Stefan; Pirttioja, Nina; Carter, Timothy R.; Bindi, Marco; Hoffmann, Holger; Palosuo, Taru; Ruiz-Ramos, Margarita; Tao, Fulu; Trnka, Miroslav; Acutis, Marco;

2017-01-01

Crop growth simulation models can differ greatly in their treatment of key processes and hence in their response to environmental conditions. Here, we used an ensemble of 26 process-based wheat models applied at sites across a European transect to compare their sensitivity to changes in temperature (minus 2 to plus 9 degrees Centigrade) and precipitation (minus 50 to plus 50 percent). Model results were analysed by plotting them as impact response surfaces (IRSs), classifying the IRS patterns of individual model simulations, describing these classes and analysing factors that may explain the major differences in model responses. The model ensemble was used to simulate yields of winter and spring wheat at four sites in Finland, Germany and Spain. Results were plotted as IRSs that show changes in yields relative to the baseline with respect to temperature and precipitation. IRSs of 30-year means and selected extreme years were classified using two approaches describing their pattern. The expert diagnostic approach (EDA) combines two aspects of IRS patterns: location of the maximum yield (nine classes) and strength of the yield response with respect to climate (four classes), resulting in a total of 36 combined classes defined using criteria pre-specified by experts. The statistical diagnostic approach (SDA) groups IRSs by comparing their pattern and magnitude, without attempting to interpret these features. It applies a hierarchical clustering method, grouping response patterns using a distance metric that combines the spatial correlation and Euclidian distance between IRS pairs. The two approaches were used to investigate whether different patterns of yield response could be related to different properties of the crop models, specifically their genealogy, calibration and process description. Although no single model property across a large model ensemble was found to explain the integrated yield response to temperature and precipitation perturbations, the

The defense-responsive genes showing enhanced and repressed expression after pathogen infection in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHOU; Bin(周斌); PENG; Kaiman(彭开蔓); CHU; Zhaohui(储昭晖); WANG; Shiping(王石平); ZHANG; Qifa(张启发)

2002-01-01

Despite large numbers of studies about defense response, processes involved in the resistance of plants to incompatible pathogens are still largely uncharacterized. The objective of this study was to identify genes involved in defense response by cDNA array analysis and to gain knowledge about the functions of the genes involved in defense response. Approximately 20000 rice cDNA clones were arrayed on nylon filters. RNA samples isolated from different rice lines after infection with incompatible strains or isolates of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae or Pyricularia grisea, respectively, were used to synthesize cDNA as probes for screening the cDNA arrays. A total of 100 differentially expressed unique sequences were identified from 5 pathogen-host combinations. Fifty-three sequences were detected as showing enhanced expression and 47 sequences were detected as showing repressed expression after pathogen infection. Sequence analysis revealed that most of the 100 sequences had various degrees of homology with genes in databases which encode or putatively encode transcription regulating proteins, translation regulating proteins, transport proteins, kinases, metabolic enzymes, and proteins involved in other functions. Most of the genes have not been previously reported as being involved in the disease resistance response in rice. The results from cDNA arrays, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and RNA gel blot analysis suggest that activation or repression of most of these genes might occur commonly in the defense response.
The Transcriptional Heat Shock Response of Salmonella Typhimurium Shows Hysteresis and Heated Cells Show Increased Resistance to Heat and Acid Stress

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pin, C.; Hansen, Trine; Munoz-Cuevas, M.

2012-01-01

We investigated if the transcriptional response of Salmonella Typhimurium to temperature and acid variations was hysteretic, i.e. whether the transcriptional regulation caused by environmental stimuli showed memory and remained after the stimuli ceased. The transcriptional activity of non......, implying that down-regulation was significantly less synchronized than upregulation. The hysteretic transcriptional response to heat shock was accompanied by higher resistance to inactivation at 50uC as well as cross-resistance to inactivation at pH 3; however, growth rates and lag times at 43uC and at p......H 4.5 were not affected. The exposure to pH 5 only caused up-regulation of 12 genes and this response was neither hysteretic nor accompanied of increased resistance to inactivation conditions. Cellular memory at the transcriptional level may represent a mechanism of adaptation to the environment...
Radioadaptive response: the results of a two-year follow-up study on a non-responder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mortazavi, Javad S M.; Ikushima, Takaji

2001-01-01

Scientists have been aware for many years that low doses of ionizing radiation may cause some changes in the cells and organisms, which lead to an adaptation to the detrimental effects of relatively high doses of radiation. In spite of the fact that human lymphocytes exposed in vivo to different adapting doses show a radioadaptive response (e.g. induction of radioadaptive response in radiation workers, residents of the contaminated areas after Chernobyl accident or the inhabitants of high background radiation areas), it is still an open question why the radioadaptive response cannot be induced in the lymphocytes of some individuals. We and other investigators reported that some non-responders showed a significant increase in the frequency of chromosome aberrations after an adapting dose. Considering the fact that we still don't know the frequency of non-responders in the population, any implication of radioadaptive response in the estimation of the risks of low-level exposure would be problematical. In this paper, we present the results of our two-year follow-up study on a non-responder. In 1998, we found out that one of the blood donors did not show radioadaptive response in any experiments. Interestingly, in some cases the donor's lymphocytes showed a strong synergistic effect after exposure to an adapting dose. As it was claimed that the existence or lack of radioadaptive response is possibly dependent on some transient physiological parameters, we evaluated the responses of this donor to a common adapting dose in a two-year follow-up study. The results showed that non-responsiveness was not a transient phenomenon. The non-responder donor never showed a radioadaptive response despite some changes in the magnitude of the synergistic effect induced by an adapting dose. These results suggest that the non-responsiveness of this donor is probably determined by some non-transient biological factors such as the genetic constitution. (authors)
Diethylene glycol-induced toxicities show marked threshold dose response in rats

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Landry, Greg M., E-mail: Landry.Greg@mayo.edu [Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology, & Neuroscience, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA (United States); Dunning, Cody L., E-mail: cdunni@lsuhsc.edu [Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology, & Neuroscience, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA (United States); Abreo, Fleurette, E-mail: fabreo@lsuhsc.edu [Department of Pathology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA (United States); Latimer, Brian, E-mail: blatim@lsuhsc.edu [Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology, & Neuroscience, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA (United States); Orchard, Elysse, E-mail: eorcha@lsuhsc.edu [Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology, & Neuroscience, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA (United States); Division of Animal Resources, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA (United States); McMartin, Kenneth E., E-mail: kmcmar@lsuhsc.edu [Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology, & Neuroscience, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA (United States)

2015-02-01

Diethylene glycol (DEG) exposure poses risks to human health because of widespread industrial use and accidental exposures from contaminated products. To enhance the understanding of the mechanistic role of metabolites in DEG toxicity, this study used a dose response paradigm to determine a rat model that would best mimic DEG exposure in humans. Wistar and Fischer-344 (F-344) rats were treated by oral gavage with 0, 2, 5, or 10 g/kg DEG and blood, kidney and liver tissues were collected at 48 h. Both rat strains treated with 10 g/kg DEG had equivalent degrees of metabolic acidosis, renal toxicity (increased BUN and creatinine and cortical necrosis) and liver toxicity (increased serum enzyme levels, centrilobular necrosis and severe glycogen depletion). There was no liver or kidney toxicity at the lower DEG doses (2 and 5 g/kg) regardless of strain, demonstrating a steep threshold dose response. Kidney diglycolic acid (DGA), the presumed nephrotoxic metabolite of DEG, was markedly elevated in both rat strains administered 10 g/kg DEG, but no DGA was present at 2 or 5 g/kg, asserting its necessary role in DEG-induced toxicity. These results indicate that mechanistically in order to produce toxicity, metabolism to and significant target organ accumulation of DGA are required and that both strains would be useful for DEG risk assessments. - Highlights: • DEG produces a steep threshold dose response for kidney injury in rats. • Wistar and F-344 rats do not differ in response to DEG-induced renal injury. • The dose response for renal injury closely mirrors that for renal DGA accumulation. • Results demonstrate the importance of DGA accumulation in producing kidney injury.
Gun Shows and Gun Violence: Fatally Flawed Study Yields Misleading Results

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Hemenway, David; Webster, Daniel; Pierce, Glenn; Braga, Anthony A.

2010-01-01

A widely publicized but unpublished study of the relationship between gun shows and gun violence is being cited in debates about the regulation of gun shows and gun commerce. We believe the study is fatally flawed. A working paper entitled “The Effect of Gun Shows on Gun-Related Deaths: Evidence from California and Texas” outlined this study, which found no association between gun shows and gun-related deaths. We believe the study reflects a limited understanding of gun shows and gun markets and is not statistically powered to detect even an implausibly large effect of gun shows on gun violence. In addition, the research contains serious ascertainment and classification errors, produces results that are sensitive to minor specification changes in key variables and in some cases have no face validity, and is contradicted by 1 of its own authors’ prior research. The study should not be used as evidence in formulating gun policy. PMID:20724672
Show-Bix &

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2014-01-01

The anti-reenactment 'Show-Bix &' consists of 5 dias projectors, a dial phone, quintophonic sound, and interactive elements. A responsive interface will enable the Dias projectors to show copies of original dias slides from the Show-Bix piece ”March på Stedet”, 265 images in total. The copies are...

Cerebellar nuclei neurons show only small excitatory responses to optogenetic olivary stimulation in transgenic mice: in vivo and in vitro studies

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Huo eLu

2016-03-01

Full Text Available To study the olivary input to the cerebellar nuclei (CN we used optogenetic stimulation in transgenic mice expressing channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2 in olivary neurons. We obtained in vivo extracellular Purkinje cell (PC and CN recordings in anesthetized mice while stimulating the contralateral inferior olive (IO with a blue laser (single pulse, 10 - 50 ms duration. Peri-stimulus histograms were constructed to show the spike rate changes after optical stimulation. Among 29 CN neurons recorded, 15 showed a decrease in spike rate of variable strength and duration, and only 1 showed a transient spiking response. These results suggest that direct olivary input to CN neurons is usually overridden by stronger Purkinje cell inhibition triggered by climbing fiber responses. To further investigate the direct input from the climbing fiber collaterals we also conducted whole cell recordings in brain slices, where we used local stimulation with blue light. Due to the expression of ChR2 in Purkinje cell axons as well as the IO in our transgenic line, strong inhibitory responses could be readily triggered with optical stimulation (13 of 15 neurons. After blocking this inhibition with GABAzine, only in 5 of 13 CN neurons weak excitatory responses were revealed. Therefore our in vitro results support the in vivo findings that the excitatory input to CN neurons from climbing fiber collaterals in adult mice is masked by the inhibition under normal conditions.
Brain natriuretic peptide is a potent vasodilator in aged human microcirculation and shows a blunted response in heart failure patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Edvinsson, Marie-Louise; Uddman, Erik; Edvinsson, Lars

2014-01-01

in the forearm was measured by laser Doppler Flowmetry. Local heating (+44°C, 10 min) was used to evoke a maximum local dilator response. RESULTS: Non-invasive iontophoretic administration of either BNP or acetylcholine (ACh), a known endothelium-dependent dilator, elicited an increase in local flow. The nitric......, the vasodilator responses to ACh and to local heating were only somewhat attenuated in CHF patients. Thus, dilator capacity and nitric oxide signalling were not affected to the same extent as BNP-mediated dilation, indicating a specific downregulation of the latter response. CONCLUSIONS: The findings show...... for the first time that microvascular responses to BNP are markedly reduced in CHF patients. This is consistent with the hypothesis of BNP receptor function is downregulated in CHF....
Pattern of neural responses to verbal fluency shows diagnostic specificity for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

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Walshe Muriel

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Impairments in executive function and language processing are characteristic of both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Their functional neuroanatomy demonstrate features that are shared as well as specific to each disorder. Determining the distinct pattern of neural responses in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may provide biomarkers for their diagnoses. Methods 104 participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI scans while performing a phonological verbal fluency task. Subjects were 32 patients with schizophrenia in remission, 32 patients with bipolar disorder in an euthymic state, and 40 healthy volunteers. Neural responses to verbal fluency were examined in each group, and the diagnostic potential of the pattern of the neural responses was assessed with machine learning analysis. Results During the verbal fluency task, both patient groups showed increased activation in the anterior cingulate, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and right putamen as compared to healthy controls, as well as reduced deactivation of precuneus and posterior cingulate. The magnitude of activation was greatest in patients with schizophrenia, followed by patients with bipolar disorder and then healthy individuals. Additional recruitment in the right inferior frontal and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortices was observed in schizophrenia relative to both bipolar disorder and healthy subjects. The pattern of neural responses correctly identified individual patients with schizophrenia with an accuracy of 92%, and those with bipolar disorder with an accuracy of 79% in which mis-classification was typically of bipolar subjects as healthy controls. Conclusions In summary, both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are associated with altered function in prefrontal, striatal and default mode networks, but the magnitude of this dysfunction is particularly marked in schizophrenia. The pattern of response to verbal fluency is highly
Live imaging of individual cell divisions in mouse neuroepithelium shows asymmetry in cilium formation and Sonic hedgehog response

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Piotrowska-Nitsche Karolina

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Primary cilia are microtubule-based sensory organelles that play important roles in developmental signaling pathways. Recent work demonstrated that, in cell culture, the daughter cell that inherits the older mother centriole generates a primary cilium and responds to external stimuli prior to its sister cell. This asynchrony in timing of cilia formation could be especially critical during development as cell divisions are required for both differentiation and maintenance of progenitor cell niches. Methods Here we integrate several fluorescent markers and use ex vivo live imaging of a single cell division within the mouse E8.5 neuroepithelium to reveal both the formation of a primary cilium and the transcriptional response to Sonic hedgehog in the daughter cells. Results We show that, upon cell division, cilia formation and the Sonic hedgehog response are asynchronous between the daughter cells. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that we can directly observe single cell divisions within the developing neuroepithelium and concomitantly monitor cilium formation or Sonic hedgehog response. We expect this method to be especially powerful in examining whether cellular behavior can lead to both differentiation and maintenance of cells in a progenitor niche.
Self-compassionate young adults show lower salivary alpha-amylase responses to repeated psychosocial stress.

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Breines, Juliana G; McInnis, Christine M; Kuras, Yuliya I; Thoma, Myriam V; Gianferante, Danielle; Hanlin, Luke; Chen, Xuejie; Rohleder, Nicolas

2015-10-01

In this study we tested the hypothesis that participants higher in dispositional self-compassion would show lower stress-induced reactivity of salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), a marker of sympathetic nervous system activation. Thirty-three healthy participants (18-34 years old) were exposed to a standardized laboratory stressor on two consecutive days. Self-compassion, self-esteem, and demographic factors were assessed by questionnaire and sAA was assessed at baseline and at 1, 10, 30, and 60 minutes following each stressor. Self-compassion was a significant negative predictor of sAA responses on both days. This relationship remained significant when controlling for self-esteem, subjective distress, age, gender, ethnicity, and Body Mass Index (BMI). These results suggest that self-compassion may serve as a protective factor against stress-induced physiological changes that have implications for health.
Abstinent adult daily smokers show reduced anticipatory but elevated saccade-related brain responses during a rewarded antisaccade task.

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Geier, Charles F; Sweitzer, Maggie M; Denlinger, Rachel; Sparacino, Gina; Donny, Eric C

2014-08-30

Chronic smoking may result in reduced sensitivity to non-drug rewards (e.g., money), a phenomenon particularly salient during abstinence. During a quit attempt, this effect may contribute to biased decision-making (smoking>alternative reinforcers) and relapse. Although relevant for quitting, characterization of reduced reward function in abstinent smokers remains limited. Moreover, how attenuated reward function affects other brain systems supporting decision-making has not been established. Here, we use a rewarded antisaccade (rAS) task to characterize non-drug reward processing and its influence on inhibitory control, key elements underlying decision-making, in abstinent smokers vs. non-smokers. Abstinent (12-hours) adult daily smokers (N=23) and non-smokers (N=11) underwent fMRI while performing the rAS. Behavioral performances improved on reward vs. neutral trials. Smokers showed attenuated activation in ventral striatum during the reward cue and in superior precentral sulcus and posterior parietal cortex during response preparation, but greater responses during the saccade response in posterior cingulate and parietal cortices. Smokers' attenuated anticipatory responses suggest reduced motivation from monetary reward, while heightened activation during the saccade response suggests that additional circuitry may be engaged later to enhance inhibitory task performance. Overall, this preliminary study highlights group differences in decision-making components and the utility of the rAS to characterize these effects. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Transcriptome analysis shows activation of the arginine deiminase pathway in Lactococcus lactis as a response to ethanol stress.

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Díez, Lorena; Solopova, Ana; Fernández-Pérez, Rocío; González, Miriam; Tenorio, Carmen; Kuipers, Oscar P; Ruiz-Larrea, Fernanda

2017-09-18

This paper describes the molecular response of Lactococcus lactis NZ9700 to ethanol. This strain is a well-known nisin producer and a lactic acid bacteria (LAB) model strain. Global transcriptome profiling using DNA microarrays demonstrated a bacterial adaptive response to the presence of 2% ethanol in the culture broth and differential expression of 67 genes. The highest up-regulation was detected for those genes involved in arginine degradation through the arginine deiminase (ADI) pathway (20-40 fold up-regulation). The metabolic responses to ethanol of wild type L. lactis strains were studied and compared to those of regulator-deletion mutants MG∆argR and MG∆ahrC. The results showed that in the presence of 2% ethanol those strains with an active ADI pathway reached higher growth rates when arginine was available in the culture broth than in absence of arginine. In a chemically defined medium strains with an active ADI pathway consumed arginine and produced ornithine in the presence of 2% ethanol, hence corroborating that arginine catabolism is involved in the bacterial response to ethanol. This is the first study of the L. lactis response to ethanol stress to demonstrate the relevance of arginine catabolism for bacterial adaptation and survival in an ethanol containing medium. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Experimental Chagas disease in Balb/c mice previously vaccinated with T. rangeli. II. The innate immune response shows immunological memory: reality or fiction?

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Basso, B; Marini, V

2015-03-01

Trypanosoma cruzi is a real challenge to the host's immune system, because it requires strong humoral and cellular immune response to remove circulating trypomastigote forms, and to prevent the replication of amastigote forms in tissues, involving many regulator and effector components. This protozoan is responsible for Chagas disease, a major public health problem in Latinamerica. We have developed a model of vaccination with Trypanosoma rangeli, a parasite closely related to T. cruzi, but nonpathogenic to humans, which reduces the infectiousness in three different species of animals, mice, dogs and guinea pigs, against challenge with T. cruzi. In a previous work, we demonstrated that mice vaccinated with T. rangeli showed important soluble mediators that stimulate phagocytic activity versus only infected groups. The aim of this work was to study the innate immune response in mice vaccinated or not with T. rangeli. Different population cells and some soluble mediators (cytokines) in peritoneal fluid and plasma in mice vaccinated-infected and only infected with T. cruzi were studied. In the first hours of challenge vaccinated mice showed an increase of macrophages, NK, granulocytes, and regulation of IL6, IFNγ, TNFα and IL10, with an increase of IL12, with respect to only infected mice. Furthermore an increase was observed of Li T, Li B responsible for adaptative response. Finally the findings showed that the innate immune response plays an important role in vaccinated mice for the early elimination of the parasites, complementary with the adaptative immune response, suggesting that vaccination with T. rangeli modulates the innate response, which develops some kind of immunological memory, recognizing shared antigens with T. cruzi. These results could contribute to the knowledge of new mechanisms which would have an important role in the immune response to Chagas disease. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
Development of polymeric nanoparticles showing tuneable pH-responsive precipitation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vakurov, Alexander, E-mail: a.v.vakourov@bmb.leeds.ac.uk; Pchelintsev, Nikolay A., E-mail: n.a.pchelintsev@googlemail.com; Gibson, Tim, E-mail: timdgibson@merchab.fsnet.co.uk; Millner, Paul, E-mail: p.a.millner@leeds.ac.uk [Research Institute of Membrane and Systems Biology, University of Leeds (United Kingdom)

2012-12-15

A reverse micellar system comprising dioctyl-sulfosuccinate (AOT)/toluene was used as a template for polymerization of acrylamide/bisacrylamide-based functionalized polymeric nanoparticles. Such nanoparticles were typically sized between 20 and 90 nm and could be synthesized with a wide range of functional groups according to the monomers added to the polymerization mixture. Carboxy nanoparticles with acrylic acid as the functional monomer were synthesized in the reported work. The carboxy nanoparticles were pH sensitive and precipitated at pHs below 4. Modification of carboxy-functionalized polymeric nanoparticles with polyetheleneimine (PEI) resulted in the fabrication of a series of pH-responsive nanoparticles which could precipitate at different pHs and ionic strengths according to the PEI/carboxy ratio in the system. Both non-covalent PEI-nanoparticles conjugates and nanoparticles with covalently linked PEI behaved in this way.
Development of polymeric nanoparticles showing tuneable pH-responsive precipitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vakurov, Alexander; Pchelintsev, Nikolay A.; Gibson, Tim; Millner, Paul

2012-01-01

A reverse micellar system comprising dioctyl-sulfosuccinate (AOT)/toluene was used as a template for polymerization of acrylamide/bisacrylamide-based functionalized polymeric nanoparticles. Such nanoparticles were typically sized between 20 and 90 nm and could be synthesized with a wide range of functional groups according to the monomers added to the polymerization mixture. Carboxy nanoparticles with acrylic acid as the functional monomer were synthesized in the reported work. The carboxy nanoparticles were pH sensitive and precipitated at pHs below 4. Modification of carboxy-functionalized polymeric nanoparticles with polyetheleneimine (PEI) resulted in the fabrication of a series of pH-responsive nanoparticles which could precipitate at different pHs and ionic strengths according to the PEI/carboxy ratio in the system. Both non-covalent PEI-nanoparticles conjugates and nanoparticles with covalently linked PEI behaved in this way.
Who is responsible for the team’s results? Media framing of sports actors’ responsibility in major sports competitions

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Diana Luiza Dumitriu

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Media are no longer just a witness to sports events, facilitating our access to them, but have become the most powerful judging platform for sports competitions, serving as a guide for their interpretation and evaluation. The present study focuses on media framing of sports actors’ responsibility when it comes to major sports competitions. Who is responsible for the team’s performance and results? In analysing media discourse, framing effects of sports events coverage will be examined from two inter-correlated dimensions, textually and visually. Based on an event-related corpus of on-line press articles from four national newspapers, this case study covers two major sports events: 2010 European Women’s Handball Championship and 2011 World Women’s Handball Championship. The discursive analysis of the press articles shows that, if winning competitive settings favour the emergence of a personification effect, building up sports heroes on both textual and visual dimensions, the responsibility of failure is rather diffused towards a collective referent. However, the visual component of press articles, along with the indirect strategy of addressing the responsibility issue throughout reported speech techniques, works as an alternative to the personification effect.
Cytogenetically Unrelated Clones in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Showing Different Responses to Chemotherapy

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Kohei Kasahara

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We report a case of acute myeloid leukemia (AML with two cytogenetically unrelated clones. The patient was a 45-year-old male who was diagnosed with acute monoblastic leukemia (AMoL. Initial G-band analysis showed 51,XY,+6,+8,inv(9(p12q13c,+11,+13,+19[12]/52,idem,+Y[8], but G-band analysis after induction therapy showed 45,XY,-7,inv(9(p12q13c[19]/46,XY,inv(9(p12q13c[1]. Retrospective FISH analysis revealed a cryptic monosomy 7 clone in the initial AML sample. The clone with multiple trisomies was eliminated after induction therapy and never recurred, but a clone with monosomy 7 was still detected in myelodysplastic marrow with a normal blast percentage. Both clones were successfully eliminated after related peripheral blood stem cell transplantation, but the patient died of relapsed AML with monosomy 7. We concluded that one clone was de novo AMoL with chromosome 6, 8, 11, 13, and 19 trisomy and that the other was acute myeloid leukemia with myelodysplasia-related changes　(AML-MRC with chromosome 7 monosomy showing different responses to chemotherapy. Simultaneous onset of cytogenetically unrelated hematological malignancies that each have a different disease status is a rare phenomenon but is important to diagnose for a correct understanding of the disease status and for establishing an appropriate treatment strategy.
Trigeminal ganglion neurons of mice show intracellular chloride accumulation and chloride-dependent amplification of capsaicin-induced responses.

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Nicole Schöbel

Full Text Available Intracellular Cl(- concentrations ([Cl(-](i of sensory neurons regulate signal transmission and signal amplification. In dorsal root ganglion (DRG and olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs, Cl(- is accumulated by the Na(+-K(+-2Cl(- cotransporter 1 (NKCC1, resulting in a [Cl(-](i above electrochemical equilibrium and a depolarizing Cl(- efflux upon Cl(- channel opening. Here, we investigate the [Cl(-](i and function of Cl(- in primary sensory neurons of trigeminal ganglia (TG of wild type (WT and NKCC1(-/- mice using pharmacological and imaging approaches, patch-clamping, as well as behavioral testing. The [Cl(-](i of WT TG neurons indicated active NKCC1-dependent Cl(- accumulation. Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA(A receptor activation induced a reduction of [Cl(-](i as well as Ca(2+ transients in a corresponding fraction of TG neurons. Ca(2+ transients were sensitive to inhibition of NKCC1 and voltage-gated Ca(2+ channels (VGCCs. Ca(2+ responses induced by capsaicin, a prototypical stimulus of transient receptor potential vanilloid subfamily member-1 (TRPV1 were diminished in NKCC1(-/- TG neurons, but elevated under conditions of a lowered [Cl(-](o suggesting a Cl(--dependent amplification of capsaicin-induced responses. Using next generation sequencing (NGS, we found expression of different Ca(2+-activated Cl(- channels (CaCCs in TGs of mice. Pharmacological inhibition of CaCCs reduced the amplitude of capsaicin-induced responses of TG neurons in Ca(2+ imaging and electrophysiological recordings. In a behavioral paradigm, NKCC1(-/- mice showed less avoidance of the aversive stimulus capsaicin. In summary, our results strongly argue for a Ca(2+-activated Cl(--dependent signal amplification mechanism in TG neurons that requires intracellular Cl(- accumulation by NKCC1 and the activation of CaCCs.
Northern European trees show a progressively diminishing response to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Waterhouse, JS

2004-04-01

Full Text Available Reviews 23 (2004) 803?810 Northern European trees show a progressively diminishing response to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations J.S. Waterhousea,*, V.R. Switsura,b, A.C. Barkera, A.H.C. Cartera,b,{, D.L. Hemmingc, N.J. Loaderd, I..., V.R., Waterhouse, J.S., Heaton, T.H.E., Carter, A.H.C., 1998. Climatic variation andthe stable carbon isotope composition of tree ring cellulose: an intercomparison of Quercus robur, Fagus sylvatica and Pinus silvestris. Tellus 50B, 25?33. J.ggi, M...
Social responsibility of the hospitals in Isfahan city, Iran: Results from a cross-sectional survey

Science.gov (United States)

Keyvanara, Mahmoud; Sajadi, Haniye Sadat

2015-01-01

Background: Changes in modern societies develop the perception that the external environment is essential in organization’s practices, especially in the way they deal with aspects such as human rights, community needs, market demands and environmental interests. These issues are usually under the umbrella of the concept of social responsibility. Given the importance of this concept in the context of health care delivery, suggesting a new paradigm in hospital governance, the aim of this study was to measure the social responsibility in hospitals. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was employed to collect data from a sample of 946 hospital staff of Isfahan city. Data was obtained by structured and valid self-administrated questionnaire and analyzed by descriptive and analytic statistics using SPSS. Results: The mean score of hospitals’ social responsibility was 3.0 compared with the justified range from 1.0 to 5.0. Results showed that there was a significant relationship between social responsibility score and hospitals’ ownership (public or private). Also, there was no significant relationship between social responsibility and type of hospital specialty. Conclusion: It is recommended that hospital managers develop and apply appropriate policies and strategies to improve their hospitals’ social responsibility level, especially through concentrating on their staff’s working environment. PMID:26340391
Testing Delays Resulting in Increased Identification Accuracy in Line-Ups and Show-Ups.

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Dekle, Dawn J.

1997-01-01

Investigated time delays (immediate, two-three days, one week) between viewing a staged theft and attempting an eyewitness identification. Compared lineups to one-person showups in a laboratory analogue involving 412 subjects. Results show that across all time delays, participants maintained a higher identification accuracy with the showup…
Perturbations in carotenoid and porphyrin status result in differential photooxidative stress signaling and antioxidant responses.

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Park, Joon-Heum; Jung, Sunyo

2018-02-12

We examined differential photooxidative stress signaling and antioxidant responses in rice plants treated with norflurazon (NF) and oxyfluorfen (OF), which are inhibitors of carotenoid and porphyrin biosynthesis, respectively. Plants treated with OF markedly increased levels of cellular leakage and malondialdehyde, compared with NF-treated plants, showing that OF plants suffered greater oxidative damage with respect to membrane integrity. The enhanced production of H 2 O 2 in response to OF, but not NF, indicates the important role of H 2 O 2 in activation of photooxidative stress signaling in OF plants. In response to NF and OF, the increased levels of free salicylic acid as well as maintenance of the redox ratio of ascorbate and glutathione pools to a certain level are considered to be crucial factors in the protection against photooxidation. Plants treated with OF greatly up-regulated catalase (CAT) activity and Cat transcript levels, compared with NF-treated plants. Interestingly, NF plants showed no noticeable increase in oxidative metabolism, although they did show considerable increases in ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and peroxidase activities and transcript levels of APX, as in OF plants. Our results suggest that perturbations in carotenoid and porphyrin status by NF and OF can be sensed by differential photooxidative stress signaling, such as that involving H 2 O 2 , redox state of ascorbate and glutathione, and salicylic acid, which may be responsible for at least part of the induction of ROS-scavenging enzymes. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Organizational rationality, performance, and social responsibility: results from the hospital industry.

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Becker, Edmund R; Potter, Sharyn J

2002-01-01

Drawing on stakeholder theory and Weber's distinction between formal and substantive rationality, we posit that: (1) for-profit organizations manage stakeholders in ways that result in the organization being more efficient and less socially responsible than organizations that are not as profit oriented, and (2) organizations with major corporate relationships that are not local manage stakeholders in a manner that results in the organization being more efficient and less socially responsible than organizations without such arrangements. We test these hypotheses with 1994 data on 4,705 of the nation's short-term general hospitals using two measures of hospital efficiency and four measures of social responsibility. Results confirm that for-profit hospitals and hospitals lacking local ties are managing stakeholder relationships in ways that increases the efficiency of these hospitals but decreases their social responsiveness. We conclude by speculating that organizational efficiency and social responsibility may be inversely related and then summarize some of the academic, managerial, and policy implications, with emphasis on the implications for stakeholder theory.
Urban tree species show the same hydraulic response to vapor pressure deficit across varying tree size and environmental conditions.

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Lixin Chen

Full Text Available The functional convergence of tree transpiration has rarely been tested for tree species growing under urban conditions even though it is of significance to elucidate the relationship between functional convergence and species differences of urban trees for establishing sustainable urban forests in the context of forest water relations.We measured sap flux of four urban tree species including Cedrus deodara, Zelkova schneideriana, Euonymus bungeanus and Metasequoia glyptostroboides in an urban park by using thermal dissipation probes (TDP. The concurrent microclimate conditions and soil moisture content were also measured. Our objectives were to examine 1 the influence of tree species and size on transpiration, and 2 the hydraulic control of urban trees under different environmental conditions over the transpiration in response to VPD as represented by canopy conductance. The results showed that the functional convergence between tree diameter at breast height (DBH and tree canopy transpiration amount (E(c was not reliable to predict stand transpiration and there were species differences within same DBH class. Species differed in transpiration patterns to seasonal weather progression and soil water stress as a result of varied sensitivity to water availability. Species differences were also found in their potential maximum transpiration rate and reaction to light. However, a same theoretical hydraulic relationship between G(c at VPD = 1 kPa (G(cref and the G(c sensitivity to VPD (-dG(c/dlnVPD across studied species as well as under contrasting soil water and R(s conditions in the urban area.We concluded that urban trees show the same hydraulic regulation over response to VPD across varying tree size and environmental conditions and thus tree transpiration could be predicted with appropriate assessment of G(cref.
Urban tree species show the same hydraulic response to vapor pressure deficit across varying tree size and environmental conditions.

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Chen, Lixin; Zhang, Zhiqiang; Ewers, Brent E

2012-01-01

The functional convergence of tree transpiration has rarely been tested for tree species growing under urban conditions even though it is of significance to elucidate the relationship between functional convergence and species differences of urban trees for establishing sustainable urban forests in the context of forest water relations. We measured sap flux of four urban tree species including Cedrus deodara, Zelkova schneideriana, Euonymus bungeanus and Metasequoia glyptostroboides in an urban park by using thermal dissipation probes (TDP). The concurrent microclimate conditions and soil moisture content were also measured. Our objectives were to examine 1) the influence of tree species and size on transpiration, and 2) the hydraulic control of urban trees under different environmental conditions over the transpiration in response to VPD as represented by canopy conductance. The results showed that the functional convergence between tree diameter at breast height (DBH) and tree canopy transpiration amount (E(c)) was not reliable to predict stand transpiration and there were species differences within same DBH class. Species differed in transpiration patterns to seasonal weather progression and soil water stress as a result of varied sensitivity to water availability. Species differences were also found in their potential maximum transpiration rate and reaction to light. However, a same theoretical hydraulic relationship between G(c) at VPD = 1 kPa (G(cref)) and the G(c) sensitivity to VPD (-dG(c)/dlnVPD) across studied species as well as under contrasting soil water and R(s) conditions in the urban area. We concluded that urban trees show the same hydraulic regulation over response to VPD across varying tree size and environmental conditions and thus tree transpiration could be predicted with appropriate assessment of G(cref).

Response of the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum to photooxidative stress resulting from high light exposure.

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Nuno Domingues

Full Text Available The response of microalgae to photooxidative stress resulting from high light exposure is a well-studied phenomenon. However, direct analyses of photosystem II (PSII D1 protein (the main target of photoinhibition in diatoms are scarce. In this study, the response of the diatom model species Phaeodactylum tricornutum to short-term exposure to high light was examined and the levels of D1 protein determined immunochemically. Low light (LL acclimated cells (40 µmol photons m(-2 s(-1 subjected to high light (HL, 1,250 µmol photons m(-2 s(-1 showed rapid induction of non-photochemical quenching (NPQ and ca. 20-fold increase in diatoxanthin (DT concentration. This resulted from the conversion of diadinoxanthin (DD to DT through the activation of the DD-cycle. D1 protein levels under LL decreased about 30% after 1 h of the addition of lincomycin (LINC, a chloroplast protein synthesis inhibitor, showing significant D1 degradation and repair under low irradiance. Exposure to HL lead to a 3.2-fold increase in D1 degradation rate, whereas average D1 repair rate was 1.3-x higher under HL than LL, leading to decreased levels of D1 protein under HL. There were significant effects of both HL and LINC on P. tricornutum maximum quantum yield of PSII (F(v/F(m, showing a reduction of active PSII reaction centres. Partial recovery of F(v/F(m in the dark demonstrates the photosynthetic resilience of this diatom to changes in the light regime. P. tricornutum showed high allocation of total protein to D1 and an active D1-repair cycle to limit photoinhibition.
Female Emotional Eaters Show Abnormalities in Consummatory and Anticipatory Food Reward

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Bohon, Cara; Stice, Eric; Spoor, Sonja

2009-01-01

Objective To test the hypothesis that emotional eaters show greater neural activation in response to food intake and anticipated food intake than nonemotional eaters and whether these differences are amplified during a negative versus neutral mood state. Method Female emotional eaters and nonemotional eaters (N = 21) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during receipt and anticipated receipt of chocolate milkshake and a tasteless control solution while in a negative and neutral mood. Results Emotional eaters showed greater activation in the parahippocampal gyrus and anterior cingulate (ACC) in response to anticipated receipt of milkshake and greater activation in the pallidum, thalamus, and ACC in response to receipt of milkshake during a negative relative to a neutral mood. In contrast, nonemotional eaters showed decreased activation in reward regions during a negative versus a neutral mood. Discussion Results suggest that emotional eating is related to increased anticipatory and consummatory food reward, but only during negative mood. PMID:19040270
Results from oil spill response research - an update

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tennyson, E.J.

1993-01-01

Recent large oil spills from tankers have reaffirmed the need for continuing technology assessment and research to improve oil spill response capabilities. This paper discusses Minerals Management Service concerns, as reinforced by the acceleration of its research program in 1990. It briefly assesses current state-of-the-art technology for major aspects of spill response, including remote sensing, open-ocean containment and recovery, in-situ burning, use of chemical treating agents, beachline cleanup, and oil behavior. Specific research projects have begun to yield information that will improve detection and at-sea equipment performance; current projects include the development of an airborne laser-fluorosensor to determine whether apparent slicks contain oil. Additional projects involve the development of improved strategies for responding to oil in broken-ice conditions, for gaining an improved understanding of the fate and behavior of spilled oil as it affects response strategies, and for defining the capabilities of available dispersants and development of improved formulations. Recently, progress has been made on the development of safe and environmentally acceptable strategies to burn spilled oil in situ. The Ohmsett facility has been reopened and will be used to test prospective improvements in chemical treating agents and to develop standard procedures for testing and evaluating response equipment. Results of research published since the last Oil Spill Conference are discussed
Optical spectroscopy of radiotherapy and photodynamic therapy responses in normal rat skin shows vascular breakdown products

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Teles de Andrade, Cintia; Nogueira, Marcelo S.; Kanick, Stephen C.; Marra, Kayla; Gunn, Jason; Andreozzi, Jacqueline; Samkoe, Kimberley S.; Kurachi, Cristina; Pogue, Brian W.

2016-03-01

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) and radiotherapy are non-systemic cancer treatment options with different mechanisms of damage. So combining these techniques has been shown to have some synergy, and can mitigate their limitations such as low PDT light penetration or radiotherapy side effects. The present study monitored the induced tissue changes after PDT, radiotherapy, and a combination protocol in normal rat skin, using an optical spectroscopy system to track the observed biophysical changes. The Wistar rats were treated with one of the protocols: PDT followed by radiotherapy, PDT, radiotherapy and radiotherapy followed by PDT. Reflectance spectra were collected in order to observe the effects of these combined therapies, especially targeting vascular response. From the reflectance, information about oxygen saturation, met-hemoglobin and bilirubin concentration, blood volume fraction (BVF) and vessel radius were extracted from model fitting of the spectra. The rats were monitored for 24 hours after treatment. Results showed that there was no significant variation in the vessel size or BVF after the treatments. However, the PDT caused a significant increase in the met-hemoglobin and bilirubin concentrations, indicating an important blood breakdown. These results may provide an important clue on how the damage establishment takes place, helping to understand the effect of the combination of those techniques in order to verify the existence of a known synergistic effect.
Quantitative and Qualitative Responses to Topical Cold in Healthy Caucasians Show Variance between Individuals but High Test-Retest Reliability.

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Penny Moss

Full Text Available Increased sensitivity to cold may be a predictor of persistent pain, but cold pain threshold is often viewed as unreliable. This study aimed to determine the within-subject reliability and between-subject variance of cold response, measured comprehensively as cold pain threshold plus pain intensity and sensation quality at threshold. A test-retest design was used over three sessions, one day apart. Response to cold was assessed at four sites (thenar eminence, volar forearm, tibialis anterior, plantar foot. Cold pain threshold was measured using a Medoc thermode and standard method of limits. Intensity of pain at threshold was rated using a 10cm visual analogue scale. Quality of sensation at threshold was quantified with indices calculated from subjects' selection of descriptors from a standard McGill Pain Questionnaire. Within-subject reliability for each measure was calculated with intra-class correlation coefficients and between-subject variance was evaluated as group coefficient of variation percentage (CV%. Gender and site comparisons were also made. Forty-five healthy adults participated: 20 male, 25 female; mean age 29 (range 18-56 years. All measures at all four test sites showed high within-subject reliability: cold pain thresholds r = 0.92-0.95; pain rating r = 0.93-0.97; McGill pain quality indices r = 0.87-0.85. In contrast, all measures showed wide between-subject variance (CV% between 51.4% and 92.5%. Upper limb sites were consistently more sensitive than lower limb sites, but equally reliable. Females showed elevated cold pain thresholds, although similar pain intensity and quality to males. Females were also more reliable and showed lower variance for all measures. Thus, although there was clear population variation, response to cold for healthy individuals was found to be highly reliable, whether measured as pain threshold, pain intensity or sensation quality. A comprehensive approach to cold response testing therefore may add
Quantitative and Qualitative Responses to Topical Cold in Healthy Caucasians Show Variance between Individuals but High Test-Retest Reliability.

Science.gov (United States)

Moss, Penny; Whitnell, Jasmine; Wright, Anthony

2016-01-01

Increased sensitivity to cold may be a predictor of persistent pain, but cold pain threshold is often viewed as unreliable. This study aimed to determine the within-subject reliability and between-subject variance of cold response, measured comprehensively as cold pain threshold plus pain intensity and sensation quality at threshold. A test-retest design was used over three sessions, one day apart. Response to cold was assessed at four sites (thenar eminence, volar forearm, tibialis anterior, plantar foot). Cold pain threshold was measured using a Medoc thermode and standard method of limits. Intensity of pain at threshold was rated using a 10cm visual analogue scale. Quality of sensation at threshold was quantified with indices calculated from subjects' selection of descriptors from a standard McGill Pain Questionnaire. Within-subject reliability for each measure was calculated with intra-class correlation coefficients and between-subject variance was evaluated as group coefficient of variation percentage (CV%). Gender and site comparisons were also made. Forty-five healthy adults participated: 20 male, 25 female; mean age 29 (range 18-56) years. All measures at all four test sites showed high within-subject reliability: cold pain thresholds r = 0.92-0.95; pain rating r = 0.93-0.97; McGill pain quality indices r = 0.87-0.85. In contrast, all measures showed wide between-subject variance (CV% between 51.4% and 92.5%). Upper limb sites were consistently more sensitive than lower limb sites, but equally reliable. Females showed elevated cold pain thresholds, although similar pain intensity and quality to males. Females were also more reliable and showed lower variance for all measures. Thus, although there was clear population variation, response to cold for healthy individuals was found to be highly reliable, whether measured as pain threshold, pain intensity or sensation quality. A comprehensive approach to cold response testing therefore may add validity and
Plant-Adapted Escherichia coli Show Increased Lettuce Colonizing Ability, Resistance to Oxidative Stress and Chemotactic Response

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Dublan, Maria de los Angeles; Ortiz-Marquez, Juan Cesar Federico; Lett, Lina; Curatti, Leonardo

2014-01-01

Background Escherichia coli is a widespread gut commensal and often a versatile pathogen of public health concern. E. coli are also frequently found in different environments and/or alternative secondary hosts, such as plant tissues. The lifestyle of E. coli in plants is poorly understood and has potential implications for food safety. Methods/Principal Findings This work shows that a human commensal strain of E. coli K12 readily colonizes lettuce seedlings and produces large microcolony-like cell aggregates in leaves, especially in young leaves, in proximity to the vascular tissue. Our observations strongly suggest that those cell aggregates arise from multiplication of single bacterial cells that reach those spots. We showed that E. coli isolated from colonized leaves progressively colonize lettuce seedlings to higher titers, suggesting a fast adaptation process. E. coli cells isolated from leaves presented a dramatic rise in tolerance to oxidative stress and became more chemotactic responsive towards lettuce leaf extracts. Mutant strains impaired in their chemotactic response were less efficient lettuce colonizers than the chemotactic isogenic strain. However, acclimation to oxidative stress and/or minimal medium alone failed to prime E. coli cells for enhanced lettuce colonization efficiency. Conclusion/Significance These findings help to understand the physiological adaptation during the alternative lifestyle of E. coli in/on plant tissues. PMID:25313845
Social responsibility of the hospitals in Isfahan city, Iran: Results from a cross-sectional survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Keyvanara, Mahmoud; Sajadi, Haniye Sadat

2015-02-12

Changes in modern societies develop the perception that the external environment is essential in organization's practices, especially in the way they deal with aspects such as human rights, community needs, market demands and environmental interests. These issues are usually under the umbrella of the concept of social responsibility. Given the importance of this concept in the context of health care delivery, suggesting a new paradigm in hospital governance, the aim of this study was to measure the social responsibility in hospitals. A cross-sectional survey was employed to collect data from a sample of 946 hospital staff of Isfahan city. Data was obtained by structured and valid self-administrated questionnaire and analyzed by descriptive and analytic statistics using SPSS. The mean score of hospitals' social responsibility was 3.0 compared with the justified range from 1.0 to 5.0. Results showed that there was a significant relationship between social responsibility score and hospitals' ownership (public or private). Also, there was no significant relationship between social responsibility and type of hospital specialty. It is recommended that hospital managers develop and apply appropriate policies and strategies to improve their hospitals' social responsibility level, especially through concentrating on their staff's working environment. © 2015 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.
Shift Work in Rats Results in Increased Inflammatory Response after Lipopolysaccharide Administration: A Role for Food Consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Guerrero-Vargas, Natalí N; Guzmán-Ruiz, Mara; Fuentes, Rebeca; García, Joselyn; Salgado-Delgado, Roberto; Basualdo, María del Carmen; Escobar, Carolina; Markus, Regina P; Buijs, Ruud M

2015-08-01

The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) drives circadian rhythms in behavioral and physiological variables, including the inflammatory response. Shift work is known to disturb circadian rhythms and is associated with increased susceptibility to develop disease. In rodents, circadian disruption due to shifted light schedules (jet lag) induced increased innate immune responses. To gain more insight into the influence of circadian disruption on the immune response, we characterized the inflammatory response in a model of rodent shift work and demonstrated that circadian disruption affected the inflammatory response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) both in vivo and in vitro. Since food consumption is a main disturbing element in the shift work schedule, we also evaluated the inflammatory response to LPS in a group of rats that had no access to food during their working hours. Our results demonstrated that the shift work schedule decreased basal TNF-α levels in the liver but not in the circulation. Despite this, we observed that shift work induced increased cytokine response after LPS stimulation in comparison to control rats. Also, Kupffer cells (liver macrophages) isolated from shift work rats produced more TNF-α in response to in vitro LPS stimulation, suggesting important effects of circadian desynchronization on the functionality of this cell type. Importantly, the effects of shift work on the inflammatory response to LPS were prevented when food was not available during the working schedule. Together, these results show that dissociating behavior and food intake from the synchronizing drive of the SCN severely disturbs the immune response. © 2015 The Author(s).
Blood pressure response to caffeine shows incomplete tolerance after short-term regular consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Lovallo, William R; Wilson, Michael F; Vincent, Andrea S; Sung, Bong Hee; McKey, Barbara S; Whitsett, Thomas L

2004-04-01

Caffeine acutely raises blood pressure (BP). The clinical significance of this effect depends on whether BP responses persist in persons who consume caffeine on a daily basis. Accordingly, the ability of caffeine to raise BP after 5 days of regular daily intake was tested in a randomized controlled trial. Individual differences in tolerance formation were then examined. Men (n=49) and women (n=48) completed a double-blind, crossover trial conducted over 4 weeks. During each week, subjects abstained for 5 days from dietary caffeine and instead used capsules totaling 0 mg, 300 mg, and 600 mg of caffeine per day in 3 divided doses. On day 6, in the laboratory, they used capsules with either 0 mg or 250 mg of caffeine at 9:00 am and 1:00 pm. Systolic/diastolic BP increases as a result of 250 mg of caffeine remained significant (P7.90, P <0.001). The sexes did not differ in degree of tolerance formation. Daily caffeine consumption failed to eliminate the BP response to repeated challenge doses of caffeine in half of the healthy adults who were tested. Caffeine may therefore cause persistent BP effects in persons who are regular consumers, even when daily intake is at moderately high levels.
Functional Response (FR) and Relative Growth Rate (RGR) Do Not Show the Known Invasiveness of Lemna minuta (Kunth)

Science.gov (United States)

Boets, Pieter; Goethals, Peter L. M.

2016-01-01

Growing travel and trade threatens biodiversity as it increases the rate of biological invasions globally, either by accidental or intentional introduction. Therefore, avoiding these impacts by forecasting invasions and impeding further spread is of utmost importance. In this study, three forecasting approaches were tested and combined to predict the invasive behaviour of the alien macrophyte Lemna minuta in comparison with the native Lemna minor: the functional response (FR) and relative growth rate (RGR), supplemented with a combined biomass-based nutrient removal (BBNR). Based on the idea that widespread invasive species are more successful competitors than local, native species, a higher FR and RGR were expected for the invasive compared to the native species. Five different nutrient concentrations were tested, ranging from low (4 mgN.L-1 and 1 mgP.L-1) to high (70 mgN.L-1 and 21 mgP.L-1). After four days, a significant amount of nutrients was removed by both Lemna spp., though significant differences among L. minor and L. minuta were only observed at lower nutrient concentrations (lower than 17 mgN.L-1 and 6 mgP.L-1) with higher nutrient removal exerted by L. minor. The derived FR did not show a clear dominance of the invasive L. minuta, contradicting field observations. Similarly, the RGR ranged from 0.4 to 0.6 d-1, but did not show a biomass-based dominance of L. minuta (0.5 ± 0.1 d-1 versus 0.63 ± 0.09 d-1 for L. minor). BBNR showed similar results as the FR. Contrary to our expectations, all three approaches resulted in higher values for L. minor. Consequently, based on our results FR is sensitive to differences, though contradicted the expectations, while RGR and BBNR do not provide sufficient power to differentiate between a native and an invasive alien macrophyte and should be supplemented with additional ecosystem-based experiments to determine the invasion impact. PMID:27861603
Analysis of Indicators of Corporate Responsibility in Road Freight Transport: Results of Transport Companies and FMCG Retailers in Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dragan Đuranović

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is the analysis of indicators of corporate responsibility in road freight transport, with special emphasis on freight transport and delivery to Fast Moving Consumers Goods (FMCG retailers and final consumer. The main task is to rank the importance of corporate responsibility indicators in freight transport from the perspective of the management of transport companies, as well as management of retail stores. In this context, empirical research was conducted on a sample of 124 managers of transport enterprises and 181 managers of FMCG retailers in Serbia. The results showed that the impact of indicators does not depend on the region, transport company and retail store. The indicators show a statistically significant dependence on FMCG type that is being transported. The conducted analysis and achieved results are important in practice as they show to the management of transport companies which indicators should be developed, so that customers (retailers, and thus the users of final products are satisfied. Disadvantages of the existing research and suggestions for future studies are provided in the paper.
Planck 2013 results. IX. HFI spectral response

CERN Document Server

Ade, P A R; Armitage-Caplan, C; Arnaud, M; Ashdown, M; Atrio-Barandela, F; Aumont, J; Baccigalupi, C; Banday, A J; Barreiro, R B; Battaner, E; Benabed, K; Benoît, A; Benoit-Lévy, A; Bernard, J -P; Bersanelli, M; Bielewicz, P; Bobin, J; Bock, J J; Bond, J R; Borrill, J; Bouchet, F R; Boulanger, F; Bridges, M; Bucher, M; Burigana, C; Cardoso, J -F; Catalano, A; Challinor, A; Chamballu, A; Chary, R -R; Chen, X; Chiang, L -Y; Chiang, H C; Christensen, P R; Church, S; Clements, D L; Colombi, S; Colombo, L P L; Combet, C; Comis, B; Couchot, F; Coulais, A; Crill, B P; Curto, A; Cuttaia, F; Danese, L; Davies, R D; de Bernardis, P; de Rosa, A; de Zotti, G; Delabrouille, J; Delouis, J -M; Désert, F -X; Dickinson, C; Diego, J M; Dole, H; Donzelli, S; Doré, O; Douspis, M; Dupac, X; Efstathiou, G; Enßlin, T A; Eriksen, H K; Falgarone, E; Finelli, F; Forni, O; Frailis, M; Franceschi, E; Galeotta, S; Ganga, K; Giard, M; Giraud-Héraud, Y; González-Nuevo, J; Górski, K M; Gratton, S; Gregorio, A; Gruppuso, A; Hansen, F K; Hanson, D; Harrison, D; Henrot-Versillé, S; Hernández-Monteagudo, C; Herranz, D; Hildebrandt, S R; Hivon, E; Hobson, M; Holmes, W A; Hornstrup, A; Hovest, W; Huffenberger, K M; Hurier, G; Jaffe, T R; Jaffe, A H; Jones, W C; Juvela, M; Keihänen, E; Keskitalo, R; Kisner, T S; Kneissl, R; Knoche, J; Knox, L; Kunz, M; Kurki-Suonio, H; Lagache, G; Lamarre, J -M; Lasenby, A; Laureijs, R J; Lawrence, C R; Leahy, J P; Leonardi, R; Leroy, C; Lesgourgues, J; Liguori, M; Lilje, P B; Linden-Vørnle, M; López-Caniego, M; Lubin, P M; Macías-Pérez, J F; Maffei, B; Mandolesi, N; Maris, M; Marshall, D J; Martin, P G; Martínez-González, E; Masi, S; Matarrese, S; Matthai, F; Mazzotta, P; McGehee, P; Melchiorri, A; Mendes, L; Mennella, A; Migliaccio, M; Mitra, S; Miville-Deschênes, M -A; Moneti, A; Montier, L; Morgante, G; Mortlock, D; Munshi, D; Murphy, J A; Naselsky, P; Nati, F; Natoli, P; Netterfield, C B; Nørgaard-Nielsen, H U; North, C; Noviello, F; Novikov, D; Novikov, I; Osborne, S; Oxborrow, C A; Paci, F; Pagano, L; Pajot, F; Paoletti, D; Pasian, F; Patanchon, G; Perdereau, O; Perotto, L; Perrotta, F; Piacentini, F; Piat, M; Pierpaoli, E; Pietrobon, D; Plaszczynski, S; Pointecouteau, E; Polenta, G; Ponthieu, N; Popa, L; Poutanen, T; Pratt, G W; Prézeau, G; Prunet, S; Puget, J -L; Rachen, J P; Reinecke, M; Remazeilles, M; Renault, C; Ricciardi, S; Riller, T; Ristorcelli, I; Rocha, G; Rosset, C; Roudier, G; Rusholme, B; Santos, D; Savini, G; Shellard, E P S; Spencer, L D; Starck, J -L; Stolyarov, V; Stompor, R; Sudiwala, R; Sureau, F; Sutton, D; Suur-Uski, A -S; Sygnet, J -F; Tauber, J A; Tavagnacco, D; Terenzi, L; Tomasi, M; Tristram, M; Tucci, M; Umana, G; Valenziano, L; Valiviita, J; Van Tent, B; Vielva, P; Villa, F; Vittorio, N; Wade, L A; Wandelt, B D; Yvon, D; Zacchei, A; Zonca, A

2014-01-01

The Planck High Frequency Instrument (HFI) spectral response was determined through a series of ground based tests conducted with the HFI focal plane in a cryogenic environment prior to launch. The main goal of the spectral transmission tests was to measure the relative spectral response (including out-of-band signal rejection) of all HFI detectors. This was determined by measuring the output of a continuously scanned Fourier transform spectrometer coupled with all HFI detectors. As there is no on-board spectrometer within HFI, the ground-based spectral response experiments provide the definitive data set for the relative spectral calibration of the HFI. The spectral response of the HFI is used in Planck data analysis and component separation, this includes extraction of CO emission observed within Planck bands, dust emission, Sunyaev-Zeldovich sources, and intensity to polarization leakage. The HFI spectral response data have also been used to provide unit conversion and colour correction analysis tools. Ver...
The cortisol awakening response in caregivers of schizophrenic offspring shows sensitivity to patient status.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez-Bono, Esperanza; De Andres-Garcia, Sara; Moya-Albiol, Luis

2011-01-01

Taking care of offspring during a prolonged period of time is probably one of the most stressful life experiences for parents. The present study compares the cortisol awakening response (CAR) in 38 long-term caregivers (mothers and fathers of schizophrenic relatives) with a control group of 32 non-caregivers. Factors such as general stress, caregiver burden, patient severity, and institutionalization were studied. Although a blunted CAR was observed in caregivers in comparison with controls, this difference was not significant. Among caregivers, the absence of institutionalization for the patient is associated with a lack of CAR in caregivers in comparison with caregivers of institutionally supported patients. General stress, caregiver burden, and patient severity themselves did not favor significant changes in CAR. CAR shows greater sensitivity to institutional support than patient severity and perceived stress. Further research is needed to explain the impact of these factors on health and the psychological factors involved.
Three representative UK moorland soils show differences in decadal release of dissolved organic carbon in response to environmental change

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M. I. Stutter

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Moorland carbon reserves in organo-mineral soils may be crucial to predicting landscape-scale variability in soil carbon losses, an important component of which is dissolved organic carbon (DOC. Surface water DOC trends are subject to a range of scaling, transport and biotic processes that disconnect them from signals in the catchment's soils. Long-term soil datasets are vital to identify changes in DOC release at source and soil C depletion. Here we show, that moorland soil solution DOC concentrations at three key UK Environmental Change Network sites increased between 1993–2007 in both surface- and sub- soil of a freely-draining Podzol (48 % and 215 % increases in O and Bs horizons, respectively, declined in a gleyed Podzol and showed no change in a Peat. Our principal findings were that: (1 considerable heterogeneity in DOC response appears to exist between different soils that is not apparent from the more consistent observed trends for streamwaters, and (2 freely-draining organo-mineral Podzol showed increasing DOC concentrations, countering the current scientific focus on soil C destabilization in peats. We discuss how the key solubility controls on DOC associated with coupled physico-chemical factors of ionic strength, acid deposition recovery, soil hydrology and temperature cannot readily be separated. Yet, despite evidence that all sites are recovering from acidification the soil-specific responses to environmental change have caused divergence in soil DOC concentration trends. The study shows that the properties of soils govern their specific response to an approximately common set of broad environmental drivers. Key soil properties are indicated to be drainage, sulphate and DOC sorption capacity. Soil properties need representation in process-models to understand and predict the role of soils in catchment to global C budgets. Catchment hydrological (i.e. transport controls may, at present, be governing the more ubiquitous rises in
The vascular disrupting agent ZD6126 shows increased antitumor efficacy and enhanced radiation response in large, advanced tumors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siemann, Dietmar W.; Rojiani, Amyn M.

2005-01-01

Purpose: ZD6126 is a vascular-targeting agent that induces selective effects on the morphology of proliferating and immature endothelial cells by disrupting the tubulin cytoskeleton. The efficacy of ZD6126 was investigated in large vs. small tumors in a variety of animal models. Methods and Materials: Three rodent tumor models (KHT, SCCVII, RIF-1) and three human tumor xenografts (Caki-1, KSY-1, SKBR3) were used. Mice bearing leg tumors ranging in size from 0.1-2.0 g were injected intraperitoneally with a single 150 mg/kg dose of ZD6126. The response was assessed by morphologic and morphometric means as well as an in vivo to in vitro clonogenic cell survival assay. To examine the impact of tumor size on the extent of enhancement of radiation efficacy by ZD6126, KHT sarcomas of three different sizes were irradiated locally with a range of radiation doses, and cell survival was determined. Results: All rodent tumors and human tumor xenografts evaluated showed a strong correlation between increasing tumor size and treatment effect as determined by clonogenic cell survival. Detailed evaluation of KHT sarcomas treated with ZD6126 showed a reduction in patent tumor blood vessels that was ∼20% in small ( 90% in large (>1.0 g) tumors. Histologic assessment revealed that the extent of tumor necrosis after ZD6126 treatment, although minimal in small KHT sarcomas, became more extensive with increasing tumor size. Clonogenic cell survival after ZD6126 exposure showed a decrease in tumor surviving fraction from approximately 3 x 10 -1 to 1 x 10 -4 with increasing tumor size. When combined with radiotherapy, ZD6126 treatment resulted in little enhancement of the antitumor effect of radiation in small (<0.3 g) tumors but marked increases in cell kill in tumors larger than 1.0 g. Conclusions: Because bulky neoplastic disease is typically the most difficult to manage, the present findings provide further support for the continued development of vascular disrupting agents such as
The larvae of congeneric gastropods showed differential responses to the combined effects of ocean acidification, temperature and salinity.

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Zhang, Haoyu; Cheung, S G; Shin, Paul K S

2014-02-15

The tolerance and physiological responses of the larvae of two congeneric gastropods, the intertidal Nassarius festivus and subtidal Nassarius conoidalis, to the combined effects of ocean acidification (pCO2 at 380, 950, 1250 ppm), temperature (15, 30°C) and salinity (10, 30 psu) were compared. Results of three-way ANOVA on cumulative mortality after 72-h exposure showed significant interactive effects in which mortality increased with pCO2 and temperature, but reduced at higher salinity for both species, with higher mortality being obtained for N. conoidalis. Similarly, respiration rate of the larvae increased with temperature and pCO2 level for both species, with a larger percentage increase for N. conoidalis. Larval swimming speed increased with temperature and salinity for both species whereas higher pCO2 reduced swimming speed in N. conoidalis but not N. festivus. The present findings indicated that subtidal congeneric species are more sensitive than their intertidal counterparts to the combined effects of these stressors. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Children with dyslexia show cortical hyperactivation in response to increasing literacy processing demands

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Frøydis eMorken

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This fMRI study aimed to examine how differences in literacy processing demands may affect cortical activation patterns in 11- to 12-year-old children with dyslexia as compared to children with typical reading skills. 11 children with and 18 without dyslexia were assessed using a reading paradigm based on different stages of literacy development. In the analyses, six regions showed an interaction effect between group and condition in a factorial ANOVA. These regions were selected as regions of interest for further analyses. Overall, the dyslexia group showed cortical hyperactivation compared to the typical group. The difference between the groups tended to increase with increasing processing demands. Differences in cortical activation were not reflected in in-scanner reading performance. The six regions further grouped into three patterns, which are discussed in terms of processing demands, compensatory mechanisms, orthography and contextual facilitation. We conclude that the observed hyperactivation is chiefly a result of compensatory activity, modulated by other factors.
HIV-positive females show blunted neurophysiological responses in an emotion-attention dual task paradigm.

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Tartar, Jaime L; McIntosh, Roger C; Rosselli, Monica; Widmayer, Susan M; Nash, Allan J

2014-06-01

Although HIV is associated with decreased emotional and cognitive functioning, the mechanisms through which affective changes can alter cognitive processes in HIV-infected individuals are unknown. We aimed to clarify this question through testing the extent to which emotionally negative stimuli prime attention to a subsequent infrequently occurring auditory tone in HIV+ compared to HIV- females. Attention to emotional compared to non-emotional pictures was measured via the LPP ERP. Subsequent attention was indexed through the N1 and late processing negativity ERP. We also assessed mood and cognitive functioning in both groups. In HIV- females, emotionally negative pictures, compared to neutral pictures, resulted in an enhanced LPP to the pictures and an enhanced N1 to subsequent tones. The HIV+ group did not show a difference in the LPP measure between picture categories, and accordingly, did not show a priming effect to the subsequent infrequent tones. The ERP findings, combined with neuropsychological deficits, suggest that HIV+ females show impairments in attention to emotionally-laden stimuli and that this impairment might be related to a loss of affective priming. This study is the first to provide physiological evidence that the LPP, a measure of attention to emotionally-charged visual stimuli, is reduced in HIV-infected individuals. These results set the stage for future work aimed at localizing brain activation to emotional stimuli in HIV+ individuals. Copyright © 2013 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Expression analysis of genes associated with human osteosarcoma tumors shows correlation of RUNX2 overexpression with poor response to chemotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sadikovic, Bekim; Thorner, Paul; Chilton-MacNeill, Susan; Martin, Jeff W; Cervigne, Nilva K; Squire, Jeremy; Zielenska, Maria

2010-01-01

Human osteosarcoma is the most common pediatric bone tumor. There is limited understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying osteosarcoma oncogenesis, and a lack of good diagnostic as well as prognostic clinical markers for this disease. Recent discoveries have highlighted a potential role of a number of genes including: RECQL4, DOCK5, SPP1, RUNX2, RB1, CDKN1A, P53, IBSP, LSAMP, MYC, TNFRSF1B, BMP2, HISTH2BE, FOS, CCNB1, and CDC5L. Our objective was to assess relative expression levels of these 16 genes as potential biomarkers of osteosarcoma oncogenesis and chemotherapy response in human tumors. We performed quantitative expression analysis in a panel of 22 human osteosarcoma tumors with differential response to chemotherapy, and 5 normal human osteoblasts. RECQL4, SPP1, RUNX2, and IBSP were significantly overexpressed, and DOCK5, CDKN1A, RB1, P53, and LSAMP showed significant loss of expression relative to normal osteoblasts. In addition to being overexpressed in osteosarcoma tumor samples relative to normal osteoblasts, RUNX2 was the only gene of the 16 to show significant overexpression in tumors that had a poor response to chemotherapy relative to good responders. These data underscore the loss of tumor suppressive pathways and activation of specific oncogenic mechanisms associated with osteosarcoma oncogenesis, while drawing attention to the role of RUNX2 expression as a potential biomarker of chemotherapy failure in osteosarcoma

Experimental and theoretical studies of spectral alteration in ultrasonic waves resulting from nonlinear elastic response in rock

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnson, P.A.; McCall, K.R.; Meegan, G.D. Jr. [Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)

1993-11-01

Experiments in rock show a large nonlinear elastic wave response, far greater than that of gases, liquids and most other solids. The large response is attributed to structural defects in rock including microcracks and grain boundaries. In the earth, a large nonlinear response may be responsible for significant spectral alteration at amplitudes and distances currently considered to be well within the linear elastic regime.
Experimental and theoretical studies of spectral alteration in ultrasonic waves resulting from nonlinear elastic response in rock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, P.A.; McCall, K.R.; Meegan, G.D. Jr.

1993-01-01

Experiments in rock show a large nonlinear elastic wave response, far greater than that of gases, liquids and most other solids. The large response is attributed to structural defects in rock including microcracks and grain boundaries. In the earth, a large nonlinear response may be responsible for significant spectral alteration at amplitudes and distances currently considered to be well within the linear elastic regime
Response of a laminar premixed flame to flow oscillations: A kinematic model and thermoacoustic instability results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fleifil, M.; Annaswamy, A.M.; Ghoneim, A.F. [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology, Cambridge, MA (United States); Ghoneim, Z.A. [Ain Shams Univ., Abassia (Egypt)

1996-09-01

Combustion instability is a resonance phenomenon that arises due to the coupling between the system acoustics and the unsteady heat release. The constructive feedback between the two processes, which is known to occur as a certain phase relationship between the pressure and the unsteady heat release rate is satisfied, depends on many parameters among which is the acoustic mode, the flame holder characteristics, and the dominant burning pattern. In this paper, the authors construct an analytical model to describe the dynamic response of a laminar premixed flame stabilized on the rim of a tube to velocity oscillation. They consider uniform and nonuniform velocity perturbations superimposed on a pipe flow velocity profile. The model results show that the magnitude of heat release perturbation and its phase with respect to the dynamic perturbation dependent primarily on the flame Strohal number, representing the ratio of the dominant frequency times the tube radius to the laminar burning velocity. In terms of this number, high-frequency perturbations pass through the flame while low frequencies lead to a strong response. The phase with respect to the velocity perturbation behaves in the opposite way. Results of this model are shown to agree with experimental observations and to be useful in determining how the combustion excited model is selected among all the acoustic unstable modes. The model is then used to obtain a time-domain differential equation describing the relationship between the velocity perturbation and the heat release response over the entire frequency range.
Gene expression analysis of two extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis isolates show that two-component response systems enhance drug resistance.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Guohua; Cui, Zhenling; Sun, Xian; Peng, Jinfu; Jiang, Jun; Wu, Wei; Huang, Wenhua; Chu, Kaili; Zhang, Lu; Ge, Baoxue; Li, Yao

2015-05-01

Global analysis of expression profiles using DNA microarrays was performed between a reference strain H37Rv and two clinical extensively drug-resistant isolates in response to three anti-tuberculosis drug exposures (isoniazid, capreomycin, and rifampicin). A deep analysis was then conducted using a combination of genome sequences of the resistant isolates, resistance information, and related public microarray data. Certain known resistance-associated gene sets were significantly overrepresented in upregulated genes in the resistant isolates relative to that observed in H37Rv, which suggested a link between resistance and expression levels of particular genes. In addition, isoniazid and capreomycin response genes, but not rifampicin, either obtained from published works or our data, were highly consistent with the differentially expressed genes of resistant isolates compared to those of H37Rv, indicating a strong association between drug resistance of the isolates and genes differentially regulated by isoniazid and capreomycin exposures. Based on these results, 92 genes of the studied isolates were identified as candidate resistance genes, 10 of which are known resistance-related genes. Regulatory network analysis of candidate resistance genes using published networks and literature mining showed that three two-component regulatory systems and regulator CRP play significant roles in the resistance of the isolates by mediating the production of essential envelope components. Finally, drug sensitivity testing indicated strong correlations between expression levels of these regulatory genes and sensitivity to multiple anti-tuberculosis drugs in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. These findings may provide novel insights into the mechanism underlying the emergence and development of drug resistance in resistant tuberculosis isolates and useful clues for further studies on this issue. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Transcriptome profiling of low temperature-treated cassava apical shoots showed dynamic responses of tropical plant to cold stress

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

An Dong

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Cassava is an important tropical root crop adapted to a wide range of environmental stimuli such as drought and acid soils. Nevertheless, it is an extremely cold-sensitive tropical species. Thus far, there is limited information about gene regulation and signalling pathways related to the cold stress response in cassava. The development of microarray technology has accelerated the study of global transcription profiling under certain conditions. Results A 60-mer oligonucleotide microarray representing 20,840 genes was used to perform transcriptome profiling in apical shoots of cassava subjected to cold at 7°C for 0, 4 and 9 h. A total of 508 transcripts were identified as early cold-responsive genes in which 319 sequences had functional descriptions when aligned with Arabidopsis proteins. Gene ontology annotation analysis identified many cold-relevant categories, including 'Response to abiotic and biotic stimulus', 'Response to stress', 'Transcription factor activity', and 'Chloroplast'. Various stress-associated genes with a wide range of biological functions were found, such as signal transduction components (e.g., MAP kinase 4, transcription factors (TFs, e.g., RAP2.11, and reactive oxygen species (ROS scavenging enzymes (e.g., catalase 2, as well as photosynthesis-related genes (e.g., PsaL. Seventeen major TF families including many well-studied members (e.g., AP2-EREBP were also involved in the early response to cold stress. Meanwhile, KEGG pathway analysis uncovered many important pathways, such as 'Plant hormone signal transduction' and 'Starch and sucrose metabolism'. Furthermore, the expression changes of 32 genes under cold and other abiotic stress conditions were validated by real-time RT-PCR. Importantly, most of the tested stress-responsive genes were primarily expressed in mature leaves, stem cambia, and fibrous roots rather than apical buds and young leaves. As a response to cold stress in cassava, an increase
Answers to Health Questions: Internet Search Results Versus Online Health Community Responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanthawala, Shaheen; Vermeesch, Amber; Given, Barbara; Huh, Jina

2016-04-28

About 6 million people search for health information on the Internet each day in the United States. Both patients and caregivers search for information about prescribed courses of treatments, unanswered questions after a visit to their providers, or diet and exercise regimens. Past literature has indicated potential challenges around quality in health information available on the Internet. However, diverse information exists on the Internet-ranging from government-initiated webpages to personal blog pages. Yet we do not fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of different types of information available on the Internet. The objective of this research was to investigate the strengths and challenges of various types of health information available online and to suggest what information sources best fit various question types. We collected questions posted to and the responses they received from an online diabetes community and classified them according to Rothwell's classification of question types (fact, policy, or value questions). We selected 60 questions (20 each of fact, policy, and value) and the replies the questions received from the community. We then searched for responses to the same questions using a search engine and recorded the Community responses answered more questions than did search results overall. Search results were most effective in answering value questions and least effective in answering policy questions. Community responses answered questions across question types at an equivalent rate, but most answered policy questions and the least answered fact questions. Value questions were most answered by community responses, but some of these answers provided by the community were incorrect. Fact question search results were the most clinically valid. The Internet is a prevalent source of health information for people. The information quality people encounter online can have a large impact on them. We present what kinds of questions people ask
Sex and stress: Men and women show different cortisol responses to psychological stress induced by the Trier social stress test and the Iowa singing social stress test.

Science.gov (United States)

Reschke-Hernández, Alaine E; Okerstrom, Katrina L; Bowles Edwards, Angela; Tranel, Daniel

2017-01-02

Acute psychological stress affects each of us in our daily lives and is increasingly a topic of discussion for its role in mental illness, aging, cognition, and overall health. A better understanding of how such stress affects the body and mind could contribute to the development of more effective clinical interventions and prevention practices. Over the past 3 decades, the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) has been widely used to induce acute stress in a laboratory setting based on the principles of social evaluative threat, namely, a judged speech-making task. A comparable alternative task may expand options for examining acute stress in a controlled laboratory setting. This study uses a within-subjects design to examine healthy adult participants' (n = 20 men, n = 20 women) subjective stress and salivary cortisol responses to the standard TSST (involving public speaking and math) and the newly created Iowa Singing Social Stress Test (I-SSST). The I-SSST is similar to the TSST but with a new twist: public singing. Results indicated that men and women reported similarly high levels of subjective stress in response to both tasks. However, men and women demonstrated different cortisol responses; men showed a robust response to both tasks, and women displayed a lesser response. These findings are in line with previous literature and further underscore the importance of examining possible sex differences throughout various phases of research, including design, analysis, and interpretation of results. Furthermore, this nascent examination of the I-SSST suggests a possible alternative for inducing stress in the laboratory. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Shifts of methanogenic communities in response to permafrost thaw results in rising methane emissions and soil property changes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Shiping; Cui, Hongpeng; Zhu, Youhai; Lu, Zhenquan; Pang, Shouji; Zhang, Shuai; Dong, Hailiang; Su, Xin

2018-05-01

Permafrost thaw can bring negative consequences in terms of ecosystems, resulting in permafrost collapse, waterlogging, thermokarst lake development, and species composition changes. Little is known about how permafrost thaw influences microbial community shifts and their activities. Here, we show that the dominant archaeal community shifts from Methanomicrobiales to Methanosarcinales in response to the permafrost thaw, and the increase in methane emission is found to be associated with the methanogenic archaea, which rapidly bloom with nearly tenfold increase in total number. The mcrA gene clone libraries analyses indicate that Methanocellales/Rice Cluster I was predominant both in the original permafrost and in the thawed permafrost. However, only species belonging to Methanosarcinales showed higher transcriptional activities in the thawed permafrost, indicating a shift of methanogens from hydrogenotrophic to partly acetoclastic methane-generating metabolic processes. In addition, data also show the soil texture and features change as a result of microbial reproduction and activity induced by this permafrost thaw. Those data indicate that microbial ecology under warming permafrost has potential impacts on ecosystem and methane emissions.
Overexpression of a Protein Phosphatase 2C from Beech Seeds in Arabidopsis Shows Phenotypes Related to Abscisic Acid Responses and Gibberellin Biosynthesis1

Science.gov (United States)

Reyes, David; Rodríguez, Dolores; González-García, Mary Paz; Lorenzo, Oscar; Nicolás, Gregorio; García-Martínez, José Luis; Nicolás, Carlos

2006-01-01

A functional abscisic acid (ABA)-induced protein phosphatase type 2C (PP2C) was previously isolated from beech (Fagus sylvatica) seeds (FsPP2C2). Because transgenic work is not possible in beech, in this study we overexpressed this gene in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) to provide genetic evidence on FsPP2C2 function in seed dormancy and other plant responses. In contrast with other PP2Cs described so far, constitutive expression of FsPP2C2 in Arabidopsis, under the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter, produced enhanced sensitivity to ABA and abiotic stress in seeds and vegetative tissues, dwarf phenotype, and delayed flowering, and all these effects were reversed by gibberellic acid application. The levels of active gibberellins (GAs) were reduced in 35S:FsPP2C2 plants, although transcript levels of AtGA20ox1 and AtGA3ox1 increased, probably as a result of negative feedback regulation, whereas the expression of GASA1 was induced by GAs. Additionally, FsPP2C2-overexpressing plants showed a strong induction of the Responsive to ABA 18 (RAB18) gene. Interestingly, FsPP2C2 contains two nuclear targeting sequences, and transient expression assays revealed that ABA directed this protein to the nucleus. Whereas other plant PP2Cs have been shown to act as negative regulators, our results support the hypothesis that FsPP2C2 is a positive regulator of ABA. Moreover, our results indicate the existence of potential cross-talk between ABA signaling and GA biosynthesis. PMID:16815952
When parents disclose BRCA1/2 test results: their communication and perceptions of offspring response.

Science.gov (United States)

Bradbury, Angela R; Patrick-Miller, Linda; Egleston, Brian L; Olopade, Olufunmilayo I; Daly, Mary B; Moore, Cynthia W; Sands, Colleen B; Schmidheiser, Helen; Kondamudi, Preethi K; Feigon, Maia; Ibe, Comfort N; Daugherty, Christopher K

2012-07-01

BRCA1/2 testing is not recommended for children, as risk reduction measures and screening are not generally recommended before 25 years old (YO). Little is known about the prevalence and predictors of parent communication to offspring and how offspring respond to this communication. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents who had BRCA1/2 testing and at least 1 child parents completed interviews (61% response rate), reporting on 505 offspring. Twenty-nine percent of parents were BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. Three hundred thirty-four (66%) offspring learned of their parent's test result. Older offspring age (P ≤ .01), offspring gender (female, P = .05), parents' negative test result (P = .03), and parents' education (high school only, P = .02) were associated with communication to offspring. The most frequently reported initial offspring responses were neutral (41%) or relief (28%). Thirteen percent of offspring were reported to experience concern or distress (11%) in response to parental communication of their test results. Distress was more frequently perceived among offspring learning of their parent's BRCA1/2 positive or variant of uncertain significance result. Many parents communicate their BRCA1/2 test results to young offspring. Parents' perceptions of offspring responses appear to vary by offspring age and parent test result. A better understanding of how young offspring respond to information about hereditary risk for adult cancer could provide opportunities to optimize adaptive psychosocial responses to risk information and performance of health behaviors, in adolescence and throughout an at-risk life span. Copyright © 2012 American Cancer Society.
Extraordinary Diversity of Immune Response Proteins among Sea Urchins: Nickel-Isolated Sp185/333 Proteins Show Broad Variations in Size and Charge

Science.gov (United States)

Sherman, Lauren S.; Schrankel, Catherine S.; Brown, Kristy J.; Smith, L. Courtney

2015-01-01

Effective protection against pathogens requires the host to produce a wide range of immune effector proteins. The Sp185/333 gene family, which is expressed by the California purple sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus in response to bacterial infection, encodes a highly diverse repertoire of anti-pathogen proteins. A subset of these proteins can be isolated by affinity to metal ions based on multiple histidines, resulting in one to four bands of unique molecular weight on standard Western blots, which vary depending on the individual sea urchin. Two dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) of nickel-isolated protein samples followed by Western blot was employed to detect nickel-isolated Sp185/333 (Ni-Sp185/333) proteins and to evaluate protein diversity in animals before and after immune challenge with marine bacteria. Ni-Sp185/333 proteins of the same molecular weight on standard Western blots appear as a broad complex of variants that differ in pI on 2DE Western blots. The Ni-Sp185/333 protein repertoire is variable among animals, and shows a variety of changes among individual sea urchins in response to immune challenges with both the same and different species of bacteria. The extraordinary diversity of the Ni-Sp185/333 proteins may provide significant anti-pathogen capabilities for sea urchins that survive solely on innate immunity. PMID:26406912
Cytokine profiles show heterogeneity of interferon-β response in multiple sclerosis patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hegen, Harald; Adrianto, Indra; Lessard, Christopher J

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate serum cytokine profiles for their utility to determine the heterogeneous responses to interferon (IFN)-β treatment in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS: Patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) or clinically isolated syndrome receiving de novo IFN-β treatment...... were included in this prospective, observational study. Number of relapses and changes in disability were assessed 2 years prior to and 2 years after initiation of treatment. Sera were collected at baseline and after 3 months on therapy. Cytokine levels in sera were assessed by Luminex multiplex assays...
Planck 2013 results. VII. HFI time response and beams

CERN Document Server

Ade, P A R; Armitage-Caplan, C; Arnaud, M; Ashdown, M; Atrio-Barandela, F; Aumont, J; Baccigalupi, C; Banday, A J; Barreiro, R B; Battaner, E; Benabed, K; Benoît, A; Benoit-Lévy, A; Bernard, J -P; Bersanelli, M; Bielewicz, P; Bobin, J; Bock, J J; Bond, J R; Borrill, J; Bouchet, F R; Bowyer, J W; Bridges, M; Bucher, M; Burigana, C; Cardoso, J -F; Catalano, A; Challinor, A; Chamballu, A; Chary, R -R; Chiang, L -Y; Chiang, H C; Christensen, P R; Church, S; Clements, D L; Colombi, S; Colombo, L P L; Couchot, F; Coulais, A; Crill, B P; Curto, A; Cuttaia, F; Danese, L; Davies, R D; de Bernardis, P; de Rosa, A; de Zotti, G; Delabrouille, J; Delouis, J -M; Désert, F -X; Diego, J M; Dole, H; Donzelli, S; Doré, O; Douspis, M; Dunkley, J; Dupac, X; Efstathiou, G; Enßlin, T A; Eriksen, H K; Finelli, F; Forni, O; Frailis, M; Fraisse, A A; Franceschi, E; Galeotta, S; Ganga, K; Giard, M; Giraud-Héraud, Y; González-Nuevo, J; Górski, K M; Gratton, S; Gregorio, A; Gruppuso, A; Gudmundsson, J E; Haissinski, J; Hansen, F K; Hanson, D; Harrison, D; Henrot-Versillé, S; Hernández-Monteagudo, C; Herranz, D; Hildebrandt, S R; Hivon, E; Hobson, M; Holmes, W A; Hornstrup, A; Hou, Z; Hovest, W; Huffenberger, K M; Jaffe, T R; Jaffe, A H; Jones, W C; Juvela, M; Keihänen, E; Keskitalo, R; Kisner, T S; Kneissl, R; Knoche, J; Knox, L; Kunz, M; Kurki-Suonio, H; Lagache, G; Lamarre, J -M; Lasenby, A; Laureijs, R J; Lawrence, C R; Leonardi, R; Leroy, C; Lesgourgues, J; Liguori, M; Lilje, P B; Linden-Vørnle, M; López-Caniego, M; Lubin, P M; Macías-Pérez, J F; MacTavish, C J; Maffei, B; Mandolesi, N; Maris, M; Marshall, D J; Martin, P G; Martínez-González, E; Masi, S; Matarrese, S; Matsumura, T; Matthai, F; Mazzotta, P; McGehee, P; Melchiorri, A; Mendes, L; Mennella, A; Migliaccio, M; Mitra, S; Miville-Deschênes, M -A; Moneti, A; Montier, L; Morgante, G; Mortlock, D; Munshi, D; Murphy, J A; Naselsky, P; Nati, F; Natoli, P; Netterfield, C B; Nørgaard-Nielsen, H U; Noviello, F; Novikov, D; Novikov, I; Osborne, S; Oxborrow, C A; Paci, F; Pagano, L; Pajot, F; Paoletti, D; Pasian, F; Patanchon, G; Perdereau, O; Perotto, L; Perrotta, F; Piacentini, F; Piat, M; Pierpaoli, E; Pietrobon, D; Plaszczynski, S; Pointecouteau, E; Polegre, A M; Polenta, G; Ponthieu, N; Popa, L; Poutanen, T; Pratt, G W; Prézeau, G; Prunet, S; Puget, J -L; Rachen, J P; Reinecke, M; Remazeilles, M; Renault, C; Ricciardi, S; Riller, T; Ristorcelli, I; Rocha, G; Rosset, C; Roudier, G; Rowan-Robinson, M; Rusholme, B; Sandri, M; Santos, D; Sauvé, A; Savini, G; Shellard, E P S; Spencer, L D; Starck, J -L; Stolyarov, V; Stompor, R; Sudiwala, R; Sureau, F; Sutton, D; Suur-Uski, A -S; Sygnet, J -F; Tauber, J A; Tavagnacco, D; Terenzi, L; Tomasi, M; Tristram, M; Tucci, M; Umana, G; Valenziano, L; Valiviita, J; Van Tent, B; Vielva, P; Villa, F; Vittorio, N; Wade, L A; Wandelt, B D; Yvon, D; Zacchei, A; Zonca, A

2014-01-01

This paper characterizes the effective beams,the effective beam window functions and the associated errors for the Planck HFI detectors. The effective beam is the angular response including the effect of the optics,detectors,data processing and the scan strategy. The window function is the representation of this beam in the harmonic domain which is required to recover an unbiased measurement of the CMB angular power spectrum. The HFI is a scanning instrument and its effective beams are the convolution of: (a) the optical response of the telescope and feeds;(b)the processing of the time-ordered data and deconvolution of the bolometric and electronic time response; and (c) the merging of several surveys to produce maps. The time response functions are measured using observations of Jupiter and Saturn and by minimizing survey difference residuals. The scanning beam is the post-deconvolution angular response of the instrument, and is characterized with observations of Mars. The main beam solid angles are determin...
Pigeons (Columba livia) show change blindness in a color-change detection task.

Science.gov (United States)

Herbranson, Walter T; Jeffers, Jacob S

2017-07-01

Change blindness is a phenomenon whereby changes to a stimulus are more likely go unnoticed under certain circumstances. Pigeons learned a change detection task, in which they observed sequential stimulus displays consisting of individual colors back-projected onto three response keys. The color of one response key changed during each sequence and pecks to the key that displayed the change were reinforced. Pigeons showed a change blindness effect, in that change detection accuracy was worse when there was an inter-stimulus interval interrupting the transition between consecutive stimulus displays. Birds successfully transferred to stimulus displays involving novel colors, indicating that pigeons learned a general change detection rule. Furthermore, analysis of responses to specific color combinations showed that pigeons could detect changes involving both spectral and non-spectral colors and that accuracy was better for changes involving greater differences in wavelength. These results build upon previous investigations of change blindness in both humans and pigeons and suggest that change blindness may be a general consequence of selective visual attention relevant to multiple species and stimulus dimensions.
Migraine patients consistently show abnormal vestibular bedside tests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eliana Teixeira Maranhão

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Migraine and vertigo are common disorders, with lifetime prevalences of 16% and 7% respectively, and co-morbidity around 3.2%. Vestibular syndromes and dizziness occur more frequently in migraine patients. We investigated bedside clinical signs indicative of vestibular dysfunction in migraineurs.Objective To test the hypothesis that vestibulo-ocular reflex, vestibulo-spinal reflex and fall risk (FR responses as measured by 14 bedside tests are abnormal in migraineurs without vertigo, as compared with controls.Method Cross-sectional study including sixty individuals – thirty migraineurs, 25 women, 19-60 y-o; and 30 gender/age healthy paired controls.Results Migraineurs showed a tendency to perform worse in almost all tests, albeit only the Romberg tandem test was statistically different from controls. A combination of four abnormal tests better discriminated the two groups (93.3% specificity.Conclusion Migraine patients consistently showed abnormal vestibular bedside tests when compared with controls.
[An intractable gastric cancer showing an extremely effective response to immunochemotherapy].

Science.gov (United States)

Takashima, S; Komaki, H; Yokota, H; Kiriyama, M; Kinami, Y

1988-07-01

Reported herein is the case of a terminal patient with advanced gastric cancer who was shown an extremely effective response to immunochemotherapy. The patient, a 62-year-old female, was determined as having a gastric cancer, Borr. type 2, originating in the pyloric antrum. The tumor was found to be H3P3S2N2 (stage IV), and its histology revealed a mucus-producing papillary adeno-carcinoma, ss gamma, n(+), ly2, and V1. Thus the patient underwent a distal gastrectomy, and was given an operative administration of MMC, followed by postoperative immunochemotherapy with FT 207 and OK 432. Consequently, no ascites were noticed throughout the recuperative course, and repeated CT scannings of the hepatic metastatic lesions, revealed a remarkable regression. Two years after this operation, she resumed normal daily life. Further, her preoperatively elevated tumor markers have returned to normal.
Optimal Responsible Investment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jessen, Pernille

The paper studies retail Socially Responsible Investment and portfolio allocation. It extends conventional portfolio theory by allowing for a personal value based investment decision. When preferences for responsibility enter the framework for mean-variance analysis, it yields an optimal...... responsible investment model. An example of index investing illustrates the theory. Results show that it is crucial for the responsible investor to consider portfolio risk, expected return, and responsibility simultaneously in order to obtain an optimal portfolio. The model enables responsible investors...
Plutella xylostella (diamondback moth) and its parasitoid Diadegma semiclausum show different gustatory and longevity responses to a range of nectar and honeydew sugars

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Winkler, K.; Wäckers, F.L.; Stingli, A.; Van Lenteren, J.C.

2005-01-01

Parasitoids as well as many of their herbivorous hosts, depend on carbohydrate-rich food during the adult stage. Different types of nectar and honeydew vary with regard to their sugar composition. In order to successfully exploit a food source, the insect must show a positive gustatory response to
Tree ring proxies show physiological responses of eastern red cedar to increased CO2 and SO4 concentrations over the 20th century

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, R. B.; Spal, S.; Maxwell, S.; Nippert, J. B.

2011-12-01

We examined the relationships between tree growth during the past century and the ratio of internal carbon dioxide concentration to atmospheric CO2 concentration (ci/ca) and instantaneous water-use efficiency (iWUE) by analyzing δ13C in tree rings of Juniperus virginiana growing on a limestone outcrop in West Virginia, US. Tree rings from years 1909 to 2008 from five Juniperus virginiana trees that ranged from 116 years to over 300 years in age were measured for basal area growth and used for isotopic analysis. Instantaneous WUE increased from approximately 75 to 112μmol mmol-1 over the past century, representing a 49% increase. In addition, we found a positive relationship between iWUE and the basal area increase over this time period, suggesting the increase in WUE translated into greater growth of the Juniperus trees. Typically, we might expect that increased growth of these trees reflects increased photosynthetic rates and decreased stomatal conductance rates resulting from increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations. However, this area of the central Appalachian Mountains has historically received some of the highest rates of acid deposition in the nation resulting from being downwind from an abundance of coal-fired power plants in the Ohio River valley. Our results show that ci/ca declined 14% between 1909 and 1980, but increased 9.6% between 1980 and 2009. We hypothesize that the directional change in ci/ca that occurred around 1980 was due to a reduction in sulfur emissions imposed by the Clean Air Act, environmental legislation enacted in 1970 and amended in 1990. Sulfur deposition measured by the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) in West Virginia near our Juniperus site shows a 53% decline between 1979 and 2009 and these NADP data show a highly significant negative correlation with ci/ca of Juniperus over this time period. Previously, experimental studies have shown that acidic sulfur mist leaches calcium from leaves causing a reduction in
Eccentric muscle challenge shows osteopontin polymorphism modulation of muscle damage.

Science.gov (United States)

Barfield, Whitney L; Uaesoontrachoon, Kitipong; Wu, Chung-Sheih; Lin, Stephen; Chen, Yue; Wang, Paul C; Kanaan, Yasmine; Bond, Vernon; Hoffman, Eric P

2014-08-01

A promoter polymorphism of the osteopontin (OPN) gene (rs28357094) has been associated with multiple inflammatory states, severity of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and muscle size in healthy young adults. We sought to define the mechanism of action of the polymorphism, using allele-specific in vitro reporter assays in muscle cells, and a genotype-stratified intervention in healthy controls. In vitro reporter constructs showed the G allele to respond to estrogen treatment, whereas the T allele showed no transcriptional response. Young adult volunteers (n = 187) were enrolled into a baseline study, and subjects with specific rs28357094 genotypes enrolled into an eccentric muscle challenge intervention [n = 3 TT; n = 3 GG/GT (dominant inheritance model)]. Female volunteers carrying the G allele showed significantly greater inflammation and increased muscle volume change as determined by magnetic resonance imaging T1- and T2-weighted images after eccentric challenge, as well as greater decrement in biceps muscle force. Our data suggest a model where the G allele enables enhanced activities of upstream enhancer elements due to loss of Sp1 binding at the polymorphic site. This results in significantly greater expression of the pro-inflammatory OPN cytokine during tissue remodeling in response to challenge in G allele carriers, promoting muscle hypertrophy in normal females, but increased damage in DMD patients. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

Fish can show emotional fever: stress-induced hyperthermia in zebrafish.

Science.gov (United States)

Rey, Sonia; Huntingford, Felicity A; Boltaña, Sebastian; Vargas, Reynaldo; Knowles, Toby G; Mackenzie, Simon

2015-11-22

Whether fishes are sentient beings remains an unresolved and controversial question. Among characteristics thought to reflect a low level of sentience in fishes is an inability to show stress-induced hyperthermia (SIH), a transient rise in body temperature shown in response to a variety of stressors. This is a real fever response, so is often referred to as 'emotional fever'. It has been suggested that the capacity for emotional fever evolved only in amniotes (mammals, birds and reptiles), in association with the evolution of consciousness in these groups. According to this view, lack of emotional fever in fishes reflects a lack of consciousness. We report here on a study in which six zebrafish groups with access to a temperature gradient were either left as undisturbed controls or subjected to a short period of confinement. The results were striking: compared to controls, stressed zebrafish spent significantly more time at higher temperatures, achieving an estimated rise in body temperature of about 2-4°C. Thus, zebrafish clearly have the capacity to show emotional fever. While the link between emotion and consciousness is still debated, this finding removes a key argument for lack of consciousness in fishes. © 2015 The Authors.
A chimeric protein of aluminum-activated malate transporter generated from wheat and Arabidopsis shows enhanced response to trivalent cations.

Science.gov (United States)

Sasaki, Takayuki; Tsuchiya, Yoshiyuki; Ariyoshi, Michiyo; Ryan, Peter R; Yamamoto, Yoko

2016-07-01

TaALMT1 from wheat (Triticum aestivum) and AtALMT1 from Arabidopsis thaliana encode aluminum (Al)-activated malate transporters, which confer acid-soil tolerance by releasing malate from roots. Chimeric proteins from TaALMT1 and AtALMT1 (Ta::At, At::Ta) were previously analyzed in Xenopus laevis oocytes. Those studies showed that Al could activate malate efflux from the Ta::At chimera but not from At::Ta. Here, functions of TaALMT1, AtALMT1 and the chimeric protein Ta::At were compared in cultured tobacco BY-2 cells. We focused on the sensitivity and specificity of their activation by trivalent cations. The activation of malate efflux by Al was at least two-fold greater in the chimera than the native proteins. All proteins were also activated by lanthanides (erbium, ytterbium, gadolinium, and lanthanum), but the chimera again released more malate than TaALMT1 or AtALMT1. In Xenopus oocytes, Al, ytterbium, and erbium activated inward currents from the native TaALMT1 and the chimeric protein, but gadolinium only activated currents from the chimera. Lanthanum inhibited currents from both proteins. These results demonstrated that function of the chimera protein was altered compared to the native proteins and was more responsive to a range of trivalent cations when expressed in plant cells. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Perch, Perca fluviatilis show a directional preference for, but do not increase attacks toward, prey in response to water-borne cortisol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lindsay J. Henderson

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In freshwater environments, chemosensory cues play an important role in predator-prey interactions. Prey use a variety of chemosensory cues to detect and avoid predators. However, whether predators use the chemical cues released by disturbed or stressed prey has received less attention. Here we tested the hypothesis that the disturbance cue cortisol, in conjunction with visual cues of prey, elevates predatory behavior. We presented predators (perch, Perca fluviatilis with three chemosensory choice tests and recorded their location, orientation, and aggressive behavior. We compared the responses of predators when provided with (i visual cues of prey only (two adjacent tanks containing sticklebacks; (ii visual and natural chemical cues of prey vs. visual cues only; and (iii visual cues of prey with cortisol vs. visual cues only. Perch spent a significantly higher proportion of time in proximity to prey, and orientated toward prey more, when presented with a cortisol stimulus plus visual cues, relative to presentations of visual and natural chemical cues of prey, or visual cues of prey only. There was a trend that perch directed a higher proportion of predatory behaviors (number of lunges toward sticklebacks when presented with a cortisol stimulus plus visual cues, relative to the other chemosensory conditions. But they did not show a significant increase in total predatory behavior in response to cortisol. Therefore, it is not clear whether water-borne cortisol, in conjunction with visual cues of prey, affects predatory behavior. Our results provide evidence that cortisol could be a source of public information about prey state and/or disturbance, but further work is required to confirm this.
Comparison of the response of various TLDs to cosmic radiation and ion beams: Current results of the HAMLET project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bilski, P.; Berger, T.; Hajek, M.; Reitz, G.

2011-01-01

HAMLET is an European Commission research project aiming at optimal scientific exploitation of the data produced within the space experiment MATROSHKA. During phase 1 of this experiment a human phantom equipped with several thousands of radiation detectors (mainly TLDs) was exposed outside the International Space Station for 1.5 years. Besides the measurements realized in Earth orbit, the HAMLET project includes also a ground-based program of intercomparison of detector response to high-energy ion beams. Within the paper, the relative response of main glow-curve peaks of various TLDs (mostly based on LiF) used in frame of the MATROSHKA experiment by three laboratories (DLR Cologne, ATI Vienna and IFJ Krakow) for radiation in space and several ion beams, has been compared. For LiF:Mg,Ti detectors a very good agreement between results obtained by the three laboratories was observed, both for space and accelerator-based exposures. This should be considered a remarkable result, taking into account that the studied TLDs originated from six different batches, manufactured by two producers exploiting different production techniques and were processed by three laboratories, using significantly different protocols (annealing, readout, calibration, glow-curve analysis). Another type of TL detectors, LiF:Mg,Cu,P, was found to show response to cosmic radiation lower than that of LiF:Mg,Ti by 5%–18%.
Obligate brood parasites show more functionally effective innate immune responses: an eco-immunological hypothesis

Science.gov (United States)

Hahn, D. Caldwell; Summers, Scott G.; Genovese, Kenneth J.; He, Haiqi; Kogut, Michael H.

2013-01-01

Immune adaptations of obligate brood parasites attracted interest when three New World cowbird species (Passeriformes, Icteridae, genus Molothrus) proved unusually resistant to West Nile virus. We have used cowbirds as models to investigate the eco-immunological hypothesis that species in parasite-rich environments characteristically have enhanced immunity as a life history adaptation. As part of an ongoing program to understand the cowbird immune system, in this study we measured degranulation and oxidative burst, two fundamental responses of the innate immune system. Innate immunity provides non-specific, fast-acting defenses against a variety of invading pathogens, and we hypothesized that innate immunity experiences particularly strong selection in cowbirds, because their life history strategy exposes them to diverse novel and unpredictable parasites. We compared the relative effectiveness of degranulation and oxidative burst responses in two cowbird species and one related, non-parasitic species. Both innate immune defenses were significantly more functionally efficient in the two parasitic cowbird species than in the non-parasitic red-winged blackbird (Icteridae, Agelaius phoeniceus). Additionally, both immune defenses were more functionally efficient in the brown-headed cowbird (M. ater), an extreme host-generalist brood parasite, than in the bronzed cowbird (M. aeneus), a moderate host-specialist with lower exposure to other species and their parasites. Thus the relative effectiveness of these two innate immune responses corresponds to the diversity of parasites in the niche of each species and to their relative resistance to WNV. This study is the first use of these two specialized assays in a comparative immunology study of wild avian species.
Nav 1.8-null mice show stimulus-dependent deficits in spinal neuronal activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wood John N

2006-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The voltage gated sodium channel Nav 1.8 has a highly restricted expression pattern to predominantly nociceptive peripheral sensory neurones. Behaviourally Nav 1.8-null mice show an increased acute pain threshold to noxious mechanical pressure and also deficits in inflammatory and visceral, but not neuropathic pain. Here we have made in vivo electrophysiology recordings of dorsal horn neurones in intact anaesthetised Nav 1.8-null mice, in response to a wide range of stimuli to further the understanding of the functional roles of Nav 1.8 in pain transmission from the periphery to the spinal cord. Results Nav 1.8-null mice showed marked deficits in the coding by dorsal horn neurones to mechanical, but not thermal, -evoked responses over the non-noxious and noxious range compared to littermate controls. Additionally, responses evoked to other stimulus modalities were also significantly reduced in Nav 1.8-null mice where the reduction observed to pinch > brush. The occurrence of ongoing spontaneous neuronal activity was significantly less in mice lacking Nav 1.8 compared to control. No difference was observed between groups in the evoked activity to electrical activity of the peripheral receptive field. Conclusion This study demonstrates that deletion of the sodium channel Nav 1.8 results in stimulus-dependent deficits in the dorsal horn neuronal coding to mechanical, but not thermal stimuli applied to the neuronal peripheral receptive field. This implies that Nav 1.8 is either responsible for, or associated with proteins involved in mechanosensation.
An Island of Stability: Art Images and Natural Scenes - but Not Natural Faces - Show Consistent Esthetic Response in Alzheimer's-Related Dementia.

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, Daniel J; Stockinger, Simone; Leder, Helmut

2013-01-01

Alzheimer's disease (AD) causes severe impairments in cognitive function but there is evidence that aspects of esthetic perception are somewhat spared, at least in early stages of the disease. People with early Alzheimer's-related dementia have been found to show similar degrees of stability over time in esthetic judgment of paintings compared to controls, despite poor explicit memory for the images. Here we expand on this line of inquiry to investigate the types of perceptual judgments involved, and to test whether people in later stages of the disease also show evidence of preserved esthetic judgment. Our results confirm that, compared to healthy controls, there is similar esthetic stability in early stage AD in the absence of explicit memory, and we report here that people with later stages of the disease also show similar stability compared to controls. However, while we find that stability for portrait paintings, landscape paintings, and landscape photographs is not different compared to control group performance, stability for face photographs - which were matched for identity with the portrait paintings - was significantly impaired in the AD group. We suggest that partially spared face-processing systems interfere with esthetic processing of natural faces in ways that are not found for artistic images and landscape photographs. Thus, our work provides a novel form of evidence regarding face-processing in healthy and diseased aging. Our work also gives insights into general theories of esthetics, since people with AD are not encumbered by many of the semantic and emotional factors that otherwise color esthetic judgment. We conclude that, for people with AD, basic esthetic judgment of artistic images represents an "island of stability" in a condition that in most other respects causes profound cognitive disruption. As such, esthetic response could be a promising route to future therapies.
The sandfly Lutzomyia longipalpis LL5 embryonic cell line has active Toll and Imd pathways and shows immune responses to bacteria, yeast and Leishmania.

Science.gov (United States)

Tinoco-Nunes, Bruno; Telleria, Erich Loza; da Silva-Neves, Monique; Marques, Christiane; Azevedo-Brito, Daisy Aline; Pitaluga, André Nóbrega; Traub-Csekö, Yara Maria

2016-04-20

Lutzomyia longipalpis is the main vector of visceral leishmaniasis in Latin America. Sandfly immune responses are poorly understood. In previous work we showed that these vector insects respond to bacterial infections by modulating a defensin gene expression and activate the Imd pathway in response to Leishmania infection. Aspects of innate immune pathways in insects (including mosquito vectors of human diseases) have been revealed by studying insect cell lines, and we have previously demonstrated antiviral responses in the L. longipalpis embryonic cell line LL5. The expression patterns of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and transcription factors were evaluated after silencing the repressors of the Toll pathway (cactus) and Imd pathway (caspar). AMPs and transcription factor expression patterns were also evaluated after challenge with heat-killed bacteria, heat-killed yeast, or live Leishmania. These studies showed that LL5 cells have active Toll and Imd pathways, since they displayed an increased expression of AMP genes following silencing of the repressors cactus and caspar, respectively. These pathways were also activated by challenges with bacteria, yeast and Leishmania infantum chagasi. We demonstrated that L. longipalpis LL5 embryonic cells respond to immune stimuli and are therefore a good model to study the immunological pathways of this important vector of leishmaniasis.
Long-term changes in cognitive bias and coping response as a result of chronic unpredictable stress during adolescence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lauren eChaby

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Animals that experience adverse events in early life often have life-long changes to their physiology and behavior. Long-term effects of stress during early life have been studied extensively, but less attention has been given to the consequences of negative experiences solely during the adolescent phase. Adolescence is a particularly sensitive period of life when regulation of the glucocorticoid stress hormone response matures and specific regions in the brain undergo considerable change. Aversive experiences during this time might, therefore, be expected to generate long-term consequences for the adult phenotype. Here we investigated the long-term effects of exposure to chronic unpredictable stress during adolescence on adult decision making, coping response, cognitive bias, and exploratory behavior in rats. Rats exposed to chronic unpredictable stress (e.g. isolation, crowding, cage tilt were compared to control animals that were maintained in standard, predictable conditions throughout development. Unpredictable stress during adolescence resulted in a suite of long-term behavioral and cognitive changes including a negative cognitive bias (F1,12 = 5.000, P < 0.05, altered coping response (T1,14 = 2.216, P = 0.04, and accelerated decision making (T1,14 = 3.245, P = 0.01. Exposure to chronic stress during adolescence also caused a short-term increase in boldness behaviors; in a novel object test 15 days after the last stressor, animals exposed to chronic unpredictable stress had decreased latencies to leave a familiar shelter and approach a novel object (T1,14 = 2.240, P = 0.04; T1,14 = 2.419, P = 0.03, respectively. The results showed that stress during adolescence has long-term impacts on behavior and cognition that affect the interpretation of ambiguous stimuli, behavioral response to adverse events, and how animals make decisions. Stress during adolescence also induced short-term changes in the way animals moved around a novel environment.
The Demand Side Response to Multi-zone Tariffs. Consumer Test Results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam Olszewski

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI is a technologically advanced solution currently implemented by the most innovative distribution system operators. ENERGA-OPERATOR SA set about preparing for smart metering implementation in 2010. So far the company has installed over 400,000 meters in its area, and plans to install a further 450,000 in 2015. Kalisz, the first fully AMI-covered city in Poland, was chosen for an in-depth analysis of the system. In particular, a consumer test was conducted there with the intention of answering the question about the strength of the demand side response to multi-zone tariffs and power reduction. Conclusions from the year-long test show the demand side response to multi-zone tariffs – i.e. the maximum temporary percentage reduction of energy consumption in the time zone with the tariff raised by a min. of 80% – stays within the 5–15% range. In the case of power reduction (the maximum temporary reduction of energy consumption in the time zone when the power available to a household is limited to 1 kW – the demand side response stays within the 10–30% range. An additional effect of tariff diversification and smart metering is a reduction in electricity consumption by 1–4% on working days (i.e. this is the effect of either the consumption reduction or shifting it to weekends. During the test energy consumers were subjected to both price incentives and education. Due to the fact that it is difficult to separate the effects of education and tariff structures, the company plans to continue the research related to verifying the effectiveness of individual activation tools in reducing electricity consumption by households.
Bonobos (Pan paniscus) show an attentional bias toward conspecifics' emotions.

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Kret, Mariska E; Jaasma, Linda; Bionda, Thomas; Wijnen, Jasper G

2016-04-05

In social animals, the fast detection of group members' emotional expressions promotes swift and adequate responses, which is crucial for the maintenance of social bonds and ultimately for group survival. The dot-probe task is a well-established paradigm in psychology, measuring emotional attention through reaction times. Humans tend to be biased toward emotional images, especially when the emotion is of a threatening nature. Bonobos have rich, social emotional lives and are known for their soft and friendly character. In the present study, we investigated (i) whether bonobos, similar to humans, have an attentional bias toward emotional scenes compared with conspecifics showing a neutral expression, and (ii) which emotional behaviors attract their attention the most. As predicted, results consistently showed that bonobos' attention was biased toward the location of the emotional versus neutral scene. Interestingly, their attention was grabbed most by images showing conspecifics such as sexual behavior, yawning, or grooming, and not as much-as is often observed in humans-by signs of distress or aggression. The results suggest that protective and affiliative behaviors are pivotal in bonobo society and therefore attract immediate attention in this species.
The interplay of multiple feedback loops with post-translational kinetics results in bistability of mycobacterial stress response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tiwari, Abhinav; Igoshin, Oleg A; Balázsi, Gábor; Gennaro, Maria Laura

2010-01-01

Bacterial persistence is the phenomenon in which a genetically identical fraction of a bacterial population can survive exposure to stress by reduction or cessation of growth. Persistence in mycobacteria has been recently linked to a stress-response network, consisting of the MprA/MprB two-component system and alternative sigma factor σ E . This network contains multiple positive transcriptional feedback loops which may give rise to bistability, making it a good candidate for controlling the mycobacterial persistence switch. To analyze the possibility of bistability, we develop a method that involves decoupling of the network into transcriptional and post-translational interaction modules. As a result we reduce the dimensionality of the dynamical system and independently analyze input–output relations in the two modules to formulate a necessary condition for bistability in terms of their logarithmic gains. We show that neither the positive autoregulation in the MprA/MprB network nor the σ E -mediated transcriptional feedback is sufficient to induce bistability in a biochemically realistic parameter range. Nonetheless, inclusion of the post-translational regulation of σ E by RseA increases the effective cooperativity of the system, resulting in bistability that is robust to parameter variation. We predict that overexpression or deletion of RseA, the key element controlling the ultrasensitive response, can eliminate bistability
Long-term changes in cognitive bias and coping response as a result of chronic unpredictable stress during adolescence.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaby, Lauren E; Cavigelli, Sonia A; White, Amanda; Wang, Kayllie; Braithwaite, Victoria A

2013-01-01

Animals that experience adverse events in early life often have life-long changes to their physiology and behavior. Long-term effects of stress during early life have been studied extensively, but less attention has been given to the consequences of negative experiences solely during the adolescent phase. Adolescence is a particularly sensitive period of life when regulation of the glucocorticoid "stress" hormone response matures and specific regions in the brain undergo considerable change. Aversive experiences during this time might, therefore, be expected to generate long-term consequences for the adult phenotype. Here we investigated the long-term effects of exposure to chronic unpredictable stress during adolescence on adult decision-making, coping response, cognitive bias, and exploratory behavior in rats. Rats exposed to chronic unpredictable stress (e.g., isolation, crowding, cage tilt) were compared to control animals that were maintained in standard, predictable conditions throughout development. Unpredictable stress during adolescence resulted in a suite of long-term behavioral and cognitive changes including a negative cognitive bias [F (1, 12) = 5.000, P chronic stress during adolescence also caused a short-term increase in boldness behaviors; in a novel object test 15 days after the last stressor, animals exposed to chronic unpredictable stress had decreased latencies to leave a familiar shelter and approach a novel object [T (1, 14) = 2.240, P = 0.04; T (1, 14) = 2.419, P = 0.03, respectively]. The results showed that stress during adolescence has long-term impacts on behavior and cognition that affect the interpretation of ambiguous stimuli, behavioral response to adverse events, and how animals make decisions.
Pancreatic beta cells from db/db mice show cell-specific [Ca2+]i and NADH responses to glucose but not to alpha-ketoisocaproic acid

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gustavsson, Natalia; Larsson-Nyrén, Gerd; Lindström, Per

2005-01-01

OBJECTIVE: We recently showed that timing and magnitude of the glucose-induced cytoplasmic calcium [Ca2+]i response are reproducible and specific for the individual beta cell. We now wanted to identify which step(s) of stimulus-secretion coupling determine the cell specificity of the [Ca2+]i resp...
Late effects of atomic bomb radiation on human immune responses, (10); Results on studies of immune responses to EB-virus

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kusunoki, Yoichiro; Kyoizumi, Seishi; Ozaki, Kyoko; Saito, Mayumi; Cologne, J.B.; Akiyama, Mitoshi (Radiation Effects Research Foundation, Hiroshima (Japan))

1992-12-01

Anti-Epstein-Barr (EV) virus antibody titers were measured in age- and sex-matched three groups of each 124 A-bomb survivors who had exposed to <0.01 Gy, 0.01-1 Gy, or >1 Gy. These serum samples showed positive antibodies against viral capsid antigens (VCA). Antibody titers to anti-VCA-IgM or anti-EA-IgG were significantly higher in the groups of 0.01-1 Gy and >1 Gy than in the group of <0.01 Gy, reflecting decreased immune response ability for EV virus. When precursor frequency of cytotoxic cells against autologous EB virus LCL was determined in 68 other A-bomb survivors, no definitive influence of A-bombing was observed. However, serological study revealed that there was inverse correlation between precursor frequency and anti-EA-IgG antibody titer. These findings suggest that the immune response ability for EB virus may have been damaged and that biological reactivity of EB virus may occur frequently in A-bomb survivors. (N.K.).
Coupling External Radiation Transport Code Results to the GADRAS Detector Response Function

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitchell, Dean J.; Thoreson, Gregory G.; Horne, Steven M.

2014-01-01

Simulating gamma spectra is useful for analyzing special nuclear materials. Gamma spectra are influenced not only by the source and the detector, but also by the external, and potentially complex, scattering environment. The scattering environment can make accurate representations of gamma spectra difficult to obtain. By coupling the Monte Carlo Nuclear Particle (MCNP) code with the Gamma Detector Response and Analysis Software (GADRAS) detector response function, gamma spectrum simulations can be computed with a high degree of fidelity even in the presence of a complex scattering environment. Traditionally, GADRAS represents the external scattering environment with empirically derived scattering parameters. By modeling the external scattering environment in MCNP and using the results as input for the GADRAS detector response function, gamma spectra can be obtained with a high degree of fidelity. This method was verified with experimental data obtained in an environment with a significant amount of scattering material. The experiment used both gamma-emitting sources and moderated and bare neutron-emitting sources. The sources were modeled using GADRAS and MCNP in the presence of the external scattering environment, producing accurate representations of the experimental data.
[A case of a geriatric patient with stage IV anal canal cancer showing complete response to chemoradiation therapy].

Science.gov (United States)

Kuroda, Masatoshi; Hirai, Ryuji; Ikeda, Eiji; Tsuji, Hisashi; Takagi, Shoji; Yamano, Toshihisa; Yoshitomi, Seiji

2012-11-01

We present a case in which chemoradiation therapy was effective in a geriatric patient with Stage IV anal canal cancer. The patient is an 81-year-old woman who complained of proctorrhagia and anal pain. She was referred to us by her family doctor who suspected rectal cancer. Tumors as large as 6.5 cm in diameter mainly on the right side of the rectum as well as 2 palpable enlarged lymph nodes on the right inguinal area, were found during the initial physical examination. Squamous cell carcinoma was elevated to 16 ng/mL. A CT scan revealed that irregularly shaped masses as large as 7 cm in diameter were externally exposed on the right side of the rectum along with enlarged lymph nodes on the right inguinal area and metastasis at S7 lesion in the liver. Squamous cell carcinoma was diagnosed from biopsy results. Due to her age, the chemotherapy regimen was S-1+CDDP with radiation therapy and 4-port irradiation (50.4 Gy) of the primary tumor, interior of the pelvis, and inguinal lymph nodes. Partial response was observed upon completion of treatment, and complete response was obtained after 6 months. She is currently an outpatient taking S-1: 60 mg/day orally. There is no indication of cancer recurrence after 1 year and 3 months, and she continues to visit an outpatient clinic for regular follow-ups. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of chemoradiation therapy for geriatric patients with Stage IV anal canal cancer.
Hibernating little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) show variable immunological responses to white-nose syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Marianne S; Reichard, Jonathan D; Murtha, Timothy D; Nabhan, Morgan L; Pian, Rachel E; Ferreira, Jennifer S; Kunz, Thomas H

2013-01-01

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is an emerging infectious disease devastating hibernating North American bat populations that is caused by the psychrophilic fungus Geomyces destructans. Previous histopathological analysis demonstrated little evidence of inflammatory responses in infected bats, however few studies have compared other aspects of immune function between WNS-affected and unaffected bats. We collected bats from confirmed WNS-affected and unaffected sites during the winter of 2008-2009 and compared estimates of their circulating levels of total leukocytes, total immunoglobulins, cytokines and total antioxidants. Bats from affected and unaffected sites did not differ in their total circulating immunoglobulin levels, but significantly higher leukocyte counts were observed in bats from affected sites and particularly in affected bats with elevated body temperatures (above 20°C). Bats from WNS-affected sites exhibited significantly lower antioxidant activity and levels of interleukin-4 (IL-4), a cytokine that induces T cell differentiation. Within affected sites only, bats exhibiting visible fungal infections had significantly lower antioxidant activity and levels of IL-4 compared to bats without visible fungal infections. Overall, bats hibernating in WNS-affected sites showed immunological changes that may be evident of attempted defense against G. destructans. Observed changes, specifically elevated circulating leukocytes, may also be related to the documented changes in thermoregulatory behaviors of affected bats (i.e. increased frequencies in arousal from torpor). Alterations in immune function may reflect expensive energetic costs associated with these processes and intrinsic qualities of the immunocapability of hibernating bats to clear fungal infections. Additionally, lowered antioxidant activity indicates a possible imbalance in the pro- versus antioxidant system, may reflect oxidative tissue damage, and should be investigated as a contributor to WNS
Hibernating little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus show variable immunological responses to white-nose syndrome.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marianne S Moore

Full Text Available White-nose syndrome (WNS is an emerging infectious disease devastating hibernating North American bat populations that is caused by the psychrophilic fungus Geomyces destructans. Previous histopathological analysis demonstrated little evidence of inflammatory responses in infected bats, however few studies have compared other aspects of immune function between WNS-affected and unaffected bats. We collected bats from confirmed WNS-affected and unaffected sites during the winter of 2008-2009 and compared estimates of their circulating levels of total leukocytes, total immunoglobulins, cytokines and total antioxidants. Bats from affected and unaffected sites did not differ in their total circulating immunoglobulin levels, but significantly higher leukocyte counts were observed in bats from affected sites and particularly in affected bats with elevated body temperatures (above 20°C. Bats from WNS-affected sites exhibited significantly lower antioxidant activity and levels of interleukin-4 (IL-4, a cytokine that induces T cell differentiation. Within affected sites only, bats exhibiting visible fungal infections had significantly lower antioxidant activity and levels of IL-4 compared to bats without visible fungal infections. Overall, bats hibernating in WNS-affected sites showed immunological changes that may be evident of attempted defense against G. destructans. Observed changes, specifically elevated circulating leukocytes, may also be related to the documented changes in thermoregulatory behaviors of affected bats (i.e. increased frequencies in arousal from torpor. Alterations in immune function may reflect expensive energetic costs associated with these processes and intrinsic qualities of the immunocapability of hibernating bats to clear fungal infections. Additionally, lowered antioxidant activity indicates a possible imbalance in the pro- versus antioxidant system, may reflect oxidative tissue damage, and should be investigated as a
Behavioural changes, sharing behaviour and psychological responses after receiving direct-to-consumer genetic test results: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, Kelly F J; Wesselius, Anke; Schreurs, Maartje A C; Schols, Annemie M W J; Zeegers, Maurice P

2018-01-01

It has been hypothesised that direct-to-consumer genetic tests (DTC-GTs) could stimulate health behaviour change. However, genetic testing may also lead to anxiety and distress or unnecessarily burden the health care system. The aim is to review and meta-analyse the effects of DTC-GT on (1) behaviour change, (2) psychological response and (3) medical consumption. A systematic literature search was performed in three databases, using "direct-to-consumer genetic testing" as a key search term. Random effects meta-analyses were performed when at least two comparable outcomes were available. After selection, 19 articles were included involving 11 unique studies. Seven studies involved actual consumers who paid the retail price, whereas four included participants who received free genetic testing as part of a research trial (non-actual consumers). In meta-analysis, 23% had a positive lifestyle change. More specifically, improved dietary and exercise practices were both reported by 12%, whereas 19% quit smoking. Seven percent of participants had subsequent preventive checks. Thirty-three percent shared their results with any health care professional and 50% with family and/or friends. Sub-analyses show that behaviour change was more prevalent among non-actual consumers, whereas sharing was more prevalent among actual consumers. Results on psychological responses showed that anxiety, distress and worry were low or absent and that the effect faded with time. DTC-GT has potential to be effective as a health intervention, but the right audience needs to be addressed with tailored follow-up. Research is needed to identify consumers who do and do not change behaviour or experience adverse psychological responses.

White bread enriched with polyphenol extracts shows no effect on glycemic response or satiety, yet may increase postprandial insulin economy in healthy participants.

Science.gov (United States)

Coe, Shelly; Ryan, Lisa

2016-02-01

Extracts from different plant sources have been shown to modify starch digestion from carbohydrate-rich foods and lower resulting glycemia. It was hypothesized that extracts rich in polyphenols, added to white bread, would improve the glycemic response and insulin response and increase satiety in healthy participants. An in vitro dose-response analysis was performed to determine the optimal dose of a variety of extracts (baobab fruit extract, green tea extract, grape seed extract, and resveratrol) for reducing rapidly digestible starch in white bread. The 2 extracts with the greatest sugar reducing potential were then used for the human study in which 13 volunteers (9 female and 4 male) were recruited for a crossover trial of 3 different meals. On separate days, participants consumed a control white bread, white bread with green tea extract (0.4%), and white bread with baobab fruit extract (1.88%). Glycemic response, insulin response, and satiety were measured 3 hours postprandially. Although enriched breads did not reduce glycemic response or hunger, white bread with added baobab fruit extract significantly (P bread to improve insulin economy in healthy adults. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
A New Method for a Virtue-Based Responsible Conduct of Research Curriculum: Pilot Test Results.

Science.gov (United States)

Berling, Eric; McLeskey, Chet; O'Rourke, Michael; Pennock, Robert T

2018-02-03

Drawing on Pennock's theory of scientific virtues, we are developing an alternative curriculum for training scientists in the responsible conduct of research (RCR) that emphasizes internal values rather than externally imposed rules. This approach focuses on the virtuous characteristics of scientists that lead to responsible and exemplary behavior. We have been pilot-testing one element of such a virtue-based approach to RCR training by conducting dialogue sessions, modeled upon the approach developed by Toolbox Dialogue Initiative, that focus on a specific virtue, e.g., curiosity and objectivity. During these structured discussions, small groups of scientists explore the roles they think the focus virtue plays and should play in the practice of science. Preliminary results have shown that participants strongly prefer this virtue-based model over traditional methods of RCR training. While we cannot yet definitively say that participation in these RCR sessions contributes to responsible conduct, these pilot results are encouraging and warrant continued development of this virtue-based approach to RCR training.
Results of the radiologic emergencies response in the state of Sao Paulo during the last five years

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boni-Mitake, Malvina; Suzuki, Fabio F.; Nicolau, Jose R.A.; Rodrigues, Demerval L.

2001-01-01

Radiation is often associated with bombs, diseases, and destruction rather than with the many benefits of nuclear technology that are present in the daily life. The radiation risk symbol still frightens the population. In addition, small risks related to nuclear area are overestimated. So, when there is a radiological accident, a prompt response is necessary because some of its major deleterious impacts are not quantified just in terms of radiation dose, but they are related to the risk perceived, and in many cases, wrong information or just lack of information induces fear or anxiety. In case of unusual situations involving radiation sources in Sao Paulo State, the people can contact IPEN-CNEN/SP Nuclear and Radiological Emergency Response Team by telephone. The objective of this paper is to show the results obtained in the last five years. In this period, there were 89 calls. About half of those calls were performed by intervening organizations, as Fire Department or Civil Defense. Most of the situations presented low potential risks and some did not involve radiation sources. The results indicate that arrangements should be made for training the intervening organization personnel, which usually are the first ones that arrive at the emergency scene, in fundamentals of radiological protection, including both theoretical and practical aspects. Moreover, major efforts should be intended to divulge and clarify the public about the peaceful uses of nuclear technology, focusing the safety requirements and the regulatory control over the radiation sources. (author)
An island of stability: art images and natural scenes—but not natural faces—show consistent aesthetic response in Alzheimer’s-related dementia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel eGraham

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Alzheimer’s disease causes severe impairments in cognitive function but there is evidence that aspects of aesthetic perception are somewhat spared, at least in early stages of the disease. People with early Alzheimer’s-related dementia have been found to show similar degrees of stability over time in aesthetic judgment of paintings compared to controls, despite poor explicit memory for the images. Here we expand on this line of inquiry to investigate the types of perceptual judgments involved, and to test whether people in later stages of the disease also show evidence of preserved aesthetic judgment. Our results confirm that, compared to healthy controls, there is similar aesthetic stability in early stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD in the absence of explicit memory, and we report here that people with later stages of the disease also show similar stability compared to controls. However, while we find that stability for portrait paintings, landscape paintings, and landscape photographs is not different compared to control group performance, stability for face photographs—which were matched for identity with the portrait paintings—was significantly impaired in the AD group. We suggest that partially spared face-processing systems interfere with aesthetic processing of natural faces in ways that are not found for artistic images and landscape photographs. Thus, our work provides a novel form of evidence regarding face processing in healthy and diseased ageing. Our work also gives insights into general theories of aesthetics, since people with Alzheimer’s disease are not encumbered by many of the semantic and emotional factors that otherwise color aesthetic judgment. We conclude that, for people with Alzheimer’s disease, basic aesthetic judgment of artistic images represents an island of stability in a condition that in most other respects causes profound cognitive disruption. As such, aesthetic response could be a promising route to
Two tropical conifers show strong growth and water-use efficiency responses to altered CO2 concentration.

Science.gov (United States)

Dalling, James W; Cernusak, Lucas A; Winter, Klaus; Aranda, Jorge; Garcia, Milton; Virgo, Aurelio; Cheesman, Alexander W; Baresch, Andres; Jaramillo, Carlos; Turner, Benjamin L

2016-11-01

Conifers dominated wet lowland tropical forests 100 million years ago (MYA). With a few exceptions in the Podocarpaceae and Araucariaceae, conifers are now absent from this biome. This shift to angiosperm dominance also coincided with a large decline in atmospheric CO 2 concentration (c a ). We compared growth and physiological performance of two lowland tropical angiosperms and conifers at c a levels representing pre-industrial (280 ppm), ambient (400 ppm) and Eocene (800 ppm) conditions to explore how differences in c a affect the growth and water-use efficiency (WUE) of seedlings from these groups. Two conifers (Araucaria heterophylla and Podocarpus guatemalensis) and two angiosperm trees (Tabebuia rosea and Chrysophyllum cainito) were grown in climate-controlled glasshouses in Panama. Growth, photosynthetic rates, nutrient uptake, and nutrient use and water-use efficiencies were measured. Podocarpus seedlings showed a stronger (66 %) increase in relative growth rate with increasing c a relative to Araucaria (19 %) and the angiosperms (no growth enhancement). The response of Podocarpus is consistent with expectations for species with conservative growth traits and low mesophyll diffusion conductance. While previous work has shown limited stomatal response of conifers to c a , we found that the two conifers had significantly greater increases in leaf and whole-plant WUE than the angiosperms, reflecting increased photosynthetic rate and reduced stomatal conductance. Foliar nitrogen isotope ratios (δ 15 N) and soil nitrate concentrations indicated a preference in Podocarpus for ammonium over nitrate, which may impact nitrogen uptake relative to nitrate assimilators under high c a SIGNIFICANCE: Podocarps colonized tropical forests after angiosperms achieved dominance and are now restricted to infertile soils. Although limited to a single species, our data suggest that higher c a may have been favourable for podocarp colonization of tropical South America 60�
Female emotional eaters show abnormalities in consummatory and anticipatory food reward: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bohon, Cara; Stice, Eric; Spoor, Sonja

2009-04-01

To test the hypothesis that emotional eaters show greater neural activation in response to food intake and anticipated food intake than nonemotional eaters and whether these differences are amplified during a negative versus neutral mood state. Female emotional eaters and nonemotional eaters (N = 21) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during receipt and anticipated receipt of chocolate milkshake and a tasteless control solution while in a negative and neutral mood. Emotional eaters showed greater activation in the parahippocampal gyrus and anterior cingulate (ACC) in response to anticipated receipt of milkshake and greater activation in the pallidum, thalamus, and ACC in response to receipt of milkshake during a negative relative to a neutral mood. In contrast, nonemotional eaters showed decreased activation in reward regions during a negative versus a neutral mood. Results suggest that emotional eating is related to increased anticipatory and consummatory food reward, but only during negative mood. (c) 2008 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Validation of dose-response calibration curve for X-Ray field of CRCN-NE/CNEN: preliminary results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silva, Laís Melo; Mendonç, Julyanne Conceição de Goes; Andrade, Aida Mayra Guedes de; Hwang, Suy F.; Mendes, Mariana Esposito; Lima, Fabiana F., E-mail: falima@cnen.gov.br, E-mail: mendes_sb@hotmail.com [Centro Regional de Ciências Nucleares, (CRCN-NE/CNEN-PE), Recife, PE (Brazil); Melo, Ana Maria M.A., E-mail: july_cgm@yahoo.com.br [Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Vitória de Santo Antão, PE (Brazil). Centro Acadêmico de Vitória

2017-07-01

It is very important in accident investigations that accurate estimating of absorbed dose takes place, so that it contributes to medical decisions and overall assessment of long-term health consequences. Analysis of chromosome aberrations is the most developed method for biological monitoring, and frequencies of dicentric chromosomes are related to absorbed dose of human peripheral blood lymphocytes using calibration curves. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recommends that each biodosimetry laboratory sets its own calibration curves, given that there are intrinsic differences in protocols and dose interpretations when using calibration curves produced in other laboratories, which could add further uncertainties to dose estimations. The Laboratory for Biological Dosimetry CRCN-NE recently completed dose-response calibration curves for X ray field. Curves of chromosomes dicentrics and dicentrics plus rings were made using Dose Estimate. This study aimed to validate the calibration curves dose-response for X ray with three irradiated samples. Blood was obtained by venipuncture from healthy volunteer and three samples were irradiated by x-rays of 250 kVp with different absorbed doses (0,5Gy, 1Gy and 2Gy). The irradiation was performed at the CRCN-NE/CNEN Metrology Service with PANTAK X-ray equipment, model HF 320. The frequency of dicentric and centric rings chromosomes were determined in 500 metaphases per sample after cultivation of lymphocytes, and staining with Giemsa 5%. Results showed that the estimated absorbed doses are included in the confidence interval of 95% of real absorbed dose. These Dose-response calibration curves (dicentrics and dicentrics plus rings) seems valid, therefore other tests will be done with different volunteers. (author)
Validation of dose-response calibration curve for X-Ray field of CRCN-NE/CNEN: preliminary results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, Laís Melo; Mendonç, Julyanne Conceição de Goes; Andrade, Aida Mayra Guedes de; Hwang, Suy F.; Mendes, Mariana Esposito; Lima, Fabiana F.; Melo, Ana Maria M.A.

2017-01-01

It is very important in accident investigations that accurate estimating of absorbed dose takes place, so that it contributes to medical decisions and overall assessment of long-term health consequences. Analysis of chromosome aberrations is the most developed method for biological monitoring, and frequencies of dicentric chromosomes are related to absorbed dose of human peripheral blood lymphocytes using calibration curves. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recommends that each biodosimetry laboratory sets its own calibration curves, given that there are intrinsic differences in protocols and dose interpretations when using calibration curves produced in other laboratories, which could add further uncertainties to dose estimations. The Laboratory for Biological Dosimetry CRCN-NE recently completed dose-response calibration curves for X ray field. Curves of chromosomes dicentrics and dicentrics plus rings were made using Dose Estimate. This study aimed to validate the calibration curves dose-response for X ray with three irradiated samples. Blood was obtained by venipuncture from healthy volunteer and three samples were irradiated by x-rays of 250 kVp with different absorbed doses (0,5Gy, 1Gy and 2Gy). The irradiation was performed at the CRCN-NE/CNEN Metrology Service with PANTAK X-ray equipment, model HF 320. The frequency of dicentric and centric rings chromosomes were determined in 500 metaphases per sample after cultivation of lymphocytes, and staining with Giemsa 5%. Results showed that the estimated absorbed doses are included in the confidence interval of 95% of real absorbed dose. These Dose-response calibration curves (dicentrics and dicentrics plus rings) seems valid, therefore other tests will be done with different volunteers. (author)
Mental health first aid responses of the public: results from an Australian national survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kitchener Betty A

2005-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The prevalence of mental disorders is so high that members of the public will commonly have contact with someone affected. How they respond to that person (the mental health first aid response may affect outcomes. However, there is no information on what members of the public might do in such circumstances. Methods In a national survey of 3998 Australian adults, respondents were presented with one of four case vignettes and asked what they would do if that person was someone they had known for a long time and cared about. There were four types of vignette: depression, depression with suicidal thoughts, early schizophrenia, and chronic schizophrenia. Verbatim responses to the open-ended question were coded into categories. Results The most common responses to all vignettes were to encourage professional help-seeking and to listen to and support the person. However, a significant minority did not give these responses. Much less common responses were to assess the problem or risk of harm, to give or seek information, to encourage self-help, or to support the family. Few respondents mentioned contacting a professional on the person's behalf or accompanying them to a professional. First aid responses were generally more appropriate in women, those with less stigmatizing attitudes, and those who correctly identified the disorder in the vignette. Conclusions There is room for improving the range of mental health first aid responses in the community. Lack of knowledge of mental disorders and stigmatizing attitudes are important barriers to effective first aid.
Response evaluation in nuclear medicine. Criteria, results and pitfalls; Nuklearmedizinische Responsebeurteilung. Kriterien, Ergebnisse und Pitfalls

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoffend, J. [Klinikum der Stadt Ludwigshafen am Rhein gGmbH, Onkologische Diagnostik/PET-CT, Zentralinstitut fuer diagnostische und interventionelle Radiologie, Ludwigshafen (Germany); Sachpekidis, C. [Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum Heidelberg, Klinische Kooperationseinheit Nuklearmedizin, Forschungsschwerpunkt Bildgebung und Radiologie, Heidelberg (Germany); Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum Heidelberg, Abteilung Radiologie, Forschungsschwerpunkt Bildgebung und Radiologie, Heidelberg (Germany); Dimitrakopoulou-Strauss, A. [Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum Heidelberg, Klinische Kooperationseinheit Nuklearmedizin, Forschungsschwerpunkt Bildgebung und Radiologie, Heidelberg (Germany)

2017-10-15

Established criteria to categorize metabolic tumor response to cytotoxic chemotherapies may not be suited to capture the effects of therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) or with kinase inhibitors (KI), such as BRAF or MEK inhibitors. To assess the metabolic response to cytotoxic chemotherapy by positron emission tomography (PET) with {sup 18}F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), the criteria of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and the positron emission tomography response criteria in solid tumors (PERCIST) were conceived. The salient features of both criteria are detailed in a comparative way. To date only retrospective data exist for the evaluation of therapies with either ICI or KI. They show that response to ICI cannot be reliably determined using the established criteria. Employing the EORTC criteria the responses to KI can be adequately ascertained so that the metabolic tumor response in FDG-PET is regarded as a surrogate marker for the efficacy of these drugs. Tumor response to therapy with ICI cannot at present be assessed with FDG-PET. Responses to BRAF and MEK inhibitors are, however, assessable using the criteria that were originally developed to evaluate responses to cytotoxic chemotherapy. (orig.) [German] Bisherige Kriterien, welche das metabolische Ansprechen von Tumoren auf zytotoxische Chemotherapien klassifizieren, lassen sich moeglicherweise nur bedingt verwenden, um ein Ansprechen auf Immuncheckpointinhibitoren (ICI) und Kinasehemmer (KI) wie BRAF- und MEK-Inhibitoren zu erfassen. Um das Ansprechen unter Chemotherapie durch die Positronenemissionstomographie (PET) mit {sup 18}F-Fluordesoxyglukose (FDG) zu erfassen, wurden Kriterien der European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) und die Positron Emission Tomography Response Criteria in Solid Tumors (PERCIST) entwickelt. Die wesentlichen Merkmale beider Kriterien werden vergleichend beschrieben. Bisher liegen sowohl fuer ICI als auch KI
White-crowned sparrow males show immediate flexibility in song amplitude but not in song minimum frequency in response to changes in noise levels in the field.

Science.gov (United States)

Derryberry, Elizabeth P; Gentry, Katherine; Derryberry, Graham E; Phillips, Jennifer N; Danner, Raymond M; Danner, Julie E; Luther, David A

2017-07-01

The soundscape acts as a selective agent on organisms that use acoustic signals to communicate. A number of studies document variation in structure, amplitude, or timing of signal production in correspondence with environmental noise levels thus supporting the hypothesis that organisms are changing their signaling behaviors to avoid masking. The time scale at which organisms respond is of particular interest. Signal structure may evolve across generations through processes such as cultural or genetic transmission. Individuals may also change their behavior during development (ontogenetic change) or in real time (i.e., immediate flexibility). These are not mutually exclusive mechanisms, and all must be investigated to understand how organisms respond to selection pressures from the soundscape. Previous work on white-crowned sparrows ( Zonotrichia leucophrys ) found that males holding territories in louder areas tend to sing higher frequency songs and that both noise levels and song frequency have increased over time (30 years) in urban areas. These previous findings suggest that songs are changing across generations; however, it is not known if this species also exhibits immediate flexibility. Here, we conducted an exploratory, observational study to ask whether males change the minimum frequency of their song in response to immediate changes in noise levels. We also ask whether males sing louder, as increased minimum frequency may be physiologically linked to producing sound at higher amplitudes, in response to immediate changes in environmental noise. We found that territorial males adjust song amplitude but not minimum frequency in response to changes in environmental noise levels. Our results suggest that males do not show immediate flexibility in song minimum frequency, although experimental manipulations are needed to test this hypothesis further. Our work highlights the need to investigate multiple mechanisms of adaptive response to soundscapes.
Non-expert listeners show decreased heart rate and increased blood pressure (fear bradycardia) in response to atonal music.

Science.gov (United States)

Proverbio, Alice M; Manfrin, Luigi; Arcari, Laura A; De Benedetto, Francesco; Gazzola, Martina; Guardamagna, Matteo; Lozano Nasi, Valentina; Zani, Alberto

2015-01-01

Previous studies suggested that listening to different types of music may modulate differently psychological mood and physiological responses associated with the induced emotions. In this study the effect of listening to instrumental classical vs. atonal contemporary music was examined in a group of 50 non-expert listeners. The subjects' heart rate and diastolic and systolic blood pressure values were measured while they listened to music of different style and emotional typologies. Pieces were selected by asking a group of composers and conservatory professors to suggest a list of the most emotional music pieces (from Renaissance to present time). A total of 214 suggestions from 20 respondents were received. Then it was asked them to identify which pieces best induced in the listener feelings of agitation, joy or pathos and the number of suggested pieces per style was computed. Atonal pieces were more frequently indicated as agitating, and tonal pieces as joyful. The presence/absence of tonality in a musical piece did not affect the affective dimension of pathos (being touching). Among the most frequently cited six pieces were selected that were comparable for structure and style, to represent each emotion and style. They were equally evaluated as unfamiliar by an independent group of 10 students of the same cohort) and were then used as stimuli for the experimental session in which autonomic parameters were recorded. Overall, listening to atonal music (independent of the pieces' emotional characteristics) was associated with a reduced heart rate (fear bradycardia) and increased blood pressure (both diastolic and systolic), possibly reflecting an increase in alertness and attention, psychological tension, and anxiety. This evidence fits with the results of the esthetical assessment showing how, overall, atonal music is perceived as more agitating and less joyful than tonal one.
Non-expert listeners show decreased heart rate and increased blood pressure (fear bradycardia in response to atonal music

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alice Mado eProverbio

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Previous studies suggested that listening to different types of music may modulate differently psychological mood and physiological responses associated with the induced emotions. In this study the effect of listening to instrumental classical vs. atonal contemporary music was examined in a group of 50 non-expert listeners. The subjects’ heart rate and diastolic and systolic blood pressure values were measured while they listened to music of different style and emotional typologies. Pieces were selected by asking a group of composers and conservatory professors to suggest a list of the most emotional music pieces (from Renaissance to present time. A total of 214 suggestions from 20 respondents was received. Then it was asked them to identify which pieces best induced in the listener feelings of agitation, joy or pathos and the number of suggested pieces per style was computed. Atonal pieces were more frequently indicated as agitating, and tonal pieces as joyful. The presence/absence of tonality in a musical piece did not affect the affective dimension of pathos (being touching. Among the most frequently cited six pieces were selected that were comparable for structure and style, to represent each emotion and style. They were equally evaluated as unfamiliar by an independent group of 10 students of the same cohort and were then used as stimuli for the experimental session in which autonomic parameters were recorded. Overall, listening to atonal music (independent of the pieces’ emotional characteristics was associated with a reduced heart rate (fear bradycardia and increased blood pressure (both diastolic and systolic, possibly reflecting an increase in alertness and attention, psychological tension, and anxiety. This evidence fits with the results of the aesthetical assessment showing how, overall, atonal music is perceived as more agitating and less joyful than tonal one.
Non-expert listeners show decreased heart rate and increased blood pressure (fear bradycardia) in response to atonal music

Science.gov (United States)

Proverbio, Alice M.; Manfrin, Luigi; Arcari, Laura A.; De Benedetto, Francesco; Gazzola, Martina; Guardamagna, Matteo; Lozano Nasi, Valentina; Zani, Alberto

2015-01-01

Previous studies suggested that listening to different types of music may modulate differently psychological mood and physiological responses associated with the induced emotions. In this study the effect of listening to instrumental classical vs. atonal contemporary music was examined in a group of 50 non-expert listeners. The subjects’ heart rate and diastolic and systolic blood pressure values were measured while they listened to music of different style and emotional typologies. Pieces were selected by asking a group of composers and conservatory professors to suggest a list of the most emotional music pieces (from Renaissance to present time). A total of 214 suggestions from 20 respondents were received. Then it was asked them to identify which pieces best induced in the listener feelings of agitation, joy or pathos and the number of suggested pieces per style was computed. Atonal pieces were more frequently indicated as agitating, and tonal pieces as joyful. The presence/absence of tonality in a musical piece did not affect the affective dimension of pathos (being touching). Among the most frequently cited six pieces were selected that were comparable for structure and style, to represent each emotion and style. They were equally evaluated as unfamiliar by an independent group of 10 students of the same cohort) and were then used as stimuli for the experimental session in which autonomic parameters were recorded. Overall, listening to atonal music (independent of the pieces’ emotional characteristics) was associated with a reduced heart rate (fear bradycardia) and increased blood pressure (both diastolic and systolic), possibly reflecting an increase in alertness and attention, psychological tension, and anxiety. This evidence fits with the results of the esthetical assessment showing how, overall, atonal music is perceived as more agitating and less joyful than tonal one. PMID:26579029
Vitiligo inducing phenols activate the unfolded protein response in melanocytes resulting in upregulation of IL6 and IL8

Science.gov (United States)

Toosi, Siavash; Orlow, Seth J.; Manga, Prashiela

2012-01-01

Vitiligo is characterized by depigmented skin patches due to loss of epidermal melanocytes. Oxidative stress may play a role in vitiligo onset, while autoimmunity contributes to disease progression. In this study we sought to identify mechanisms that link disease triggers and spreading of lesions. A hallmark of melanocytes at the periphery of vitiligo lesions is dilation of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). We hypothesized that oxidative stress results in redox disruptions that extend to the ER, causing accumulation of misfolded peptides, which activates the unfolded protein response (UPR). We used 4-tertiary butyl phenol (4-TBP) and monobenzyl ether of hydroquinone (MBEH), known triggers of vitiligo. We show that expression of key UPR components, including the transcription factor X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1), are increased following exposure of melanocytes to phenols. XBP1 activation increases production of immune mediators interleukin-6 (IL6) and IL8. Co-treatment with XBP1 inhibitors reduced IL6 and IL8 production induced by phenols, while over-expression of XBP1 alone increased their expression. Thus, melanocytes themselves produce cytokines associated with activation of an immune response following exposure to chemical triggers of vitiligo. These results expand our understanding of the mechanisms underlying melanocyte loss in vitiligo and pathways linking environmental stressors and autoimmunity. PMID:22696056
Vitiligo-inducing phenols activate the unfolded protein response in melanocytes resulting in upregulation of IL6 and IL8.

Science.gov (United States)

Toosi, Siavash; Orlow, Seth J; Manga, Prashiela

2012-11-01

Vitiligo is characterized by depigmented skin patches caused by loss of epidermal melanocytes. Oxidative stress may have a role in vitiligo onset, while autoimmunity contributes to disease progression. In this study, we sought to identify mechanisms that link disease triggers and spreading of lesions. A hallmark of melanocytes at the periphery of vitiligo lesions is dilation of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). We hypothesized that oxidative stress results in redox disruptions that extend to the ER, causing accumulation of misfolded peptides, which activates the unfolded protein response (UPR). We used 4-tertiary butyl phenol and monobenzyl ether of hydroquinone, known triggers of vitiligo. We show that expression of key UPR components, including the transcription factor X-box-binding protein 1 (XBP1), is increased following exposure of melanocytes to phenols. XBP1 activation increases production of immune mediators IL6 and IL8. Co-treatment with XBP1 inhibitors reduced IL6 and IL8 production induced by phenols, while overexpression of XBP1 alone increased their expression. Thus, melanocytes themselves produce cytokines associated with activation of an immune response following exposure to chemical triggers of vitiligo. These results expand our understanding of the mechanisms underlying melanocyte loss in vitiligo and pathways linking environmental stressors and autoimmunity.
Homozygous carriers of the TCF7L2 rs7903146 T-allele show altered postprandial response in triglycerides and triglyceride-rich lipoproteins

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Engelbrechtsen, L; Hansen, T H; Mahendran, Y

2017-01-01

to CC carriers. Additionally, TT carriers had lower postprandial levels of total triglycerides (TG) (q = 0.03), VLDL-TG (q = 0.05, including medium, small and extra small, q = 0.048, q = 0.0009, q = 0.04, respectively), HDL-TG (triglycerides in high density lipoproteins q = 0.037) and S-HDL-TG (q = 0.......00003). In conclusion, TT carriers show altered postprandial triglyceride response, mainly influencing VLDL and HDL subclasses suggesting a genotype-mediated effect on hepatic lipid regulation....
New analytical results in the electromagnetic response of composite superconducting wire in parallel fields

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Niessen, E.M.J.; Niessen, E.M.J.; Zandbergen, P.J.

1993-01-01

Analytical results are presented concerning the electromagnetic response of a composite superconducting wire in fields parallel to the wire axis, using the Maxwell equations supplemented with constitutive equations. The problem is nonlinear due to the nonlinearity in the constitutive equation
Interaction between gas cooking and GSTM1 null genotype in bronchial responsiveness: results from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Amaral, André F S; Ramasamy, Adaikalavan; Castro-Giner, Francesc; Minelli, Cosetta; Accordini, Simone; Sørheim, Inga-Cecilie; Pin, Isabelle; Kogevinas, Manolis; Jõgi, Rain; Balding, David J; Norbäck, Dan; Verlato, Giuseppe; Olivieri, Mario; Probst-Hensch, Nicole; Janson, Christer; Zock, Jan-Paul; Heinrich, Joachim; Jarvis, Deborah L

2014-01-01

Background Increased bronchial responsiveness is characteristic of asthma. Gas cooking, which is a major indoor source of the highly oxidant nitrogen dioxide, has been associated with respiratory symptoms and reduced lung function. However, little is known about the effect of gas cooking on bronchial responsiveness and on how this relationship may be modified by variants in the genes GSTM1, GSTT1 and GSTP1, which influence antioxidant defences. Methods The study was performed in subjects with forced expiratory volume in one second at least 70% of predicted who took part in the multicentre European Community Respiratory Health Survey, had bronchial responsiveness assessed by methacholine challenge and had been genotyped for GSTM1, GSTT1 and GSTP1-rs1695. Information on the use of gas for cooking was obtained from interviewer-led questionnaires. Effect modification by genotype on the association between the use of gas for cooking and bronchial responsiveness was assessed within each participating country, and estimates combined using meta-analysis. Results Overall, gas cooking, as compared with cooking with electricity, was not associated with bronchial responsiveness (β=−0.08, 95% CI −0.40 to 0.25, p=0.648). However, GSTM1 significantly modified this effect (β for interaction=−0.75, 95% CI −1.16 to −0.33, p=4×10−4), with GSTM1 null subjects showing more responsiveness if they cooked with gas. No effect modification by GSTT1 or GSTP1-rs1695 genotypes was observed. Conclusions Increased bronchial responsiveness was associated with gas cooking among subjects with the GSTM1 null genotype. This may reflect the oxidant effects on the bronchi of exposure to nitrogen dioxide. PMID:24613990
Planck 2013 results. IX. HFI spectral response

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Planck Collaboration,; Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.

2013-01-01

-of-band signal rejection) of all HFI detectors to a known source of electromagnetic radiation individually. This was determined by measuring the output of all detection channels for radiation propagated through a continuously scanned polarizing Fourier transform spectrometer. As there is no on-board spectrometer......, dust emission, Sunyaev Zeldovich sources, and intensity to polarization leakage. The HFI spectral response data have also been used to provide unit conversion and colour correction analysis tools. While previous papers have already described the pre-flight experiments conducted on the Planck HFI...

Classifying multi-model wheat yield impact response surfaces showing sensitivity to temperature and precipitation change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fronzek, Stefan; Pirttioja, Nina; Carter, Timothy R.; Bindi, Marco; Hoffmann, Holger; Palosuo, Taru; Ruiz-Ramos, Margarita; Tao, Fulu; Trnka, Miroslav; Acutis, Marco; Asseng, Senthold; Baranowski, Piotr; Basso, Bruno; Bodin, Per; Buis, Samuel; Cammarano, Davide; Deligios, Paola; Destain, Marie France; Dumont, Benjamin; Ewert, Frank; Ferrise, Roberto; François, Louis; Gaiser, Thomas; Hlavinka, Petr; Jacquemin, Ingrid; Kersebaum, Kurt Christian; Kollas, Chris; Krzyszczak, Jaromir; Lorite, Ignacio J.; Minet, Julien; Minguez, M.I.; Montesino, Manuel; Moriondo, Marco; Müller, Christoph; Nendel, Claas; Öztürk, Isik; Perego, Alessia; Rodríguez, Alfredo; Ruane, Alex C.; Ruget, Françoise; Sanna, Mattia; Semenov, Mikhail A.; Slawinski, Cezary; Stratonovitch, Pierre; Supit, Iwan; Waha, Katharina; Wang, Enli; Wu, Lianhai; Zhao, Zhigan; Rötter, Reimund P.

2018-01-01

Crop growth simulation models can differ greatly in their treatment of key processes and hence in their response to environmental conditions. Here, we used an ensemble of 26 process-based wheat models applied at sites across a European transect to compare their sensitivity to changes in
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CORPORATE VOLUNTEERING AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: RESULTS OF AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oscar Licandro

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Corporate Volunteering (CV is a phenomenon that emerged in the second half of the 20th century and began to grow and globalize at the beginning of the 21st century. There seems to be a consensus that the recent growth of Corporate Volunteering is related to the development and growing legitimacy of the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR. Nevertheless, the theoretical discussion on how the two concepts (Corporate Volunteering and Corporate Social Responsibility are related is just beginning, while empirical research on how this relationship operates in corporate practice is still incipient. This paper presents preliminary results of a research on this subject carried out in Uruguay in 2016. This is a statistical study that analyses the relationship between the application of corporate volunteering activities and the incorporation of a CSR approach to the management of companies. The incorporation of both types of practices is measured by a self-assessment questionnaire that includes 81 indicators (using a Likert scale to assess them, which were designed based on ISO 26000 Guidance of Social Responsibility. The questionnaire was administered to 96 companies, using a comparative analysis between those that practice Corporate Volunteering and those which do not. The results obtained allow us to support the hypothesis that the application of Corporate Volunteering is positively associated with the incorporation of CSR when managing the relationship between the company and its employees and also with the community. Moreover, these results contribute to a better understanding on how both concepts are related.
Lack of Proinflammatory Cytokine Interleukin-6 or Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor-1 Results in a Failure of the Innate Immune Response after Bacterial Meningitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lea-Jessica Albrecht

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The most frequent pathogen that causes bacterial meningitis is the Gram-positive bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae. By entering the brain, host cells will be activated and proinflammatory cytokines like interleukin-6 (IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α are released. The goal of the current study was to examine the interaction between IL-6 and TNFR1 as receptor for TNF-α and the innate immune response in vivo in a model of Streptococcus pneumoniae-induced meningitis. For the experiments IL-6−/−, TNFR1−/−, and TNFR1-IL-6−/− KO mice were used. Our results revealed higher mortality rates and bacterial burden after infection in TNFR1−/−, IL-6−/−, and TNFR1-IL-6−/− mice and a decreased immune response including lower neutrophil infiltration in the meninges of TNFR1−/− and TNFR1-IL-6−/− mice in contrast to IL-6−/− and wild type mice. Furthermore, the increased mortality of TNFR1−/− and TNFR1-IL-6−/− mice correlated with decreased glial cell activation compared to IL-6−/− or wild type mice after pneumococcal meningitis. Altogether, the results show the importance of TNFR1 and IL-6 in the regulation of the innate immune response. The lack of TNFR1 and IL-6 results in higher mortality by weakened immune defence, whereas the lack of TNFR1 results in more severe impairment of the innate immune response than the lack of IL-6 alone.
Structural Properties of Cruciferin and Napin of Brassica napus (Canola Show Distinct Responses to Changes in pH and Temperature

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Suneru P. Perera

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The two major storage proteins identified in Brassica napus (canola were isolated and studied for their molecular composition, structural characteristics and the responses of structural features to the changes in pH and temperature. Cruciferin, a complex of six monomers, has a predominantly β-sheet-containing secondary structure. This protein showed low pH unstable tertiary structure, and distinctly different solubility behaviour with pH when intact in the seed cellular matrix. Cruciferin structure unfolds at pH 3 even at ambient temperature. Temperature-induced structure unfolding was observed above the maximum denaturation temperature of cruciferin. Napin was soluble in a wider pH range than cruciferin and has α-helices dominating secondary structure. Structural features of napin showed less sensitivity to the changes in medium pH and temperature. The surface hydrophobicity (S0 and intrinsic fluorescence of tryptophan residue appear to be good indicators of cruciferin unfolding, however they were not the best to demonstrate structural changes of napin. These two storage proteins of B. napus have distinct molecular characteristics, therefore properties and functionalities they provide are contrasting rather than complementary.
The photodiodes response in beta dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khoury, Helen; Amaral, Ademir; Hazin, Clovis; Melo, Francisco

1996-01-01

The response of the photodiodes BPY-12, BPW-34 and SFH-206 is tested for use as beta dosimeters. The results obtained show a dose-response relationships as well as less than 1% of coefficient of variation for the reproducibility of their responses. The photodiode BPY-12 has presented a better response in comparison with the others
Assessment of soil-structure interaction practice based on synthesized results from Lotung experiment - earthquake response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hadjian, A.H.; Tseng, W.S.; Tang, Y.K.; Tang, H.T.; Stepp, J.C.

1991-01-01

On the assumption that the foundation can be appropriately modeled, it would be difficult to distinguish between the computational capabilities of the SASSI, CLASSI and SUPERALUSH/CLASSI methods of SSI analysis. Given the appropriate model, all three methodologies would produce very similar valid results. However, both CLASSI (Bechtel) and Soil-Spring methods should be used cautiously within their known limitations. The use of FLUSH should be limited to essentially 2D problems. More than the computational methods, the differences in the seismic response results obtained are due to the modeling of the soil-structure system and the characterization of the input motions. A number of insights have been obtained with respect to the validity of SSI analysis methodologies for earthquake response. Among these are the following: vertical wave propagation assumption in performing SSI is adequate to describe the wave field; equivalent linear analysis of soil response for SSI analysis, such as performed by the SHAKE code, provides acceptable results; a significant but non-permanent degradation of soil modulus occurs during earthquakes; the development of soil stiffness degradation and damping curves as a function of strain, based on geophysical and laboratory tests, requires improvement to reduce variability and uncertainty; backfill stiffness plays an important role in determining impedance functions and possibly input motions; scattering of ground motion due to embedment is an important element in performing SSI analysis. (author)
Chromatin decondensed by acetylation shows an elevated radiation response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nackerdien, Z.; Michie, J.; Boehm, L.

1989-01-01

V-79 Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts exposed to 5 mM n-sodium butyrate were irradiated with 60Co gamma rays and cell survival was determined by the cell colony assay. In a separate set of experiments the acetylated chromatin obtained from these cells was irradiated and the change of molecular weight of the DNA was evaluated by alkaline sucrose density centrifugation. At a survival level of 10(-2) to 10(-4) cells exposed to butyrate were found to be 1.3-1.4 times more radiosensitive than control cells. Exposure of isolated chromatin to 100 Gy of 60Co gamma irradiation generated 0.9 +/- 0.03 single-strand breaks (ssb) per 10 Gy per 10(8) Da and 2.0 +/- 0.3 ssb/10 Gy/10(8) Da for control and acetylated chromatin, respectively. The elevated radiation sensitivity of chromatin relaxed by acetylation is in good agreement with previous results on chromatin expanded by histone H1 depletion. Packing and accessibility of DNA in chromatin appear to be major factors which influence the radiation sensitivity. The intrinsic radiation sensitivity of chromatin in various packing states is discussed in light of the variation of radiation sensitivity of whole cells in the cell cycle which incorporates repair
Satellite III non-coding RNAs show distinct and stress-specific patterns of induction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sengupta, Sonali; Parihar, Rashmi; Ganesh, Subramaniam

2009-01-01

The heat shock response in human cells is associated with the transcription of satellite III repeats (SatIII) located in the 9q12 locus. Upon induction, the SatIII transcripts remain associated with the locus and recruit several transcription and splicing factors to form the nuclear stress bodies (nSBs). The nSBs are thought to modulate epigenetic changes during the heat shock response. We demonstrate here that the nSBs are induced by a variety of stressors and show stress-specific patterns of induction. While the transcription factor HSF1 is required for the induction of SatIII locus by the stressors tested, its specific role in the transcriptional process appears to be stress dependent. Our results suggest the existence of multiple transcriptional loci for the SatIII transcripts and that their activation might depend upon the type of stressors. Thus, induction of SatIII transcripts appears to be a generic response to a variety of stress conditions.
Phylogeny, Traits, and Biodiversity of a Neotropical Bat Assemblage: Close Relatives Show Similar Responses to Local Deforestation.

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, Hannah K; Frishkoff, Luke O; Mendenhall, Chase D; Daily, Gretchen C; Hadly, Elizabeth A

2017-08-01

If species' evolutionary pasts predetermine their responses to evolutionarily novel stressors, then phylogeny could predict species survival in an increasingly human-dominated world. To understand the role of phylogenetic relatedness in structuring responses to rapid environmental change, we focused on assemblages of Neotropical bats, an ecologically diverse and functionally important group. We examined how taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity shift between tropical forest and farmland. We then explored the importance of evolutionary history by ascertaining whether close relatives share similar responses to environmental change and which species traits might mediate these trends. We analyzed a 5-year data set (5,011 captures) from 18 sites in a countryside landscape in southern Costa Rica using statistical models that account and correct for imperfect detection of species across sites, spatial autocorrelation, and consideration of spatial scale. Taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity decreased with deforestation, and assemblages became more phylogenetically clustered. Species' responses to deforestation were strongly phylogenetically correlated. Body mass and absolute wing loading explained a substantial portion of species variation in species' habitat preferences, likely related to these traits' influence on maneuverability in cluttered forest environments. Our findings highlight the role that evolutionary history plays in determining which species will survive human impacts and the need to consider diversity metrics, evolutionary history, and traits together when making predictions about species persistence for conservation or ecosystem functioning.
A cross-cultural comparison of high school students' responses to a science centre show on the physics of sound in South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Fish, Derek; Allie, Saalih; Pelaez, Nancy; Anderson, Trevor

2017-10-01

We report on the attitudes and ideas developed by students from three distinct school groups to a science show about sound. We addressed two research questions: (1) How do the students compare with respect to their (a) attitudes to the sound show and to science in general and (b) changes in conceptual understanding as a result of the show and (2) what changes could be made to the show, and to science shows in general, that would be sensitive to the cultural and language differences of the groups? These were addressed by multiple-choice, pre- and post-tests comprising both attitudinal and conceptual questions. Our results pointed to a common enjoyment of the show but a different understanding of concepts and consequent learning, which suggest that science shows (and science teaching) need to be adjusted to accommodate different cultural groups for maximum impact.
BnNHL18A shows a localization change by stress-inducing chemical treatments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Suk-Bae; Ham, Byung-Kook; Park, Jeong Mee; Kim, Young Jin; Paek, Kyung-Hee

2006-01-01

The two genes, named BnNHL18A and BnNHL18B, showing sequence homology with Arabidopsis NDR1/HIN1-like (NHL) genes, were isolated from cDNA library prepared with oilseed rape (Brassica napus) seedlings treated with NaCl. The transcript level of BnNHL18A was increased by sodium chloride, ethephon, hydrogen peroxide, methyl jasmonate, or salicylic acid treatment. The coding regions of BnNHL18A and BnNHL18B contain a sarcolipin (SLN)-like sequence. Analysis of the localization of smGFP fusion proteins showed that BnNHL18A is mainly localized to endoplasmic reticulum (ER). This result suggests that the SLN-like sequence plays a role in retaining proteins in ER membrane in plants. In response to NaCl, hydrogen peroxide, ethephon, and salicylic acid treatments, the protein localization of BnNHL18A was changed. Our findings suggest a common function of BnNHL18A in biotic and abiotic stresses, and demonstrate the presence of the shared mechanism of protein translocalization between the responses to plant pathogen and to osmotic stress
Comparison of analysis results with experimental results for ENEA and CRIEPI rubber bearings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoo, B.; Lee, J.H.; Koo, G.H.

1993-01-01

In this paper, the preliminary structural analyses of ENEA HDRB and CRIEPI NRB were performed by using computer code ABAQUS, and the analysis results were compared with the test results provided by Italy and Japan thru IAEA. The test data for the rubbers used for the fabrication of bearings were also provided thru IAEA, and were utilized for the formulation of the rubber models for the analyses. The analyses performed for the rubber bearings are for the combined compression and shear and for the compression. The analysis results show a good agreement in shear strains when compared with the test results of HDRB and NRB for the combined compression and shear and for the compression benchmarks, but show relatively smaller responses in displacements for the compression with offsets benchmarks. (author)
Stem cells show promising results for lymphoedema treatment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toyserkani, Navid Mohamadpour; Quaade, Marlene Louise; Sheikh, Søren Paludan

2015-01-01

Abstract Lymphoedema is a debilitating condition, manifesting in excess lymphatic fluid and swelling of subcutaneous tissues. Lymphoedema is as of yet still an incurable condition and current treatment modalities are not satisfactory. The capacity of mesenchymal stem cells to promote angiogenesis......, secrete growth factors, regulate the inflammatory process, and differentiate into multiple cell types make them a potential ideal therapy for lymphoedema. Adipose tissue is the richest and most accessible source of mesenchymal stem cells and they can be harvested, isolated, and used for therapy...... in a single stage procedure as an autologous treatment. The aim of this paper was to review all studies using mesenchymal stem cells for lymphoedema treatment with a special focus on the potential use of adipose-derived stem cells. A systematic search was performed and five preclinical and two clinical...
How to correct the ambient temperature influence on the thermal response test results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borinaga-Treviño, Roque; Norambuena-Contreras, Jose; Castro-Fresno, Daniel

2015-01-01

Due to global warming and to the increasing energy demand, it is necessary to improve energy efficiency on buildings. In this context, Ground-Coupled Heat Pumps (GCHP) have proved to be the most efficient heating and cooling system. The main parameters to define a ground heat exchanger are obtained via an in situ test called Thermal Response Test (TRT). However, ambient air influence on this test is remarkable due to the exposition of the testing machine, and even the ground undisturbed temperature varies with the ambient temperature oscillations. Therefore, despite the fact that the influence of ambient conditions on the TRT results is an important topic in order to define a ground heat exchanger, there is yet a limited literature on new theoretical methods to correct the ambient temperature influence on the predicted ground thermal conductivity measured via TRT. This paper presents a new methodology to analyse and mitigate the influence of the ambient conditions on the TRT results, with the main advantage that it is not necessary to know its physical origin previously. The method is focused on reducing the mean fluid temperature oscillations caused by the ambient temperature, by analysing the influence of the chosen time interval to fit the data to the infinite line source theory formulae that finally predicts the ground thermal conductivity. With these purpose, results of two different TRTs were analysed, each of them with a different equipment and ambient exposition. Results using the proposed method showed that thermal conductivity oscillations were reduced in both tests. For the first test, the uncertainty associated to the chosen time interval for the estimation was diminished by 33%, reducing significantly its predicted value and thus avoiding the future installation possible under-designing. However, because of the equipment insulation improvements and the smoother ambient temperature variations, the method obtained similar results for the predicted
Reflex responses of lip muscles in young and older women.

Science.gov (United States)

Wohlert, A B

1996-06-01

The perioral reflex in response to innocuous mechanical stimulation of the lip vermilion was studied in 20 young and 20 older women. Responses to stimuli at the right and left sides of both the upper and lower lips were recorded. Results show significant specificity of response, especially for upper lip sites. Reflex response at the site of stimulation was greatest in amplitude and shortest in latency, followed by response at sites ipsilateral to the site of stimulation. Younger subjects showed greater localizing tendency than older subjects. Stimulation was significantly less likely to produce a reflex response in the older group. When reflex responses did occur, they were significantly lower in amplitude and longer in latency than the responses of the younger group. Nonetheless, reflex responses were common in both groups, with responses at the site of stimulation occurring 78% of the time in older women and 90% of the time in younger women. Every participant showed at least one reflex response to lip stimulation. Results suggest decreasing complexity of synaptic drive to the perioral system in old age but also show that reflexive response does not deteriorate completely, remaining an available element for motor control in normal older women.
Burn injury triggered dysfunction in dendritic cell response to TLR9 activation and resulted in skewed T cell functions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haitao Shen

Full Text Available Severe trauma such as burn injury is often associated with a systemic inflammatory syndrome characterized by a hyperactive innate immune response and suppressed adaptive immune function. Dendritic cells (DCs, which sense pathogens via their Toll-like receptors (TLRs, play a pivotal role in protecting the host against infections. The effect of burn injury on TLR-mediated DC function is a debated topic and the mechanism controlling the purported immunosuppressive response remains to be elucidated. Here we examined the effects of burn injury on splenic conventional DC (cDC and plasmacytoid DC (pDC responses to TLR9 activation. We demonstrate that, following burn trauma, splenic cDCs' cytokine production profile in response to TLR9 activation became anti-inflammatory dominant, with high production of IL-10 (>50% increase and low production of IL-6, TNF-α and IL-12p70 (∼25-60% reduction. CD4+ T cells activated by these cDCs were defective in producing Th1 and Th17 cytokines. Furthermore, burn injury had a more accentuated effect on pDCs than on cDCs. Following TLR9 activation, pDCs displayed an immature phenotype with an impaired ability to secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines (IFN-α, IL-6 and TNF-α and to activate T cell proliferation. Moreover, cDCs and pDCs from burn-injured mice had low transcript levels of TLR9 and several key molecules of the TLR signaling pathway. Although hyperactive innate immune response has been associated with severe injury, our data show to the contrary that DCs, as a key player in the innate immune system, had impaired TLR9 reactivity, an anti-inflammatory phenotype, and a dysfunctional T cell-priming ability. We conclude that burn injury induced impairments in DC immunobiology resulting in suppression of adaptive immune response. Targeted DC immunotherapies to promote their ability in triggering T cell immunity may represent a strategy to improve immune defenses against infection following burn injury.
Experimental results showing the internal three-component velocity field and outlet temperature contours for a model gas turbine combustor

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Meyers, BC

2011-09-01

Full Text Available by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc. All rights reserved ISABE-2011-1129 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS SHOWING THE INTERNAL THREE-COMPONENT VELOCITY FIELD AND OUTLET TEMPERATURE CONTOURS FOR A MODEL GAS TURBINE COMBUSTOR BC Meyers*, GC... identifier c Position identifier F Fuel i Index L (Combustor) Liner OP Orifice plate Introduction There are often inconsistencies when comparing experimental and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations for gas turbine combustors [1...
Dynamical Response of Networks Under External Perturbations: Exact Results

Science.gov (United States)

Chinellato, David D.; Epstein, Irving R.; Braha, Dan; Bar-Yam, Yaneer; de Aguiar, Marcus A. M.

2015-04-01

We give exact statistical distributions for the dynamic response of influence networks subjected to external perturbations. We consider networks whose nodes have two internal states labeled 0 and 1. We let nodes be frozen in state 0, in state 1, and the remaining nodes change by adopting the state of a connected node with a fixed probability per time step. The frozen nodes can be interpreted as external perturbations to the subnetwork of free nodes. Analytically extending and to be smaller than 1 enables modeling the case of weak coupling. We solve the dynamical equations exactly for fully connected networks, obtaining the equilibrium distribution, transition probabilities between any two states and the characteristic time to equilibration. Our exact results are excellent approximations for other topologies, including random, regular lattice, scale-free and small world networks, when the numbers of fixed nodes are adjusted to take account of the effect of topology on coupling to the environment. This model can describe a variety of complex systems, from magnetic spins to social networks to population genetics, and was recently applied as a framework for early warning signals for real-world self-organized economic market crises.
Mice lacking neuropeptide Y show increased sensitivity to cocaine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Gunnar; Woldbye, David Paul Drucker

2012-01-01

There is increasing data implicating neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the neurobiology of addiction. This study explored the possible role of NPY in cocaine-induced behavior using NPY knockout mice. The transgenic mice showed a hypersensitive response to cocaine in three animal models of cocaine addiction...
Earthworm responses to Cd and Cu under fluctuating environmental conditions: a comparison with results from laboratory exposures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spurgeon, David J.; Svendsen, Claus; Lister, Lindsay J.; Hankard, Peter K.; Kille, Peter

2005-01-01

Laboratory toxicity tests are usually conducted under stable ambient conditions, while exposures in ecosystems occur in a fluctuating climate. To assess how climate influences the toxicity of Cu and Cd for the earthworm Lumbricus rubellus, this study compared effects for life-cycle parameters (survival, reproduction), cellular status (lysosomal membrane stability), gene expression (transcript of the metal binding protein metallothionein-2) and tissue metal concentration measured under outdoor conditions, with the same responses under constant conditions as measured by Spurgeon et al. [Spurgeon, D.J., Svendsen, C., Weeks, J.M., Hankard, P.K., Stubberud, H.E., Kammenga, J.E., 2003. Quantifying copper and cadmium impacts on intrinsic rate of population increase in the terrestrial oligochaete Lumbricus rubellus. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 22, 1465-1472]. Both metals were found to significantly influence earthworm reproduction, compromise lysosomal membrane stability and induce MT-2 gene expression in the outdoor system. Comparison with physiological and life-cycle responses in the laboratory indicated similar response patterns and effect concentrations for Cu. For Cd, lysosomal membrane stability and MT-2expression showed comparable responses in both exposures. Juvenile production rate, however, gave different dose response relationships, with the EC- 50 in the outdoor test approximately half that in the laboratory test. A difference in Cd accumulation was also seen. Overall, however, the comparison indicated only a marginal effect of environmental fluctuations typical for northern temperate Europe on earthworm sensitivity to the two metals. - Comparative analysis of life-cycle, physiological and molecular responses to Cu and Cd indicate similar responses under static and fluctuating climate regimes

Ocular-following responses to white noise stimuli in humans reveal a novel nonlinearity that results from temporal sampling.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheliga, Boris M; Quaia, Christian; FitzGibbon, Edmond J; Cumming, Bruce G

2016-01-01

White noise stimuli are frequently used to study the visual processing of broadband images in the laboratory. A common goal is to describe how responses are derived from Fourier components in the image. We investigated this issue by recording the ocular-following responses (OFRs) to white noise stimuli in human subjects. For a given speed we compared OFRs to unfiltered white noise with those to noise filtered with band-pass filters and notch filters. Removing components with low spatial frequency (SF) reduced OFR magnitudes, and the SF associated with the greatest reduction matched the SF that produced the maximal response when presented alone. This reduction declined rapidly with SF, compatible with a winner-take-all operation. Removing higher SF components increased OFR magnitudes. For higher speeds this effect became larger and propagated toward lower SFs. All of these effects were quantitatively well described by a model that combined two factors: (a) an excitatory drive that reflected the OFRs to individual Fourier components and (b) a suppression by higher SF channels where the temporal sampling of the display led to flicker. This nonlinear interaction has an important practical implication: Even with high refresh rates (150 Hz), the temporal sampling introduced by visual displays has a significant impact on visual processing. For instance, we show that this distorts speed tuning curves, shifting the peak to lower speeds. Careful attention to spectral content, in the light of this nonlinearity, is necessary to minimize the resulting artifact when using white noise patterns undergoing apparent motion.
MiR-155 induction by F. novicida but not the virulent F. tularensis results in SHIP down-regulation and enhanced pro-inflammatory cytokine response.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas J Cremer

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The intracellular gram-negative bacterium Francisella tularensis causes the disease tularemia and is known for its ability to subvert host immune responses. Previous work from our laboratory identified the PI3K/Akt pathway and SHIP as critical modulators of host resistance to Francisella. Here, we show that SHIP expression is strongly down-regulated in monocytes and macrophages following infection with F. tularensis novicida (F.n.. To account for this negative regulation we explored the possibility that microRNAs (miRs that target SHIP may be induced during infection. There is one miR that is predicted to target SHIP, miR-155. We tested for induction and found that F.n. induced miR-155 both in primary monocytes/macrophages and in vivo. Using luciferase reporter assays we confirmed that miR-155 led to down-regulation of SHIP, showing that it specifically targets the SHIP 3'UTR. Further experiments showed that miR-155 and BIC, the gene that encodes miR-155, were induced as early as four hours post-infection in primary human monocytes. This expression was dependent on TLR2/MyD88 and did not require inflammasome activation. Importantly, miR-155 positively regulated pro-inflammatory cytokine release in human monocytes infected with Francisella. In sharp contrast, we found that the highly virulent type A SCHU S4 strain of Francisella tularensis (F.t. led to a significantly lower miR-155 response than the less virulent F.n. Hence, F.n. induces miR-155 expression and leads to down-regulation of SHIP, resulting in enhanced pro-inflammatory responses. However, impaired miR-155 induction by SCHU S4 may help explain the lack of both SHIP down-regulation and pro-inflammatory response and may account for the virulence of Type A Francisella.
Adding salt to a surfactant solution: Linear rheological response of the resulting morphologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gaudino, Danila; Pasquino, Rossana, E-mail: r.pasquino@unina.it; Grizzuti, Nino [DICMaPI, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, P.le Tecchio 80, 80125 Napoli (Italy)

2015-11-15

The micellar system composed of Cetylpyridinium Chloride-Sodium Salicylate (CPyCl-NaSal) in brine aqueous solutions has been studied by systematically changing the salt concentration, in order to investigate the rheology of the arising morphologies. In particular, the zero-shear viscosity and the linear viscoelastic response have been measured as a function of the NaSal concentration (with [CPyCl] = 100 mM). The Newtonian viscosity shows a nonmonotonic dependence upon concentration, passing through a maximum at NaSal/CPyCl ≈ 0.6, and eventually dropping at higher salt concentrations. The progressive addition of salt determines first a transition from a Newtonian to a purely Maxwell-like behavior as the length of the micelles significantly increases. Beyond the peak viscosity, the viscoelastic data show two distinct features. On the one hand, the main relaxation time of the system strongly decreases, while the plateau modulus remains essentially constant. Calculations based on the rheological data show that, as the binding salt concentration increases, there is a decrease in micelles breaking rate and a decrease in their average length. On the other hand, in the same concentration region, a low-frequency elastic plateau is measured. Such a plateau is considered as the signature of a tenuous, but persistent branched network, whose existence is confirmed by cryo-transmission electron microscopy images.
Benefits of Demand-Side Response in Providing Frequency Response Service in the Future GB Power System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Teng, Fei, E-mail: fei.teng09@imperial.ac.uk; Aunedi, Marko; Pudjianto, Danny; Strbac, Goran [Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London, London (United Kingdom)

2015-08-18

The demand for ancillary service is expected to increase significantly in the future Great Britain (GB) electricity system due to high penetration of wind. In particular, the need for frequency response, required to deal with sudden frequency drops following a loss of generator, will increase because of the limited inertia capability of wind plants. This paper quantifies the requirements for primary frequency response and analyses the benefits of frequency response provision from demand-side response (DSR). The results show dramatic changes in frequency response requirements driven by high penetration of wind. Case studies carried out by using an advanced stochastic generation scheduling model suggest that the provision of frequency response from DSR could greatly reduce the system operation cost, wind curtailment, and carbon emissions in the future GB system characterized by high penetration of wind. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the benefit of DSR shows significant diurnal and seasonal variation, whereas an even more rapid (instant) delivery of frequency response from DSR could provide significant additional value. Our studies also indicate that the competing technologies to DSR, namely battery storage, and more flexible generation could potentially reduce its value by up to 35%, still leaving significant room to deploy DSR as frequency response provider.
Benefits of Demand-Side Response in Providing Frequency Response Service in the Future GB Power System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Teng, Fei; Aunedi, Marko; Pudjianto, Danny; Strbac, Goran

2015-01-01

The demand for ancillary service is expected to increase significantly in the future Great Britain (GB) electricity system due to high penetration of wind. In particular, the need for frequency response, required to deal with sudden frequency drops following a loss of generator, will increase because of the limited inertia capability of wind plants. This paper quantifies the requirements for primary frequency response and analyses the benefits of frequency response provision from demand-side response (DSR). The results show dramatic changes in frequency response requirements driven by high penetration of wind. Case studies carried out by using an advanced stochastic generation scheduling model suggest that the provision of frequency response from DSR could greatly reduce the system operation cost, wind curtailment, and carbon emissions in the future GB system characterized by high penetration of wind. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the benefit of DSR shows significant diurnal and seasonal variation, whereas an even more rapid (instant) delivery of frequency response from DSR could provide significant additional value. Our studies also indicate that the competing technologies to DSR, namely battery storage, and more flexible generation could potentially reduce its value by up to 35%, still leaving significant room to deploy DSR as frequency response provider.
Validation of dose-response curve of CRCN-NE - Regional Center for Nuclear Sciences from Northeast Brazil for 60Co: preliminary results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mendonca, Julyanne C.G.; Mendes, Mariana E.; Hwang, Suy F.; Lima, Fabiana F.; Santos, Neide

2014-01-01

The cytogenetic study has the chromosomal alterations as biomarkers in absorbed dose estimation by the body of individuals involved in exposure to ionizing radiation by interpreting a dose response calibration curve. Since the development of the technique to the analysis of data, you can see protocol characteristics, leading the International Atomic Energy Agency indicate that any laboratory with intention to carry out biological dosimetry establish their own calibration curves. The Biological Dosimetry Laboratory of the Centro Regional de Ciencias Nucleares (CRCN-NE/CNEN), Brazil, recently established the calibration curve related to gamma radiation ( 60 Co). Thus, this work aimed to start the validation of this calibration curve from samples of three different blood donors which were irradiated with an absorbed known single dose of 1 Gy. Samples were exposed to 60 Co source (Glaucoma 220) located in the Department of Nuclear Energy (DEN/UFPE). After fixation with methanol and acetic acid and 5% Giemsa staining, the frequency of chromosomal alterations (dicentric chromosomes, acentric rings and fragments) were established from reading of 500 metaphases per sample and doses were estimated using Dose Estimate program. The results showed that, using the dose-response curve calibration for dicentrics, the dose absorbed estimated for the three individuals ranged from 0.891 - 1,089Gy, taking into account the range of confidence of 95%. By using the dose-response curve for dicentrics added to rings and for the same interval of confidence the doses ranged from 0,849 - 1,081Gy. Thus, the estimative encompassed known absorbed dose the three individuals in confidence interval of 95%. These preliminary results seems to demonstrate that dicentric dose-response curves and dicentrics plus rings established by CRCN-NE / CNEN are valid for dose estimation in exposed individuals. This validation will continue with samples from different individuals at different doses
Comparative Study of Determining of the Responsible Person and the Basis of Compensation in Civil Liability Results from Events Related to Nuclear Facilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sayyed Mohammad Mahdi Qabuli Dorafshan

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Nuclear facilities, though have large advantages for human being, they also creates heavy hazards. Thus, the question of civil liability results from events of mentioned facilities are so significant. This paper studies the question of the basis and responsible for compensation results from aforementioned events in international instruments, Iran and French law. Outcome of this study shows that in this regard, Paris and Vienna conventions and the other related conventions and protocols adjust a special legal régime. In this respect, the international instruments while distancing themselves from liability based on fault, highlight the exclusive responsibility of the operator of nuclear facilities and they have commited the operator to insurance or appropriate secure financing. Also French legal régime have followed this manner with the impact of the Paris Convention and its amendments and additions. There is no special provisions in Iran legal régime in this matter so civil liability results from nuclear events is under general rules of civil liability and rules such Itlaf (loss, Tasbib (causation, Taqsir (fault and La-zarar (no damage in the context of Imamye jurisprudence. Ofcourse, the responsible is basically the one who the damage is attributable to him. Finaly, It is appropriate that the Iranian legislator predict favorable régime and provides special financial fund for compensation of possible injured parties in accordance with necessities and specific requirements related to nuclear energy
Comb-push ultrasound shear elastography of breast masses: initial results show promise.

Science.gov (United States)

Denis, Max; Mehrmohammadi, Mohammad; Song, Pengfei; Meixner, Duane D; Fazzio, Robert T; Pruthi, Sandhya; Whaley, Dana H; Chen, Shigao; Fatemi, Mostafa; Alizad, Azra

2015-01-01

To evaluate the performance of Comb-push Ultrasound Shear Elastography (CUSE) for classification of breast masses. CUSE is an ultrasound-based quantitative two-dimensional shear wave elasticity imaging technique, which utilizes multiple laterally distributed acoustic radiation force (ARF) beams to simultaneously excite the tissue and induce shear waves. Female patients who were categorized as having suspicious breast masses underwent CUSE evaluations prior to biopsy. An elasticity estimate within the breast mass was obtained from the CUSE shear wave speed map. Elasticity estimates of various types of benign and malignant masses were compared with biopsy results. Fifty-four female patients with suspicious breast masses from our ongoing study are presented. Our cohort included 31 malignant and 23 benign breast masses. Our results indicate that the mean shear wave speed was significantly higher in malignant masses (6 ± 1.58 m/s) in comparison to benign masses (3.65 ± 1.36 m/s). Therefore, the stiffness of the mass quantified by the Young's modulus is significantly higher in malignant masses. According to the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), the optimal cut-off value of 83 kPa yields 87.10% sensitivity, 82.61% specificity, and 0.88 for the area under the curve (AUC). CUSE has the potential for clinical utility as a quantitative diagnostic imaging tool adjunct to B-mode ultrasound for differentiation of malignant and benign breast masses.
Response of lead-acid batteries to chopper-controlled discharge: Preliminary results

Science.gov (United States)

Cataldo, R. L.

1978-01-01

The preliminary results of simulated electric vehicle, chopper, speed controller discharge of a battery show energy output losses up to 25 percent compared to constant current discharges at the same average discharge current of 100 amperes. These energy losses are manifested as temperature rises during discharge, amounting to a two-fold increase for a 400-ampere pulse compared to the constant current case. Because of the potentially large energy inefficiency, the results suggest that electric vehicle battery/speed controller interaction must be carefully considered in vehicle design.
Training for the medical response in radiological emergency experiences and results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cardenas Herrera, J.; Lopez Forteza, Y.

2003-01-01

The use of the nuclear techniques int he social practice confers a special imporatnce to the relative aspects to the safety of the practices and radiationsources, for what the implementation of efficient programs of radiation protection constitutes a priority. However in spite of the will before expressed, regrettably radiological situations happen accidental assocaited to multiple causes taht suggest the creation of response capacities to intervention before these fortuitous facts. The experiences accumulated in the last decades related with accidental exposures have evidenced the convenience of having properly qualified human resources for the Medical Response in Radiological Emergencies. The training in the medical aspects of the radiological emergencies acquires a singular character. In such a sense when valuing the national situation put onof manifest deficiences as for the training in medical aspects of the radiological emergencies that advised the development of training programs in such aspects for the different response groups linked to the topic. After identified the training necessities and the scope of the same ones, the contents of the training program were elaborated. The program has as general purpose the invigoration of the capacity of the medical response in front of accidental radiological situations, by means of actions that they bear to prepare groups of medical response in the handling of people accident victims and to the identification of potentials,accidental scenarios, as well as of the necessary resources to confront them. The program content approaches theoretical and paractical aspects to the medical aspect to radiological emergencies. The program include the different topics about fundamental of physical biological to radiation protection, radiation protection during exposure of radiological accidents, medical care for overexposed or contaminated persons, drill, exercises and concludes with designation of a strategy as preparation and
An Island of Stability: Art Images and Natural Scenes – but Not Natural Faces – Show Consistent Esthetic Response in Alzheimer’s-Related Dementia

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, Daniel J.; Stockinger, Simone; Leder, Helmut

2013-01-01

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) causes severe impairments in cognitive function but there is evidence that aspects of esthetic perception are somewhat spared, at least in early stages of the disease. People with early Alzheimer’s-related dementia have been found to show similar degrees of stability over time in esthetic judgment of paintings compared to controls, despite poor explicit memory for the images. Here we expand on this line of inquiry to investigate the types of perceptual judgments involved, and to test whether people in later stages of the disease also show evidence of preserved esthetic judgment. Our results confirm that, compared to healthy controls, there is similar esthetic stability in early stage AD in the absence of explicit memory, and we report here that people with later stages of the disease also show similar stability compared to controls. However, while we find that stability for portrait paintings, landscape paintings, and landscape photographs is not different compared to control group performance, stability for face photographs – which were matched for identity with the portrait paintings – was significantly impaired in the AD group. We suggest that partially spared face-processing systems interfere with esthetic processing of natural faces in ways that are not found for artistic images and landscape photographs. Thus, our work provides a novel form of evidence regarding face-processing in healthy and diseased aging. Our work also gives insights into general theories of esthetics, since people with AD are not encumbered by many of the semantic and emotional factors that otherwise color esthetic judgment. We conclude that, for people with AD, basic esthetic judgment of artistic images represents an “island of stability” in a condition that in most other respects causes profound cognitive disruption. As such, esthetic response could be a promising route to future therapies. PMID:23471005
A Newly Emergent Turkey Arthritis Reovirus Shows Dominant Enteric Tropism and Induces Significantly Elevated Innate Antiviral and T Helper-1 Cytokine Responses.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tamer A Sharafeldin

Full Text Available Newly emergent turkey arthritis reoviruses (TARV were isolated from tendons of lame 15-week-old tom turkeys that occasionally had ruptured leg tendons. Experimentally, these TARVs induced remarkable tenosynovitis in gastrocnemius tendons of turkey poults. The current study aimed to characterize the location and the extent of virus replication as well as the cytokine response induced by TARV during the first two weeks of infection. One-week-old male turkeys were inoculated orally with TARV (O'Neil strain. Copy numbers of viral genes were estimated in intestines, internal organs and tendons at ½, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 14 days Post inoculation (dpi. Cytokine profile was measured in intestines, spleen and leg tendons at 0, 4, 7 and 14 dpi. Viral copy number peaked in jejunum, cecum and bursa of Fabricius at 4 dpi. Copy numbers increased dramatically in leg tendons at 7 and 14 dpi while minimal copies were detected in internal organs and blood during the same period. Virus was detected in cloacal swabs at 1-2 dpi, and peaked at 14 dpi indicating enterotropism of the virus and its early shedding in feces. Elevation of IFN-α and IFN-β was observed in intestines at 7 dpi as well as a prominent T helper-1 response (IFN-γ at 7 and 14 dpi. IFN-γ and IL-6 were elevated in gastrocnemius tendons at 14 dpi. Elevation of antiviral cytokines in intestines occurred at 7dpi when a significant decline of viral replication in intestines was observed. T helper-1 response in intestines and leg tendons was the dominant T-helper response. These results suggest the possible correlation between viral replication and cytokine response in early infection of TARV in turkeys. Our findings provide novel insights which help elucidate viral pathogenesis in turkey tendons infected with TARV.
Comb-push ultrasound shear elastography of breast masses: initial results show promise.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Max Denis

Full Text Available To evaluate the performance of Comb-push Ultrasound Shear Elastography (CUSE for classification of breast masses.CUSE is an ultrasound-based quantitative two-dimensional shear wave elasticity imaging technique, which utilizes multiple laterally distributed acoustic radiation force (ARF beams to simultaneously excite the tissue and induce shear waves. Female patients who were categorized as having suspicious breast masses underwent CUSE evaluations prior to biopsy. An elasticity estimate within the breast mass was obtained from the CUSE shear wave speed map. Elasticity estimates of various types of benign and malignant masses were compared with biopsy results.Fifty-four female patients with suspicious breast masses from our ongoing study are presented. Our cohort included 31 malignant and 23 benign breast masses. Our results indicate that the mean shear wave speed was significantly higher in malignant masses (6 ± 1.58 m/s in comparison to benign masses (3.65 ± 1.36 m/s. Therefore, the stiffness of the mass quantified by the Young's modulus is significantly higher in malignant masses. According to the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC, the optimal cut-off value of 83 kPa yields 87.10% sensitivity, 82.61% specificity, and 0.88 for the area under the curve (AUC.CUSE has the potential for clinical utility as a quantitative diagnostic imaging tool adjunct to B-mode ultrasound for differentiation of malignant and benign breast masses.
Planck 2013 results. VII. HFI time response and beams

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Planck Collaboration,; Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.

2013-01-01

This paper characterizes the effective beams, the effective beam window functions (EBWF) and the associated errors for the Planck High Frequency Instrument (HFI) detectors. The effective beam is the angular response including the effect of the optics, detectors, data processing and the scan strat...
A Murine Model of Candida glabrata Vaginitis Shows No Evidence of an Inflammatory Immunopathogenic Response.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evelyn E Nash

Full Text Available Candida glabrata is the second most common organism isolated from women with vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC, particularly in women with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus. However, mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of C. glabrata-associated VVC are unknown and have not been studied at any depth in animal models. The objective of this study was to evaluate host responses to infection following efforts to optimize a murine model of C. glabrata VVC. For this, various designs were evaluated for consistent experimental vaginal colonization (i.e., type 1 and type 2 diabetic mice, exogenous estrogen, varying inocula, and co-infection with C. albicans. Upon model optimization, vaginal fungal burden and polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN recruitment were assessed longitudinally over 21 days post-inoculation, together with vaginal concentrations of IL-1β, S100A8 alarmin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH, and in vivo biofilm formation. Consistent and sustained vaginal colonization with C. glabrata was achieved in estrogenized streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetic mice. Vaginal PMN infiltration was consistently low, with IL-1β, S100A8, and LDH concentrations similar to uninoculated mice. Biofilm formation was not detected in vivo, and co-infection with C. albicans did not induce synergistic immunopathogenic effects. This data suggests that experimental vaginal colonization of C. glabrata is not associated with an inflammatory immunopathogenic response or biofilm formation.
A Murine Model of Candida glabrata Vaginitis Shows No Evidence of an Inflammatory Immunopathogenic Response.

Science.gov (United States)

Nash, Evelyn E; Peters, Brian M; Lilly, Elizabeth A; Noverr, Mairi C; Fidel, Paul L

2016-01-01

Candida glabrata is the second most common organism isolated from women with vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), particularly in women with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus. However, mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of C. glabrata-associated VVC are unknown and have not been studied at any depth in animal models. The objective of this study was to evaluate host responses to infection following efforts to optimize a murine model of C. glabrata VVC. For this, various designs were evaluated for consistent experimental vaginal colonization (i.e., type 1 and type 2 diabetic mice, exogenous estrogen, varying inocula, and co-infection with C. albicans). Upon model optimization, vaginal fungal burden and polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) recruitment were assessed longitudinally over 21 days post-inoculation, together with vaginal concentrations of IL-1β, S100A8 alarmin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and in vivo biofilm formation. Consistent and sustained vaginal colonization with C. glabrata was achieved in estrogenized streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetic mice. Vaginal PMN infiltration was consistently low, with IL-1β, S100A8, and LDH concentrations similar to uninoculated mice. Biofilm formation was not detected in vivo, and co-infection with C. albicans did not induce synergistic immunopathogenic effects. This data suggests that experimental vaginal colonization of C. glabrata is not associated with an inflammatory immunopathogenic response or biofilm formation.
Benefits of Demand Side Response in Providing Frequency Response Service in the Future GB Power System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fei eTeng

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The demand for ancillary service is expected to increase significantly in the future GB electricity system due to high penetration of wind. In particular, the need for frequency response, required to deal with sudden frequency drops following a loss of generator, will increase because of the limited inertia capability of wind plants. This paper quantifies the requirements for primary frequency response and analyses the benefits of frequency response provision from DSR. The results show dramatic changes in frequency response requirements driven by high penetration of wind. Case studies carried out by using an advanced stochastic generation scheduling model suggest that the provision of frequency response from DSR could greatly reduce the system operation cost, wind curtailment and carbon emissions in the future GB system characterised by high penetration of wind. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the benefit of DSR shows significant diurnal and seasonal variation, whereas an even more rapid (instant delivery of frequency response from DSR could provide significant additional value. Our studies also indicate that the competing technologies to DSR, namely battery storage and more flexible generation could potentially reduce its value by up to 35%, still leaving significant room to deploy DSR as frequency response provider.
Physiological and Transcriptional Responses of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to d-Limonene Show Changes to the Cell Wall but Not to the Plasma Membrane

Science.gov (United States)

Brennan, Timothy C. R.; Nielsen, Lars K.

2013-01-01

Monoterpenes can, upon hydrogenation, be used as light-fraction components of sustainable aviation fuels. Fermentative production of monoterpenes in engineered microorganisms, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has gained attention as a potential route to deliver these next-generation fuels from renewable biomass. However, end product toxicity presents a formidable problem for microbial synthesis. Due to their hydrophobicity, monoterpene inhibition has long been attributed to membrane interference, but the molecular mechanism remains largely unsolved. In order to gain a better understanding of the mode of action, we analyzed the composition and structural integrity of the cell envelope as well as the transcriptional response of yeast cells treated with an inhibitory amount of d-limonene (107 mg/liter). We found no alterations in membrane fluidity, structural membrane integrity, or fatty acid composition after the solvent challenge. A 4-fold increase in the mean fluorescence intensity per cell (using calcofluor white stain) and increased sensitivity to cell wall-degrading enzymes demonstrated that limonene disrupts cell wall properties. Global transcript measurements confirmed the membrane integrity observations by showing no upregulation of ergosterol or fatty acid biosynthesis pathways, which are commonly overexpressed in yeast to reinforce membrane rigidity during ethanol exposure. Limonene shock did cause a compensatory response to cell wall damage through overexpression of several genes (ROM1, RLM1, PIR3, CTT1, YGP1, MLP1, PST1, and CWP1) involved with the cell wall integrity signaling pathway. This is the first report demonstrating that cell wall, rather than plasma membrane, deterioration is the main source of monoterpene inhibition. We show that limonene can alter the structure and function of the cell wall, which has a clear effect on cytokinesis. PMID:23542628
Human antibody responses to Schistosoma mansoni: does antigen directed, isotype restriction result in the production of blocking antibodies?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David W. Dunne

1987-01-01

Full Text Available After treatment young Kenyan schoolchildren are highly susceptible to reinfection with Schistosoma mansoni. Older children and adults are resistant to reinfection. There is no evidence that this age related resistance is due to a slow development of protective immunological mechanisms, rather, it appears that young children are susceptible because of the presence of blocking antibodies which decline with age, thus allowing the expression of protective responses. Correlations between antibody responses to different stages of the parasite life-cycle suggest that, in young children, antigen directed, isotype restriction of the response against cross-reactive polysaccharide egg antigens results in an ineffectual, or even blocking antibody response to the schistosomulum.
Virological and immunological response to antiretroviral regimens containing maraviroc in HIV type 1-infected patients in clinical practice: role of different tropism testing results and of concomitant treatments.

Science.gov (United States)

Rossetti, Barbara; Bianco, Claudia; Bellazzi, Lara Ines; Bruzzone, Bianca; Colao, Grazia; Corsi, Paola; Monno, Laura; Pagano, Gabriella; Paolucci, Stefania; Punzi, Grazia; Setti, Maurizio; Zazzi, Maurizio; De Luca, Andrea

2014-01-01

We assessed the immunovirological response to antiretroviral regimens containing maraviroc in HIV-infected viremic patients with viral tropism predicted by different assays. We selected antiretroviral treatment-experienced HIV-1-infected patients initiating regimens containing maraviroc after different phenotypic or genotypic viral tropism assays, with at least one HIV-1 RNA determination during follow-up. Survival analysis was employed to assess the virological response as time to HIV-1 RNA immunological response as time to a CD4 cell count increase of ≥ 100/μl from baseline. Predictors of these outcomes were analyzed by multivariate Cox regression models. In 191 treatments with maraviroc, virological response was achieved in 65.4% and the response was modestly influenced by the baseline viral load and concomitant drug activity but not influenced by the type of tropism assay employed. Immunological response was achieved in 58.1%; independent predictors were baseline HIV-1 RNA (per log10 higher: HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.05-1.60) and concomitant therapy with enfuvirtide (HR 2.05, 0.96-4.39) but not tropism assay results. Of 17 patients with baseline R5-tropic virus and available tropism results while viremic during follow-up on maraviroc, seven (41%) showed a tropism switch to non-R5 virus. A significant proportion of experienced patients treated with regimens containing maraviroc achieved virological response. The tropism test type used was not associated with immunovirological response and concomitant treatment with enfuvirtide increased the chance of immunological response. More than half of virological failures with maraviroc were not accompanied by tropism switch.

Application of Wildfire Risk Assessment Results to Wildfire Response Planning in the Southern Sierra Nevada, California, USA

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Matthew P. Thompson

2016-03-01

Full Text Available How wildfires are managed is a key determinant of long-term socioecological resiliency and the ability to live with fire. Safe and effective response to fire requires effective pre-fire planning, which is the main focus of this paper. We review general principles of effective federal fire management planning in the U.S., and introduce a framework for incident response planning consistent with these principles. We contextualize this framework in relation to a wildland fire management continuum based on federal fire management policy in the U.S. The framework leverages recent advancements in spatial wildfire risk assessment—notably the joint concepts of in situ risk and source risk—and integrates assessment results with additional geospatial information to develop and map strategic response zones. We operationalize this framework in a geographic information system (GIS environment based on landscape attributes relevant to fire operations, and define Potential wildland fire Operational Delineations (PODs as the spatial unit of analysis for strategic response. Using results from a recent risk assessment performed on several National Forests in the Southern Sierra Nevada area of California, USA, we illustrate how POD-level summaries of risk metrics can reduce uncertainty surrounding potential losses and benefits given large fire occurrence, and lend themselves naturally to design of fire and fuel management strategies. To conclude we identify gaps, limitations, and uncertainties, and prioritize future work to support safe and effective incident response.
Reverberation Mapping Results from MDM Observatory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Denney, Kelly D.; Peterson, B. M.; Pogge, R. W.

2009-01-01

We present results from a multi-month reverberation mapping campaign undertaken primarily at MDM Observatory with supporting observations from around the world. We measure broad line region (BLR) radii and black hole masses for six objects. A velocity-resolved analysis of the H_beta response show...
Social Responsibility Instruments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katarzyna Mizera

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Responsible business notion is more and more present in Polish economy, however the results of the research carried out in Polish business still shows a low level of CRS idea knowledge, especially in small and medium companies. Although responsible business notion is generally known, its details, ways of preparing strategy, instruments and what is more its benefits are still narrowly spread. Many business people face the lack of knowledge and information, which on one hand make it easier to spread and deepen wrong stereotypes connected with this notion and on the other hand make business people unwilling to implement CRS in their companies. The subjects of this article are examples of instruments which are responsible for realization of social responsibility strategy.
Test results of HTTR control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Motegi, Toshihiro; Iigaki, Kazuhiko; Saito, Kenji; Sawahata, Hiroaki; Hirato, Yoji; Kondo, Makoto; Shibutani, Hideki; Ogawa, Satoru; Shinozaki, Masayuki; Mizushima, Toshihiko; Kawasaki, Kozo

2006-06-01

The plant control performance of the IHX helium flow rate control system, the PPWC helium flow rate control system, the secondary helium flow rate control system, the inlet temperature control system, the reactor power control system and the outlet temperature control system of the HTTR are obtained through function tests and power-up tests. As the test results, the control systems show stable control response under transient condition. Both of inlet temperature control system and reactor power control system shows stable operation from 30% to 100%, respectively. This report describes the outline of control systems and test results. (author)
Volumetric response classification in metastatic solid tumors on MSCT: Initial results in a whole-body setting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wulff, A.M.; Fabel, M.; Freitag-Wolf, S.; Tepper, M.; Knabe, H.M.; Schäfer, J.P.; Jansen, O.; Bolte, H.

2013-01-01

Purpose: To examine technical parameters of measurement accuracy and differences in tumor response classification using RECIST 1.1 and volumetric assessment in three common metastasis types (lung nodules, liver lesions, lymph node metastasis) simultaneously. Materials and methods: 56 consecutive patients (32 female) aged 41–82 years with a wide range of metastatic solid tumors were examined with MSCT for baseline and follow up. Images were evaluated by three experienced radiologists using manual measurements and semi-automatic lesion segmentation. Institutional ethics review was obtained and all patients gave written informed consent. Data analysis comprised interobserver variability operationalized as coefficient of variation and categorical response classification according to RECIST 1.1 for both manual and volumetric measures. Continuous data were assessed for statistical significance with Wilcoxon signed-rank test and categorical data with Fleiss kappa. Results: Interobserver variability was 6.3% (IQR 4.6%) for manual and 4.1% (IQR 4.4%) for volumetrically obtained sum of relevant diameters (p < 0.05, corrected). 4–8 patients’ response to therapy was classified differently across observers by using volumetry compared to standard manual measurements. Fleiss kappa revealed no significant difference in categorical agreement of response classification between manual (0.7558) and volumetric (0.7623) measurements. Conclusion: Under standard RECIST thresholds there was no advantage of volumetric compared to manual response evaluation. However volumetric assessment yielded significantly lower interobserver variability. This may allow narrower thresholds for volumetric response classification in the future
Volumetric response classification in metastatic solid tumors on MSCT: Initial results in a whole-body setting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wulff, A.M., E-mail: a.wulff@rad.uni-kiel.de [Klinik für Diagnostische Radiologie, Arnold-Heller-Straße 3, Haus 23, 24105 Kiel (Germany); Fabel, M. [Klinik für Diagnostische Radiologie, Arnold-Heller-Straße 3, Haus 23, 24105 Kiel (Germany); Freitag-Wolf, S., E-mail: freitag@medinfo.uni-kiel.de [Institut für Medizinische Informatik und Statistik, Brunswiker Str. 10, 24105 Kiel (Germany); Tepper, M., E-mail: m.tepper@rad.uni-kiel.de [Klinik für Diagnostische Radiologie, Arnold-Heller-Straße 3, Haus 23, 24105 Kiel (Germany); Knabe, H.M., E-mail: h.knabe@rad.uni-kiel.de [Klinik für Diagnostische Radiologie, Arnold-Heller-Straße 3, Haus 23, 24105 Kiel (Germany); Schäfer, J.P., E-mail: jp.schaefer@rad.uni-kiel.de [Klinik für Diagnostische Radiologie, Arnold-Heller-Straße 3, Haus 23, 24105 Kiel (Germany); Jansen, O., E-mail: o.jansen@neurorad.uni-kiel.de [Klinik für Diagnostische Radiologie, Arnold-Heller-Straße 3, Haus 23, 24105 Kiel (Germany); Bolte, H., E-mail: hendrik.bolte@ukmuenster.de [Klinik für Nuklearmedizin, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, Gebäude A1, 48149 Münster (Germany)

2013-10-01

Purpose: To examine technical parameters of measurement accuracy and differences in tumor response classification using RECIST 1.1 and volumetric assessment in three common metastasis types (lung nodules, liver lesions, lymph node metastasis) simultaneously. Materials and methods: 56 consecutive patients (32 female) aged 41–82 years with a wide range of metastatic solid tumors were examined with MSCT for baseline and follow up. Images were evaluated by three experienced radiologists using manual measurements and semi-automatic lesion segmentation. Institutional ethics review was obtained and all patients gave written informed consent. Data analysis comprised interobserver variability operationalized as coefficient of variation and categorical response classification according to RECIST 1.1 for both manual and volumetric measures. Continuous data were assessed for statistical significance with Wilcoxon signed-rank test and categorical data with Fleiss kappa. Results: Interobserver variability was 6.3% (IQR 4.6%) for manual and 4.1% (IQR 4.4%) for volumetrically obtained sum of relevant diameters (p < 0.05, corrected). 4–8 patients’ response to therapy was classified differently across observers by using volumetry compared to standard manual measurements. Fleiss kappa revealed no significant difference in categorical agreement of response classification between manual (0.7558) and volumetric (0.7623) measurements. Conclusion: Under standard RECIST thresholds there was no advantage of volumetric compared to manual response evaluation. However volumetric assessment yielded significantly lower interobserver variability. This may allow narrower thresholds for volumetric response classification in the future.
Theobroma cacao L. pathogenesis-related gene tandem array members show diverse expression dynamics in response to pathogen colonization.

Science.gov (United States)

Fister, Andrew S; Mejia, Luis C; Zhang, Yufan; Herre, Edward Allen; Maximova, Siela N; Guiltinan, Mark J

2016-05-17

The pathogenesis-related (PR) group of proteins are operationally defined as polypeptides that increase in concentration in plant tissues upon contact with a pathogen. To date, 17 classes of highly divergent proteins have been described that act through multiple mechanisms of pathogen resistance. Characterizing these families in cacao, an economically important tree crop, and comparing the families to those in other species, is an important step in understanding cacao's immune response. Using publically available resources, all members of the 17 recognized pathogenesis-related gene families in the genome of Theobroma cacao were identified and annotated resulting in a set of ~350 members in both published cacao genomes. Approximately 50 % of these genes are organized in tandem arrays scattered throughout the genome. This feature was observed in five additional plant taxa (three dicots and two monocots), suggesting that tandem duplication has played an important role in the evolution of the PR genes in higher plants. Expression profiling captured the dynamics and complexity of PR genes expression at basal levels and after induction by two cacao pathogens (the oomycete, Phytophthora palmivora, and the fungus, Colletotrichum theobromicola), identifying specific genes within families that are more responsive to pathogen challenge. Subsequent qRT-PCR validated the induction of several PR-1, PR-3, PR-4, and PR-10 family members, with greater than 1000 fold induction detected for specific genes. We describe candidate genes that are likely to be involved in cacao's defense against Phytophthora and Colletotrichum infection and could be potentially useful for marker-assisted selection for breeding of disease resistant cacao varieties. The data presented here, along with existing cacao-omics resources, will enable targeted functional genetic screening of defense genes likely to play critical functions in cacao's defense against its pathogens.
Customer interruption cost and results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eua-Arporn, B.; Bisarnbutra, S. [Chulalongkorn Univ., Bangkok (Thailand)

1997-12-31

Results of a comprehensive study on short-term direct impacts and consumer interruption costs, incurred as a result of power supply interruption, were discussed. The emphasis was on questionnaire development, general responses and the average customer damage function of some selected sectors. The customer damage function was established for each category of customers (agriculture, industry, mining, wholesale, retail merchandising, residential, etc) as well as for different locations. Results showed that the average customer damage function depended mostly on customer category. Size and location were not significant factors. 5 refs., 7 tabs.
THE IMPACTS OF PHILANTHROPY RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY TOWARD CUSTOMER PURCHASE BEHAVIOR AND CUSTOMER LOYALTY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kurniawati Chrisjatmiko

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to analyze the impact of philanthropy responsibility and ethical responsibility towards customer purchase behavior and customer loyalty on fast food restaurants. The research was conducted by using quantitative research design and hypothetical testing to explore philanthropic responsibility, ethical responsibility, customer purchase behavior, and customer loyalty variables. Samples were taken from 186 respondents of employee population in Jakarta. Structural equation modeling was used in order to test the proposed hypotheses. Research result showed the positive and significant impact of philanthropic responsibility towards customer purchase behavior. On contrary, there was no positive ethical responsibility impact found towards customer purchase behavior. These findings are supported by the fact that the majority of consumers purchased fast food base on impulsive buying and not driven by the fast food restaurants ethically responsible behavior. However, the research does show a positive and significant impact of customer purchase behavior on customer loyalty. Further research recommendation should be taken from more respondents in a broader population area. Companies are suggested to approach a strategic and relevant caused-related marketing and caused promotions in relation to philanthropy responsibility to increase customer purchase behavior.
The Radiation Response of Sarcomas by Histologic Subtypes: A Review With Special Emphasis Given to Results Achieved With Razoxane

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2006-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Relatively few results are available in the literature about the radiation response of unresectable sarcomas in relation to their histology. Therefore, an attempt was made to summarize the present situation. Materials and methods. This report is based on a review of the literature and the author's own experience. Adult-type soft tissue sarcomas, chondrosarcomas, and chordomas were analyzed. Radioresponse was mainly associated with the degree of tumor shrinkage, that is, objective responses. Histopathologic responses, that is, the degree of necrosis, are only discussed in relation to radiation treatment reports of soft tissue sarcomas as a group. Results. Radiation therapy alone leads to major responses in about 50% of lipo-, fibro-, leiomyo-, or chondrosarcomas. The response rate is less than 50% in malignant fibrous histiocytomas, synovial, neurogenic, and other rare soft tissue sarcomas. The response rates may increase up to 75% through the addition of radiosensitizers such as halogenated pyrimidines or razoxane, or by the use of high-LET irradiation. Angiosarcomas become clearly more responsive if biologicals, angiomodulating, and/or tubulin affinic substances are given together with radiation therapy. Razoxane is able to increase the duration and quality of responses even in difficult-to-treat tumors like chondrosarcomas or chordomas. Conclusions. The available data demonstrate that the radioresponsiveness of sarcomas is very variable and dependent on histology, kind of radiation, and various concomitantly given drugs. The rate of complete sustained remissions by radiation therapy alone or in combination with drugs is still far from satisfactory although progress has been made through the use of sensitizing agents.
The neonicotinoid imidachloprid shows high chronic toxicity to mayfly nymphs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roessink, I.; Merga, L.B.; Zweers, A.J.; Brink, van den P.J.

2013-01-01

The present study evaluated the acute and chronic toxicity of imidacloprid to a range of freshwater arthropods. Mayfly and caddisfly species were most sensitive to short-term imidacloprid exposures (10 tests), whereas the mayflies showed by far the most sensitive response to long-term exposure of
Soil bacteria show different tolerance ranges to an unprecedented disturbance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nunes, Ines Marques; Jurburg, Stephanie; Jacquiod, Samuel Jehan Auguste

2018-01-01

stress doses. FRG1, the most sensitive group, was dominated by Actinobacteria. FRG2 and FRG3, with intermediate tolerance, displayed prevalence of Proteobacteria, while FRG4, the most resistant group, was driven by Firmicutes. While the most sensitive FRGs showed predictable responses linked to changes...
Mycorrhizal Dependency and Response of Tomato ( Lycopersicon ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A pot experiment was conducted on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) to evaluate the responses of tomato to inoculation of mycorrhiza (AMF) under different levels of soil phosphorus (P) concentrations in a greenhouse study. The results showed different responses on dry matter yield, shoot phosphorus concentration, ...
The information seeking and procurment needs of attendees at an industrial trade show

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. C. Bresler

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this article is to describe what attracts visitors to an industrial trade show, and to profile them. This will enable the show organisers to attract the right mix of exhibitors and fulfil their dual role of satisfying the needs of both attendees and exhibitors and improve the role of exhibitions in the latter's marketing mix. Problem investigated: The research seeks to elicit the attendance objectives of participants in order to ascertain their information seeking and procurement needs. This can be used to improve the marketing communication of both the organisers and exhibitors. Research methodology: The research design is a multi method, descriptive study. A non probability, judgemental sample was drawn; 1020 interviews were conducted per Electra Mining Africa expo in 2004 and 2006. Both open ended and fixed response questions were posed and due to the similarity of responses, 300 per show were analysed. The researcher fulfilled a participant observer role to enhance the validity and reliability of the findings. Findings/implications: The prime reason for visitation was to see what is new, discover, and gather information, and attendees were not disappointed in that. The trade shows attracted an informed, niche audience. Exhibitors gained access to key decision makers with buying influence. Attendees represented all roles in the buying process and intended to buy some capital items exhibited within the following year. Business contacts were made. The attraction and contact efficiency of the exhibition's were high and may result in conversion efficiency. In terms of market and geographical coverage it is a vertical international show. Originality: This paper contributes to limited research conducted on trade shows, especially in South Africa. It is unique in that it describes the effectiveness of an industrial trade show from a demand perspective in order to improve the facilitating role of exhibition organisers. It
A linear chromatic mechanism drives the pupillary response.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsujimura, S.; Wolffsohn, J. S.; Gilmartin, B.

2001-01-01

Previous studies have shown that a chromatic mechanism can drive pupil responses. The aim of this research was to clarify whether a linear or nonlinear chromatic mechanism drives pupillary responses by using test stimuli of various colours that are defined in cone contrast space. The pupil and accommodation responses evoked by these test stimuli were continuously and simultaneously objectively measured by photorefraction. The results with isochromatic and isoluminant stimuli showed that the accommodative level remained approximately constant (< 0.25 D change in mean level) even when the concurrent pupillary response was large (ca. 0.30 mm). The pupillary response to an isoluminant grating was sustained, delayed (by ca. 60 ms) and larger in amplitude than that for a isochromatic uniform stimulus, which supports previous work suggesting that the chromatic mechanism contributes to the pupillary response. In a second experiment, selected chromatic test gratings were used and isoresponse contours in cone contrast space were obtained. The results showed that the isoresponse contour in cone contrast space is well described (r(2) = 0.99) by a straight line with a positive slope. The results indicate that a /L - M/ linear chromatic mechanism, whereby a signal from the long wavelength cone is subtracted from that of the middle wavelength cone and vice versa, drives pupillary responses. PMID:11674867
Measuring the mental health care system responsiveness: results of an outpatient survey in Tehran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Setareh eForouzan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available AbstractAs explained by the World Health Organisation (WHO in 2000, the concept of health system responsiveness is one of the core goals of health systems. Since 2000, further efforts have been made to measure health system responsiveness and the factors affecting responsiveness, yet few studies have applied responsiveness concepts to the evaluation of mental health systems. The present study aims to measure responsiveness and its related domains in the mental health care system of Tehran. Utilising the same method used by the WHO for its responsiveness survey, responsiveness for outpatient mental health care was evaluated using a validated Farsi questionnaire. A sample of 500 public mental health service users in Tehran participated and subsequently completed the questionnaire. On average, 47% of participants reported experiencing poor responsiveness. Among responsiveness domains, confidentiality and dignity were the best performing factors while autonomy, access to care and quality of basic amenities were the worst performing. Respondents who reported their social status as low were more likely to experience poor responsiveness overall. Autonomy, quality of basic amenities and clear communication were responsiveness dimensions that performed poorly but were considered to be important by study participants. In summary, the study suggests that measuring responsiveness could provide guidance for further development of mental health care systems to become more patient orientated and provide patients with more respect.
The impact of multiple show-ups on eyewitness decision-making and innocence risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Andrew M; Bertrand, Michelle; Lindsay, R C L; Kalmet, Natalie; Grossman, Deborah; Provenzano, Daniel

2014-09-01

If an eyewitness rejects a show-up, police may respond by finding a new suspect and conducting a second show-up with the same eyewitness. Police may continue finding suspects and conducting show-ups until the eyewitness makes an identification (Study 1). Relatively low criterion-setting eyewitnesses filter themselves out of the multiple show-ups procedure by choosing the first suspect with whom they are presented (Studies 2 and 3). Accordingly, response bias was more stringent on the second show-up when compared with the first, but became no more stringent with additional show-ups. Despite this stringent shift in response bias, innocence risk increased with additional show-ups, as false alarms cumulate (Studies 2 and 3). Although unbiased show-up instructions decreased innocent suspect identifications, the numbers were still discouraging (Study 4). Given the high number of innocent suspects who would be mistakenly identified through the use of multiple show-up procedures, using such identifications as evidence of guilt is questionable. Although evidence of guilt is limited to identifications from a single show-up, practical constraints might sometimes require police to use additional show-ups. Accordingly, we propose a stronger partition between evidentiary and investigative procedures. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.
Results of the systematic study of neutron dosimeters and neutron radiometers responses from Bruyeres and Valduc's experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pras, Ph.; Ledoux, X.; Patin, Y.

1999-01-01

This document gives the results of the systematic study of neutron dosimeters (Bubbles detectors) and neutron radiometers (Cramal, Nausicaa, EGG Lb6411) with standard sources and with the Bruyeres Van de Graaff 4MV accelerator. The dose equivalent rate response as a function of the neutron energy is parameterized. Even for low dose equivalent rate, a good reproducibility of the measurements is found in the strict respect of a given method. The response of the different systems is independent of the dose equivalent rate. (author)
The increased risk of road crashes in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) adult drivers: driven by distraction? Results from a responsibility case-control study.

Science.gov (United States)

El Farouki, Kamal; Lagarde, Emmanuel; Orriols, Ludivine; Bouvard, Manuel-Pierre; Contrand, Benjamin; Galéra, Cédric

2014-01-01

Both distractions (external and internal) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are serious risk factors for traffic crashes and injuries. However, it is still unknown if ADHD (a chronic condition) modifies the effect of distractions (irregular hazards) on traffic crashes. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of distractions and ADHD on traffic crash responsibility. A responsibility case-control study was conducted in the adult emergency department of Bordeaux University Hospital, France. Subjects were recruited among drivers injured in a motor vehicle crash between April 2010 and August 2011. Responsibility levels were estimated using a standardized method. Frequencies of exposures were compared between drivers responsible and drivers not responsible for the crash. Independent risk factors were identified using a multivariate logistic regression including test interactions between distractions and ADHD. A total of 777 subjects were included in the analysis. Factors associated with responsibility were distraction induced by an external event (adjusted OR (aOR) = 1.47; 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.06-2.05]), distraction induced by an internal thought (aOR = 2.38; CI: [1.50-3.77]) and ADHD (aOR = 2.18 CI: [1.22-3.88]). The combined effect of ADHD and external distractions was strongly associated with responsibility for the crash (aOR = 5.79 CI: [2.06-16.32]). Interaction assessment showed that the attributable proportion due to the interaction among participants with both exposures was 68%. Adults with ADHD are a population at higher risk of being responsible for a road traffic crash when exposed to external distractions. This result reinforces the need to diagnose adult ADHD and to include road safety awareness messages delivered by the physician. Developing advanced driver assistance systems devoted to the management of attention lapses is also increasingly relevant for these drivers.
The increased risk of road crashes in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD adult drivers: driven by distraction? Results from a responsibility case-control study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kamal El Farouki

Full Text Available Both distractions (external and internal and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD are serious risk factors for traffic crashes and injuries. However, it is still unknown if ADHD (a chronic condition modifies the effect of distractions (irregular hazards on traffic crashes. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of distractions and ADHD on traffic crash responsibility.A responsibility case-control study was conducted in the adult emergency department of Bordeaux University Hospital, France. Subjects were recruited among drivers injured in a motor vehicle crash between April 2010 and August 2011. Responsibility levels were estimated using a standardized method. Frequencies of exposures were compared between drivers responsible and drivers not responsible for the crash. Independent risk factors were identified using a multivariate logistic regression including test interactions between distractions and ADHD.A total of 777 subjects were included in the analysis. Factors associated with responsibility were distraction induced by an external event (adjusted OR (aOR = 1.47; 95% confidence interval (CI [1.06-2.05], distraction induced by an internal thought (aOR = 2.38; CI: [1.50-3.77] and ADHD (aOR = 2.18 CI: [1.22-3.88]. The combined effect of ADHD and external distractions was strongly associated with responsibility for the crash (aOR = 5.79 CI: [2.06-16.32]. Interaction assessment showed that the attributable proportion due to the interaction among participants with both exposures was 68%.Adults with ADHD are a population at higher risk of being responsible for a road traffic crash when exposed to external distractions. This result reinforces the need to diagnose adult ADHD and to include road safety awareness messages delivered by the physician. Developing advanced driver assistance systems devoted to the management of attention lapses is also increasingly relevant for these drivers.

Early results of experiments with responsive open learning environments

OpenAIRE

Friedrich, M.; Wolpers, M.; Shen, R.; Ullrich, C.; Klamma, R.; Renzel, D.; Richert, A.; Heiden, B. von der

2011-01-01

Responsive open learning environments (ROLEs) are the next generation of personal learning environments (PLEs). While PLEs rely on the simple aggregation of existing content and services mainly using Web 2.0 technologies, ROLEs are transforming lifelong learning by introducing a new infrastructure on a global scale while dealing with existing learning management systems, institutions, and technologies. The requirements engineering process in highly populated test-beds is as important as the t...
Self-reported responsiveness to direct-to-consumer drug advertising and medication use: results of a national survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Somes Grant W

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Direct-to-consumer (DTC marketing of pharmaceuticals is controversial, yet effective. Little is known relating patterns of medication use to patient responsiveness to DTC. Methods We conducted a secondary analysis of data collected in national telephone survey on knowledge of and attitudes toward DTC advertisements. The survey of 1081 U.S. adults (response rate = 65% was conducted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA. Responsiveness to DTC was defined as an affirmative response to the item: "Has an advertisement for a prescription drug ever caused you to ask a doctor about a medical condition or illness of your own that you had not talked to a doctor about before?" Patients reported number of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC medicines taken as well as demographic and personal health information. Results Of 771 respondents who met study criteria, 195 (25% were responsive to DTC. Only 7% respondents taking no prescription were responsive, whereas 45% of respondents taking 5 or more prescription medications were responsive. This trend remained significant (p trend .0009 even when controlling for age, gender, race, educational attainment, income, self-reported health status, and whether respondents "liked" DTC advertising. There was no relationship between the number of OTC medications taken and the propensity to discuss health-related problems in response to DTC advertisements (p = .4. Conclusion There is a strong cross-sectional relationship between the number of prescription, but not OTC, drugs used and responsiveness to DTC advertising. Although this relationship could be explained by physician compliance with patient requests for medications, it is also plausible that DTC advertisements have a particular appeal to patients prone to taking multiple medications. Outpatients motivated to discuss medical conditions based on their exposure to DTC advertising may require a careful medication history to evaluate for
Self-reported responsiveness to direct-to-consumer drug advertising and medication use: results of a national survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Dieringer, Nicholas J; Kukkamma, Lisa; Somes, Grant W; Shorr, Ronald I

2011-09-23

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing of pharmaceuticals is controversial, yet effective. Little is known relating patterns of medication use to patient responsiveness to DTC. METHODS: We conducted a secondary analysis of data collected in national telephone survey on knowledge of and attitudes toward DTC advertisements. The survey of 1081 U.S. adults (response rate = 65%) was conducted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Responsiveness to DTC was defined as an affirmative response to the item: "Has an advertisement for a prescription drug ever caused you to ask a doctor about a medical condition or illness of your own that you had not talked to a doctor about before?" Patients reported number of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines taken as well as demographic and personal health information. RESULTS: Of 771 respondents who met study criteria, 195 (25%) were responsive to DTC. Only 7% respondents taking no prescription were responsive, whereas 45% of respondents taking 5 or more prescription medications were responsive. This trend remained significant (p trend .0009) even when controlling for age, gender, race, educational attainment, income, self-reported health status, and whether respondents "liked" DTC advertising. There was no relationship between the number of OTC medications taken and the propensity to discuss health-related problems in response to DTC advertisements (p = .4). CONCLUSION: There is a strong cross-sectional relationship between the number of prescription, but not OTC, drugs used and responsiveness to DTC advertising. Although this relationship could be explained by physician compliance with patient requests for medications, it is also plausible that DTC advertisements have a particular appeal to patients prone to taking multiple medications. Outpatients motivated to discuss medical conditions based on their exposure to DTC advertising may require a careful medication history to evaluate for therapeutic
Finite-element modelling of geomechanical and hydraulic responses to the room 209 heading extension excavation response experiment 2: post-excavation analysis of experimental results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chan, T; Griffith, P; Nakka, B W; Khair, K R

1993-07-01

An in situ excavation response test was conducted at the 240 Level of the Underground Research Laboratory (URL) in conjunction with the excavation of a tunnel (Room 209) through a narrow, near-vertical, water-bearing fracture oriented almost perpendicular to the tunnel axis. This report presents a post-excavation analysis of the predicted mechanical response of the granitic rock mass to the tunnel excavation and the near-field hydraulic response of the fracture zone, compares the numerical modelling predictions with the actual measured response, provides information on the rock mass and fracture from back-analysis of the responses, and makes recommendations for future experiments. Results indicate that displacements and stress changes were reasonably well predicted. Pressure drops at hydrology boreholes and inflow to the tunnel were overpredicted, and fracture permeability changes were underpredicted. The permeability change is considered too large to be solely stress-induced. The back-calculated deformation modulus indicated nonlinear softening of the rock within 3.5 m of the tunnel wall. This is likely due to both excavation damage and the confining stress dependence of the modulus. For future excavation experiments it is recommended that mechanical excavation should replace the drill-and-blast technique; excavation damage should be incorporated into mechanical models; an improved hydraulic fracture model should be developed; and a coupled geomechanical-hydraulic analysis of fracture flow should be developed. (author). 16 refs., 15 tabs., 156 figs.
Finite-element modelling of geomechanical and hydraulic responses to the room 209 heading extension excavation response experiment 2: post-excavation analysis of experimental results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chan, T.; Griffith, P.; Nakka, B.W.; Khair, K.R.

1993-07-01

An in situ excavation response test was conducted at the 240 Level of the Underground Research Laboratory (URL) in conjunction with the excavation of a tunnel (Room 209) through a narrow, near-vertical, water-bearing fracture oriented almost perpendicular to the tunnel axis. This report presents a post-excavation analysis of the predicted mechanical response of the granitic rock mass to the tunnel excavation and the near-field hydraulic response of the fracture zone, compares the numerical modelling predictions with the actual measured response, provides information on the rock mass and fracture from back-analysis of the responses, and makes recommendations for future experiments. Results indicate that displacements and stress changes were reasonably well predicted. Pressure drops at hydrology boreholes and inflow to the tunnel were overpredicted, and fracture permeability changes were underpredicted. The permeability change is considered too large to be solely stress-induced. The back-calculated deformation modulus indicated nonlinear softening of the rock within 3.5 m of the tunnel wall. This is likely due to both excavation damage and the confining stress dependence of the modulus. For future excavation experiments it is recommended that mechanical excavation should replace the drill-and-blast technique; excavation damage should be incorporated into mechanical models; an improved hydraulic fracture model should be developed; and a coupled geomechanical-hydraulic analysis of fracture flow should be developed. (author). 16 refs., 15 tabs., 156 figs
Wigner-Kirkwood expansion of the quasi-elastic nuclear responses and application to spin-isospin responses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chanfray, G.

1988-01-01

We derive a semi-classical Wigner-Kirkwood expansion (Planck constant expansion) of the linear response functions. We find that the semi-classical results compare very well to the quantum mechanical calculations. We apply our formalism to the spin-isospin responses and show that surface-peaked Planck constant 2 corrections considerably decrease the ratio longitudinal/transverse as obtained through the Los Alamos (longitudinal momentum) experiment
Interocular suppression in strabismic amblyopia results in an attenuated and delayed hemodynamic response function in early visual cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Farivar, Reza; Thompson, Benjamin; Mansouri, Behzad; Hess, Robert F

2011-12-20

Factors such as strabismus or anisometropia during infancy can disrupt normal visual development and result in amblyopia, characterized by reduced visual function in an otherwise healthy eye and often associated with persistent suppression of inputs from the amblyopic eye by those from the dominant eye. It has become evident from fMRI studies that the cortical response to stimulation of the amblyopic eye is also affected. We were interested to compare the hemodynamic response function (HRF) of early visual cortex to amblyopic vs. dominant eye stimulation. In the first experiment, we found that stimulation of the amblyopic eye resulted in a signal that was both attenuated and delayed in its time to peak. We postulated that this delay may be due to suppressive effects of the dominant eye and, in our second experiment, measured the cortical response of amblyopic eye stimulation under two conditions--where the dominant eye was open and seeing a static pattern (high suppression) or where the dominant eye was patched and closed (low suppression). We found that the HRF in response to amblyopic eye stimulation depended on whether the dominant eye was open. This effect was manifested as both a delayed HRF under the suppressed condition and an amplitude reduction.
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Results 7511 - 7520 of 8491 ... Literature review of women's economic empowerment and the care economy. Research shows that women face particular challenges in engaging in work outside the home because of their dual role as caregivers and breadwinners, and the lack of recognition given to their care responsibilities.
Rapamycin and chloroquine: the in vitro and in vivo effects of autophagy-modifying drugs show promising results in valosin containing protein multisystem proteinopathy.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angèle Nalbandian

Full Text Available Mutations in the valosin containing protein (VCP gene cause hereditary Inclusion body myopathy (hIBM associated with Paget disease of bone (PDB, frontotemporal dementia (FTD, more recently termed multisystem proteinopathy (MSP. Affected individuals exhibit scapular winging and die from progressive muscle weakness, and cardiac and respiratory failure, typically in their 40s to 50s. Histologically, patients show the presence of rimmed vacuoles and TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43-positive large ubiquitinated inclusion bodies in the muscles. We have generated a VCPR155H/+ mouse model which recapitulates the disease phenotype and impaired autophagy typically observed in patients with VCP disease. Autophagy-modifying agents, such as rapamycin and chloroquine, at pharmacological doses have previously shown to alter the autophagic flux. Herein, we report results of administration of rapamycin, a specific inhibitor of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR signaling pathway, and chloroquine, a lysosomal inhibitor which reverses autophagy by accumulating in lysosomes, responsible for blocking autophagy in 20-month old VCPR155H/+ mice. Rapamycin-treated mice demonstrated significant improvement in muscle performance, quadriceps histological analysis, and rescue of ubiquitin, and TDP-43 pathology and defective autophagy as indicated by decreased protein expression levels of LC3-I/II, p62/SQSTM1, optineurin and inhibiting the mTORC1 substrates. Conversely, chloroquine-treated VCPR155H/+ mice revealed progressive muscle weakness, cytoplasmic accumulation of TDP-43, ubiquitin-positive inclusion bodies and increased LC3-I/II, p62/SQSTM1, and optineurin expression levels. Our in vitro patient myoblasts studies treated with rapamycin demonstrated an overall improvement in the autophagy markers. Targeting the mTOR pathway ameliorates an increasing list of disorders, and these findings suggest that VCP disease and related neurodegenerative multisystem
Compassion Meditators Show Less Anger, Less Punishment and More Compensation of Victims in Response to Fairness Violations

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Cade eMcCall

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Fairness violations elicit powerful behavioral and affective responses. Indeed, people are willing to incur costs to sanction unfair behavior. Here we study the possible impact of long-term mental training in socio-affective capacities such as compassion on altruistic punishment and compensatory behavior in economic games. To this end we recruited a group of long-term meditation practitioners (LTPs who had engaged in an average of 40K hours of mental training exercises including compassion-related meditation, along with a group of meditation-naïve controls. Participants played several adaptations of the dictator game in which they had the opportunity to punish the dictator both when they were the recipients of the dictator’s offer and when they were third-party witnesses to the dictator’s treatment of an anonymous second player. Compared to controls, LTPs were less likely to punish when they were the victims of fairness violations. However, both groups punished equivalently when they witnessed others receiving unfair treatment. In post-task questionnaires, controls reported significantly more anger in response to unfair offers than LTPs, although fairness judgments did not differ between groups. These data suggest that because the LTPs were less angered by unfair treatment of themselves, they punished that behavior less. However, when they witnessed the unfair treatment of others, they engaged in norm-reinforcing punishment. Finally, when participants played an additional game which included the opportunity to recompense victims, LTPs were more likely to do so. Together these data point to differential approaches to justice whereby LTPs engaged less in vengeful, retributive justice and focused more on norm reinforcement and the restoration of equity. These differences suggest that social preferences are plastic and that altruistic responses to unfairness may be shaped by the prolonged cultivation of prosocial motivation, altruism and
Children with autism spectrum disorders show abnormal conditioned response timing on delay, but not trace, eyeblink conditioning

Science.gov (United States)

Oristaglio, Jeff; West, Susan Hyman; Ghaffari, Manely; Lech, Melissa S.; Verma, Beeta R.; Harvey, John A.; Welsh, John P.; Malone, Richard P.

2013-01-01

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and age-matched typically-developing (TD) peers were tested on two forms of eyeblink conditioning (EBC), a Pavlovian associative learning paradigm where subjects learn to execute an appropriately-timed eyeblink in response to a previously neutral conditioning stimulus (CS). One version of the task, trace EBC, interposes a stimulus-free interval between the presentation of the CS and the unconditioned stimulus (US), a puff of air to the eye which causes subjects to blink. In delay EBC, the CS overlaps in time with the delivery of the US, usually with both stimuli terminating simultaneously. ASD children performed normally during trace EBC, exhibiting no differences from typically-developing (TD) subjects with regard to learning rate or the timing of the CR. However, when subsequently tested on delay EBC, subjects with ASD displayed abnormally-timed conditioned eye blinks that began earlier and peaked sooner than those of TD subjects, consistent with previous findings. The results suggest an impaired ability of children with ASD to properly time conditioned eye blinks which appears to be specific to delay EBC. We suggest that this deficit may reflect a dysfunction of cerebellar cortex in which increases in the intensity or duration of sensory input can temporarily disrupt the accuracy of motor timing over short temporal intervals. PMID:23769889
Salix response to different flow regimes in controlled experiments: first results

Science.gov (United States)

Gorla, Lorenzo; Signarbieux, Constant; Buttler, Alexandre; Perona, Paolo

2013-04-01

Dams and water management for hydropower production, agriculture and other human activities alter the natural flow regime of rivers. The new river hydrograph components depend on the type of impoundment and the policy of regulation but such a different flow regime will likely affect the riparian environment. The main challenge in order to define sustainable flow releases is to quantify hydrological effects in terms of geomorphology and ecosystem response. A considerable lack of knowledge still affects the link hydrology-ecology and inadequate flow rules (e.g., minimal or residual flows) are consequently still widespread: further research in this direction is urgently required. We present an experiment, which aims to investigate the effects of different water stage regimes on riparian vegetation (salix Viminalis cuttings) development in a temperate region (Switzerland). This work describes the installation setup, together with the first results concerning the first of the two scheduled seasons of campaign. Sixty Salix cuttings were planted in non-cohesive sandy-gravel sediment within 1 meter tall plastic pots installed outside in the EPFL campus. After grouping them in three batteries, the water level within them has been varying following three river regimes simulated by adjusting the water level within the pots by means of an automatic hydraulic system. The three water level regimes reproduce a natural flow regime, a minimum residual flow policy, which only conserves peaks during flooding conditions, and an artificial regime conserving only low frequencies (e.g., seasonality) of the natural dynamic. The natural flow regime of the first battery has been applied for two months to the entire system; the three regimes above said started in June 2012. This triggered a plant response transitory regime, which we monitored by measuring plant growth, soil and atmospheric variables. Particularly, measures concern with branches development leaves photosynthesis and
Bee Venom Pharmacopuncture Responses According to Sasang Constitution and Gender

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Kim Chaeweon

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Objectives: The current study was performed to compare the bee venom pharmacopuncture skin test reactions among groups with different sexes and Sasang constitutions. Methods: Between July 2012 and June 2013, all 76 patients who underwent bee venom pharmacopuncture skin tests and Sasang constitution diagnoses at Oriental Medicine Hospital of Sangji University were included in this study. The skin test was performed on the patient’s forearm intracutaneously with 0.05 ml of sweet bee venom (SBV on their first visit. If the patients showed a positive response, the test was discontinued. On the other hand, if the patient showed a negative response, the test was performed on the opposite forearm intracutaneously with 0.05 ml of bee venom pharmacopuncture 25% on the next day or the next visit. Three groups were made to compare the differences in the bee venom pharmacopuncture skin tests according to sexual difference and Sasang constitution: group A showed a positive response to SBV, group B showed a positive response to bee venom pharmacopuncture 25%, and group C showed a negative response on all bee venom pharmacopuncture skin tests. Fisher’s exact test was performed to evaluate the differences statistically. Results: The results of the bee venom pharmacopuncture skin tests showed no significant differences according to Sasang constitution (P = 0.300 or sexual difference (P = 0.163. Conclusion: No significant differences on the results of bee venom pharmacopuncture skin tests were observed according to two factors, Sasang constitution and the sexual difference.
Migraine patients consistently show abnormal vestibular bedside tests.

Science.gov (United States)

Maranhão, Eliana Teixeira; Maranhão-Filho, Péricles; Luiz, Ronir Raggio; Vincent, Maurice Borges

2016-01-01

Migraine and vertigo are common disorders, with lifetime prevalences of 16% and 7% respectively, and co-morbidity around 3.2%. Vestibular syndromes and dizziness occur more frequently in migraine patients. We investigated bedside clinical signs indicative of vestibular dysfunction in migraineurs. To test the hypothesis that vestibulo-ocular reflex, vestibulo-spinal reflex and fall risk (FR) responses as measured by 14 bedside tests are abnormal in migraineurs without vertigo, as compared with controls. Cross-sectional study including sixty individuals - thirty migraineurs, 25 women, 19-60 y-o; and 30 gender/age healthy paired controls. Migraineurs showed a tendency to perform worse in almost all tests, albeit only the Romberg tandem test was statistically different from controls. A combination of four abnormal tests better discriminated the two groups (93.3% specificity). Migraine patients consistently showed abnormal vestibular bedside tests when compared with controls.
Response to palatability after area postrema lesions: a result of learned aversions.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomoyasu, N; Kenney, N J

1989-11-01

The role of palatability, novelty, and food aversion in determining changes of food choice after ablation of the area postrema and caudal-medial aspect of the nucleus of the solitary tract (AP/cmNTS) is examined through a series of studies utilizing 24-h, two-food choice tests. On test days, the food that the animal has ingested since the time of lesioning or sham surgery is presented along with a novel food that varies in palatability. The results indicate that postlesion diet history is the major determinant of food choice by lesioned rats. Lesioned rats consistently take less of their familiar postlesion food than diet-matched controls, suggesting that the lesioned rats have developed an aversion to that food. Over-ingestion of the novel food may occur, but this outcome is not reliable. No indication that the animals' response to food palatability is affected by AP/cmNTS ablation was found. Learned aversion to a food ingested after AP/cmNTS ablation may account not only for changes of food preference after the lesion but also may be involved in the hypophagia and weight loss resulting from the ablation.
Transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis of Yukon Thellungiella plants grown in cabinets and their natural habitat show phenotypic plasticity

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Guevara David R

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Thellungiella salsuginea is an important model plant due to its natural tolerance to abiotic stresses including salt, cold, and water deficits. Microarray and metabolite profiling have shown that Thellungiella undergoes stress-responsive changes in transcript and organic solute abundance when grown under controlled environmental conditions. However, few reports assess the capacity of plants to display stress-responsive traits in natural habitats where concurrent stresses are the norm. Results To determine whether stress-responsive changes observed in cabinet-grown plants are recapitulated in the field, we analyzed leaf transcript and metabolic profiles of Thellungiella growing in its native Yukon habitat during two years of contrasting meteorological conditions. We found 673 genes showing differential expression between field and unstressed, chamber-grown plants. There were comparatively few overlaps between genes expressed under field and cabinet treatment-specific conditions. Only 20 of 99 drought-responsive genes were expressed both in the field during a year of low precipitation and in plants subjected to drought treatments in cabinets. There was also a general pattern of lower abundance among metabolites found in field plants relative to control or stress-treated plants in growth cabinets. Nutrient availability may explain some of the observed differences. For example, proline accumulated to high levels in cold and salt-stressed cabinet-grown plants but proline content was, by comparison, negligible in plants at a saline Yukon field site. We show that proline accumulated in a stress-responsive manner in Thellungiella plants salinized in growth cabinets and in salt-stressed seedlings when nitrogen was provided at 1.0 mM. In seedlings grown on 0.1 mM nitrogen medium, the proline content was low while carbohydrates increased. The relatively higher content of sugar-like compounds in field plants and seedlings on low nitrogen
Transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis of Yukon Thellungiella plants grown in cabinets and their natural habitat show phenotypic plasticity

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Thellungiella salsuginea is an important model plant due to its natural tolerance to abiotic stresses including salt, cold, and water deficits. Microarray and metabolite profiling have shown that Thellungiella undergoes stress-responsive changes in transcript and organic solute abundance when grown under controlled environmental conditions. However, few reports assess the capacity of plants to display stress-responsive traits in natural habitats where concurrent stresses are the norm. Results To determine whether stress-responsive changes observed in cabinet-grown plants are recapitulated in the field, we analyzed leaf transcript and metabolic profiles of Thellungiella growing in its native Yukon habitat during two years of contrasting meteorological conditions. We found 673 genes showing differential expression between field and unstressed, chamber-grown plants. There were comparatively few overlaps between genes expressed under field and cabinet treatment-specific conditions. Only 20 of 99 drought-responsive genes were expressed both in the field during a year of low precipitation and in plants subjected to drought treatments in cabinets. There was also a general pattern of lower abundance among metabolites found in field plants relative to control or stress-treated plants in growth cabinets. Nutrient availability may explain some of the observed differences. For example, proline accumulated to high levels in cold and salt-stressed cabinet-grown plants but proline content was, by comparison, negligible in plants at a saline Yukon field site. We show that proline accumulated in a stress-responsive manner in Thellungiella plants salinized in growth cabinets and in salt-stressed seedlings when nitrogen was provided at 1.0 mM. In seedlings grown on 0.1 mM nitrogen medium, the proline content was low while carbohydrates increased. The relatively higher content of sugar-like compounds in field plants and seedlings on low nitrogen media suggests that
Neutrophil Responses to Sterile Implant Materials.

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Siddharth Jhunjhunwala

Full Text Available In vivo implantation of sterile materials and devices results in a foreign body immune response leading to fibrosis of implanted material. Neutrophils, one of the first immune cells to be recruited to implantation sites, have been suggested to contribute to the establishment of the inflammatory microenvironment that initiates the fibrotic response. However, the precise numbers and roles of neutrophils in response to implanted devices remains unclear. Using a mouse model of peritoneal microcapsule implantation, we show 30-500 fold increased neutrophil presence in the peritoneal exudates in response to implants. We demonstrate that these neutrophils secrete increased amounts of a variety of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Further, we observe that they participate in the foreign body response through the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs on implant surfaces. Our results provide new insight into neutrophil function during a foreign body response to peritoneal implants which has implications for the development of biologically compatible medical devices.
Identifying mechanistic similarities in drug responses

KAUST Repository

Zhao, C.

2012-05-15

Motivation: In early drug development, it would be beneficial to be able to identify those dynamic patterns of gene response that indicate that drugs targeting a particular gene will be likely or not to elicit the desired response. One approach would be to quantitate the degree of similarity between the responses that cells show when exposed to drugs, so that consistencies in the regulation of cellular response processes that produce success or failure can be more readily identified.Results: We track drug response using fluorescent proteins as transcription activity reporters. Our basic assumption is that drugs inducing very similar alteration in transcriptional regulation will produce similar temporal trajectories on many of the reporter proteins and hence be identified as having similarities in their mechanisms of action (MOA). The main body of this work is devoted to characterizing similarity in temporal trajectories/signals. To do so, we must first identify the key points that determine mechanistic similarity between two drug responses. Directly comparing points on the two signals is unrealistic, as it cannot handle delays and speed variations on the time axis. Hence, to capture the similarities between reporter responses, we develop an alignment algorithm that is robust to noise, time delays and is able to find all the contiguous parts of signals centered about a core alignment (reflecting a core mechanism in drug response). Applying the proposed algorithm to a range of real drug experiments shows that the result agrees well with the prior drug MOA knowledge. © The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
Building the vegetation drought response index for Canada (VegDRI-Canada) to monitor agricultural drought: first results

Science.gov (United States)

Tadesse, Tsegaye; Champagne, Catherine; Wardlow, Brian D.; Hadwen, Trevor A.; Brown, Jesslyn; Demisse, Getachew B.; Bayissa, Yared A.; Davidson, Andrew M.

2017-01-01

Drought is a natural climatic phenomenon that occurs throughout the world and impacts many sectors of society. To help decision-makers reduce the impacts of drought, it is important to improve monitoring tools that provide relevant and timely information in support of drought mitigation decisions. Given that drought is a complex natural hazard that manifests in different forms, monitoring can be improved by integrating various types of information (e.g., remote sensing and climate) that is timely and region specific to identify where and when droughts are occurring. The Vegetation Drought Response Index for Canada (VegDRI-Canada) is a recently developed drought monitoring tool for Canada. VegDRI-Canada extends the initial VegDRI concept developed for the conterminous United States to a broader transnational coverage across North America. VegDRI-Canada models are similar to those developed for the United States, integrating satellite observations of vegetation status, climate data, and biophysical information on land use and land cover, soil characteristics, and other environmental factors. Collectively, these different types of data are integrated into the hybrid VegDRI-Canada to isolate the effects of drought on vegetation. Twenty-three weekly VegDRI-Canada models were built for the growing season (April–September) through the weekly analysis of these data using a regression tree-based data mining approach. A 15-year time series of VegDRI-Canada results (s to 2014) was produced using these models and the output was validated by randomly selecting 20% of the historical data, as well as holdout year (15% unseen data) across the growing season that the Pearson’s correlation ranged from 0.6 to 0.77. A case study was also conducted to evaluate the VegDRI-Canada results over the prairie region of Canada for two drought years and one non-drought year for three weekly periods of the growing season (i.e., early-, mid-, and late season). The comparison of the Veg

Gain in Body Fat Is Associated with Increased Striatal Response to Palatable Food Cues, whereas Body Fat Stability Is Associated with Decreased Striatal Response

OpenAIRE

Stice, Eric; Yokum, Sonja

2016-01-01

Cross-sectional brain-imaging studies reveal that obese versus lean humans show greater responsivity of reward and attention regions to palatable food cues, but lower responsivity of reward regions to palatable food receipt. However, these individual differences in responsivity may result from a period of overeating. We conducted a repeated-measures fMRI study to test whether healthy weight adolescent humans who gained body fat over a 2 or 3 year follow-up period show an increase in responsiv...
A randomised controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of offering study results as an incentive to increase response rates to postal questionnaires [ISRCTN26118436

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Torgerson David J

2005-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Postal questionnaires are widely used to collect outcome data on participants. However, a poor response to questionnaires will reduce the statistical power of the study and may introduce bias. A meta analysis of ten trials offering study results, largely in the fields of education and marketing, was shown to be ineffective, with the odds ratio for response with offering research findings is 0.92 (95% CI 0.75 to 1.11. However uncertainty still exists as it is uncertain whether results from such trials can be extrapolated to that of a health care setting. The aim of this study was to assess whether offering participants study results increases the response rates to postal questionnaires. Methods 1038 women aged over 70 years were remotely randomised by computer in a 3:1 ratio. 250 participants did not receive the offer of knowing the results of the trial and 788 participants were offered the results of the trial in a postal questionnaire. The main outcome measure was response rate. Chi square test was used to evaluate the overall differences in response rate between the two groups. An adjusted analysis, adjusting for whether the participant was taking calcium and age was also undertaken. Results The response rates were not significantly different Odds Ratio 0.88 (95% confidence intervals 0.48 to 1.63 p = 0.69. Conclusion Offering study results to women living in the community aged over 70 does not increase response rates to postal questionnaires. Although researchers have an ethical obligation to offer participants study results, since 10% of women did not wish to receive the results, investigators should give participants the option to opt out of receiving the study's results.
Corporate Responsibility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Waddock, Sandra; Rasche, Andreas

2015-01-01

We define and discuss the concept of corporate responsibility. We suggest that corporate responsibility has some unique characteristics, which makes it different from earlier conceptions of corporate social responsibility. Our discussion further shows commonalities and differences between corporate...... responsibility and related concepts, such as corporate citizenship and business ethics. We also outline some ways in which corporations have implemented corporate responsibility in practice....
Radio-adaptive response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikushima, T.

1992-01-01

Knowledge about cellular events in mammalian cells exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation is meager. Recent works showed that human lymphocytes become resistant to radiation-induced chromosomal damage after exposure to low doses of ionizing radiation. Experimental evidence for radio-adaptive response (RAR) in cultured mammalian cells was obtained. Exposure to very low doses of gamma-rays or tritium beta-rays make cells less susceptible to the induction of micronuclei and sister chromatid exchanges by subsequent higher doses. Many important characteristics of the novel response suggest that RAR is a stress response resulting in the enhanced repair of chromosomal DNA damage in cell under restricted conditions. Experiments are still in progress in order to elucidate the molecular basis for RAR processes. (author). 13 refs.; 2 figs., 1 tab
Search Results | Page 67 | IDRC - International Development ...

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... Apply ADAPTIVE CAPACITY filter · INDIA 43 Apply INDIA filter · Natural Resources 41 Apply Natural ... Showing 661 - 670 of 1762 results : "water adaptation" ... the need to go beyond technical responses to rising sea-levels and inland flooding. ... Climate change poses a real challenge to communities of the Sahel, that of ...
Stigma in Canada: Results From a Rapid Response Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Stuart, Heather; Patten, Scott B; Koller, Michelle; Modgill, Geeta; Liinamaa, Tiina

2014-01-01

Objective: Our paper presents findings from the first population survey of stigma in Canada using a new measure of stigma. Empirical objectives are to provide a descriptive profile of Canadian’s expectations that people will devalue and discriminate against someone with depression, and to explore the relation between experiences of being stigmatized in the year prior to the survey among people having been treated for a mental illness with a selected number of sociodemographic and mental health–related variables. Method: Data were collected by Statistics Canada using a rapid response format on a representative sample of Canadians (n = 10 389) during May and June of 2010. Public expectations of stigma and personal experiences of stigma in the subgroup receiving treatment for a mental illness were measured. Results: Over one-half of the sample endorsed 1 or more of the devaluation discrimination items, indicating that they believed Canadians would stigmatize someone with depression. The item most frequently endorsed concerned employers not considering an application from someone who has had depression. Over one-third of people who had received treatment in the year prior to the survey reported discrimination in 1 or more life domains. Experiences of discrimination were strongly associated with perceptions that Canadians would devalue someone with depression, younger age (12 to 15 years), and self-reported poor general mental health. Conclusions: The Mental Health Experiences Module reflects an important partnership between 2 national organizations that will help Canada fulfill its monitoring obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and provide a legacy to researchers and policy-makers who are interested in monitoring changes in stigma over time. PMID:25565699
Attributions of Responsibility and Blame for Procrastination Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Rahimi, Sonia; Hall, Nathan C; Pychyl, Timothy A

2016-01-01

The present study examined the relationship between procrastination, delay, blameworthiness, and moral responsibility. Undergraduate students (N = 240) were provided two scenarios in which the reason for inaction (procrastination, delay), the target (self, other), and the outcome (positive, negative) were manipulated, and students were asked to rate the moral responsibility and blameworthiness of the agent. Results indicated that individuals who procrastinated were seen as more morally responsible and blameworthy than those who experienced delay. More specifically, after a negative outcome, procrastination was associated with more moral responsibility, whereas delay was associated with less moral responsibility. After a positive outcome, individuals perceived procrastination as deserving of less moral responsibility, and delays as associated with more moral responsibility. Finally, a three-way interaction showed that participants rated procrastination that resulted in failure as deserving of responsibility when engaged in by others as opposed to oneself.
Comparison of 2010 Census Nonresponse Follow-Up Proxy Responses with Administrative Records Using Census Coverage Measurement Results

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Mulry Mary H.

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The U.S. Census Bureau is currently conducting research on ways to use administrative records to reduce the cost and improve the quality of the 2020 Census Nonresponse Followup (NRFU at addresses that do not self-respond electronically or by mail. Previously, when a NRFU enumerator was unable to contact residents at an address, he/she found a knowledgeable person, such as a neighbor or apartment manager, who could provide the census information for the residents. This was called a proxy response. The Census Bureau’s recent advances in merging federal and third-party databases raise the question: Are proxy responses for NRFU addresses more accurate than the administrative records available for the housing unit? Our study attempts to answer this question by comparing the quality of proxy responses and the administrative records for those housing units in the same timeframe using the results of 2010 Census Coverage Measurement (CCM Program. The assessment of the quality of the proxy responses and the administrative records in the CCM sample of block clusters takes advantage of the extensive fieldwork, processing, and clerical matching conducted for the CCM.
Ultrasound-responsive ultrathin multiblock copolyamide vesicles

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Huang, Lei; Yu, Chunyang; Huang, Tong; Xu, Shuting; Bai, Yongping; Zhou, Yongfeng

2016-02-01

This study reports the self-assembly of novel polymer vesicles from an amphiphilic multiblock copolyamide, and the vesicles show a special structure with an ultrathin wall thickness of about 4.5 nm and a combined bilayer and monolayer packing model. Most interestingly, the vesicles are ultrasound-responsive and can release the encapsulated model drugs in response to ultrasonic irradiation.This study reports the self-assembly of novel polymer vesicles from an amphiphilic multiblock copolyamide, and the vesicles show a special structure with an ultrathin wall thickness of about 4.5 nm and a combined bilayer and monolayer packing model. Most interestingly, the vesicles are ultrasound-responsive and can release the encapsulated model drugs in response to ultrasonic irradiation. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Details of experiments and characterization, and FT-IR, TEM, DPD, FL and micro-DSC results. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr08596a
Disruption of murine mp29/Syf2/Ntc31 gene results in embryonic lethality with aberrant checkpoint response.

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Chia-Hsin Chen

Full Text Available Human p29 is a putative component of spliceosomes, but its role in pre-mRNA is elusive. By siRNA knockdown and stable overexpression, we demonstrated that human p29 is involved in DNA damage response and Fanconi anemia pathway in cultured cells. In this study, we generated p29 knockout mice (mp29(GT/GT using the mp29 gene trap embryonic stem cells to study the role of mp29 in DNA damage response in vivo. Interruption of mp29 at both alleles resulted in embryonic lethality. Embryonic abnormality occurred as early as E6.5 in mp29(GT/GT mice accompanied with decreased mRNA levels of α-tubulin and Chk1. The reduction of α-tubulin and Chk1 mRNAs is likely due to an impaired post-transcriptional event. An aberrant G2/M checkpoint was found in mp29 gene trap embryos when exposed to aphidicolin and UV light. This embryonic lethality was rescued by crossing with mp29 transgenic mice. Additionally, the knockdown of zfp29 in zebrafish resulted in embryonic death at 72 hours of development postfertilization (hpf. A lower level of acetylated α-tubulin was also observed in zfp29 morphants. Together, these results illustrate an indispensable role of mp29 in DNA checkpoint response during embryonic development.
Degree of adaptive response in urban tolerant birds shows influence of habitat-of-origin

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Lawrence E. Conole

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Urban exploiters and adapters are often coalesced under a term of convenience as ‘urban tolerant’. This useful but simplistic characterisation masks a more nuanced interplay between and within assemblages of birds that are more or less well adapted to a range of urban habitats. I test the hypotheses that objectively-defined urban exploiter and suburban adapter assemblages within the broad urban tolerant grouping in Melbourne vary in their responses within the larger group to predictor variables, and that the most explanatory predictor variables vary between the two assemblages. A paired, partitioned analysis of exploiter and adapter preferences for points along the urban–rural gradient was undertaken to decompose the overall trend into diagnosable parts for each assemblage. In a similar way to that in which time since establishment has been found to be related to high urban densities of some bird species and biogeographic origin predictive of urban adaptation extent, habitat origins of members of bird assemblages influence the degree to which they become urban tolerant. Bird species that objectively classify as urban tolerant will further classify as either exploiters or adapters according to the degree of openness of their habitats-of-origin.
Does training-induced orthostatic hypotension result from reduced carotid baroreflex responsiveness?

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Pawelczyk, James A.; Raven, Peter B.

1994-01-01

As manned space travel has steadily increased in duration and sophistication, the answer to a simple, relevant question remains elusive. Does endurance exercise training - high intensity rhythmic activity, performed regularly for extended periods of time - alter the disposition to, or severity of, postflight orthostatic hypotension? Research results continue to provide different views; however, data are difficult to compare because of the following factors that vary between investigations: the type of orthostatic stress imposed (+Gz, lower body negative pressure (LBNP), head-up tilt); pretest perturbations used (exercise, heat exposure, head-down tilting, bed rest, water immersion, hypohydration, pharmacologically-induced diuresis); the length of the training program used in longitudinal investigations (days versus weeks versus months); the criteria used to define fitness; and the criteria used to define orthostatic tolerance. Generally, research results indicate that individuals engaged in aerobic exercise activities for a period of years have been reported to have reduced orthostatic tolerance compared to untrained control subjects, while the results of shorter term longitudinal studies remain equivocal. Such conclusions suggest that chronic athletic training programs reduce orthostatic tolerance, whereas relatively brief (days to weeks) training programs do not affect orthostatic tolerance to any significant degree (increase or decrease). A primary objective was established to identify the alterations in blood pressure control that contribute to training-induced orthostatic hypotension (TIOH). Although any aspect of blood pressure regulation is suspect, current research has been focused on the baroreceptor system. Reductions in carotid baroreflex responsiveness have been documented in exercise-trained rabbits, reportedly due to an inhibitory influence from cardiac afferent, presumably vagal, nerve fibers that is abolished with intrapericardiac denervation. The
DNA damage response pathway in radioadaptive response.

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Sasaki, Masao S; Ejima, Yosuke; Tachibana, Akira; Yamada, Toshiko; Ishizaki, Kanji; Shimizu, Takashi; Nomura, Taisei

2002-07-25

Radioadaptive response is a biological defense mechanism in which low-dose ionizing irradiation elicits cellular resistance to the genotoxic effects of subsequent irradiation. However, its molecular mechanism remains largely unknown. We previously demonstrated that the dose recognition and adaptive response could be mediated by a feedback signaling pathway involving protein kinase C (PKC), p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) and phospholipase C (PLC). Further, to elucidate the downstream effector pathway, we studied the X-ray-induced adaptive response in cultured mouse and human cells with different genetic background relevant to the DNA damage response pathway, such as deficiencies in TP53, DNA-PKcs, ATM and FANCA genes. The results showed that p53 protein played a key role in the adaptive response while DNA-PKcs, ATM and FANCA were not responsible. Wortmannin, a specific inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), mimicked the priming irradiation in that the inhibitor alone rendered the cells resistant against the induction of chromosome aberrations and apoptosis by the subsequent X-ray irradiation. The adaptive response, whether it was afforded by low-dose X-rays or wortmannin, occurred in parallel with the reduction of apoptotic cell death by challenging doses. The inhibitor of p38MAPK which blocks the adaptive response did not suppress apoptosis. These observations indicate that the adaptive response and apoptotic cell death constitute a complementary defense system via life-or-death decisions. The p53 has a pivotal role in channeling the radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) into an adaptive legitimate repair pathway, where the signals are integrated into p53 by a circuitous PKC-p38MAPK-PLC damage sensing pathway, and hence turning off the signals to an alternative pathway to illegitimate repair and apoptosis. A possible molecular mechanism of adaptive response to low-dose ionizing irradiation has been discussed in relation to
Ghrelin is produced in taste cells and ghrelin receptor null mice show reduced taste responsivity to salty (NaCl and sour (citric acid tastants.

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Yu-Kyong Shin

2010-09-01

Full Text Available The gustatory system plays a critical role in determining food preferences, food intake and energy balance. The exact mechanisms that fine tune taste sensitivity are currently poorly defined, but it is clear that numerous factors such as efferent input and specific signal transduction cascades are involved.Using immunohistochemical analyses, we show that ghrelin, a hormone classically considered to be an appetite-regulating hormone, is present within the taste buds of the tongue. Prepro-ghrelin, prohormone convertase 1/3 (PC 1/3, ghrelin, its cognate receptor (GHSR, and ghrelin-O-acyltransferase (GOAT , the enzyme that activates ghrelin are expressed in Type I, II, III and IV taste cells of mouse taste buds. In addition, ghrelin and GHSR co-localize in the same taste cells, suggesting that ghrelin works in an autocrine manner in taste cells. To determine a role for ghrelin in modifying taste perception, we performed taste behavioral tests using GHSR null mice. GHSR null mice exhibited significantly reduced taste responsivity to sour (citric acid and salty (sodium chloride tastants.These findings suggest that ghrelin plays a local modulatory role in determining taste bud signaling and function and could be a novel mechanism for the modulation of salty and sour taste responsivity.
The possible role of chromatin conformation changes in adaptive responses to ionizing radiation

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Ekhtiar, A.; Ammer, A.; Jbawi, A.; Othman, A.

2012-05-01

Organisms are affected by different DNA damaging agents naturally present in the environment or released as a result of human activity. Many defense mechanisms have evolved in organisms to minimize genotoxic damage. One of them is induced radioresistance or adaptive response. The adaptive response could be considered as a nonspecific phenomenon in which exposure to minimal stress could result in increased resistance to higher levels of the same or to other types of stress some hours later. A better understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying the adaptive response may lead to an improvement of cancer treatment, risk assessment and risk management strategies, radiation protection. The aim of current study was to study the possible role of chromatin conformation changes induced by ionizing radiation on the adaptive responses in human lymphocyte. For this aim the chromatin conformation have been studied in human lymphocytes from three non-smoking and three smoking healthy volunteers prior, and after espouser to gamma radiation (adaptive dose 0.1 Gy, challenge dose 1.5 Gy and adaptive + dose challenge). Chromosomal aberrations and micronucleus have been used as end point to study radio cytotoxicity and adaptive response. Our results indicated individual differences in radio adaptive response and the level of this response was dependent of chromatin de condensation induced by a adaptive small dose.The results showed that different dose of gamma rays induce a chromatin de condensation in human lymphocyte. The maximum chromatin relaxation were record when lymphocyte exposed to adaptive dose (0.1 Gy.). Results also showed that Adaptive dose have affected on the induction of challenge dose (1.5 Gy) of chromosome aberration and micronucleus . The comparison of results of chromatin de condensation induction as measured by flow cytometry and cytogenetic damages measured by chromosomal aberrations or micronucleus, was showed a proportionality of adaptive response with
Intracellular Targeting of CEA Results in Th1-Type Antibody Responses Following Intradermal Genetic Vaccination by a Needle-Free Jet Injection Device

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Susanne Johansson

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The route and method of immunization, as well as the cellular localization of the antigen, can influence the generation of an immune response. In general, intramuscular immunization results in Th1 responses, whereas intradermal delivery of DNA by gene gun immunization often results in more Th2 responses. Here we investigate how altering the cellular localization of the tumor antigen CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen affects the quality and amplitude of DNA vaccine-induced antibody responses in mice following intradermal delivery of DNA by a needle-free jet injection device (Biojector. CEA was expressed either in a membrane-bound form (wild-type CEA or in two truncated forms (CEA6 and CEA66 with cytoplasmic localization, where CEA66 was fused to a promiscuous T-helper epitope from tetanus toxin. Repeated intradermal immunization of BALB/c mice with DNA encoding wild-type CEA produced high antibody titers of a mixed IgG1/IgG2a ratio. In contrast, utilizing the DNA construct that resulted in intracellular targeting of CEA led to a reduced capacity to induce CEA-specific antibodies, but instead induced a Th1-biased immune response.
Conflicts during response selection affect response programming: reactions toward the source of stimulation.

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Buetti, Simona; Kerzel, Dirk

2009-06-01

In the Simon effect, participants make a left or right keypress in response to a nonspatial attribute (e.g., color) that is presented on the left or right. Reaction times (RTs) increase when the response activated by the irrelevant stimulus location and the response retrieved by instruction are in conflict. The authors measured RTs and movement parameters (MPs) of pointing responses in a typical Simon task. Their results show that the trajectories veer toward the imperative stimulus. This bias decreased as RTs increased. The authors suggest that the time course of trajectory deviations reflects the resolution of the response conflict over time. Further, time pressure did not affect the size of the Simon effect in MPs or its time course, but strongly reduced the Simon effect in RTs. In contrast, response selection before the onset of a go signal on the left or right did not affect the Simon effect in RTs, but reduced the Simon effect in MPs and reversed the time course. The authors speculate about independent Simon effects associated with response selection and programming. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.
Information about the model's unconditioned stimulus and response in vicarious classical conditioning.

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Hygge, S

1976-06-01

Four groups with 16 observers each participated in a differential, vicarious conditioning experiment with skin conductance responses as the dependent variable. The information available to the observer about the model's unconditioned stimulus and response was varied in a 2 X 2 factorial design. Results clearly showed that information about the model's unconditioned stimulus (a high or low dB level) was not necessary for vicarious instigation, but that information about the unconditioned response (a high or low emotional aversiveness) was necessary. Data for conditioning of responses showed almost identical patterns to those for vicarious instigation. To explain the results, a distinction between factors necessary for the development and elicitation of vicariously instigated responses was introduced, and the effectiveness of information about the model's response on the elicitation of vicariously instigated responses was considered in terms of an expansion of Bandura's social learning theory.
Assessment of the responses to neoadjuvant chemotherapy of osteosarcoma by diffusion-weighted MR image: initial results

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Shu Min; Du Lianjun; Ding Xiaoyi; Lu Yong; Yan Ling; Jiang Hao; Chen Kemin

2009-01-01

Objective: To determine the utility of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MR DWI) in detecting tumor necrosis with histological correlation after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Methods: Conventional MRI and DWI were obtained from 36 patients with histological proven osteosarcoma. Magnetic resonance examinations were performed in all patients before and after 4 cycles of preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC) were calculated. The degree of tumor necrosis was assessed using the histological Huvos classification after chemotherapy. t-test was performed for testing changes in ADC value between the 2 groups. P value less than 0.05 were considered as a statistically significant difference. Results: The differences in ADC between viable [(1.06 ± 0.30)x10 -3 mm 2 /s] and necrotic [(2.39 ± 0.44)x10 -3 mm 2 /s] tumor were significant (t = 3.515, P -3 mm 2 /s to (2.27 ± 0.20)x10 -3 mm 2 s, the corresponding value in poor responses was increased from (1.45 ± 0.11)x10 -3 mm 2 /s to (1.83 ± 0.16)x10 -3 mm 2 /s. There was significant difference in changes of ADC values between good responses and poor responses (t = 4.981, P < 0.01). Conclusion: Diffusion-weighted MRI permits recognition of tumor necrosis induced by chemotherapy in osteosarcoma. DWI is correlated directly with tumor necrosis. They have potential utility in evaluating the preoperative chemotherapy response in patients with primary osteosarcoma. (authors)
Attributions of Responsibility and Blame for Procrastination Behavior

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Sonia Rahimi

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The present study examined the relationship between procrastination, delay, blameworthiness, and moral responsibility. Undergraduate students (N = 240 were provided two scenarios in which the reason for inaction (procrastination, delay, the target (self, other, and the outcome (positive, negative were manipulated, and students were asked to rate the moral responsibility and blameworthiness of the agent. Results indicated that individuals who procrastinated were seen as more morally responsible and blameworthy than those who otherwise experienced delay. More specifically, after a negative outcome, procrastination was associated with more moral responsibility, whereas delay was associated with less moral responsibility. After a positive outcome, individuals perceived procrastination as deserving of less moral responsibility, and delays as associated with more moral responsibility. Finally, a three-way interaction showed that participants rated procrastination that resulted in failure as deserving of responsibility when engaged in by others as opposed to oneself.

Genomic patterns in Acropora cervicornis show extensive population structure and variable genetic diversity.

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Drury, Crawford; Schopmeyer, Stephanie; Goergen, Elizabeth; Bartels, Erich; Nedimyer, Ken; Johnson, Meaghan; Maxwell, Kerry; Galvan, Victor; Manfrino, Carrie; Lirman, Diego

2017-08-01

Threatened Caribbean coral communities can benefit from high-resolution genetic data used to inform management and conservation action. We use Genotyping by Sequencing (GBS) to investigate genetic patterns in the threatened coral, Acropora cervicornis , across the Florida Reef Tract (FRT) and the western Caribbean. Results show extensive population structure at regional scales and resolve previously unknown structure within the FRT. Different regions also exhibit up to threefold differences in genetic diversity (He), suggesting targeted management based on the goals and resources of each population is needed. Patterns of genetic diversity have a strong spatial component, and our results show Broward and the Lower Keys are among the most diverse populations in Florida. The genetic diversity of Caribbean staghorn coral is concentrated within populations and within individual reefs (AMOVA), highlighting the complex mosaic of population structure. This variance structure is similar over regional and local scales, which suggests that in situ nurseries are adequately capturing natural patterns of diversity, representing a resource that can replicate the average diversity of wild assemblages, serving to increase intraspecific diversity and potentially leading to improved biodiversity and ecosystem function. Results presented here can be translated into specific goals for the recovery of A. cervicornis , including active focus on low diversity areas, protection of high diversity and connectivity, and practical thresholds for responsible restoration.
Ethylene response factor AtERF72 negatively regulates Arabidopsis thaliana response to iron deficiency.

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Liu, Wei; Li, Qiwei; Wang, Yi; Wu, Ting; Yang, Yafei; Zhang, Xinzhong; Han, Zhenhai; Xu, Xuefeng

2017-09-23

Ethylene regulates the plant's response to stress caused by iron (Fe) deficiency. However, specific roles of ERF proteins in response to Fe deficiency remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the role of ERF72 in response to iron deficiency in Arabidopsis thaliana. In this study, the levels of the ethylene response factor AtERF72 increased in leaves and roots induced under the iron deficient conditions. erf72 mutant plants showed increased growth compared to wild type (WT) when grown in iron deficient medium for 5 d. erf72 mutants had increased root H + velocity and the ferric reductase activity, and increase in the expression of the iron deficiency response genes iron-regulated transporter 1 (IRT1) and H + -ATPase (HA2) levels in iron deficient conditions. Compared to WT plants, erf72 mutants retained healthy chloroplast structure with significantly higher Fe and Mg content, and decreased chlorophyll degradation gene pheophorbide a oxygenase (PAO) and chlorophyllase (CLH1) expression when grown in iron deficient media. Yeast one-hybrid analysis showed that ERF72 could directly bind to the promoter regions of iron deficiency responses genes IRT1, HA2 and CLH1. Based on our results, we suggest that ethylene released from plants under iron deficiency stress can activate the expression of ERF72, which responds to iron deficiency in the negative regulation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Cellular responses to a prolonged delay in mitosis are determined by a DNA damage response controlled by Bcl-2 family proteins.

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Colin, Didier J; Hain, Karolina O; Allan, Lindsey A; Clarke, Paul R

2015-03-01

Anti-cancer drugs that disrupt mitosis inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis, although the mechanisms of these responses are poorly understood. Here, we characterize a mitotic stress response that determines cell fate in response to microtubule poisons. We show that mitotic arrest induced by these drugs produces a temporally controlled DNA damage response (DDR) characterized by the caspase-dependent formation of γH2AX foci in non-apoptotic cells. Following exit from a delayed mitosis, this initial response results in activation of DDR protein kinases, phosphorylation of the tumour suppressor p53 and a delay in subsequent cell cycle progression. We show that this response is controlled by Mcl-1, a regulator of caspase activation that becomes degraded during mitotic arrest. Chemical inhibition of Mcl-1 and the related proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL by a BH3 mimetic enhances the mitotic DDR, promotes p53 activation and inhibits subsequent cell cycle progression. We also show that inhibitors of DDR protein kinases as well as BH3 mimetics promote apoptosis synergistically with taxol (paclitaxel) in a variety of cancer cell lines. Our work demonstrates the role of mitotic DNA damage responses in determining cell fate in response to microtubule poisons and BH3 mimetics, providing a rationale for anti-cancer combination chemotherapies.
Can biomass responses to warming at plant to ecosystem levels be predicted by leaf-level responses?

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Xia, J.; Shao, J.; Zhou, X.; Yan, W.; Lu, M.

2015-12-01

Global warming has the profound impacts on terrestrial C processes from leaf to ecosystem scales, potentially feeding back to climate dynamics. Although numerous studies had investigated the effects of warming on C processes from leaf to plant and ecosystem levels, how leaf-level responses to warming scale up to biomass responses at plant, population, and community levels are largely unknown. In this study, we compiled a dataset from 468 papers at 300 experimental sites and synthesized the warming effects on leaf-level parameters, and plant, population and ecosystem biomass. Our results showed that responses of plant biomass to warming mainly resulted from the changed leaf area rather than the altered photosynthetic capacity. The response of ecosystem biomass to warming was weaker than those of leaf area and plant biomass. However, the scaling functions from responses of leaf area to plant biomass to warming were different in diverse forest types, but functions were similar in non-forested biomes. In addition, it is challenging to scale the biomass responses from plant up to ecosystem. These results indicated that leaf area might be the appropriate index for plant biomass response to warming, and the interspecific competition might hamper the scaling of the warming effects on plant and ecosystem levels, suggesting that the acclimation capacity of plant community should be incorporated into land surface models to improve the prediction of climate-C cycle feedback.
Emotional Response, Brand Recall and Response Latency to Visual Register for Food and Beverage Print Ads

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Irma Puskarevic

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Understanding the nature of advertising principles or any other means of marketing communication that affects consume behavior has long been the subject of marketing research. The research of emotional response in relation to ad efficiency in this paper is an extension of the research previously conducted (Nedeljkovic et al., 2011. The aim of this research is to show how the ad content i.e. visual message in printed advertisements affects emotional response. Two hypotheses were postulated. First, we expected more positive response for ads with predominating iconic content. The second hypothesis sought to determine if greater response latency can be expected for ads with dominant tropological content. The method of research was SAM visual method of self-assessment. Emotional response and response latency of the participants were measured for advertisements for food and beverage products and services in order to determine how visual ad content influences emotional response of the participants, as well as the effectiveness of the advertising campaign. In an experiment the participants could rate their emotional response using the Self-assessment Manikin (SAM scale toward both types of advertisements. At the same time the response latency was measured. The results show that the main hypothesis was neither confirmed nor rejected, whereas the second hypothesis was confirmed. We conclude that the attitude towards the ad, as mediating variable, is a good indicator of advertising effectiveness.
Neurons in the inferior colliculus of the rat show stimulus-specific adaptation for frequency, but not for intensity

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Duque, Daniel; Wang, Xin; Nieto-Diego, Javier; Krumbholz, Katrin; Malmierca, Manuel S.

2016-01-01

Electrophysiological and psychophysical responses to a low-intensity probe sound tend to be suppressed by a preceding high-intensity adaptor sound. Nevertheless, rare low-intensity deviant sounds presented among frequent high-intensity standard sounds in an intensity oddball paradigm can elicit an electroencephalographic mismatch negativity (MMN) response. This has been taken to suggest that the MMN is a correlate of true change or “deviance” detection. A key question is where in the ascending auditory pathway true deviance sensitivity first emerges. Here, we addressed this question by measuring low-intensity deviant responses from single units in the inferior colliculus (IC) of anesthetized rats. If the IC exhibits true deviance sensitivity to intensity, IC neurons should show enhanced responses to low-intensity deviant sounds presented among high-intensity standards. Contrary to this prediction, deviant responses were only enhanced when the standards and deviants differed in frequency. The results could be explained with a model assuming that IC neurons integrate over multiple frequency-tuned channels and that adaptation occurs within each channel independently. We used an adaptation paradigm with multiple repeated adaptors to measure the tuning widths of these adaption channels in relation to the neurons’ overall tuning widths. PMID:27066835
Analysis of Mouse Brain Transcriptome After Experimental Duvenhage Virus Infection Shows Activation of Innate Immune Response and Pyroptotic Cell Death Pathway

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Penelope Koraka

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Rabies is an important neglected disease, characterized by invariably fatal encephalitis. Several studies focus on understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of the prototype lyssavirus rabies virus (RABV infection, and little is known about the pathogenesis of rabies caused by other lyssaviruses. We sought to characterize the host response to Duvenhage virus infection and compare it with responses observed during RABV infection by gene expression profiling of brains of mice with the respective infections. We found in both infections differentially expressed genes leading to increased expression of type I interferons (IFNs, chemokines, and proinflammatory cytokines. In addition several genes of the IFN signaling pathway are up-regulated, indicating a strong antiviral response and activation of the negative feedback mechanism to limit type I IFN responses. Furthermore we provide evidence that in the absence of significant neuronal apoptotic death, cell death of neurons is mediated via the pyroptotic pathway in both infections. Taken together, we have identified several genes and/or pathways for both infections that could be used to explore novel approaches for intervention strategies against rabies.
Different stress modalities result in distinct steroid hormone responses by male rats

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M.L. Andersen

2004-06-01

Full Text Available Since both paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD and stress alter male reproductive function, the purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of PSD and other stressors (restraint, electrical footshock, cold and forced swimming, N = 10 per group on steroid hormones in adult Wistar male rats. Rats were submitted to chronic stress for four days. The stressors (footshock, cold and forced swimming were applied twice a day, for periods of 1 h at 9:00 and 16:00 h. Restrained animals were maintained in plastic cylinders for 22 h/day whereas PSD was continuous. Hormone determination was measured by chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (testosterone, competitive immunoassay (progesterone and by radioimmunoassay (corticosterone, estradiol, estrone. The findings indicate that PSD (13.7 ng/dl, footshock (31.7 ng/dl and cold (35.2 ng/dl led to lower testosterone levels compared to the swimming (370.4 ng/dl and control (371.4 ng/dl groups. However, progesterone levels were elevated in the footshock (4.5 ng/ml and PSD (5.4 ng/ml groups compared to control (1.6 ng/ml, swimming (1.1 ng/ml, cold (2.3 ng/ml, and restrained (1.2 ng/ml animals. Estrone and estradiol levels were reduced in the PSD, footshock and restraint groups compared to the control, swimming and cold groups. A significant increase in corticosterone levels was found only in the PSD (299.8 ng/ml and footshock (169.6 ng/ml groups. These changes may be thought to be the full steroidal response to stress of significant intensity. Thus, the data suggest that different stress modalities result in distinct steroid hormone responses, with PSD and footshock being the most similar.
Making assessments while taking repeated risks: a pattern of multiple response pathways.

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Pleskac, Timothy J; Wershbale, Avishai

2014-02-01

Beyond simply a decision process, repeated risky decisions also require a number of cognitive processes including learning, search and exploration, and attention. In this article, we examine how multiple response pathways develop over repeated risky decisions. Using the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) as a case study, we show that 2 different response pathways emerge over the course of the task. The assessment pathway is a slower, more controlled pathway where participants deliberate over taking a risk. The 2nd pathway is a faster, more automatic process where no deliberation occurs. Results imply the slower assessment pathway is taken as choice conflict increases and that the faster automatic response is a learned response. Based on these results, we modify an existing formal cognitive model of decision making during the BART to account for these dual response pathways. The slower more deliberative response process is modeled with a sequential sampling process where evidence is accumulated to a threshold, while the other response is given automatically. We show that adolescents with conduct disorder and substance use disorder symptoms not only evaluate risks differently during the BART but also differ in the rate at which they develop the more automatic response. More broadly, our results suggest cognitive models of judgment decision making need to transition from treating observed decisions as the result of a single response pathway to the result of multiple response pathways that change and develop over time.
Value of diffusion-weighted images in differentiating mid-course responders to chemotherapy for osteosarcoma compared to the histological response: preliminary results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baunin, C.; Schmidt, G.; Aschero, A.; Ruocco, A.; Bourliere, B.; Gorincour, G.; Desvignes, C.; Colavolpe, N.; Petit, P.; Baumstarck, K.; Auqier, P.; Bouvier, C.; Gentet, J.C.; Bollini, G.

2012-01-01

Preoperative diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) has been described as an efficient method to differentiate good and poor responders to chemotherapy in osteosarcoma patients. A DW-MRI performed earlier during treatment could be helpful in monitoring chemotherapy. To assess the accuracy of DW-MRI in evaluating response to chemotherapy in the treatment of osteosarcoma, more specifically at mid-course of treatment. This study was carried out on a prospective series of adolescents treated for long-bone osteosarcoma. MR examinations were performed at diagnosis (MRI-1), at mid-course of chemotherapy (MRI-2), and immediately before surgery (MRI-3). A DW sequence was performed using diffusion gradients of b0 and b900. The apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC1, ADC2, ADC3, respectively), their differentials (ADC2 - ADC1 and ADC3 - ADC1), and their variation (ADC2 - ADC1/ADC1 and ADC3 - ADC1/ADC1) were calculated for each of these three time points. Fifteen patients were included. Patients with no increase in ADC showed a poor response to chemotherapy on their histology results. At mid-course, the three calculated values were significantly different between good and poor responders. ADC2 - ADC1 enabled us to detect, with 100% specificity, four out of seven of the poor responders. There was no significant difference in the values at MRI-3 between the two groups. DW-MRI performed both at baseline and mid-course of neoadjuvant chemotherapy is an efficient method to predict further histological response of osteosarcoma. This method could be used as an early prognostic factor to monitor preoperative chemotherapy. (orig.)
Value of diffusion-weighted images in differentiating mid-course responders to chemotherapy for osteosarcoma compared to the histological response: preliminary results

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Baunin, C.; Schmidt, G.; Aschero, A.; Ruocco, A.; Bourliere, B.; Gorincour, G.; Desvignes, C.; Colavolpe, N.; Petit, P. [Hopital Timone Enfants, Service d' Imagerie Pediatrique et Prenatale, Marseille Cedex 05 (France); Baumstarck, K.; Auqier, P. [Faculte de Medecine de Marseille, Service de Sante Publique, Marseille Cedex 05 (France); Bouvier, C. [Hopital Timone, Service d' Anatomopathologie, Marseille Cedex 05 (France); Gentet, J.C. [Hopital Timone Enfants, Service d' Oncologie Pediatrique, Marseille Cedex 05 (France); Bollini, G. [Hopital Timone Enfants, Service d' Orthopedie Pediatrique, Marseille Cedex 05 (France)

2012-09-15

Preoperative diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) has been described as an efficient method to differentiate good and poor responders to chemotherapy in osteosarcoma patients. A DW-MRI performed earlier during treatment could be helpful in monitoring chemotherapy. To assess the accuracy of DW-MRI in evaluating response to chemotherapy in the treatment of osteosarcoma, more specifically at mid-course of treatment. This study was carried out on a prospective series of adolescents treated for long-bone osteosarcoma. MR examinations were performed at diagnosis (MRI-1), at mid-course of chemotherapy (MRI-2), and immediately before surgery (MRI-3). A DW sequence was performed using diffusion gradients of b0 and b900. The apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC1, ADC2, ADC3, respectively), their differentials (ADC2 - ADC1 and ADC3 - ADC1), and their variation (ADC2 - ADC1/ADC1 and ADC3 - ADC1/ADC1) were calculated for each of these three time points. Fifteen patients were included. Patients with no increase in ADC showed a poor response to chemotherapy on their histology results. At mid-course, the three calculated values were significantly different between good and poor responders. ADC2 - ADC1 enabled us to detect, with 100% specificity, four out of seven of the poor responders. There was no significant difference in the values at MRI-3 between the two groups. DW-MRI performed both at baseline and mid-course of neoadjuvant chemotherapy is an efficient method to predict further histological response of osteosarcoma. This method could be used as an early prognostic factor to monitor preoperative chemotherapy. (orig.)
Response surface use in safety analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prosek, A.

1999-01-01

When thousands of complex computer code runs related to nuclear safety are needed for statistical analysis, the response surface is used to replace the computer code. The main purpose of the study was to develop and demonstrate a tool called optimal statistical estimator (OSE) intended for response surface generation of complex and non-linear phenomena. The performance of optimal statistical estimator was tested by the results of 59 different RELAP5/MOD3.2 code calculations of the small-break loss-of-coolant accident in a two loop pressurized water reactor. The results showed that OSE adequately predicted the response surface for the peak cladding temperature. Some good characteristic of the OSE like monotonic function between two neighbor points and independence on the number of output parameters suggest that OSE can be used for response surface generation of any safety or system parameter in the thermal-hydraulic safety analyses.(author)
Responsibility and trade emission balances : An evaluation of approaches

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Serrano, Monica; Dietzenbacher, Erik

2010-01-01

This paper compares two concepts to evaluate the international responsibility of a country with respect to its emissions. Using a multi-regional input-output model, we show that the trade emission balance and the responsibility emission balance yield the same result. In practical work, however, a
Time response for sensor sensed to actuator response for mobile robotic system

Science.gov (United States)

Amir, N. S.; Shafie, A. A.

2017-11-01

Time and performance of a mobile robot are very important in completing the tasks given to achieve its ultimate goal. Tasks may need to be done within a time constraint to ensure smooth operation of a mobile robot and can result in better performance. The main purpose of this research was to improve the performance of a mobile robot so that it can complete the tasks given within time constraint. The problem that is needed to be solved is to minimize the time interval between sensor detection and actuator response. The research objective is to analyse the real time operating system performance of sensors and actuators on one microcontroller and on two microcontroller for a mobile robot. The task for a mobile robot for this research is line following with an obstacle avoidance. Three runs will be carried out for the task and the time between the sensors senses to the actuator responses were recorded. Overall, the results show that two microcontroller system have better response time compared to the one microcontroller system. For this research, the average difference of response time is very important to improve the internal performance between the occurrence of a task, sensors detection, decision making and actuator response of a mobile robot. This research helped to develop a mobile robot with a better performance and can complete task within the time constraint.
Forest ecotone response to climate change: sensitivity to temperature response functional forms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Loehle, C. [National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Naperville, IL (United States)

2000-10-01

Past simulation studies have been in general agreement that climatic change could have adverse effects on forests, including geographic range shrinkages, conversion to grassland, and catastrophic forest decline or dieback. Some other recent studies, however, concluded that this agreement is generally based on parabolic temperature response rather than functional responses or data, and may therefore exaggerate dieback effects. This paper proposes a new model of temperature response that is based on a trade-off between cold tolerance and growth rate. In this model, the growth rate increases at first, and then levels off with increasing growing degree-days. Species from more southern regions have a higher minimum temperature and a faster maximum height growth rate. It is argued that faster growth rates of southern types lead to their competitive superiority in warmer environments and that such temperature response should produce less dieback and slower rates of change than the more common parabolic response model. Theoretical justification of this model is provided, followed by application of the model to a simulated ecotone under a warming scenario. Results of the study based on the proposed asymptotic model showed no dieback and only a gradual ecotone movement north, suggesting that ecotone shifts will, in fact, take many hundreds to thousands of years, with the result that species will not face the risk of extinction. 56 refs., 1 tab., 8 figs.
A generalized linear factor model approach to the hierarchical framework for responses and response times.

Science.gov (United States)

Molenaar, Dylan; Tuerlinckx, Francis; van der Maas, Han L J

2015-05-01

We show how the hierarchical model for responses and response times as developed by van der Linden (2007), Fox, Klein Entink, and van der Linden (2007), Klein Entink, Fox, and van der Linden (2009), and Glas and van der Linden (2010) can be simplified to a generalized linear factor model with only the mild restriction that there is no hierarchical model at the item side. This result is valuable as it enables all well-developed modelling tools and extensions that come with these methods. We show that the restriction we impose on the hierarchical model does not influence parameter recovery under realistic circumstances. In addition, we present two illustrative real data analyses to demonstrate the practical benefits of our approach. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.
Active explorers show low learning performance in a social insect

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Eve UDINO; Margot PEREZ; Claudio CARERE; Patrizia d'ETTORRE

2017-01-01

An intriguing question in behavioral biology is whether consistent individual differences (called animal personalities) relate to variation in cognitive performance because commonly measured personality traits may be associated with risk-reward trade-offs.Social insects,whose learning abilities have been extensively characterized,show consistent behavioral variability,both at colony and at individual level.We investigated the possible link between personality traits and learning performance in the carpenter ant Camponotus aethiops.Exploratory activity,sociability,and aggression were assessed twice in ant foragers.Behaviors differed among individuals,they were partly repeatable across time and exploratory activity correlated positively with aggression.Learning abilities were quantified by differential conditioning of the maxilla-labium extension response,a task that requires cue perception and information storage.We found that exploratory activity of individual ants significantly predicted learning performance:"active-explorers" were slower in learning the task than "inactive-explorers".The results suggest for the first time a link between a personality trait and cognitive performance in eusocial insects,and that the underlying individual variability could affect colony performance and success.
Carbon dioxide exchange in three tundra sites show a dissimilar response to environmental variables

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mbufong, Herbert Njuabe; Lund, Magnus; Christensen, Torben Røjle

2015-01-01

variability. An improved understanding of the control of ancillary variables on net ecosystem exchange (NEE), gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (Re) will improve the accuracy with which CO2 exchange seasonality in Arctic tundra ecosystems is modelled. Fluxes were measured with the eddy...... Lake. Growing season NEE correlated mainly to cumulative radiation and temperature-related variables at Zackenberg, while at Daring Lake the same variables showed significant correlations with the partitioned fluxes (GPP and Re). Stordalen was temperature dependent during the growing season. This study...
Response of the human tympanic membrane to transient acoustic and mechanical stimuli: Preliminary results

Science.gov (United States)

Razavi, Payam; Ravicz, Michael E.; Dobrev, Ivo; Cheng, Jeffrey Tao; Furlong, Cosme; Rosowski, John J.

2016-01-01

The response of the tympanic membrane (TM) to transient environmental sounds and the contributions of different parts of the TM to middle-ear sound transmission were investigated by measuring the TM response to global transients (acoustic clicks) and to local transients (mechanical impulses) applied to the umbo and various locations on the TM. A lightly-fixed human temporal bone was prepared by removing the ear canal, inner ear, and stapes, leaving the incus, malleus, and TM intact. Motion of nearly the entire TM was measured by a digital holography system with a high speed camera at a rate of 42 000 frames per second, giving a temporal resolution of <24 μs for the duration of the TM response. The entire TM responded nearly instantaneously to acoustic transient stimuli, though the peak displacement and decay time constant varied with location. With local mechanical transients, the TM responded first locally at the site of stimulation, and the response spread approximately symmetrically and circumferentially around the umbo and manubrium. Acoustic and mechanical transients provide distinct and complementary stimuli for the study of TM response. Spatial variations in decay and rate of spread of response imply local variations in TM stiffness, mass, and damping. PMID:26880098
Oldest human occupation of Wallacea at Laili Cave, Timor-Leste, shows broad-spectrum foraging responses to late Pleistocene environments

Science.gov (United States)

Hawkins, Stuart; O'Connor, Sue; Maloney, Tim Ryan; Litster, Mirani; Kealy, Shimona; Fenner, Jack N.; Aplin, Ken; Boulanger, Clara; Brockwell, Sally; Willan, Richard; Piotto, Elena; Louys, Julien

2017-09-01

The Wallacea Archipelago provides an extraordinary laboratory for the study of human colonisation and adaptation, yet few detailed archaeological studies have been conducted in the region that span the earliest phase of human settlement. Laili Cave, in northern Timor-Leste, preserves the oldest human occupation in this insular region with a cultural sequence spanning 11,200 to 44,600 cal BP. Small-bodied vertebrates and invertebrates were recovered to the lowest excavated levels, associated with highly concentrated stone artefacts. We report on human behavioural adaptations within the context of Pleistocene environments and changing landscapes using zooarchaeological, stone artefact, bathymetric, and experimental isotopic analyses. Results indicate that Pleistocene humans used the abundant local chert liberally and engaged in mobile broad-spectrum exploitation of invertebrates and fishes from marine, estuarine, and freshwater environments within close proximity of Laili Cave. The faunal assemblage indicates heterogeneous but relatively stable environments during the late Pleistocene. Variability in subsistence strategies over time appears to be a response to changing landscapes and concomitant local resources. This record contrasts with marine specialisations evident from other sites in Timor-Leste and within the broader Wallacean region.

Asymmetry in ecosystem responses to precipitation: Theory, observation and experimentation

Science.gov (United States)

Sala, O.; Gherardi, L.; Reichmann, L.; Peters, D.

2017-12-01

Ecosystem processes such as primary production respond to changes in precipitation that occur annually and at longer time scales. The questions guiding this presentation are whether ecosystem responses to wet and dry years are symmetrical. Is the increase in productivity in a wet year similar in absolute value to the decrease in productivity in a dry year following a wet year? Is the response to one dry or wet year similar tot response of several consecutive wet and dry years? Do all plant-functional groups respond in a similar way to changes in precipitation? To address the questions we explore the theory behind a potential asymmetry and report on experimental results. Analysis of the cost and benefits of plant responses to changes in precipitation support the idea asymmetrical responses because the threshold for abscising organs that have already been deployed should be higher than the threshold to deploy new organs. However, experiments in a desert grassland in New Mexico where we experimentally increased and decreased precipitation from one year to the next showed that the response was symmetrical. Another mechanism that may yield asymmetries is the productivity response to changes in precipitation is associated with the shape of the relationship between precipitation and productivity. Straight-line relationship may yield no asymmetries whereas a saturating or concave up relationship may result in different asymmetries. Here, we report results from an experiment that yielded concave down responses for grasses and concave up for shrubs. Finally, we report results from a 10-year experiment showing asymmetric responses of grasses and shrubs. Moreover, the magnitude of the sign of the responses changed with the time since the beginning of the precipitation manipulation.
Parenting styles, parental response to child emotion, and family emotional responsiveness are related to child emotional eating.

Science.gov (United States)

Topham, Glade L; Hubbs-Tait, Laura; Rutledge, Julie M; Page, Melanie C; Kennedy, Tay S; Shriver, Lenka H; Harrist, Amanda W

2011-04-01

The aim of the present study was to examine the relations of parenting style, parent response to negative child emotion, and family emotional expressiveness and support to child emotional eating. Mothers (N=450) completed questionnaires and their 6-8-year-old children (N=450) were interviewed. Results showed that emotional eating was negatively predicted by authoritative parenting style and family open expression of affection and emotion, and positively predicted by parent minimizing response to child negative emotion. Results suggest the need for early prevention/intervention efforts directed to these parenting and family variables. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Report on the results of the safety culture survey conducted in PNRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia, Corazon M.; Nohay, Carl M.; Badinas, Nelson P.; Melendez, Johnylen V.; Parami, Vangeline K.

2001-01-01

An initial safety culture survey was conducted in the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI). Sixty six (66) questionnaires as given in A. Adams and A. Williamson's Measurement of Safety Culture in the Nuclear Industry, UNSW, July 1999 were distributed to the different units of PNRI. The number of sets of survey sheets distributed to the different units corresponded to the number of personnel in the unit based on the information obtained from them. Results were obtained from only 33 respondents. ANSTO has been requested to analyze the results of this survey. While waiting for the results from ANSTO, we attempted to proceed with this analysis in order to learn and practice applying the procedure based on the reference cited above.The respondents from the PNRI showed on the overall neutral views towards safety and their work. Although a minority showed positive responses to safety while a small minority showed negative responses. A remarkable result is that all respondents show strong concern over the welfare of the institute, indicating that there is still a good chance for safety culture to be developed positively among the employees given the proper strategies for motivation. (author)
Threshold responses in cinnamic-aldehyde-sensitive subjects: results and methodological aspects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, J D; Andersen, Klaus Ejner; Rastogi, S C

1996-01-01

Cinnamic aldehyde is an important fragrance material and contact allergen. The present study was performed to provide quantitative data on the eliciting capacity of cinnamic aldehyde, to be considered in assessment of clinical relevance and health hazard. The skin response to serial dilution patch...
[A case of transverse colon cancer with multiple liver metastases and hepatic pedicle lymph node involvement showing pathological complete response by XELOX plus bevacizumab].

Science.gov (United States)

Mukai, Toshiki; Akiyoshi, Takashi; Koga, Rintaro; Arita, Junichi; Saiura, Akio; Ikeda, Atsushi; Nagasue, Yasutomo; Oikawa, Yoshinori; Yamakawa, Keiko; Konishi, Tsuyoshi; Fujimoto, Yoshiya; Nagayama, Satoshi; Fukunaga, Yosuke; Ueno, Masashi; Suenaga, Mitsukuni; Mizunuma, Nobuyuki; Shinozaki, Eiji; Yamamoto, Chiriko; Yamaguchi, Toshiharu

2012-12-01

A 70-year-old woman was referred to our hospital because of abdominal pain. Abdominal computed tomography(CT)and colonoscopy revealed transverse colon cancer with multiple liver metastases, with involvement of the hepatic pedicle and superior mesenteric artery lymph nodes. The patient received eight courses of XELOX plus bevacizumab, and CT showed a decrease in the size of the liver metastases and hepatic pedicle lymphadenopathy. Right hemicolectomy, partial hepatectomy, and hepatic pedicle lymph node resection were performed. Histopathological examination of the resected tissue revealed no residual cancer cells, suggesting a pathological complete response. The patient remains well 7 months after operation, without any signs of recurrence. Surgical resection should be considered for patients with initially unresectable colon cancer with liver metastases and hepatic pedicle lymph nodes involvement if systemic chemotherapy is effective.
Brain reward region responsivity of adolescents with and without parental substance use disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Stice, Eric; Yokum, Sonja

2014-09-01

The present study tested the competing hypotheses that adolescents at risk for future substance abuse and dependence by virtue of parental substance use disorders show either weaker or stronger responsivity of brain regions implicated in reward relative to youth without parental history of substance use disorders. Adolescents (n = 52) matched on demographics with and without parental substance use disorders, as determined by diagnostic interviews, who denied substance use in the past year were compared on functional MRI (fMRI) paradigms assessing neural response to receipt and anticipated receipt of monetary and food reward. Parental-history-positive versus -negative adolescents showed greater activation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and bilateral putamen, and less activation in the fusiform gyrus and inferior temporal gyrus in response to anticipating winning money, as well as greater activation in the left midbrain and right paracentral lobule, and less activation in the right middle frontal gyrus in response to milkshake receipt. Results indicate that adolescents at risk for future onset of substance use disorders show elevated responsivity of brain regions implicated in reward, extending results from 2 smaller prior studies that found that individuals with versus without parental alcohol use disorders showed greater reward region response to anticipated monetary reward and pictures of alcohol. Collectively, results provide support for the reward surfeit model of substance use disorders, rather than the reward deficit model.
Dissociating response systems: erasing fear from memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Soeter, Marieke; Kindt, Merel

2010-07-01

In addition to the extensive evidence in animals, we previously showed that disrupting reconsolidation by noradrenergic blockade produced amnesia for the original fear response in humans. Interestingly, the declarative memory for the fear association remained intact. These results asked for a solid replication. Moreover, given the constructive nature of memories, the intact recollection of the fear association could eventually 'rebuild' the fear memory, resulting in the spontaneous recovery of the fear response. Yet, perseverance of the amnesic effects would have substantial clinical implications, as even the most effective treatments for psychiatric disorders display high percentages of relapse. Using a differential fear conditioning procedure in humans, we replicated our previous findings by showing that administering propranolol (40mg) prior to memory reactivation eliminated the startle fear response 24h later. But most importantly, this effect persisted at one month follow-up. Notably, the propranolol manipulation not only left the declarative memory for the acquired contingency untouched, but also skin conductance discrimination. In addition, a close association between declarative knowledge and skin conductance responses was found. These findings are in line with the supposed double dissociation of fear conditioning and declarative knowledge relative to the amygdala and hippocampus in humans. They support the view that skin conductance conditioning primarily reflects contingency learning, whereas the startle response is a rather specific measure of fear. Furthermore, the results indicate the absence of a causal link between the actual knowledge of a fear association and its fear response, even though they often operate in parallel. Interventions targeting the amygdalar fear memory may be essential in specifically and persistently dampening the emotional impact of fear. From a clinical and ethical perspective, disrupting reconsolidation points to promising
Distinct Trajectories of Cortisol Response to Prolonged Acute Stress Are Linked to Affective Responses and Hippocampal Gray Matter Volume in Healthy Females.

Science.gov (United States)

Admon, Roee; Treadway, Michael T; Valeri, Linda; Mehta, Malavika; Douglas, Samuel; Pizzagalli, Diego A

2017-08-16

The development of robust laboratory procedures for acute stress induction over the last decades has greatly advanced our understanding of stress responses in humans and their underlying neurobiological mechanisms. Nevertheless, attempts to uncover linear relationships among endocrine, neural, and affective responses to stress have generally yielded inconsistent results. Here, 79 healthy females completed a well established laboratory procedure of acute stress induction that was modified to prolong its effect. Endocrinological and subjective affect assessments revealed stress-induced increases in cortisol release and negative affect that persisted 65 and 100 min after stress onset, respectively, confirming a relatively prolonged acute stress induction. Applying latent class linear mixed modeling on individuals' patterns of cortisol responses identified three distinct trajectories of cortisol response: the hyper-response ( n = 10), moderate-response ( n = 21), and mild-response ( n = 48) groups. Notably, whereas all three groups exhibited a significant stress-induced increase in cortisol release and negative affect, the hyper-response and mild-response groups both reported more negative affect relative to the moderate-response group. Structural MRI revealed no group differences in hippocampal and amygdala volumes, yet a continuous measure of cortisol response (area under the curve) showed that high and low levels of stress-induced cortisol release were associated with less hippocampal gray matter volume compared with moderate cortisol release. Together, these results suggest that distinct trajectories of cortisol response to prolonged acute stress among healthy females may not be captured by conventional linear analyses; instead, quadratic relations may better describe links between cortisol response to stress and affective responses, as well as hippocampal structural variability. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Despite substantial research, it is unclear whether and how
Stress and fear responses in the teleost pallium

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Silva, Patricia Isabel da Mota E.; Martins, C.I.M.; Khan, Uniza Wahid

2015-01-01

Evolution has resulted in behavioural responses to threat which show extensive similarities between different animal species. The reaction to predator cues is one example of such prevailing responses, and functional homologies to mammalian limbic regions involved in threat-sensitive behaviour hav...... to chemical alarm cues, but this effect did not reach the level of statistical significance. Hence, limbic responses to stress and fear, akin to those seen in extant mammals, are also present in the teleost lineage...
Reducing Conservatism of Analytic Transient Response Bounds via Shaping Filters

Science.gov (United States)

Kwan, Aiyueh; Bedrossian, Nazareth; Jan, Jiann-Woei; Grigoriadis, Karolos; Hua, Tuyen (Technical Monitor)

1999-01-01

Recent results show that the peak transient response of a linear system to bounded energy inputs can be computed using the energy-to-peak gain of the system. However, analytically computed peak response bound can be conservative for a class of class bounded energy signals, specifically pulse trains generated from jet firings encountered in space vehicles. In this paper, shaping filters are proposed as a Methodology to reduce the conservatism of peak response analytic bounds. This Methodology was applied to a realistic Space Station assembly operation subject to jet firings. The results indicate that shaping filters indeed reduce the predicted peak response bounds.
Chicken lines divergently selected for antibody responses to sheep red blood cells show line-specific differences in sensitivity to immunomodulation by diet. Part I: Humoral parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

Adriaansen-Tennekes, R; de Vries Reilingh, G; Nieuwland, M G B; Parmentier, H K; Savelkoul, H F J

2009-09-01

Individual differences in nutrient sensitivity have been suggested to be related with differences in stress sensitivity. Here we used layer hens divergently selected for high and low specific antibody responses to SRBC (i.e., low line hens and high line hens), reflecting a genetically based differential immune competence. The parental line of these hens was randomly bred as the control line and was used as well. Recently, we showed that these selection lines differ in their stress reactivity; the low line birds show a higher hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity. To examine maternal effects and neonatal nutritional exposure on nutrient sensitivity, we studied 2 subsequent generations. This also created the opportunity to examine egg production in these birds. The 3 lines were fed 2 different nutritionally complete layer feeds for a period of 22 wk in the first generation. The second generation was fed from hatch with the experimental diets. At several time intervals, parameters reflecting humoral immunity were determined such as specific antibody to Newcastle disease and infectious bursal disease vaccines; levels of natural antibodies binding lipopolysaccharide, lipoteichoic acid, and keyhole limpet hemocyanin; and classical and alternative complement activity. The most pronounced dietary-induced effects were found in the low line birds of the first generation: specific antibody titers to Newcastle disease vaccine were significantly elevated by 1 of the 2 diets. In the second generation, significant differences were found in lipoteichoic acid natural antibodies of the control and low line hens. At the end of the observation period of egg parameters, a significant difference in egg weight was found in birds of the high line. Our results suggest that nutritional differences have immunomodulatory effects on innate and adaptive humoral immune parameters in birds with high HPA axis reactivity and affect egg production in birds with low HPA axis reactivity.
UI Review Results and NARAC Response

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fisher, J. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Eme, B. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Kim, S. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Fischer, K. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Donetti, J. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2017-03-08

This report describes the results of an inter-program design review completed February 16th, 2017, during the second year of a FY16-FY18 NA-84 Technology Integration (TI) project to modernize the core software system used in DOE/NNSA's National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC, narac.llnl.gov). This review focused on the graphical user interfaces (GUI) frameworks. Reviewers (described in Appendix 2) were selected from multiple areas of the LLNL Computation directorate, based on their expertise in GUI and Web technologies.
Psychological traits and the cortisol awakening response: results from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety.

Science.gov (United States)

van Santen, Aafke; Vreeburg, Sophie A; Van der Does, A J Willem; Spinhoven, Philip; Zitman, Frans G; Penninx, Brenda W J H

2011-02-01

Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation is often seen in major depression, and is thought to represent a trait vulnerability - rather than merely an illness marker - for depressive disorder and possibly anxiety disorder. Vulnerability traits associated with stress-related disorders might reflect increased sensitivity for the development of psychopathology through an association with HPA axis activity. Few studies have examined the association between psychological trait factors and the cortisol awakening response, with inconsistent results. The present study examined the relationship between multiple psychological trait factors and the cortisol awakening curve, including both the dynamic of the CAR and overall cortisol awakening levels, in a sample of persons without psychopathology, hypothesizing that persons scoring high on vulnerability traits demonstrate an elevated cortisol awakening curve. From 2981 participants of the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA), baseline data from 381 controls (aged 18-65) without previous, current and parental depression and anxiety disorders were analyzed. Psychological measures included the Big Five personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and agreeableness) measured using the NEO-FFI, anxiety sensitivity assessed by the Anxiety Sensitivity Index, cognitive reactivity to sadness (hopelessness, acceptance/coping, aggression, control/perfectionism, risk aversion, and rumination) as measured by the LEIDS-R questionnaire, and mastery, assessed using the Pearlin and Schooler Mastery scale. Salivary cortisol levels were measured at awakening, and 30, 45, and 60 min afterwards. In adjusted analyses, high scores of hopelessness reactivity (β=.13, p=.02) were consistently associated with a higher cortisol awakening response. In addition, although inconsistent across analyses, persons scoring higher on extraversion, control/perfectionism reactivity, and
Multisensory integration produces an initial response enhancement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin A Rowland

2007-11-01

Full Text Available The brain has evolved the ability to integrate information across the senses in order to improve the detection and disambiguation of biologically significant events. This multisensory synthesis of information leads to faster (and more accurate behavioral responses, yet the underlying neural mechanisms by which these responses are speeded are as yet unclear. The aim of these experiments was to evaluate the temporal properties of multisensory enhancement in the physiological responses of neuron in the superior colliculus (SC. Of specific interest was the temporal evolution of their responses to individual modality-specific stimuli as well as to cross-modal combinations of these stimuli. The results demonstrate that cross-modal stimuli typically elicit faster, more robust, and more reliable physiological responses than do their modality-specific component stimuli. Response measures sensitive to the time domain showed that these multisensory responses were enhanced from their very onset, and that the acceleration of the enhancement was greatest within the first 40 ms (or 50% of the response. The latter half of the multisensory response was typically only as robust and informative as predicted by a linear combination of the unisensory component responses. These results may reveal some of the key physiological changes underlying many of the SC-mediated behavioral benefits of multisensory integration.
Psycho-physiological response of soldiers in urban combat

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vicente J. Clemente-Suárez

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Current armed conflicts are asymmetrical and are developed m urban areas. These new requirements have not been studied for current literature. The aim of this study was to analyse changes in cortical arousal, blood lactate, muscle strength, autonomic modulation and rate of perceived exertion in a simulated urban combat. We analyzed 20 soldiers before and after an urban combat simulation. The results showed how urban combat produced high sympathetic nervous system activation, increasing the muscle strength, heart rate and blood lactate concentration of the soldiers. Despite this effort, rate of perceived exertion were not consistent with the physiological response that soldiers presented, the rate of perceived exertion was lower than the physiological response evaluated. Furthermore, the information processing and cortical arousal decreased after the urban combat simulation. These results have showed the psycho-physiological response of soldiers in combat, helping to better understanding and enabling an improvement of current training methods of soldiers.
Uncooked rice of relatively low gelatinization degree resulted in lower metabolic glucose and insulin responses compared with cooked rice in female college students.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Eun Young; Suh, Hyung Joo; Hong, Wan Soo; Kim, Dong Geon; Hong, Yang Hee; Hong, In Sun; Chang, Un Jae

2009-07-01

Cooking processes that gelatinize granules or disrupt structure might increase the glucose and insulin responses because a disruption of the structure of starch by gelatinization increases its availability for digestion and absorption in the small intestine. We hypothesized that the uncooked form of rice, which has a relatively low degree of gelatinization even though in powder form, would result in lower metabolic glucose and insulin responses compared with cooked rice (CR). To assess the effects of the gelatinization of rice on metabolic response of glucose and insulin, we investigated the glucose and insulin responses to 3 rice meals of different gelatinization degree in female college students (n = 12): CR (76.9% gelatinized), uncooked rice powder (UP; 3.5% gelatinized), and uncooked freeze-dried rice powder (UFP; 5.4% gelatinized). Uncooked rice powders (UP and UFP) induced lower glucose and insulin responses compared with CR. The relatively low gelatinization degree of UPs resulted in low metabolic responses in terms of the glycemic index (CR: 72.4% vs UP: 49.7%, UFP: 59.8%) and insulin index (CR: 94.8% vs UP: 74.4%, UFP: 68.0%). In summary, UPs that were less gelatinized than CR induced low postprandial glucose and insulin responses.
Mice lacking hippocampal left-right asymmetry show non-spatial learning deficits.

Science.gov (United States)

Shimbo, Akihiro; Kosaki, Yutaka; Ito, Isao; Watanabe, Shigeru

2018-01-15

Left-right asymmetry is known to exist at several anatomical levels in the brain and recent studies have provided further evidence to show that it also exists at a molecular level in the hippocampal CA3-CA1 circuit. The distribution of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor NR2B subunits in the apical and basal synapses of CA1 pyramidal neurons is asymmetrical if the input arrives from the left or right CA3 pyramidal neurons. In the present study, we examined the role of hippocampal asymmetry in cognitive function using β2-microglobulin knock-out (β2m KO) mice, which lack hippocampal asymmetry. We tested β2m KO mice in a series of spatial and non-spatial learning tasks and compared the performances of β2m KO and C57BL6/J wild-type (WT) mice. The β2m KO mice appeared normal in both spatial reference memory and spatial working memory tasks but they took more time than WT mice in learning the two non-spatial learning tasks (i.e., a differential reinforcement of lower rates of behavior (DRL) task and a straight runway task). The β2m KO mice also showed less precision in their response timing in the DRL task and showed weaker spontaneous recovery during extinction in the straight runway task. These results indicate that hippocampal asymmetry is important for certain characteristics of non-spatial learning. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Multiple Responses, Promising Results: Evidence-Based, Nonpunitive Alternatives to Zero Tolerance. Research-to-Results Brief. Publication #2011-09

Science.gov (United States)

Boccanfuso, Christopher; Kuhfeld, Megan

2011-01-01

In response to highly publicized violent incidents in schools, such as the Columbine High School massacre, school disciplinary policies have become increasingly severe. These policies have been implemented at the school, district, and state levels with the goal of ensuring the safety of students and staff. Many of these policies have one component…
Social marketing and social responsibility of the business: intercoupling and results

OpenAIRE

T.V. Shtal; O.O. Tyshchenko

2012-01-01

In article is considered problem of social marketing concepts use, problems of provision business-structures to social responsibility and competitiveness provision as criterion to efficiency social-oriented marketing programs. Author not only sets the problem install the correspondence between specified category, but also reveal the criterion to social-directed marketing decisions efficiency.
Respons imun humoral pada pulpitis (Humoral immune response on pulpitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trijoedani Widodo

2005-06-01

Full Text Available Pulpitis is an inflammation process on dental pulp tissue, and usually as the continuous of caries. The microorganism in the caries is a potential immunogenic triggering the immune respons, both humoral and celluler immune responses. The aim of this research is to explain the humoral immune response changes in the dental pulp tissues of pulpitis. This research was done on three group samples: Irreversible pulpitis, Reversible pulpitis and sound teeth as the control group. The result showed that there were three pulpitis immunopathologic patterns: the sound teeth immunopathologic pattern showing a low humoral immune response, in a low level of IgG, IgA and IgM, the reversible pulpitis pattern showing that in a higher humoral immune response, IgG and IgA decreased but IgM increased, the irreversible pulpitis pattern showing that IgG and IgM increased, but it couldn't be repaired although it has highly immunity, and it showed an unusually low level of IgA. This low level of IgA meant that irreversible pulpitis had a low mucosal immunity.

A Patch Density Recommendation based on Convergence Studies for Vehicle Panel Vibration Response resulting from Excitation by a Diffuse Acoustic Field

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Andrew; LaVerde, Bruce; Jones, Douglas; Towner, Robert; Waldon, James; Hunt, Ron

2013-01-01

Producing fluid structural interaction estimates of panel vibration from an applied pressure field excitation are quite dependent on the spatial correlation of the pressure field. There is a danger of either over estimating a low frequency response or under predicting broad band panel response in the more modally dense bands if the pressure field spatial correlation is not accounted for adequately. It is a useful practice to simulate the spatial correlation of the applied pressure field over a 2d surface using a matrix of small patch area regions on a finite element model (FEM). Use of a fitted function for the spatial correlation between patch centers can result in an error if the choice of patch density is not fine enough to represent the more continuous spatial correlation function throughout the intended frequency range of interest. Several patch density assumptions to approximate the fitted spatial correlation function are first evaluated using both qualitative and quantitative illustrations. The actual response of a typical vehicle panel system FEM is then examined in a convergence study where the patch density assumptions are varied over the same model. The convergence study results illustrate the impacts possible from a poor choice of patch density on the analytical response estimate. The fitted correlation function used in this study represents a diffuse acoustic field (DAF) excitation of the panel to produce vibration response.
White-throated Sparrow Response to Forest Harvesting in North-Central Alberta: Results Not So Clear-Cut?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kevin C. Hannah

2008-06-01

Full Text Available The use of density to measure a species' responses to habitat change remains prevalent despite warnings that relying on such parameters can be misleading. We evaluated whether density was a useful surrogate of habitat quality for the White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis, an apparent habitat generalist, in a recently logged landscape near Calling Lake, Alberta, Canada. We detected significant differences in the territory density of birds among three distinct habitat types: interior forest, forest edges, and recent (4- to 6-yr-old clear-cuts. However, the observed patterns in territory density were not consistent with several indices of habitat quality. We found a consistent and marked gradient for indices such as nesting success (based on a reproductive index, pairing success, and the proportion of territories that successfully fledged young between interior forest sites and clear-cuts. Edge habitats, in which high relative density offset lower reproductive success, represented moderate-quality habitat for this species. Our results suggest that the continued use of density alone, without some measure of habitat quality, is insufficient if not misleading when evaluating response to habitat change. Our results have important implications for understanding the population dynamics of this species, which is often overlooked in population-level studies yet continues to experience long-term population declines over large portions of its breeding range.
Cardiac action potential repolarization revisited: early repolarization shows all-or-none behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Trenor, Beatriz; Cardona, Karen; Saiz, Javier; Noble, Denis; Giles, Wayne

2017-11-01

In healthy mammalian hearts the action potential (AP) waveform initiates and modulates each contraction, or heartbeat. As a result, AP height and duration are key physiological variables. In addition, rate-dependent changes in ventricular AP duration (APD), and variations in APD at a fixed heart rate are both reliable biomarkers of electrophysiological stability. Present guidelines for the likelihood that candidate drugs will increase arrhythmias rely on small changes in APD and Q-T intervals as criteria for safety pharmacology decisions. However, both of these measurements correspond to the final repolarization of the AP. Emerging clinical evidence draws attention to the early repolarization phase of the action potential (and the J-wave of the ECG) as an additional important biomarker for arrhythmogenesis. Here we provide a mechanistic background to this early repolarization syndrome by summarizing the evidence that both the initial depolarization and repolarization phases of the cardiac action potential can exhibit distinct time- and voltage-dependent thresholds, and also demonstrating that both can show regenerative all-or-none behaviour. An important consequence of this is that not all of the dynamics of action potential repolarization in human ventricle can be captured by data from single myocytes when these results are expressed as 'repolarization reserve'. For example, the complex pattern of cell-to-cell current flow that is responsible for AP conduction (propagation) within the mammalian myocardium can change APD and the Q-T interval of the electrocardiogram alter APD stability, and modulate responsiveness to pharmacological agents (such as Class III anti-arrhythmic drugs). © 2017 The Authors. The Journal of Physiology © 2017 The Physiological Society.
Outline and results of study on excavation response of rock mass around shaft in shaft excavation effects project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugihara, Kozo; Matsui, Hiroya; Sato, Toshinori

1993-01-01

A shaft, with a diameter of 6 m and a depth of 150 m, has been newly excavated in sedimentary rock and excavation response of rock mass around the shaft has been measured and analyzed. Excavation response has been evaluated based on the results of measurement of rock mass movement, such as displacement and strain, and change of rock property, such as deformability and permeability. This study indicates that rock property has been changed with in about 1 m from the shaft wall, and rock mass movement and property change has been influenced by rock facies, fracture and re-distributed stress. The relation between property change and these factors is remained to be evaluated in future study. (author)
Analyzing force concept inventory with item response theory

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jing; Bao, Lei

2010-10-01

Item response theory is a popular assessment method used in education. It rests on the assumption of a probability framework that relates students' innate ability and their performance on test questions. Item response theory transforms students' raw test scores into a scaled proficiency score, which can be used to compare results obtained with different test questions. The scaled score also addresses the issues of ceiling effects and guessing, which commonly exist in quantitative assessment. We used item response theory to analyze the force concept inventory (FCI). Our results show that item response theory can be useful for analyzing physics concept surveys such as the FCI and produces results about the individual questions and student performance that are beyond the capability of classical statistics. The theory yields detailed measurement parameters regarding the difficulty, discrimination features, and probability of correct guess for each of the FCI questions.
Pathogen-induced maternal effects result in enhanced immune responsiveness across generations.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosengaus, Rebeca B; Hays, Nicole; Biro, Colette; Kemos, James; Zaman, Muizz; Murray, Joseph; Gezahegn, Bruck; Smith, Wendy

2017-05-01

Parental investment theory postulates that adults can accurately perceive cues from their surroundings, anticipate the needs of future offspring based on those cues, and selectively allocate nongenetic resources to their progeny. Such context-dependent parental contributions can result in phenotypically variable offspring. Consistent with these predictions, we show that bacterially exposed Manduca sexta mothers oviposited significantly more variable embryos (as measured by mass, volume, hatching time, and hatching success) relative to naïve and control mothers. By using an in vivo "clearance of infection" assay, we also show that challenged larvae born to heat-killed- or live- Serratia -injected mothers, supported lower microbial loads and cleared the infection faster than progeny of control mothers. Our data support the notion that mothers can anticipate the future pathogenic risks and immunological needs of their unborn offspring, providing progeny with enhanced immune protection likely through transgenerational immune priming. Although the inclusion of live Serratia into oocytes does not appear to be the mechanism by which mothers confer protection to their young, other mechanisms, including epigenetic modifications in the progeny due to maternal pathogenic stress, may be at play. The adaptive nature of maternal effects in the face of pathogenic stress provides insights into parental investment, resource allocation, and life-history theories and highlights the significant role that pathogen-induced maternal effects play as generators and modulators of evolutionary change.
How to make sense of the jet correlations results at RHIC?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jia, Jiangyong

2009-01-01

We review the di-hadron correlation results from RHIC. A consistent physical picture was constructed based on the correlation landscape in p T , Δφ, Δη and particle species. We show that the data are consistent with competition between fragmentation of survived jets and response of the medium to quenched jets. At intermediate p T where the medium response are important, a large fraction of trigger hadrons do not come from jet fragmentation. We argue that these hadrons can strongly influence the interpretation of the low p T correlation data. We demonstrate this point through a simple geometrical jet absorption model simulation. The model shows that the correlation between medium response hadrons dominates the pair yield and mimics the double hump structure of the away-side Δφ distribution at low p T . This correlation was also shown to lead to complications in interpreting the results on reaction plane dependence and three particle correlations. Finally, we briefly discuss several related experimental issues which are important for proper interpretations of the experimental data. (orig.)
Studies on Several Hormone Responses Following Intravenous Alimentation: Insulin and growth hormone responses following oral or intravenous alimentation in patient with far advanced gastric cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sung, H. K.; Koh, J. H.; Ryu, Y. W.; Lee, J. O.; Lee, C. W.; Kim, J. Y.; Lee, J. K.

1975-01-01

Glucose tolerance, insulin and growth hormone responses following glucose for amino acids administration by means of parenteral or oral load were studied in patients with far advanced gastric cancer. Hormone responses following nutrients load showed in patients with gastric cancer were compared to those of healthy subjects. Results were as follows:1) Blood sugar appearance following oral glucose administration was diminished in patients with far advanced gastric cancer. 2) The insulin responses of gastric cancer following oral glucose were also diminished as compared to that of normal subjects and were identical with parenteral route. 3) Parenteral administration of glucose or amino acids to patients with gastric cancer resulted in a increase of plasma growth hormone level. 4) Lower insulin response to amino acids was observed on parenteral administration in patient with gastric cancer as in healthy subjects. 5) Author discussed that the low insulin response after oral glucose administration showed in gastric cancer, and any additional insulin requirement arise when longer periods of parenteral amino acid administration are necessary, as in the patient with malnutrition.
Studies on Several Hormone Responses Following Intravenous Alimentation: Insulin and growth hormone responses following oral or intravenous alimentation in patient with far advanced gastric cancer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sung, H K; Koh, J H; Ryu, Y W; Lee, J O; Lee, C W; Kim, J Y; Lee, J K [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1975-09-15

Glucose tolerance, insulin and growth hormone responses following glucose for amino acids administration by means of parenteral or oral load were studied in patients with far advanced gastric cancer. Hormone responses following nutrients load showed in patients with gastric cancer were compared to those of healthy subjects. Results were as follows:1) Blood sugar appearance following oral glucose administration was diminished in patients with far advanced gastric cancer. 2) The insulin responses of gastric cancer following oral glucose were also diminished as compared to that of normal subjects and were identical with parenteral route. 3) Parenteral administration of glucose or amino acids to patients with gastric cancer resulted in a increase of plasma growth hormone level. 4) Lower insulin response to amino acids was observed on parenteral administration in patient with gastric cancer as in healthy subjects. 5) Author discussed that the low insulin response after oral glucose administration showed in gastric cancer, and any additional insulin requirement arise when longer periods of parenteral amino acid administration are necessary, as in the patient with malnutrition.
Technical Note: Response measurement for select radiation detectors in magnetic fields

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reynolds, M., E-mail: michaelreynolds@ualberta.net [Department of Oncology, Medical Physics Division, University of Alberta, 11560 University Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 1Z2 (Canada); Fallone, B. G. [Department of Medical Physics, Cross Cancer Institute, 11560 University Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 1Z2, Canada and Departments of Oncology and Physics, University of Alberta, 11560 University Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 1Z2 (Canada); Rathee, S. [Department of Medical Physics, Cross Cancer Institute, 11560 University Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 1Z2, Canada and Department of Oncology, Medical Physics Division,University of Alberta, 11560 University Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 1Z2 (Canada)

2015-06-15

Purpose: Dose response to applied magnetic fields for ion chambers and solid state detectors has been investigated previously for the anticipated use in linear accelerator–magnetic resonance devices. In this investigation, the authors present the measured response of selected radiation detectors when the magnetic field is applied in the same direction as the radiation beam, i.e., a longitudinal magnetic field, to verify previous simulation only data. Methods: The dose response of a PR06C ion chamber, PTW60003 diamond detector, and IBA PFD diode detector is measured in a longitudinal magnetic field. The detectors are irradiated with buildup caps and their long axes either parallel or perpendicular to the incident photon beam. In each case, the magnetic field dose response is reported as the ratio of detector signals with to that without an applied longitudinal magnetic field. The magnetic field dose response for each unique orientation as a function of magnetic field strength was then compared to the previous simulation only studies. Results: The measured dose response of each detector in longitudinal magnetic fields shows no discernable response up to near 0.21 T. This result was expected and matches the previously published simulation only results, showing no appreciable dose response with magnetic field. Conclusions: Low field longitudinal magnetic fields have been shown to have little or no effect on the dose response of the detectors investigated and further lend credibility to previous simulation only studies.
Are Auditory Steady-State Responses Useful to Evaluate Severe-to-Profound Hearing Loss in Children?

Science.gov (United States)

Grasel, Signe Schuster; de Almeida, Edigar Rezende; Beck, Roberto Miquelino de Oliveira; Goffi-Gomez, Maria Valéria Schmidt; Ramos, Henrique Faria; Rossi, Amanda Costa; Koji Tsuji, Robinson; Bento, Ricardo Ferreira; de Brito, Rubens

2015-01-01

To evaluate Auditory Steady-State Responses (ASSR) at high intensities in pediatric cochlear implant candidates and to compare the results to behavioral tests responses. This prospective study evaluated 42 children with suspected severe-to-profound hearing loss, aged from 3 to 72 months. All had absent ABR and OAE responses. ASSR were evoked using binaural single frequency stimuli at 110 dB HL with a 10 dB down-seeking procedure. ASSR and behavioral test results were compared. Forty-two subjects completed both ASSR and behavioral evaluation. Eleven children (26.2%) had bilateral responses. Four (9.5%) showed unilateral responses in at least two frequencies, all confirmed by behavioral results. Overall 61 ASSR responses were obtained, most (37.7%) in 500 Hz. Mean thresholds were between 101.3 and 104.2 dB HL. Among 27 subjects with absent ASSR, fifteen had no behavioral responses. Seven subjects showed behavioral responses with absent ASSR responses. No spurious ASSR responses were observed at 100 or 110 dB HL. ASSR is a valuable tool to detect residual hearing. No false-positive ASSR results were observed among 42 children, but in seven cases with absent ASSR, the test underestimated residual hearing as compared to the behavioral responses.
Serotonin Transporter Knockout Rats Show Improved Strategy Set-Shifting and Reduced Latent Inhibition

Science.gov (United States)

Nonkes, Lourens J. P.; van de Vondervoort, Ilse I. G. M.; de Leeuw, Mark J. C.; Wijlaars, Linda P.; Maes, Joseph H. R.; Homberg, Judith R.

2012-01-01

Behavioral flexibility is a cognitive process depending on prefrontal areas allowing adaptive responses to environmental changes. Serotonin transporter knockout (5-HTT[superscript -/-]) rodents show improved reversal learning in addition to orbitofrontal cortex changes. Another form of behavioral flexibility, extradimensional strategy set-shifting…
Are Auditory Steady-State Responses Useful to Evaluate Severe-to-Profound Hearing Loss in Children?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Signe Schuster Grasel

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. To evaluate Auditory Steady-State Responses (ASSR at high intensities in pediatric cochlear implant candidates and to compare the results to behavioral tests responses. Methods. This prospective study evaluated 42 children with suspected severe-to-profound hearing loss, aged from 3 to 72 months. All had absent ABR and OAE responses. ASSR were evoked using binaural single frequency stimuli at 110 dB HL with a 10 dB down-seeking procedure. ASSR and behavioral test results were compared. Results. Forty-two subjects completed both ASSR and behavioral evaluation. Eleven children (26.2% had bilateral responses. Four (9.5% showed unilateral responses in at least two frequencies, all confirmed by behavioral results. Overall 61 ASSR responses were obtained, most (37.7% in 500 Hz. Mean thresholds were between 101.3 and 104.2 dB HL. Among 27 subjects with absent ASSR, fifteen had no behavioral responses. Seven subjects showed behavioral responses with absent ASSR responses. No spurious ASSR responses were observed at 100 or 110 dB HL. Conclusion. ASSR is a valuable tool to detect residual hearing. No false-positive ASSR results were observed among 42 children, but in seven cases with absent ASSR, the test underestimated residual hearing as compared to the behavioral responses.
Experimental Evidence Shows the Importance of Behavioural Plasticity and Body Size under Competition in Waterfowl

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yong; Prins, Herbert H. T.; Versluijs, Martijn; Wessels, Rick; Cao, Lei; de Boer, Willem Frederik

2016-01-01

When differently sized species feed on the same resources, interference competition may occur, which may negatively affect their food intake rate. It is expected that competition between species also alters behaviour and feeding patch selection. To assess these changes in behaviour and patch selection, we applied an experimental approach using captive birds of three differently sized Anatidae species: wigeon (Anas penelope) (~600 g), swan goose (Anser cygnoides) (~2700 g) and bean goose (Anser fabalis) (~3200 g). We quantified the functional response for each species and then recorded their behaviour and patch selection with and without potential competitors, using different species combinations. Our results showed that all three species acquired the highest nitrogen intake at relatively tall swards (6, 9 cm) when foraging in single species flocks in the functional response experiment. Goose species were offered foraging patches differing in sward height with and without competitors, and we tested for the effect of competition on foraging behaviour. The mean percentage of time spent feeding and being vigilant did not change under competition for all species. However, all species utilized strategies that increased their peck rate on patches across different sward heights, resulting in the same instantaneous and nitrogen intake rate. Our results suggest that variation in peck rate over different swards height permits Anatidae herbivores to compensate for the loss of intake under competition, illustrating the importance of behavioural plasticity in heterogeneous environments when competing with other species for resources. PMID:27727315
Cobalamin C Deficiency Shows a Rapidly Progressing Maculopathy With Severe Photoreceptor and Ganglion Cell Loss

Science.gov (United States)

Bonafede, Lucas; Ficicioglu, Can H.; Serrano, Leona; Han, Grace; Morgan, Jessica I. W.; Mills, Monte D.; Forbes, Brian J.; Davidson, Stefanie L.; Binenbaum, Gil; Kaplan, Paige B.; Nichols, Charles W.; Verloo, Patrick; Leroy, Bart P.; Maguire, Albert M.; Aleman, Tomas S.

2015-01-01

Purpose To describe in detail the retinal structure and function of a group of patients with cobalamin C (cblC) disease. Methods Patients (n = 11, age 4 months to 15 years) with cblC disease (9/11, early onset) diagnosed by newborn screening underwent complete ophthalmic examinations, fundus photography, near-infrared reflectance imaging, and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Electroretinograms (ERGs) were performed in a subset of patients. Results Patients carried homozygous or compound heterozygote mutations in the methylmalonic aciduria and homocystinuria type C (MMACHC) gene. Late-onset patients had a normal exam. All early-onset patients showed a maculopathy; older subjects had a retina-wide degeneration (n = 4; >7 years of age). In general, retinal changes were first observed before 1 year of age and progressed within months to a well-established maculopathy. Pseudocolobomas were documented in three patients. Measurable visual acuities ranged from 20/200 to 20/540. Nystagmus was present in 8/11 patients; 5/6 patients had normal ERGs; 1/6 had reduced rod-mediated responses. Spectral-domain OCT showed macular thinning, with severe ganglion cell layer (GCL) and outer nuclear layer (ONL) loss. Inner retinal thickening was observed in areas of total GCL/ONL loss. A normal lamination pattern in the peripapillary nasal retina was often seen despite severe central and/or retina-wide disease. Conclusions Patients with early-onset cblC and MMACHC mutations showed an early-onset, unusually fast-progressing maculopathy with severe central ONL and GCL loss. An abnormally thickened inner retina supports a remodeling response to both photoreceptor and ganglion cell degeneration and/or an interference with normal development in early-onset cblC. PMID:26658511
The Effect of Sports and Physical Activity on Elderly Reaction Time and Response Time

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdolrahman Khezri

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Physical activities ameliorate elderly motor and cognitive performance. The aim of this research is to study the effect of sport and physical activity on elderly reaction time and response time. Methods & Materials: The research method is causal-comparative and its statistical population consists of 60 active and non-active old males over 60 years residing at Mahabad city. Reaction time was measured by reaction timer apparatus, made in Takei Company (YB1000 model. Response time was measured via Nelson’s Choice- Response Movement Test. At first, reaction time and then response time was measured. For data analysis, descriptive statistic, K-S Test and One Sample T Test were used Results K-S Test show that research data was parametric. According to the results of this research, physical activity affected reaction time and response time. Results: of T test show that reaction time (P=0.000 and response time (P=0.000 of active group was statistically shorter than non- active group. Conclusion: The result of current study demonstrate that sport and physical activity, decrease reaction and response time via psychomotor and physiological positive changes.
Goal inferences about robot behavior : goal inferences and human response behaviors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Broers, H.A.T.; Ham, J.R.C.; Broeders, R.; De Silva, P.; Okada, M.

2014-01-01

This explorative research focused on the goal inferences human observers draw based on a robot's behavior, and the extent to which those inferences predict people's behavior in response to that robot. Results show that different robot behaviors cause different response behavior from people.
Electrodermal responses to implied versus actual violence on television.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalamas, A D; Gruber, M L

1998-01-01

The electrodermal response (EDR) of children watching a violent show was measured. Particular attention was paid to the type of violence (actual or implied) that prompted an EDR. In addition, the impact of the auditory component (sounds associated with violence) of the show was evaluated. Implied violent stimuli, such as the villain's face, elicited the strongest EDR. The elements that elicited the weakest responses were the actual violent stimuli, such as stabbing. The background noise and voices of the sound track enhanced the total number of EDRs. The results suggest that implied violence may elicit more fear (as measured by EDRs) than actual violence does and that sounds alone contribute significantly to the emotional response to television violence. One should not, therefore, categorically assume that a show with mostly actual violence evokes less fear than one with mostly implied violence.
Incorporating drug delivery into an imaging-driven, mechanics-coupled reaction diffusion model for predicting the response of breast cancer to neoadjuvant chemotherapy: theory and preliminary clinical results

Science.gov (United States)

Jarrett, Angela M.; Hormuth, David A.; Barnes, Stephanie L.; Feng, Xinzeng; Huang, Wei; Yankeelov, Thomas E.

2018-05-01

Clinical methods for assessing tumor response to therapy are largely rudimentary, monitoring only temporal changes in tumor size. Our goal is to predict the response of breast tumors to therapy using a mathematical model that utilizes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data obtained non-invasively from individual patients. We extended a previously established, mechanically coupled, reaction-diffusion model for predicting tumor response initialized with patient-specific diffusion weighted MRI (DW-MRI) data by including the effects of chemotherapy drug delivery, which is estimated using dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE-) MRI data. The extended, drug incorporated, model is initialized using patient-specific DW-MRI and DCE-MRI data. Data sets from five breast cancer patients were used—obtained before, after one cycle, and at mid-point of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The DCE-MRI data was used to estimate spatiotemporal variations in tumor perfusion with the extended Kety–Tofts model. The physiological parameters derived from DCE-MRI were used to model changes in delivery of therapy drugs within the tumor for incorporation in the extended model. We simulated the original model and the extended model in both 2D and 3D and compare the results for this five-patient cohort. Preliminary results show reductions in the error of model predicted tumor cellularity and size compared to the experimentally-measured results for the third MRI scan when therapy was incorporated. Comparing the two models for agreement between the predicted total cellularity and the calculated total cellularity (from the DW-MRI data) reveals an increased concordance correlation coefficient from 0.81 to 0.98 for the 2D analysis and 0.85 to 0.99 for the 3D analysis (p < 0.01 for each) when the extended model was used in place of the original model. This study demonstrates the plausibility of using DCE-MRI data as a means to estimate drug delivery on a patient-specific basis in predictive models and
Price, environment and security: Exploring multi-modal motivation in voluntary residential peak demand response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gyamfi, Samuel; Krumdieck, Susan

2011-01-01

Peak demand on electricity grids is a growing problem that increases costs and risks to supply security. Residential sector loads often contribute significantly to seasonal and daily peak demand. Demand response projects aim to manage peak demand by applying price signals and automated load shedding technologies. This research investigates voluntary load shedding in response to information about the security of supply, the emission profile and the cost of meeting critical peak demand in the customers' network. Customer willingness to change behaviour in response to this information was explored through mail-back survey. The diversified demand modelling method was used along with energy audit data to estimate the potential peak load reduction resulting from the voluntary demand response. A case study was conducted in a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, where electricity is the main source for water and space heating. On this network, all water heating cylinders have ripple-control technology and about 50% of the households subscribe to differential day/night pricing plan. The survey results show that the sensitivity to supply security is on par with price, with the emission sensitivity being slightly weaker. The modelling results show potential 10% reduction in critical peak load for aggregate voluntary demand response. - Highlights: → Multiple-factor behaviour intervention is necessarily for effective residential demand response. → Security signals can achieve result comparable to price. → The modelling results show potential 10% reduction in critical peak load for aggregate voluntary demand response. → New Zealand's energy policy should include innovation and development of VDR programmes and technologies.

Social Responsibility of Hospitality Industry Enterprises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nuray Türker

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The main aim of this study is to determine the views of employees and managers working at the hospitality industry in Safranbolu towards the social responsibility of tourism enterprises, social responsibility activities carried out by the hotel enterprises, and their views on the advantages and contributions of social responsibility projects to the hotel business. This study will make contributions to the related literature on social responsibility at the hospitality industry by means of identifying the social responsibility activities of hotel enterprises, of which there is relatively limited number of studies.Within this context, a structured survey was conducted with 152 respondents including employees, managers and owners of the hotel enterprises through face to face interviews in order to determine the perceptions of employees towards social responsibility. SPSS 15 for Windows was used to analyze the data. The research has found that the employees working at hospitality industry in Safranbolu are sensitive to the social responsibilities and they act socially responsible in their activities. Additionally the results show that the respondents behave socially responsible towards guests, society and natural environment, but that they are less responsible towards the suppliers.
Quantifying cardiorespiratory responses resulting from speed and slope increments during motorized treadmill propulsion among manual wheelchair users.

Science.gov (United States)

Gauthier, Cindy; Grangeon, Murielle; Ananos, Ludivine; Brosseau, Rachel; Gagnon, Dany H

2017-09-01

Cardiorespiratory fitness assessment and training among manual wheelchair (MW) users are predominantly done with an arm-crank ergometer. However, arm-crank ergometer biomechanics differ substantially from MW propulsion biomechanics. This study aimed to quantify cardiorespiratory responses resulting from speed and slope increments during MW propulsion on a motorized treadmill and to calculate a predictive equation based on speed and slope for estimating peak oxygen uptake (VO 2peak ) in MW users. In total, 17 long-term MW users completed 12 MW propulsion periods (PP), each lasting 2min, on a motorized treadmill, in a random order. Each PP was separated by a 2-min rest. PPs were characterized by a combination of 3 speeds (0.6, 0.8 and 1.0m/s) and 4 slopes (0°, 2.7°, 3.6° and 4.8°). Six key cardiorespiratory outcome measures (VO 2 , heart rate, respiratory rate, minute ventilation and tidal volume) were recorded by using a gas-exchange analysis system. Rate of perceived exertion (RPE) was measured by using the modified 10-point Borg scale after each PP. For the 14 participants who completed the test, cardiorespiratory responses increased in response to speed and/or slope increments, except those recorded between the 3.6 o and 4.8 o slope, for which most outcome measures were comparable. The RPE was positively associated with cardiorespiratory response (r s ≥0.85). A VO 2 predictive equation (R 2 =99.7%) based on speed and slope for each PP was computed. This equation informed the development of a future testing protocol to linearly increase VO 2 via 1-min stages during treadmill MW propulsion. Increasing speed and slope while propelling a MW on a motorized treadmill increases cardiorespiratory response along with RPE. RPE can be used to easily and accurately monitor cardiorespiratory responses during MW exercise. The VO 2 can be predicted to some extent by speed and slope during MW propulsion. A testing protocol is proposed to assess cardiorespiratory fitness
The Efects of Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives and Price Premiums on Polish Consumers' Responses: An Experimental Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wójcik Piotr

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This article explores whether, how and which forms of corporate social responsibility (CSR initiatives influence consumer perceptions of the value of and intention to buy responsibly manufactured yogurt, and identifies the impact of the price rise effect on consumer responses. An experimental study was conducted using scenarios with a sample of 421 university students. The results indicate that information about positive corporate behavior evokes higher perceived value and buying intention than information about negative corporate behavior; that responses differ significantly depending on whether or not the CSR initiative relates to the firm's core business; and that there is a level of consumer sensitivity to the price premium for a responsibly made yogurt. This study expands existing knowledge beyond previous areas of focus by demonstrating that a CSR initiative related to a firm's core business generates higher perceived value and buying intention than a non-related initiative, and by showing that there exists a trade-of between functional and social attributes. The findings of this study may be of interest to companies by showing the level of premium price acceptance and by demonstrating that CSR initiatives detached from basic business activity may bring negative consequences in terms of sales volume.
Airline Overbooking Problem with Uncertain No-Shows

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chunxiao Zhang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper considers an airline overbooking problem of a new single-leg flight with discount fare. Due to the absence of historical data of no-shows for a new flight, and various uncertain human behaviors or unexpected events which causes that a few passengers cannot board their aircraft on time, we fail to obtain the probability distribution of no-shows. In this case, the airlines have to invite some domain experts to provide belief degree of no-shows to estimate its distribution. However, human beings often overestimate unlikely events, which makes the variance of belief degree much greater than that of the frequency. If we still regard the belief degree as a subjective probability, the derived results will exceed our expectations. In order to deal with this uncertainty, the number of no-shows of new flight is assumed to be an uncertain variable in this paper. Given the chance constraint of social reputation, an overbooking model with discount fares is developed to maximize the profit rate based on uncertain programming theory. Finally, the analytic expression of the optimal booking limit is obtained through a numerical example, and the results of sensitivity analysis indicate that the optimal booking limit is affected by flight capacity, discount, confidence level, and parameters of the uncertainty distribution significantly.
Obesity-resistant S5B rats showed great cocaine conditioned place preference than the obesity-prone OM rats

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thanos, P.K.; Wang, G.; Thanos, P.K..; Kim, R.; Cho, J.; Michaelides, M.; Anderson, B.J.; Primeaux, S.D.; Bray, G.A.; Wang, G.-J.; Robinson, J.K.; Volkow, N.D.

2010-12-01

Dopamine (DA) and the DA D2 receptor (D2R) are involved in the rewarding and conditioned responses to food and drug rewards. Osborne-Mendel (OM) rats are genetically prone and S5B/P rats are genetically resistant to obesity when fed a high-fat diet. We hypothesized that the differential sensitivity of these two rat strains to natural rewards may also be reflected in sensitivity to drugs of abuse. Therefore, we tested whether OM and S5B/P rats showed a differential preference to cocaine using conditioned place preference (CPP). To also evaluate whether there is specific involvement of the D2R in this differential conditioning sensitivity, we then tested whether the D2R agonist bromocriptine (BC) would differentially affect the effects of cocaine in the two strains. OM and S5B/P rats were conditioned with cocaine (5 or 10 mg/kg) in one chamber and saline in another for 8 days. Rats were then tested for cocaine preference. The effects of BC (0.5, 1, 5, 10, 20 mg/kg) on cocaine preference were then assessed in subsequent test sessions. OM rats did not show a significant preference for the cocaine-paired chamber on test day. Only the S5B/P rats showed cocaine CPP. Later treatment with only the highest dose of BC resulted in reduced cocaine CPP in S5B/P rats when treated with 5 mg/kg cocaine and in OM rats treated with 10 mg/kg cocaine. Our results indicated that obesity-resistant S5B rats showed greater cocaine CPP than the obesity-prone OM rats. These findings do not support a theory of common vulnerability for reinforcer preferences (food and cocaine). However, they show that BC reduced cocaine conditioning effects supporting at least a partial regulatory role of D2R in conditioned responses to drugs.
The Effect of Aging on the Dynamics of Reactive and Proactive Cognitive Control of Response Interference.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiang, Ling; Zhang, Baoqiang; Wang, Baoxi; Jiang, Jun; Zhang, Fenghua; Hu, Zhujing

2016-01-01

A prime-target interference task was used to investigate the effects of cognitive aging on reactive and proactive control after eliminating frequency confounds and feature repetitions from the cognitive control measures. We used distributional analyses to explore the dynamics of the two control functions by distinguishing the strength of incorrect response capture and the efficiency of suppression control. For reactive control, within-trial conflict control and between-trial conflict adaption were analyzed. The statistical analysis showed that there were no reliable between-trial conflict adaption effects for either young or older adults. For within-trial conflict control, the results revealed that older adults showed larger interference effects on mean RT and mean accuracy. Distributional analyses showed that the decline mainly stemmed from inefficient suppression rather than from stronger incorrect responses. For proactive control, older adults showed comparable proactive conflict resolution to young adults on mean RT and mean accuracy. Distributional analyses showed that older adults were as effective as younger adults in adjusting their responses based on congruency proportion information to minimize automatic response capture and actively suppress the direct response activation. The results suggest that older adults were less proficient at suppressing interference after conflict was detected but can anticipate and prevent inference in response to congruency proportion manipulation. These results challenge earlier views that older adults have selective deficits in proactive control but intact reactive control.
Rhizosphere microbial communities from resistant and susceptible watermelon cultivars showed different response to fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum inoculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhi, W.F.; Can, C.S.; Ling, C.; Hui, X.W.

2015-01-01

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum (FON), a soil-borne pathogen of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), can cause substantial production losses worldwide. In this study, plate culture and PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) methods were used to evaluate the effects of inoculation of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. niveum on rhizosphere microbial communities of different watermelon cultivars to FON. Two methods indicated that the effects of watermelon rhizosphere microbial community of different resistance cultivars to FON were much different. Populations of culturable bacteria and actinomycetes in the rhizosphere of susceptible watermelon cultivar were significantly lower than in the resistant cultivar after inoculation (P<0.05), but the opposite result was observed for fungi. Principal component analysis of bacterial and fungal community structure also showed that the cultivar of FON-inoculated soil treatment were separated from the non-inoculated controls after inoculation, and there was clear discrimination between the susceptible cultivars and the resistant cultivars. Sequence analysis of specific bands from DGGE profiles showed that specific rhizosphere bacterial and fungal groups differed between watermelon cultivars after inoculation . Both methods demonstrated that different resistant watermelon cultivars occupied different rhizosphere microbial communities, and and disease suppression might be correlated with high microbial diversity. F. oxysporum f. sp. Niveum alters the structure and functional diversity of microbial communities associated with watermelon rhizosphere. (author)
E6D25E, HPV16 Asian variant shows specific proteomic pattern correlating in cells transformation and suppressive innate immune response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chopjitt, Peechanika; Pientong, Chamsai; Sunthamala, Nuchsupha; Kongyingyoes, Bunkerd; Haonon, Ornuma; Boonmars, Thidarut; Kikawa, Satomi; Nakahara, Tomomi; Kiyono, Tohru; Ekalaksananan, Tipaya

2016-01-01

HPV16 Asian variant (HPV16As) containing E6D25E oncogene, is commonly associated with cervical cancers of Asian populations. To explore a mechanism of E6D25E oncoprotein in carcinogenesis, we compared protein profiles in human keratinocytes expressing E6D25E with E6 of HPV16 prototype (E6Pro). A human cervical keratinocyte cell line, HCK1T, was transduced with retroviruses containing E6D25E or E6Pro genes. Biological properties of E6D25E or E6Pro transduced HCK1T cells were characterized. Protein profiles of the transduced HCK1T cells were analyzed using 2D-PAGE and characterized by mass spectrometry and western blotting. Reactomes of modulated proteins were analyzed by using the Reactome Knowledgebase. The E6D25E and E6Pro oncoproteins were comparable for their abilities to degrade p53 and suppress the induction of p21, and induce cell proliferation. Interestingly, the protein profiles of the HCK1T cells transduced with E6D25E showed specific proteomic patterns different from those with E6Pro. Among altered proteins, more than 1.5-fold up- or down- regulation was observed in E6D25E-expressing cells for gp96 and keratin7 which involved in activation of TLR signaling and transformation of squamocolumnar junction cells, respectively. This report describes new cellular proteins specifically targeted by E6D25E oncoprotein that may contribute to impair immune response against viral infection and cell transformation associated with oncogenic property of HPV16As variant. - Highlights: • E6D25E HPV16 specifically modulates protein profile of human keratinocytes. • E6D25E HPV16 modulates protein profile which involves in TLR signalling and transformation of squamocolumnar junction cells. • E6D25E oncoprotein may correlate to impair of immune response against viral infection and cells transformation.
E6D25E, HPV16 Asian variant shows specific proteomic pattern correlating in cells transformation and suppressive innate immune response

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chopjitt, Peechanika; Pientong, Chamsai; Sunthamala, Nuchsupha [Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, 40002 (Thailand); HPV & EBV and Carcinogenesis Research Group, Khon Kaen University (Thailand); Kongyingyoes, Bunkerd [Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, 40002 (Thailand); Haonon, Ornuma; Boonmars, Thidarut [Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, 40002 (Thailand); Kikawa, Satomi; Nakahara, Tomomi [Division of Carcinogenesis and Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Center Research Institute, 5-1-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0045 (Japan); Kiyono, Tohru, E-mail: tkiyono@ncc.go.jp [Division of Carcinogenesis and Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Center Research Institute, 5-1-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0045 (Japan); Ekalaksananan, Tipaya, E-mail: tipeka@kku.ac.th [Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, 40002 (Thailand); HPV & EBV and Carcinogenesis Research Group, Khon Kaen University (Thailand)

2016-09-09

HPV16 Asian variant (HPV16As) containing E6D25E oncogene, is commonly associated with cervical cancers of Asian populations. To explore a mechanism of E6D25E oncoprotein in carcinogenesis, we compared protein profiles in human keratinocytes expressing E6D25E with E6 of HPV16 prototype (E6Pro). A human cervical keratinocyte cell line, HCK1T, was transduced with retroviruses containing E6D25E or E6Pro genes. Biological properties of E6D25E or E6Pro transduced HCK1T cells were characterized. Protein profiles of the transduced HCK1T cells were analyzed using 2D-PAGE and characterized by mass spectrometry and western blotting. Reactomes of modulated proteins were analyzed by using the Reactome Knowledgebase. The E6D25E and E6Pro oncoproteins were comparable for their abilities to degrade p53 and suppress the induction of p21, and induce cell proliferation. Interestingly, the protein profiles of the HCK1T cells transduced with E6D25E showed specific proteomic patterns different from those with E6Pro. Among altered proteins, more than 1.5-fold up- or down- regulation was observed in E6D25E-expressing cells for gp96 and keratin7 which involved in activation of TLR signaling and transformation of squamocolumnar junction cells, respectively. This report describes new cellular proteins specifically targeted by E6D25E oncoprotein that may contribute to impair immune response against viral infection and cell transformation associated with oncogenic property of HPV16As variant. - Highlights: • E6D25E HPV16 specifically modulates protein profile of human keratinocytes. • E6D25E HPV16 modulates protein profile which involves in TLR signalling and transformation of squamocolumnar junction cells. • E6D25E oncoprotein may correlate to impair of immune response against viral infection and cells transformation.
Children with dyslexia show a reduced processing benefit from bimodal speech information compared to their typically developing peers.

Science.gov (United States)

Schaadt, Gesa; van der Meer, Elke; Pannekamp, Ann; Oberecker, Regine; Männel, Claudia

2018-01-17

During information processing, individuals benefit from bimodally presented input, as has been demonstrated for speech perception (i.e., printed letters and speech sounds) or the perception of emotional expressions (i.e., facial expression and voice tuning). While typically developing individuals show this bimodal benefit, school children with dyslexia do not. Currently, it is unknown whether the bimodal processing deficit in dyslexia also occurs for visual-auditory speech processing that is independent of reading and spelling acquisition (i.e., no letter-sound knowledge is required). Here, we tested school children with and without spelling problems on their bimodal perception of video-recorded mouth movements pronouncing syllables. We analyzed the event-related potential Mismatch Response (MMR) to visual-auditory speech information and compared this response to the MMR to monomodal speech information (i.e., auditory-only, visual-only). We found a reduced MMR with later onset to visual-auditory speech information in children with spelling problems compared to children without spelling problems. Moreover, when comparing bimodal and monomodal speech perception, we found that children without spelling problems showed significantly larger responses in the visual-auditory experiment compared to the visual-only response, whereas children with spelling problems did not. Our results suggest that children with dyslexia exhibit general difficulties in bimodal speech perception independently of letter-speech sound knowledge, as apparent in altered bimodal speech perception and lacking benefit from bimodal information. This general deficit in children with dyslexia may underlie the previously reported reduced bimodal benefit for letter-speech sound combinations and similar findings in emotion perception. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Regulation of bitter taste responses by tumor necrosis factor.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Pu; Jyotaki, Masafumi; Kim, Agnes; Chai, Jinghua; Simon, Nirvine; Zhou, Minliang; Bachmanov, Alexander A; Huang, Liquan; Wang, Hong

2015-10-01

Inflammatory cytokines are important regulators of metabolism and food intake. Over production of inflammatory cytokines during bacterial and viral infections leads to anorexia and reduced food intake. However, it remains unclear whether any inflammatory cytokines are involved in the regulation of taste reception, the sensory mechanism governing food intake. Previously, we showed that tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a potent proinflammatory cytokine, is preferentially expressed in a subset of taste bud cells. The level of TNF in taste cells can be further induced by inflammatory stimuli. To investigate whether TNF plays a role in regulating taste responses, in this study, we performed taste behavioral tests and gustatory nerve recordings in TNF knockout mice. Behavioral tests showed that TNF-deficient mice are significantly less sensitive to the bitter compound quinine than wild-type mice, while their responses to sweet, umami, salty, and sour compounds are comparable to those of wild-type controls. Furthermore, nerve recording experiments showed that the chorda tympani nerve in TNF knockout mice is much less responsive to bitter compounds than that in wild-type mice. Chorda tympani nerve responses to sweet, umami, salty, and sour compounds are similar between TNF knockout and wild-type mice, consistent with the results from behavioral tests. We further showed that taste bud cells express the two known TNF receptors TNFR1 and TNFR2 and, therefore, are potential targets of TNF. Together, our results suggest that TNF signaling preferentially modulates bitter taste responses. This mechanism may contribute to taste dysfunction, particularly taste distortion, associated with infections and some chronic inflammatory diseases. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Collapsed optical fiber: A novel method for improving thermoluminescence response of optical fiber

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mahdiraji, G. Amouzad, E-mail: ghafour@um.edu.my [Integrated Lightwave Research Group, Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia); Adikan, F.R. Mahamd [Integrated Lightwave Research Group, Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia); Bradley, D.A. [Department of Physics, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH (United Kingdom); Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

2015-05-15

A new technique is shown to provide improved thermoluminescence (TL) response from optical fibers, based on collapsing down hollow capillary optical fibers (COF) into flat fibers (FF), producing fused inner walls and consequent defects generation. Four different fused silica preform tubes are used to fabricate in-house COFs and FFs, i.e., ultra-pure (F300), relatively pure silica (PS), germanium-doped (Ge), and Ge–Boron-doped (GeB). The optical fibers are then subjected to 6 MeV electron irradiation. While the results show similar TL response from F300-COF and -FF, the TL response of PS-COF is improved by a factor of 6 by collapsing it down to a FF. By doping Ge into the F300 tube, the TL response of the resultant Ge-COF shows an improvement of 3 times over that of F300-COF, while an improvement of a factor of 12 is obtained by producing a Ge-FF. In GeB preform, by collapsing the capillary fiber into a FF, an improvement in TL response of 31 times that of GeB-COF is obtained. TL glow curve analysis shows an additional peak to be generated in the FFs compared to that observed in the COFs. The TL intensity value of the new peak is significantly increased in the doped FFs compared to the undoped FFs. The results suggest that defects generation occurs as a result of the fusing/collapsing technique, providing a TL response from the optical fibers that can substantially improve upon that of existing TL system sensitivities. - Highlights: • A new method for increasing TL response of optical fiber is presented. • By collapsing capillary fiber wall surface, TL response of the fiber increased. • By adding impurity in the collapsing area, TL response significantly improved.
Satellite-derived SIF and CO2 Observations Show Coherent Responses to Interannual Climate Variations

Science.gov (United States)

Butterfield, Z.; Hogikyan, A.; Kulawik, S. S.; Keppel-Aleks, G.

2017-12-01

Gross primary production (GPP) is the single largest carbon flux in the Earth system, but its sensitivity to changes in climate is subject to significant uncertainty. Satellite measurements of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) offer insight into spatial and temporal patterns in GPP at a global scale and, combined with other satellite-derived datasets, provide unprecedented opportunity to explore interactions between atmospheric CO2, GPP, and climate variability. To explore potential drivers of GPP in the Northern Hemisphere (NH), we compare monthly-averaged SIF data from the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment 2 (GOME-2) with observed anomalies in temperature (T; CRU-TS), liquid water equivalent (LWE) from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR; CERES SYN1deg). Using observations from 2007 through 2015 for several NH regions, we calculate month-specific sensitivities of SIF to variability in T, LWE, and PAR. These sensitivities provide insight into the seasonal progression of how productivity is affected by climate variability and can be used to effectively model the observed SIF signal. In general, we find that high temperatures are beneficial to productivity in the spring, but detrimental in the summer. The influences of PAR and LWE are more heterogeneous between regions; for example, higher LWE in North American temperate forest leads to decreased springtime productivity, while exhibiting a contrasting effect in water-limited regions. Lastly, we assess the influence of variations in terrestrial productivity on atmospheric carbon using a new lower tropospheric CO2 product derived from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT). Together, these data shed light on the drivers of interannual variability in the annual cycle of NH atmospheric CO2, and may provide improved constraints on projections of long-term carbon cycle responses to climate change.
Responsible nations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lippert-Rasmussen, Kasper

2009-01-01

In National Responsibility and Global Justice, David Miller defends the view that a member of a nation can be collectively responsible for an outcome despite the fact that: (i) she did not control it; (ii) she actively opposed those of her nation's policies that produced the outcome; and (iii......) actively opposing the relevant policy was costly for her. I argue that Miller's arguments in favor of this strong externalist view about responsibility and control are insufficient. Specifically, I show that Miller's two models of synchronic collective responsibility*the like-minded group model...
Corporate social responsibility motivations in Zambian SMEs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Choongo, P.; van Burg, J.C.; Paas, L.J.; Masurel, Enno; Lungu, John

2017-01-01

This paper examines the motivations of different forms of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in an under-researched Sub-Saharan African country, Zambia. The results show that internal motivations (financial motivation and moral and ethical motivation)
The Corporate Social Responsibility of Family Businesses: An International Approach

OpenAIRE

Gérard Hirigoyen; Thierry Poulain-Rehm

2014-01-01

International audience; This study analyzes the links between listed family businesses and social responsibility. On the theoretical level, it establishes a relationship between socioemotional wealth, proactive stakeholder engagement, and the social responsibility of family businesses. On a practical level, our results (obtained from a sample of 363 companies) show that family businesses do not differ from non-family businesses in many dimensions of social responsibility. Moreover, family bus...
Information-integration category learning and the human uncertainty response.

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, Erick J; Boomer, Joseph; Smith, J David; Ashby, F Gregory

2011-04-01

The human response to uncertainty has been well studied in tasks requiring attention and declarative memory systems. However, uncertainty monitoring and control have not been studied in multi-dimensional, information-integration categorization tasks that rely on non-declarative procedural memory. Three experiments are described that investigated the human uncertainty response in such tasks. Experiment 1 showed that following standard categorization training, uncertainty responding was similar in information-integration tasks and rule-based tasks requiring declarative memory. In Experiment 2, however, uncertainty responding in untrained information-integration tasks impaired the ability of many participants to master those tasks. Finally, Experiment 3 showed that the deficit observed in Experiment 2 was not because of the uncertainty response option per se, but rather because the uncertainty response provided participants a mechanism via which to eliminate stimuli that were inconsistent with a simple declarative response strategy. These results are considered in the light of recent models of category learning and metacognition.
The Burden of Power: Construing Power as Responsibility (Rather Than as Opportunity) Alters Threat-Challenge Responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Scholl, Annika; de Wit, Frank; Ellemers, Naomi; Fetterman, Adam K; Sassenberg, Kai; Scheepers, Daan

2018-07-01

Power usually lowers stress responses. In stressful situations, having high (vs. low) power heightens challenge and lowers threat. Yet, even power-holders may experience threat when becoming aware of the responsibility that accompanies their power. Power-holders can construe (i.e., understand) a high-power position primarily as opportunity to "make things happen" or as responsibility to "take care of things." Power-holders construing power as responsibility (rather than opportunity) may be more likely to experience demands-such as taking care of important decisions under their control-as outweighing their resources, resulting in less challenge and more threat. Four experiments with subjective and cardiovascular threat-challenge indicators support this. Going beyond prior work on structural aspects (e.g., power instability) that induce stress, we show that merely the way how power-holders construe their power can evoke stress. Specifically, we find that power construed as responsibility (vs. opportunity) is more likely to imply a "burden" for the power-holder.
PELAPORAN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PERBANKAN SYARIAH DALAM PERSPEKTIF SYARIAH ENTERPRISE THEORY

OpenAIRE

Syuhada Mansur

2011-01-01

This study aims to analyze the reporting of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Islamic banking based on concept of sharia enterprise theory. The research was done by analyzing how the Bank Syariah Mandiri (BSM) reported their corporate social responsibility . This study uses a case study of annual reports BSM and then analysis based on the disclosure of social responsibility based on sharia enterprise theory. These results show that the social responsibility reporting of Bank Syariah...
Orosensory responsiveness and alcohol behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Thibodeau, Margaret; Bajec, Martha; Pickering, Gary

2017-08-01

Consumption of alcoholic beverages is widespread through much of the world, and significantly impacts human health and well-being. We sought to determine the contribution of orosensation ('taste') to several alcohol intake measures by examining general responsiveness to taste and somatosensory stimuli in a convenience sample of 435 adults recruited from six cohorts. Each cohort was divided into quantiles based on their responsiveness to sweet, sour, bitter, salty, umami, metallic, and astringent stimuli, and the resulting quantiles pooled for analysis (Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA). Responsiveness to bitter and astringent stimuli was associated in a non-linear fashion with intake of all alcoholic beverage types, with the highest consumption observed in middle quantiles. Sourness responsiveness tended to be inversely associated with all measures of alcohol consumption. Regardless of sensation, the most responsive quantiles tended to drink less, although sweetness showed little relationship between responsiveness and intake. For wine, increased umami and metallic responsiveness tended to predict lower total consumption and frequency. A limited examination of individuals who abstain from all alcohol indicated a tendency toward higher responsiveness than alcohol consumers to sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and saltiness (biserial correlation), suggesting that broadly-tuned orosensory responsiveness may be protective against alcohol use and possibly misuse. Overall, these findings confirm the importance of orosensory responsiveness in mediating consumption of alcohol, and indicate areas for further research. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Spaceflight Modifies Escherichia coli Gene Expression in Response to Antibiotic Exposure and Reveals Role of Oxidative Stress Response

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas R. Aunins

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Bacteria grown in space experiments under microgravity conditions have been found to undergo unique physiological responses, ranging from modified cell morphology and growth dynamics to a putative increased tolerance to antibiotics. A common theory for this behavior is the loss of gravity-driven convection processes in the orbital environment, resulting in both reduction of extracellular nutrient availability and the accumulation of bacterial byproducts near the cell. To further characterize the responses, this study investigated the transcriptomic response of Escherichia coli to both microgravity and antibiotic concentration. E. coli was grown aboard International Space Station in the presence of increasing concentrations of the antibiotic gentamicin with identical ground controls conducted on Earth. Here we show that within 49 h of being cultured, E. coli adapted to grow at higher antibiotic concentrations in space compared to Earth, and demonstrated consistent changes in expression of 63 genes in response to an increase in drug concentration in both environments, including specific responses related to oxidative stress and starvation response. Additionally, we find 50 stress-response genes upregulated in response to the microgravity when compared directly to the equivalent concentration in the ground control. We conclude that the increased antibiotic tolerance in microgravity may be attributed not only to diminished transport processes, but also to a resultant antibiotic cross-resistance response conferred by an overlapping effect of stress response genes. Our data suggest that direct stresses of nutrient starvation and acid-shock conveyed by the microgravity environment can incidentally upregulate stress response pathways related to antibiotic stress and in doing so contribute to the increased antibiotic stress tolerance observed for bacteria in space experiments. These results provide insights into the ability of bacteria to adapt under
Spaceflight Modifies Escherichia coli Gene Expression in Response to Antibiotic Exposure and Reveals Role of Oxidative Stress Response.

Science.gov (United States)

Aunins, Thomas R; Erickson, Keesha E; Prasad, Nripesh; Levy, Shawn E; Jones, Angela; Shrestha, Shristi; Mastracchio, Rick; Stodieck, Louis; Klaus, David; Zea, Luis; Chatterjee, Anushree

2018-01-01

Bacteria grown in space experiments under microgravity conditions have been found to undergo unique physiological responses, ranging from modified cell morphology and growth dynamics to a putative increased tolerance to antibiotics. A common theory for this behavior is the loss of gravity-driven convection processes in the orbital environment, resulting in both reduction of extracellular nutrient availability and the accumulation of bacterial byproducts near the cell. To further characterize the responses, this study investigated the transcriptomic response of Escherichia coli to both microgravity and antibiotic concentration. E. coli was grown aboard International Space Station in the presence of increasing concentrations of the antibiotic gentamicin with identical ground controls conducted on Earth. Here we show that within 49 h of being cultured, E. coli adapted to grow at higher antibiotic concentrations in space compared to Earth, and demonstrated consistent changes in expression of 63 genes in response to an increase in drug concentration in both environments, including specific responses related to oxidative stress and starvation response. Additionally, we find 50 stress-response genes upregulated in response to the microgravity when compared directly to the equivalent concentration in the ground control. We conclude that the increased antibiotic tolerance in microgravity may be attributed not only to diminished transport processes, but also to a resultant antibiotic cross-resistance response conferred by an overlapping effect of stress response genes. Our data suggest that direct stresses of nutrient starvation and acid-shock conveyed by the microgravity environment can incidentally upregulate stress response pathways related to antibiotic stress and in doing so contribute to the increased antibiotic stress tolerance observed for bacteria in space experiments. These results provide insights into the ability of bacteria to adapt under extreme stress
Spaceflight Modifies Escherichia coli Gene Expression in Response to Antibiotic Exposure and Reveals Role of Oxidative Stress Response

Science.gov (United States)

Aunins, Thomas R.; Erickson, Keesha E.; Prasad, Nripesh; Levy, Shawn E.; Jones, Angela; Shrestha, Shristi; Mastracchio, Rick; Stodieck, Louis; Klaus, David; Zea, Luis; Chatterjee, Anushree

2018-01-01

Bacteria grown in space experiments under microgravity conditions have been found to undergo unique physiological responses, ranging from modified cell morphology and growth dynamics to a putative increased tolerance to antibiotics. A common theory for this behavior is the loss of gravity-driven convection processes in the orbital environment, resulting in both reduction of extracellular nutrient availability and the accumulation of bacterial byproducts near the cell. To further characterize the responses, this study investigated the transcriptomic response of Escherichia coli to both microgravity and antibiotic concentration. E. coli was grown aboard International Space Station in the presence of increasing concentrations of the antibiotic gentamicin with identical ground controls conducted on Earth. Here we show that within 49 h of being cultured, E. coli adapted to grow at higher antibiotic concentrations in space compared to Earth, and demonstrated consistent changes in expression of 63 genes in response to an increase in drug concentration in both environments, including specific responses related to oxidative stress and starvation response. Additionally, we find 50 stress-response genes upregulated in response to the microgravity when compared directly to the equivalent concentration in the ground control. We conclude that the increased antibiotic tolerance in microgravity may be attributed not only to diminished transport processes, but also to a resultant antibiotic cross-resistance response conferred by an overlapping effect of stress response genes. Our data suggest that direct stresses of nutrient starvation and acid-shock conveyed by the microgravity environment can incidentally upregulate stress response pathways related to antibiotic stress and in doing so contribute to the increased antibiotic stress tolerance observed for bacteria in space experiments. These results provide insights into the ability of bacteria to adapt under extreme stress
T-Cell-Specific Loss of the PI-3-Kinase p110α Catalytic Subunit Results in Enhanced Cytokine Production and Antitumor Response

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Aragoneses-Fenoll

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Class IA phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K catalytic subunits p110α and p110δ are targets in cancer therapy expressed at high levels in T lymphocytes. The role of p110δ PI3K in normal or pathological immune responses is well established, yet the importance of p110α subunits in T cell-dependent immune responses is not clear. To address this problem, mice with p110α conditionally deleted in CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes (p110α−/−ΔT were used. p110α−/−ΔT mice show normal development of T cell subsets, but slightly reduced numbers of CD4+ T cells in the spleen. “In vitro,” TCR/CD3 plus CD28 activation of naive CD4+ and CD8+ p110α−/−ΔT T cells showed enhanced effector function, particularly IFN-γ secretion, T-bet induction, and Akt, Erk, or P38 activation. Tfh derived from p110α−/−ΔT cells also have enhanced responses when compared to normal mice, and IL-2 expanded p110α−/−ΔT CD8+ T cells had enhanced levels of LAMP-1 and Granzyme B. By contrast, the expansion of p110α−/−ΔT iTreg cells was diminished. Also, p110α−/−ΔT mice had enhanced anti-keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH IFN-γ, or IL-4 responses and IgG1 and IgG2b anti-KLH antibodies, using CFA or Alum as adjuvant, respectively. When compared to WT mice, p110α−/−ΔT mice inoculated with B16.F10 melanoma showed delayed tumor progression. The percentage of CD8+ T lymphocytes was higher and the percentage of Treg cells lower in the spleen of tumor-bearing p110α−/−ΔT mice. Also, IFN-γ production in tumor antigen-activated spleen cells was enhanced. Thus, PI3K p110α plays a significant role in antigen activation and differentiation of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes modulating antitumor immunity.
Touching force response of the piezoelectric Braille cell.

Science.gov (United States)

Smithmaitrie, Pruittikorn; Kanjantoe, Jinda; Tandayya, Pichaya

2008-11-01

The objective of this research is to investigate dynamic responses of the piezoelectric Braille cell when it is subjected to both electrical signal and touching force. Physical behavior of the piezoelectric actuator inside the piezoelectric Braille cell is analyzed. The mathematical model of the piezoelectric Braille system is presented. Then, data of visually impaired people using a Braille Note is studied as design information and a reference input for calculation of the piezoelectric Braille response under the touching force. The results show dynamic responses of the piezoelectric Braille cell. The designed piezoelectric bimorph has a settling time of 0.15 second. The relationship between the Braille dot height and applied voltage is linear. The behavior of the piezoelectric Braille dot when it is touched during operation shows that the dot height is decreased as the force increases. The result provides understanding of the piezoelectric Braille cell behavior under both touching force and electrical excitation simultaneously. This is the important issue for the design and development of piezoelectric Braille cells in senses of controlling Braille dot displacement or force-feedback in the future.
Consumers' physiological and verbal responses towards product packages: Could these responses anticipate product choices?

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Vila-López, Natalia; Küster-Boluda, Inés

2018-03-03

Today, it is a priority to predict what consumers will choose at the point of sale where there are more and more competing brands. But what kind of consumers' information can be used for that purpose? This paper compares the power of physiological responses (unconscious responses) and self-report/verbal responses (conscious responses) towards product packages, as a means of predicting product choices. To this end, six different packaging designs were created by combining three different colors (blue, red and black) and two different messages (simple and reinforced). Eighty-three young consumers were exposed to each of the six designs. In one phase of our investigation, unconscious electrodermal activity (EDA) for each participant and each packaging type was recorded. In another phase, conscious verbal opinions for each packaging type were collected in a questionnaire. Our results show that the blue packaging with a reinforced message was most often selected. For this packaging consumers' electrodermal values (unconscious responses) were lower, and verbal opinions (conscious responses) were higher. Thus, both data sets could be used to anticipate product choice. However, for the other five packages, only unconscious responses were related to product choices. In contrast, higher opinions in a questionnaire did not correspond to selection of packages. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Virulent Type A Francisella tularensis actively suppresses cytokine responses in human monocytes

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Gillette, Devyn D.; Curry, Heather M.; Cremer, Thomas; Ravneberg, David; Fatehchand, Kavin; Shah, Prexy A.; Wewers, Mark D.; Schlesinger, Larry S.; Butchar, Jonathan P.; Tridandapani, Susheela; Gavrilin, Mikhail A.

2014-01-01

Background: Human monocyte inflammatory responses differ between virulent and attenuated Francisella infection. Results: A mixed infection model showed that the virulent F. tularensis Schu S4 can attenuate inflammatory cytokine responses to the less virulent F. novicida in human monocytes. Conclusion: F. tularensis dampens inflammatory response by an active process. Significance: This suppression may contribute to enhanced pathogenicity of F. tularensis. Francisella tularensis is a Gram-negative facultative bacterium that can cause the disease tularemia, even upon exposure to low numbers of bacteria. One critical characteristic of Francisella is its ability to dampen or subvert the host immune response. Previous work has shown that monocytes infected with highly virulent F. tularensis subsp. tularensis strain Schu S4 responded with a general pattern of quantitatively reduced pro-inflammatory signaling pathway genes and cytokine production in comparison to those infected with the less virulent related F. novicida. However, it has been unclear whether the virulent Schu S4 was merely evading or actively suppressing monocyte responses. By using mixed infection assays with F. tularensis and F. novicida, we show that F. tularensis actively suppresses monocyte pro-inflammatory responses. Additional experiments show that this suppression occurs in a dose-dependent manner and is dependent upon the viability of F. tularensis. Importantly, F. tularensis was able to suppress pro-inflammatory responses to earlier infections with F. novicida. These results lend support that F. tularensis actively dampens human monocyte responses and this likely contributes to its enhanced pathogenicity. PMID:24783062
The role of response force on the persistence and structure of behavior during extinction.

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Pinkston, Jonathan W; Foss, Erica K

2018-01-01

Behavior Momentum Theory has emerged as a prominent account of resistance to change in both basic and applied research. Although laboratory studies often define precise, repeatable responses, application research often deals with response classes that may vary widely along a number of dimensions. In general, Behavior Momentum Theory has not addressed how response dimensions impact resistance to change, providing an opportunity to expand the model in new directions. Four rats pressed a force transducer under a multiple variable interval (VI) 60-s VI 60-s schedule of reinforcement. In one component, responses satisfied the schedule only if the response force fell within a "low" force band requirement; responses in the other schedule were required to satisfy a "high" force band. Once responding stabilized, extinction was programmed for three sessions. Then, the procedures were replicated. The results showed that response force came under discriminative control, but force requirements had no impact on resistance to extinction. In a follow-up condition, the schedule was changed to a multiple VI 30-s VI 120-s schedule and the low-force band operated in both components. The results showed that behavior maintained by the VI 30-s schedule was generally more resistant to extinction. A secondary analysis showed that force distributions created under baseline maintained during extinction. Overall, the results suggest that differential response force requirements prevailing in steady state do not affect the course of extinction. © 2018 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.
BREATHING EXERCISE RELAXATION INCREASE PHSYCOLOGICAL RESPONSE PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

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Yuni Sufyanti Arief

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Being hospitalize will be made the children become stress. Hospitalization response of the child particularly is afraid sense regard to painfull procedure and increase to attack the invasive procedure. The aimed of this study was to describe the influence of breathing exercise relaxation technique regarded to phsycological receiving responses in the preeliminary school chidren while they were receiving invasive procedure. Method: A quasy experimental purposive sampling design was used in this study. There were 20 respondents who met to the inclusion criteria. The independent variable was the breathing exercise relaxation technique and the dependent variable was phsycological receiving responses. Data for phsylogical response were collected by using observation form then analyzed by using Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test and Mann Whitney U Test with significance level α≤0.05. Result : The result showed that breathing exercise relaxation technique had significance influence to phsycological response (p=0.000. Discussion: It,s can be concluded that breathing exercise relaxation technique has an effect to increase pshycological response in preeliminary school children who received invasive procedure.
Failure behavior of concrete pile and super-structure dynamic response as a result of soil liquefaction during earthquake

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Kaneda, Shogo; Hayashi, Kazuhiro; Hachimori, Wataru; Tamura, Shuji; Saito, Taiki

2017-10-01

In past earthquake disasters, numerous building structure piles were damaged by soil liquefaction occurring during the earthquake. Damage to these piles, because they are underground, is difficult to find. The authors aim to develop a monitoring method of pile damage based on superstructure dynamic response. This paper investigated the relationship between the damage of large cross section cementitious piles and the dynamic response of the super structure using a centrifuge test apparatus. A dynamic specimen used simple cross section pile models consisting of aluminum rod and mortar, a saturated soil (Toyoura sand) of a relative density of 40% and a super structure model of a natural period of 0.63sec. In the shaking table test under a 50G field (length scale of 1/50), excitation was a total of 3 motions scaled from the Rinkai wave at different amplitudes. The maximum acceleration of each of the excitations was 602gal, 336gal and 299gal. The centrifuge test demonstrated the liquefaction of saturated soil and the failure behavior of piles. In the test result, the damage of piles affected the predominant period of acceleration response spectrum on the footing of the superstructure.
Impact of stimulus uncanniness on speeded response

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Kohske eTakahashi

2015-05-01

Full Text Available In the uncanny valley phenomenon, the causes of the feeling of uncanniness as well as the impact of the uncanniness on behavioral performances still remain open. The present study investigated the behavioral effects of stimulus uncanniness, particularly with respect to speeded response. Pictures of fish were used as visual stimuli. Participants engaged in direction discrimination, spatial cueing, and dot-probe tasks. The results showed that pictures rated as strongly uncanny delayed speeded response in the discrimination of the direction of the fish. In the cueing experiment, where a fish served as a task-irrelevant and unpredictable cue for a peripheral target, we again observed that the detection of a target was slowed when the cue was an uncanny fish. Conversely, the dot-probe task suggested that uncanny fish, unlike threatening stimulus, did not capture visual spatial attention. These results suggested that stimulus uncanniness resulted in the delayed response, and importantly this modulation was not mediated by the feelings of threat.
Public responses to intimate partner violence: comparing preferences of Chinese and American college students.

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Wu, Yuning; Button, Deeanna M; Smolter, Nicole; Poteyeva, Margarita

2013-01-01

Based on data collected from college students in Beijing and Hong Kong (China) and in Newark and Detroit (United States), this study assesses and explains citizen preferences of 2 major formalized responses to intimate partner violence (IPV)--law enforcement and social services intervention--in a cross-cultural context. Results show that Chinese respondents have lower support for law enforcement responses. Regional variation is only observed within China with students from Hong Kong supporting both law enforcement and social services responses more than their Beijing counterparts. Results also show that social attitudinal variables--including male dominance ideology, perceptions of IPV causation, support for the criminalization of IPV, and tolerance of IPV--influence public preferences of responses to IPV more than do demographic and experiential variables.
Predictive value of early {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT studies for treatment response evaluation to ipilimumab in metastatic melanoma: preliminary results of an ongoing study

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Sachpekidis, Christos; Pan, Leyun; Dimitrakopoulou-Strauss, Antonia [German Cancer Research Center, Clinical Cooperation Unit Nuclear Medicine, Heidelberg (Germany); Larribere, Lionel [German Cancer Research Center, Clinical Cooperation Unit Dermato-Oncology, Heidelberg (Germany); Haberkorn, Uwe [German Cancer Research Center, Clinical Cooperation Unit Nuclear Medicine, Heidelberg (Germany); University of Heidelberg, Division of Nuclear Medicine, Heidelberg (Germany); Hassel, Jessica C. [University Hospital Heidelberg, Skin Cancer Center, Department of Dermatology, Heidelberg (Germany); National Center for Tumor Diseases Heidelberg, Heidelberg (Germany)

2014-10-31

Ipilimumab is a newly approved immunotherapeutic agent that has been shown to provide a survival benefit in patients with metastatic melanoma. {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT has demonstrated very satisfying results in detecting melanoma metastases in general. Using {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT we monitored patients with metastatic melanoma undergoing ipilimumab therapy during the course of treatment. The aim of our study was to evaluate the role of {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT performed after two cycles of ipilimumab in predicting the final response to therapy. In 22 patients suffering from unresectable metastatic melanoma, scheduled for ipilimumab treatment PET/CT scanning was performed before the start of treatment (baseline scan), after two cycles of treatment (early response) and at the end of treatment after four cycles (late response). Evaluation of the patient response to treatment on PET was based on the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer 1999 criteria. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) data are presented. After the end of treatment, 15 patients were characterized as having progressive metabolic disease (PMD) and five as having stable metabolic disease (SMD), and two patients showed a partial metabolic response (PMR). Early PET/CT performed after two ipilimumab cycles predicted treatment response in 13 of the 15 PMD patients, in five of the five SMD patients and in neither of the two PMR patients. Both patients with PMR showed pseudoprogression after the second cycle and were therefore wrongly classified. According to the patients' clinical outcome, patients with late PMD had a median PFS of 3.6 months (mean 5.6 months), while patients with late SMD had a median PFS of 9.8 months (mean 9.0 months). In comparison, patients with early PMD had a median PFS of 2.7 months (mean 5.5 months) and patients with early SMD had a median PFS of 6.3 months (mean 7.5 months). The difference in PFS between the two groups was statistically
Alcohol-Preferring Rats Show Goal Oriented Behaviour to Food Incentives but Are Neither Sign-Trackers Nor Impulsive.

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Yolanda Peña-Oliver

Full Text Available Drug addiction is often associated with impulsivity and altered behavioural responses to both primary and conditioned rewards. Here we investigated whether selectively bred alcohol-preferring (P and alcohol-nonpreferring (NP rats show differential levels of impulsivity and conditioned behavioural responses to food incentives. P and NP rats were assessed for impulsivity in the 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT, a widely used translational task in humans and other animals, as well as Pavlovian conditioned approach to measure sign- and goal-tracking behaviour. Drug-naïve P and NP rats showed similar levels of impulsivity on the 5-CSRTT, assessed by the number of premature, anticipatory responses, even when the waiting interval to respond was increased. However, unlike NP rats, P rats were faster to enter the food magazine and spent more time in this area. In addition, P rats showed higher levels of goal-tracking responses than NP rats, as measured by the number of magazine nose-pokes during the presentation of a food conditioned stimulus. By contrast, NP showed higher levels of sign-tracking behaviour than P rats. Following a 4-week exposure to intermittent alcohol we confirmed that P rats had a marked preference for, and consumed more alcohol than, NP rats, but were not more impulsive when re-tested in the 5-CSRTT. These findings indicate that high alcohol preferring and drinking P rats are neither intrinsically impulsive nor do they exhibit impulsivity after exposure to alcohol. However, P rats do show increased goal-directed behaviour to food incentives and this may be associated with their strong preference for alcohol.
Alcohol-Preferring Rats Show Goal Oriented Behaviour to Food Incentives but Are Neither Sign-Trackers Nor Impulsive.

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Peña-Oliver, Yolanda; Giuliano, Chiara; Economidou, Daina; Goodlett, Charles R; Robbins, Trevor W; Dalley, Jeffrey W; Everitt, Barry J

2015-01-01

Drug addiction is often associated with impulsivity and altered behavioural responses to both primary and conditioned rewards. Here we investigated whether selectively bred alcohol-preferring (P) and alcohol-nonpreferring (NP) rats show differential levels of impulsivity and conditioned behavioural responses to food incentives. P and NP rats were assessed for impulsivity in the 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT), a widely used translational task in humans and other animals, as well as Pavlovian conditioned approach to measure sign- and goal-tracking behaviour. Drug-naïve P and NP rats showed similar levels of impulsivity on the 5-CSRTT, assessed by the number of premature, anticipatory responses, even when the waiting interval to respond was increased. However, unlike NP rats, P rats were faster to enter the food magazine and spent more time in this area. In addition, P rats showed higher levels of goal-tracking responses than NP rats, as measured by the number of magazine nose-pokes during the presentation of a food conditioned stimulus. By contrast, NP showed higher levels of sign-tracking behaviour than P rats. Following a 4-week exposure to intermittent alcohol we confirmed that P rats had a marked preference for, and consumed more alcohol than, NP rats, but were not more impulsive when re-tested in the 5-CSRTT. These findings indicate that high alcohol preferring and drinking P rats are neither intrinsically impulsive nor do they exhibit impulsivity after exposure to alcohol. However, P rats do show increased goal-directed behaviour to food incentives and this may be associated with their strong preference for alcohol.
Monte Carlo simulation of the response functions of Cd Te detectors to be applied in X-rays spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomal, A.; Lopez G, A. H.; Santos, J. C.; Costa, P. R.

2014-08-01

In this work, the energy response functions of a Cd Te detector were obtained by Monte Carlo simulation in the energy range from 5 to 150 keV, using the Penelope code. The response functions simulated included the finite detector resolution and the carrier transport. The simulated energy response matrix was validated through comparison with experimental results obtained for radioactive sources. In order to investigate the influence of the correction by the detector response at diagnostic energy range, x-ray spectra were measured using a Cd Te detector (model Xr-100-T, Amptek), and then corrected by the energy response of the detector using the stripping procedure. Results showed that the Cd Te exhibit good energy response at low energies (below 40 keV), showing only small distortions on the measured spectra. For energies below about 70 keV, the contribution of the escape of Cd- and Te-K x-rays produce significant distortions on the measured x-ray spectra. For higher energies, the most important correction is the detector efficiency and the carrier trapping effects. The results showed that, after correction by the energy response, the measured spectra are in good agreement with those provided by different models from the literature. Finally, our results showed that the detailed knowledge of the response function and a proper correction procedure are fundamental for achieve more accurate spectra from which several qualities parameters (i.e. half-value layer, effective energy and mean energy) can be determined. (Author)
Monte Carlo simulation of the response functions of Cd Te detectors to be applied in X-rays spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tomal, A. [Universidade Federale de Goias, Instituto de Fisica, Campus Samambaia, 74001-970, Goiania, (Brazil); Lopez G, A. H.; Santos, J. C.; Costa, P. R., E-mail: alessandra_tomal@yahoo.com.br [Universidade de Sao Paulo, Instituto de Fisica, Rua du Matao Travessa R. 187, Cidade Universitaria, 05508-090 Sao Paulo (Brazil)

2014-08-15

In this work, the energy response functions of a Cd Te detector were obtained by Monte Carlo simulation in the energy range from 5 to 150 keV, using the Penelope code. The response functions simulated included the finite detector resolution and the carrier transport. The simulated energy response matrix was validated through comparison with experimental results obtained for radioactive sources. In order to investigate the influence of the correction by the detector response at diagnostic energy range, x-ray spectra were measured using a Cd Te detector (model Xr-100-T, Amptek), and then corrected by the energy response of the detector using the stripping procedure. Results showed that the Cd Te exhibit good energy response at low energies (below 40 keV), showing only small distortions on the measured spectra. For energies below about 70 keV, the contribution of the escape of Cd- and Te-K x-rays produce significant distortions on the measured x-ray spectra. For higher energies, the most important correction is the detector efficiency and the carrier trapping effects. The results showed that, after correction by the energy response, the measured spectra are in good agreement with those provided by different models from the literature. Finally, our results showed that the detailed knowledge of the response function and a proper correction procedure are fundamental for achieve more accurate spectra from which several qualities parameters (i.e. half-value layer, effective energy and mean energy) can be determined. (Author)
Withholding response to self-face is faster than to other-face.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Min; Hu, Yinying; Tang, Xiaochen; Luo, Junlong; Gao, Xiangping

2015-01-01

Self-face advantage refers to adults' response to self-face is faster than that to other-face. A stop-signal task was used to explore how self-face advantage interacted with response inhibition. The results showed that reaction times of self-face were faster than that of other-face not in the go task but in the stop response trials. The novelty of the finding was that self-face has shorter stop-signal reaction time compared to other-face in the successful inhibition trials. These results indicated the processing mechanism of self-face may be characterized by a strong response tendency and a corresponding strong inhibition control.
Common cortical responses evoked by appearance, disappearance and change of the human face

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Kida Tetsuo

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To segregate luminance-related, face-related and non-specific components involved in spatio-temporal dynamics of cortical activations to a face stimulus, we recorded cortical responses to face appearance (Onset, disappearance (Offset, and change (Change using magnetoencephalography. Results Activity in and around the primary visual cortex (V1/V2 showed luminance-dependent behavior. Any of the three events evoked activity in the middle occipital gyrus (MOG at 150 ms and temporo-parietal junction (TPJ at 250 ms after the onset of each event. Onset and Change activated the fusiform gyrus (FG, while Offset did not. This FG activation showed a triphasic waveform, consistent with results of intracranial recordings in humans. Conclusion Analysis employed in this study successfully segregated four different elements involved in the spatio-temporal dynamics of cortical activations in response to a face stimulus. The results show the responses of MOG and TPJ to be associated with non-specific processes, such as the detection of abrupt changes or exogenous attention. Activity in FG corresponds to a face-specific response recorded by intracranial studies, and that in V1/V2 is related to a change in luminance.
Treatment with sirolimus results in complete responses in patients with autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome

Science.gov (United States)

Teachey, David T.; Greiner, Robert; Seif, Alix; Attiyeh, Edward; Bleesing, Jack; Choi, John; Manno, Catherine; Rappaport, Eric; Schwabe, Dirk; Sheen, Cecilia; Sullivan, Kathleen E.; Zhuang, Hongming; Wechsler, Daniel S.; Grupp, Stephan A.

2010-01-01

Summary We hypothesized that sirolimus, an mTOR inhibitor, may be effective in patients with autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS) and treated patients who were intolerant to or failed other therapies. Four patients were treated for autoimmune cytopenias; all had a rapid complete or near complete response. Two patients were treated for autoimmune arthritis and colitis, demonstrating marked improvement. Three patients had complete resolution of lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly and all patients had a reduction in double negative T cells, a population hallmark of the disease. Based on these significant responses, we recommend that sirolimus be considered as second-line therapy for patients with steroid-refractory disease. PMID:19208097

A novel thermal and pH responsive drug delivery system based on ZnO@PNIPAM hybrid nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tan, Licheng; Liu, Jian; Zhou, Weihua; Wei, Junchao; Peng, Zhiping

2014-01-01

A smart ZnO@PNIPAM hybrid was prepared by grafting thermal responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) on zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) shows that the grafting amount of PNIPAM was about 38%, and the SEM images show that the PNIPAM chains can prevent the aggregation of ZnO nanoparticles. The responsive properties of ZnO@PNIPAM were measured by photoluminescence spectra, and the results demonstrate that the PNIPAM chains grafted on ZnO surfaces can realize reversible thermal responsive and photoluminescence properties. An anticancer drug, doxorubicin (Dox), was used as a model drug and loaded into the hybrid nanoparticles, and an in vitro drug release test implied that ZnO@PNIPAM could work as a thermal responsive drug delivery system. Furthermore, pH sensitive drug releases were carried out in acetate buffer at pH 5.0 and pH 6.0 and in water at pH 7.0, and the results showed evident pH dependency, showing its pH responsive properties. - Graphical abstract: In this manuscript, thermal responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) was grafted on the surface of ZnO nanoparticles. The obtained ZnO@PNIPAM hybrid showed reversible thermal responsive photoluminescent properties, and can also work as a thermal and pH responsive drug delivery system. - Highlights: • The ZnO@PNIPAM hybrid was prepared via ATRP. • The ZnO@PNIPAM hybrid showed thermal responsive properties. • The ZnO@PNIPAM hybrid can work as a thermal and pH responsive drug delivery system
Preliminary results of statistical dynamic experiments on a heat exchanger

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Corran, E.R.; Cummins, J.D.

1962-10-01

The inherent noise signals present in a heat exchanger have been recorded and analysed in order to determine some of the statistical dynamic characteristics of the heat exchanger. These preliminary results show that the primary side temperature frequency response may be determined by analysing the inherent noise. The secondary side temperature frequency response and cross coupled temperature frequency responses between primary and secondary are poorly determined because of the presence of a non-stationary noise source in the secondary circuit of this heat exchanger. This may be overcome by correlating the dependent variables with an externally applied noise signal. Some preliminary experiments with an externally applied random telegraph type of signal are reported. (author)
Query responses

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Paweł Łupkowski

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In this article we consider the phenomenon of answering a query with a query. Although such answers are common, no large scale, corpus-based characterization exists, with the exception of clarification requests. After briefly reviewing different theoretical approaches on this subject, we present a corpus study of query responses in the British National Corpus and develop a taxonomy for query responses. We point at a variety of response categories that have not been formalized in previous dialogue work, particularly those relevant to adversarial interaction. We show that different response categories have significantly different rates of subsequent answer provision. We provide a formal analysis of the response categories in the framework of KoS.
A predator-prey model with a holling type I functional response including a predator mutual interference

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Seo, G.; DeAngelis, D.L.

2011-01-01

The most widely used functional response in describing predator-prey relationships is the Holling type II functional response, where per capita predation is a smooth, increasing, and saturating function of prey density. Beddington and DeAngelis modified the Holling type II response to include interference of predators that increases with predator density. Here we introduce a predator-interference term into a Holling type I functional response. We explain the ecological rationale for the response and note that the phase plane configuration of the predator and prey isoclines differs greatly from that of the Beddington-DeAngelis response; for example, in having three possible interior equilibria rather than one. In fact, this new functional response seems to be quite unique. We used analytical and numerical methods to show that the resulting system shows a much richer dynamical behavior than the Beddington-DeAngelis response, or other typically used functional responses. For example, cyclic-fold, saddle-fold, homoclinic saddle connection, and multiple crossing bifurcations can all occur. We then use a smooth approximation to the Holling type I functional response with predator mutual interference to show that these dynamical properties do not result from the lack of smoothness, but rather from subtle differences in the functional responses. ?? 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
Psychology and Ecology: Beliefs in Technology and the Diffusion of Ecological Responsibility.

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Borden, Richard J.

1985-01-01

Compared attitudes of individuals who engage in such environmentally responsible activities as recycling, energy conservation, or consumer boycotting. Results show that personal commitment to environmentally corrective behaviors is importantly determined by the person's evaluative response to widely publicized environmental topics. Theoretical and…
Response of APS storage ring basemat to ambient vibration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jendrzejczyk, J.A.; Wambsganss, M.W.; Smith, R.K.

1992-08-01

The storage ring of the Advanced Photon Source (APS) facility at Argonne is very sensitive to vibration. Large vibration amplitudes would result in degraded machine performance. Because the storage ring assembly is supported on the storage ring basemat, the dynamics of the basemat are critical to successful operation. Before construction began, a survey of site ground vibration indicated that the site was acceptable from a vibration standpoint. When construction of the linear accelerator (Linac) floor slab and shielding walls was completed, dynamic-response measurements were conducted. The slab/wall system showed attenuation of soilborne vibrations in the horizontal directions, but an amplification (approximately a factor of 1.5) of vertical vibration at a frequency of 7.7 Hz. Vibration response of the slab/wall system at all other frequencies showed attenuation of soilborne vibrations. Dynamic-response measurements were also conducted on an incomplete section of the storage ring basemat. Although this section was not prototypical, results were similar to those of the Linac floor in the horizontal direction, showing large damping and attenuation of horizontal soilborne vibrations. While the basemat followed the soil vibration in the vertical direction, no large amplification was observed. However, measured vertical amplitudes on the basemat were a function of location, indicating a modal response. A series of vibration response measurements was conducted on a completed section of the storage ring basemat/tunnel adjacent and to the west of the Early Assembly Area (EAA) on May 21, 1992, and is the subject of this report
The effect of aging on the dynamics of reactive and proactive cognitive control of response interference

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Ling Xiang

2016-11-01

Full Text Available A prime-target interference task was used to investigate the effects of cognitive aging on reactive and proactive control in which frequency confounds and feature repetitions were eliminated from the cognitive control measures. We used distributional analyses to explore the dynamics of the two control functions by distinguishing the strength of incorrect response capture and the efficiency of suppression control. For reactive control, within-trial conflict control and between-trial conflict adaption were analyzed. The statistical analysis showed that there were no reliable between-trial conflict adaption effects for both young and older adults. For within-trial conflict control, the results revealed that older adults showed larger interference effects on mean RT and mean accuracy. Distributional analyses showed that the decline mainly stemmed from inefficient suppression rather than from stronger incorrect responses. For proactive control, older adults showed comparable proactive conflict resolution than young adults on mean RT and mean accuracy. Distributional analyses showed older adults were as effective as younger adults in adjusting their responses to minimize automatic response capture and actively suppress the direct response activation based on congruency proportion information. The results suggest that older adults were less proficient at suppressing interference after conflict was detected but can anticipate and prevent inference in response to congruency proportion manipulation. The results challenge earlier views that older adults have selective deficits in proactive control but are spared in reactive control.
Provenance-specific growth responses to drought and air warming in three European oak species

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arend, Matthias; Kuster, Thomas; Gunthardt-Goerg, Madeleine S.; Dobbertin, Matthias

2011-03-15

This study evaluated oak growth responses to air warming through research conducted with species coming from climatically different sites submitted to differing climates including periodic drought and air warming. Results showed different responses to drought and air warming as an adaptation to the conditions, and differences in growth response from one provenance to another were found but local climate factors were not responsible. This study highlighted that provenance was important to growth responses and it will have to be taken into account for regeneration of oaks in a changed climate if these results are confirmed.
Two Theobroma cacao genotypes with contrasting pathogen tolerance show aberrant transcriptional and ROS responses after salicylic acid treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Fister, Andrew S; O'Neil, Shawn T; Shi, Zi; Zhang, Yufan; Tyler, Brett M; Guiltinan, Mark J; Maximova, Siela N

2015-10-01

Understanding the genetic basis of pathogen susceptibility in various crop plants is crucial to increasing the stability of food, feed, and fuel production. Varietal differences in defence responses provide insights into the mechanisms of resistance and are a key resource for plant breeders. To explore the role of salicylic acid in the regulation of defence in cacao, we demonstrated that SA treatment decreased susceptibility to a pod rot pathogen, Phytophthora tropicalis in two genotypes, Scavina 6 and Imperial College Selection 1, which differ in their resistance to several agriculturally important pathogens. Transient overexpression of TcNPR1, a major transcriptional regulator of the SA-dependent plant immune system, also increased pathogen tolerance in cacao leaves. To explore further the genetic basis of resistance in cacao, we used microarrays to measure gene expression profiles after salicylic acid (SA) treatment in these two cacao genotypes. The two genotypes displayed distinct transcriptional responses to SA. Unexpectedly, the expression profile of the susceptible genotype ICS1 included a larger number of pathogenesis-related genes that were induced by SA at 24h after treatment, whereas genes encoding many chloroplast and mitochondrial proteins implicated in reactive oxygen species production were up-regulated in the resistant genotype, Sca6. Sca6 accumulated significantly more superoxide at 24h after treatment of leaves with SA. These experiments revealed critical insights regarding the molecular differences between cacao varieties, which will allow a better understanding of defence mechanisms to help guide breeding programmes. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.
Extracellular Alkalinization as a Defense Response in Potato Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Moroz, Natalia; Fritch, Karen R; Marcec, Matthew J; Tripathi, Diwaker; Smertenko, Andrei; Tanaka, Kiwamu

2017-01-01

A quantitative and robust bioassay to assess plant defense response is important for studies of disease resistance and also for the early identification of disease during pre- or non-symptomatic phases. An increase in extracellular pH is known to be an early defense response in plants. In this study, we demonstrate extracellular alkalinization as a defense response in potatoes. Using potato suspension cell cultures, we observed an alkalinization response against various pathogen- and plant-derived elicitors in a dose- and time-dependent manner. We also assessed the defense response against a variety of potato pathogens, such as protists ( Phytophthora infestans and Spongospora subterranea ) and fungi ( Verticillium dahliae and Colletotrichum coccodes ). Our results show that extracellular pH increases within 30 min in proportion to the number of pathogen spores added. Consistently with the alkalinization effect, the higher transcription level of several defense-related genes and production of reactive oxygen species was observed. Our results demonstrate that the alkalinization response is an effective marker to study early stages of defense response in potatoes.
Excessive biologic response to IFNβ is associated with poor treatment response in patients with multiple sclerosis.

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Richard A Rudick

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Interferon-beta (IFNβ is used to inhibit disease activity in multiple sclerosis (MS, but its mechanisms of action are incompletely understood, individual treatment response varies, and biological markers predicting response to treatment have yet to be identified. METHODS: The relationship between the molecular response to IFNβ and treatment response was determined in 85 patients using a longitudinal design in which treatment effect was categorized by brain magnetic resonance imaging as good (n = 70 or poor response (n = 15. Molecular response was quantified using a customized cDNA macroarray assay for 166 IFN-regulated genes (IRGs. RESULTS: The molecular response to IFNβ differed significantly between patients in the pattern and number of regulated genes. The molecular response was strikingly stable for individuals for as long as 24 months, however, suggesting an individual 'IFN response fingerprint'. Unexpectedly, patients with poor response showed an exaggerated molecular response. IRG induction ratios demonstrated an exaggerated molecular response at both the first and 6-month IFNβ injections. CONCLUSION: MS patients exhibit individually unique but temporally stable biological responses to IFNβ. Poor treatment response is not explained by the duration of biological effects or the specific genes induced. Rather, individuals with poor treatment response have a generally exaggerated biological response to type 1 IFN injections. We hypothesize that the molecular response to type I IFN identifies a pathogenetically distinct subset of MS patients whose disease is driven in part by innate immunity. The findings suggest a strategy for biologically based, rational use of IFNβ for individual MS patients.
Gamma-ray relative energy response of Ce: YAG crystal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Jianhua; Zhang Chuanfei; Hu Mengchun; Peng Taiping; Wang Zhentong; Tang Dengpan; Zhao Guangjun

2010-01-01

Gamma-ray relative energy response of Ce: YAG crystal, which is important for pulsed γ-ray measurement, was studied in this work.The Ce: YAG crystal, which was developed at Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was aligned point by point with γ-rays scattered from an industrial 60 Co line source. The γ-ray relative energy response was calculated using the mass attenuation coefficient. The results show that the numerical calculation method of γ-ray relative energy response is reliable, and the experimental method with multi-energy point γ-ray by Compton scattering is also feasible, that can be used for checking up correctness of the numerical calculation results. (authors)
Are Microbial Nanowires Responsible for Geoelectrical Changes at Hydrocarbon Contaminated Sites?

Science.gov (United States)

Hager, C.; Atekwana, E. A.; Gorby, Y. A.; Duris, J. W.; Allen, J. P.; Atekwana, E. A.; Ownby, C.; Rossbach, S.

2007-05-01

Significant advances in near-surface geophysics and biogeophysics in particular, have clearly established a link between geoelectrical response and the growth and enzymatic activities of microbes in geologic media. Recent studies from hydrocarbon contaminated sites suggest that the activities of distinct microbial populations, specifically syntrophic, sulfate reducing, and dissimilatory iron reducing microbial populations are a contributing factor to elevated sediment conductivity. However, a fundamental mechanistic understanding of the processes and sources resulting in the measured electrical response remains uncertain. The recent discovery of bacterial nanowires and their electron transport capabilities suggest that if bacterial nanowires permeate the subsurface, they may in part be responsible for the anomalous conductivity response. In this study we investigated the microbial population structure, the presence of nanowires, and microbial-induced alterations of a hydrocarbon contaminated environment and relate them to the sediments' geoelectrical response. Our results show that microbial communities varied substantially along the vertical gradient and at depths where hydrocarbons saturated the sediments, ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (RISA) revealed signatures of microbial communities adapted to hydrocarbon impact. In contrast, RISA profiles from a background location showed little community variations with depth. While all sites showed evidence of microbial activity, a scanning electron microscope (SEM) study of sediment from the contaminated location showed pervasive development of "nanowire-like structures" with morphologies consistent with nanowires from laboratory experiments. SEM analysis suggests extensive alteration of the sediments by microbial Activity. We conclude that, excess organic carbon (electron donor) but limited electron acceptors in these environments cause microorganisms to produce nanowires to shuttle the electrons as they seek for
High fat feeding results in a decrease in insulin responsiveness of isolated solei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grundleger, M.L.; Preves, D.M.

1986-01-01

The relationship between diet and insulin responsiveness was examined in isolated solei from 6 week old female Sprague-Dawley rats. Weanling rats were fed either a high fat (HF) (67%kcal) or a high carbohydrate diet (HC) (67% kcal) for 21 days. A significant decrease in plasma insulin (I) but not glucose was observed in the HF fed rats. Insulin stimulated (IS) glucose (G) metabolism was examined using a maximal concentration of I (20 mU/m1). G uptake was estimated using 14 C-2 deoxyglucose (2DG). Basal and IS 2DG uptake decreased in HF rats. However, I sensitivity but not responsiveness remained intact in the HF rats. Total G utilization (GU) was estimated by the sum of the rate of formation of: 3 H 2 O from 5- 3 H-glucose [glycolysis- (GL)] and 3 H-glycogen (GLY). IS GU decreased in HF versus HC fed rats. I failed to stimulate GL while GLY remained sensitive. Glucose oxidation (GO) was measured by 14 CO 2 . I failed to stimulated GO. Intracellular metabolite concentrations (IC) were measured in solei from HF and HC fed rats. IS IC-G6P decreased in HF compared to HC fed rats. Basal IC-F6P but not IC-F 1.6 BP increased in HF compared to HC fed rats. I failed to stimulate an increase in IC-F 1,6BP concentrations. Glycolytic activators were determined. HF produced a significant decrease in F2, 6BP concentration when compared to HC rats. Prostaglandins (PG) have been implicated in mediating insulin action. HF produced a significant decrease in basal and insulin stimulated PGE 2 . These data demonstrate that postreceptor - postmembrane alterations are in part responsible for the decreased insulin responsiveness observed after HF feeding
The Cognitive-Miser Response Model: Testing for Intuitive and Deliberate Reasoning

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Bockenholt, Ulf

2012-01-01

In a number of psychological studies, answers to reasoning vignettes have been shown to result from both intuitive and deliberate response processes. This paper utilizes a psychometric model to separate these two response tendencies. An experimental application shows that the proposed model facilitates the analysis of dual-process item responses…
Attributions of responsibility and affective reactions to decision outcomes.

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Zeelenberg, M; van der Pligt, J; de Vries, N K

2000-06-01

Immediate affective reactions to outcomes are more intense following decisions to act than following decisions not to act. This finding holds for both positive and negative outcomes. We relate this "actor-effect" to attribution theory and argue that decision makers are seen as more responsible for outcomes when these are the result of a decision to act as compared to a decision not to act. Experiment 1 (N = 80) tests the main assumption underlying our reasoning and shows that affective reactions to decision outcomes are indeed more intense when the decision maker is seen as more responsible. Experiment 2 (N = 40) tests whether the actor effect can be predicted on the basis of differential attributions following action and inaction. Participants read vignettes in which active and passive actors obtained a positive or negative outcome. Action resulted in more intense affect than inaction, and positive outcomes resulted in more intense affect than negative outcomes. Experiment 2 further shows that responsibility attributions and affective reactions to outcomes are highly correlated; that is, more extreme affective reactions are associated with more internal attributions. We discuss the implications for research on post-decisional reactions.
Heteromeric Slick/Slack K+ channels show graded sensitivity to cell volume changes.

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Tejada, Maria A; Hashem, Nadia; Calloe, Kirstine; Klaerke, Dan A

2017-01-01

Slick and Slack high-conductance K+ channels are found in the CNS, kidneys, pancreas, among other organs, where they play an important role in cell excitability as well as in ion transport processes. They are both activated by Na+ and Cl- but show a differential regulation by cell volume changes. Slick has been shown to be regulated by cell volume changes, whereas Slack is insensitive. α-subunits of these channels form homomeric as well as heteromeric channels. It is the aim of this work to explore whether the subunit composition of the Slick/Slack heteromeric channel affects the response to osmotic challenges. In order to provide with the adequate water permeability to the cell membrane of Xenopus laevis oocytes, mRNA of aquaporin 1 was co-expressed with homomeric or heteromeric Slick and Slack α-subunits. Oocytes were superfused with hypotonic or hypertonic buffers and changes in currents were measured by two-electrode voltage clamp. This work presents the first heteromeric K+ channel with a characteristic graded sensitivity to small and fast changes in cell volume. Our results show that the cell volume sensitivity of Slick/Slack heteromeric channels is dependent on the number of volume sensitive Slick α-subunits in the tetrameric channels, giving rise to graded cell volume sensitivity. Regulation of the subunit composition of a channel may constitute a novel mechanism to determine volume sensitivity of cells.
Extremal Overall Elastic Response of Polycrystalline Materials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bendsøe, Martin P; Lipton, Robert

1996-01-01

Polycrystalline materials comprised of grains obtained froma single anisotropic material are considered in the frameworkof linear elasticity. No assumptions on the symmetry of thepolycrystal are made. We subject the material to independentexternal strain and stress fields with prescribed mean...... values.We show that the extremal overall elastic response is alwaysachieved by a configuration consisting of a single properlyoriented crystal. This result is compared to results for isotropicpolycrystals....
Data-Driven Optimization of Incentive-based Demand Response System with Uncertain Responses of Customers

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Jimyung Kang

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Demand response is nowadays considered as another type of generator, beyond just a simple peak reduction mechanism. A demand response service provider (DRSP can, through its subcontracts with many energy customers, virtually generate electricity with actual load reduction. However, in this type of virtual generator, the amount of load reduction includes inevitable uncertainty, because it consists of a very large number of independent energy customers. While they may reduce energy today, they might not tomorrow. In this circumstance, a DSRP must choose a proper set of these uncertain customers to achieve the exact preferred amount of load curtailment. In this paper, the customer selection problem for a service provider that consists of uncertain responses of customers is defined and solved. The uncertainty of energy reduction is fully considered in the formulation with data-driven probability distribution modeling and stochastic programming technique. The proposed optimization method that utilizes only the observed load data provides a realistic and applicable solution to a demand response system. The performance of the proposed optimization is verified with real demand response event data in Korea, and the results show increased and stabilized performance from the service provider’s perspective.
Color tuning in alert macaque V1 assessed with fMRI and single-unit recording shows a bias toward daylight colors.

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Lafer-Sousa, Rosa; Liu, Yang O; Lafer-Sousa, Luis; Wiest, Michael C; Conway, Bevil R

2012-05-01

Colors defined by the two intermediate directions in color space, "orange-cyan" and "lime-magenta," elicit the same spatiotemporal average response from the two cardinal chromatic channels in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). While we found LGN functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) responses to these pairs of colors were statistically indistinguishable, primary visual cortex (V1) fMRI responses were stronger to orange-cyan. Moreover, linear combinations of single-cell responses to cone-isolating stimuli of V1 cone-opponent cells also yielded stronger predicted responses to orange-cyan over lime-magenta, suggesting these neurons underlie the fMRI result. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that V1 recombines LGN signals into "higher-order" mechanisms tuned to noncardinal color directions. In light of work showing that natural images and daylight samples are biased toward orange-cyan, our findings further suggest that V1 is adapted to daylight. V1, especially double-opponent cells, may function to extract spatial information from color boundaries correlated with scene-structure cues, such as shadows lit by ambient blue sky juxtaposed with surfaces reflecting sunshine. © 2012 Optical Society of America

Responses of microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen to experimental warming: a meta-analysis

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Xu, W.; Yuan, W.

2017-12-01

Soil microbes play important roles in regulating terrestrial carbon and nitrogen cycling and strongly influence feedbacks of ecosystem to global warming. However, the inconsistent responses of microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN) to experimental warming have been observed, and the response on ratio between MBC and MBN (MBC:MBN) has not been identified. This meta-analysis synthesized the warming experiments at 58 sites globally to investigate the responses of MBC:MBN to climate warming. Our results showed that warming significantly increased MBC by 3.61 ± 0.80% and MBN by 5.85 ± 0.90% and thus decreased the MBC:MBN by 3.34 ± 0.66%. MBC showed positive responses to warming but MBN exhibited negative responses to warming at low warming magnitude (2°C) the results were inverted. The different effects of warming magnitude on microbial biomass resulted from the warming-induced decline in soil moisture and substrate supply. Moreover, MBC and MBN had strong positive responses to warming at the mid-term (3-4 years) or short-term (1-2 years) duration, but the responses tended to decrease at long-term (≥ 5 years) warming duration. This study fills the knowledge gap on the responses of MBC:MBN to warming and may benefit the development of coupled carbon and nitrogen models.
Dose Response of Alanine Detectors Irradiated with Carbon Ion Beams

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Herrmann, Rochus; Jäkel, Oliver; Palmans, Hugo

2011-01-01

Purpose: The dose response of the alanine detector shows a dependence on particle energy and type, when irradiated with ion beams. The purpose of this study is to investigate the response behaviour of the alanine detector in clinical carbon ion beams and compare the results with model predictions......-dose curves deviate from predictions in the peak region, most pronounced at the distal edge of the peak. Conclusions: The used model and its implementation show a good overall agreement for quasi mono energetic measurements. Deviations in depth-dose measurements are mainly attributed to uncertainties...
Self-Responsibility and Responsibility for Others

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Philip Buckley

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Because of the transcendent nature of the experience of my own self, responsibility for myself necessarily leads to responsibility for others. The aim of this paper is to approach this experience of the transcendence of the self and to show how it relates to a new sense of responsibility which transcends the self through a number of stages. First, the author outlines what might be called the "standard" view of authenticity in Husserl and how this particular view yields a certain view of responsibility as the ability to answer completely for "who" one is and "what" one does. Second, this standard view is challenged with another reading of the "self" in Husserl – one that emphasizes a necessary and productive division within the self. Thus, the author suggests that it is this second view of the self which is developed by Heidegger. Third, he demonstrates how this different view of the "authentic" self, that is inextricably linked to a "loss" of self, leads to a radically distinct view of responsibility for oneself, and for others.
Plant defenses against parasitic plants show similarities to those induced by herbivores and pathogens

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Runyon, Justin B; Mescher, Mark C

2010-01-01

Herbivores and pathogens come quickly to mind when one thinks of the biotic challenges faced by plants. Important but less appreciated enemies are parasitic plants, which can have important consequences for the fitness and survival of their hosts. Our knowledge of plant perception, signaling and response to herbivores and pathogens has expanded rapidly in recent years, but information is generally lacking for parasitic species. In a recent paper we reported that some of the same defense responses induced by herbivores and pathogens—notably increases in jasmonic acid (JA), salicylic acid (SA), and a hypersensitive-like response (HLR)—also occur in tomato plants upon attack by the parasitic plant Cuscuta pentagona (field dodder). Parasitism induced a distinct pattern of JA and SA accumulation, and growth trials using genetically-altered tomato hosts suggested that both JA and SA govern effective defenses against the parasite, though the extent of the response varied with host plant age. Here we discuss similarities between the induced responses we observed in response to Cuscuta parasitism to those previously described for herbivores and pathogens and present new data showing that trichomes should be added to the list of plant defenses that act against multiple enemies and across kingdoms. PMID:20495380
Responses to GM food content in context with food integrity issues: results from Australian population surveys.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohr, Philip; Golley, Sinéad

2016-01-25

This study examined community responses to use of genetically modified (GM) content in food in the context of responses to familiar food additives by testing an empirically and theoretically derived model of the predictors of responses to both GM content and food integrity issues generally. A nationwide sample of 849 adults, selected at random from the Australian Electoral Roll, responded to a postal Food and Health Survey. Structural equation modelling analyses confirmed that ratings of general concern about food integrity (related to the presence of preservatives and other additives) strongly predicted negativity towards GM content. Concern about food integrity was, in turn, predicted by environmental concern and health engagement. In addition, both concern about food integrity generally and responses to GM content specifically were weakly predicted by attitudes to benefits of science and an intuitive (i.e., emotionally-based) reasoning style. Data from a follow-up survey conducted under the same conditions (N=1184) revealed that ratings of concern were significantly lower for use of genetic engineering in food than for four other common food integrity issues examined. Whereas the question of community responses to GM is often treated as a special issue, these findings support the conclusion that responses to the concept of GM content in food in Australia are substantially a specific instance of a general sensitivity towards the integrity of the food supply. They indicate that the origins of responses to GM content may be largely indistinguishable from those of general responses to preservatives and other common food additives. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Search for lesions in mammograms: Statistical characterization of observer responses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bochud, Francois O.; Abbey, Craig K.; Eckstein, Miguel P.

2004-01-01

We investigate human performance for visually detecting simulated microcalcifications and tumors embedded in x-ray mammograms as a function of signal contrast and the number of possible signal locations. Our results show that performance degradation with an increasing number of locations is well approximated by signal detection theory (SDT) with the usual Gaussian assumption. However, more stringent statistical analysis finds a departure from Gaussian assumptions for the detection of microcalcifications. We investigated whether these departures from the SDT Gaussian model could be accounted for by an increase in human internal response correlations arising from the image-pixel correlations present in 1/f spectrum backgrounds and/or observer internal response distributions that departed from the Gaussian assumption. Results were consistent with a departure from the Gaussian response distributions and suggested that the human observer internal responses were more compact than the Gaussian distribution. Finally, we conducted a free search experiment where the signal could appear anywhere within the image. Results show that human performance in a multiple-alternative forced-choice experiment can be used to predict performance in the clinically realistic free search experiment when the investigator takes into account the search area and the observers' inherent spatial imprecision to localize the targets
Retinal shows its true colours

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Coughlan, N. J.A.; Adamson, B. D.; Gamon, L.

2015-01-01

Retinal is one of Nature's most important and widespread chromophores, exhibiting remarkable versatility in its function and spectral response, depending on its protein environment. Reliable spectroscopic and photochemical data for the isolated retinal molecule are essential for calibrating theor...
Tokyo Motor Show 2003; Tokyo Motor Show 2003

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joly, E.

2004-01-01

The text which follows present the different techniques exposed during the 37. Tokyo Motor Show. The report points out the great tendencies of developments of the Japanese automobile industry. The hybrid electric-powered vehicles or those equipped with fuel cells have been highlighted by the Japanese manufacturers which allow considerable budgets in the research of less polluting vehicles. The exposed models, although being all different according to the manufacturer, use always a hybrid system: fuel cell/battery. The manufacturers have stressed too on the intelligent systems for navigation and safety as well as on the design and comfort. (O.M.)
Which downstream signal transduction pathway(s) of H-ras are necessary for the cellular response(s) to ionizing radiation? (Results of an astro research fellowship year)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rudoltz, Marc S.; Muschel, Ruth J.; McKenna, W. Gillies

1996-01-01

the cells were washed with fresh media. Selection was begun at 48 hours. Independent clones were identified, expanded, and characterized. Results and Conclusion: As expected, morphologic transformation was obtained only in the MR4 cells transfected with V12Ras. However, MR4 cells transfected with T35S, E37G, or T35S+E37G did not show evidence of morphologic transformation. The effect of the C40 mutation on transformation will also be evaluated. In addition, cells will be evaluated in order to determine the downstream signal transduction pathways of H-ras responsible for regulation of growth rate, suppression of radiation-induced apoptosis, cell cycle kinetics, and radiation resistance
Reentry response of the lightweight radioisotope heater unit resulting from a Cassini Venus-Venus-Earth-Jupiter gravity assist maneuver accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-12-01

Reentry analyses consisting of ablation response, thermal response and thermal stress response have been conducted on the Lightweight Radioisotope Heater Unit (LWRHU) for Cassini/Venus-Venus-Earth-Jupiter-Gravity-Assist (VVEJGA) reentry conditions. Sequential ablation analyses of the LWRHU aeroshell, and the fuel pellet have been conducted in reentry regimes where the aeroshell has been deemed to fail. The failure criterion for ablation is generally assumed to be recession corresponding to 75% and 100% of the wall thickness. The 75% recession failure criteria allows for uncertainties that result mainly because of the high energies involved in the VVEJGA reentries compared to orbital decay reentries. Risk evaluations should consider the fact that for shallow flight paths the unit may disassemble at high-altitude as a result of ablation or may remain intact with a clad that had been molten. Within the limitations of the methodologies and assumptions of the analyses, the results indicate that: (1) For a side-on stable LWRHU reentry, aeroshell ablation failures occur for all reentry angles. (2)For a side-on spinning LWRHU reentry, aeroshell ablation failures are minimal. (3) For the tumbling LWRHU reentry, the aeroshell survives for most angles. (4) For the thermostructural analyses, using both a 1% and 5% allowable strain, all reentry angles and orientations examined resulted in small localized failures, but aeroshell breach is not predicted for any case. The analyses included in this report concentrate on VVEJGA reentry scenarios. Analyses reported previously have demonstrated that the LWRHU has adequate design margin to survive reentry from orbital decay scenarios and most injection scenarios at speeds up to escape speeds. The exception is a narrow range of flight path angles that produce multiple skip trajectories which may have excessive ablation
Online Italian fandoms of American TV shows

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eleonora Benecchi

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The Internet has changed media fandom in two main ways: it helps fans connect with each other despite physical distance, leading to the formation of international fan communities; and it helps fans connect with the creators of the TV show, deepening the relationship between TV producers and international fandoms. To assess whether Italian fan communities active online are indeed part of transnational online communities and whether the Internet has actually altered their relationship with the creators of the original text they are devoted to, qualitative analysis and narrative interviews of 26 Italian fans of American TV shows were conducted to explore the fan-producer relationship. Results indicated that the online Italian fans surveyed preferred to stay local, rather than using geography-leveling online tools. Further, the sampled Italian fans' relationships with the show runners were mediated or even absent.
Stress Sensitive Healthy Females Show Less Left Amygdala Activation in Response to Withdrawal-Related Visual Stimuli under Passive Viewing Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Baeken, Chris; Van Schuerbeek, Peter; De Raedt, Rudi; Vanderhasselt, Marie-Anne; De Mey, Johan; Bossuyt, Axel; Luypaert, Robert

2012-01-01

The amygdalae are key players in the processing of a variety of emotional stimuli. Especially aversive visual stimuli have been reported to attract attention and activate the amygdalae. However, as it has been argued that passively viewing withdrawal-related images could attenuate instead of activate amygdalae neuronal responses, its role under…
Measurement model choice influenced randomized controlled trial results.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorter, Rosalie; Fox, Jean-Paul; Apeldoorn, Adri; Twisk, Jos

2016-11-01

In randomized controlled trials (RCTs), outcome variables are often patient-reported outcomes measured with questionnaires. Ideally, all available item information is used for score construction, which requires an item response theory (IRT) measurement model. However, in practice, the classical test theory measurement model (sum scores) is mostly used, and differences between response patterns leading to the same sum score are ignored. The enhanced differentiation between scores with IRT enables more precise estimation of individual trajectories over time and group effects. The objective of this study was to show the advantages of using IRT scores instead of sum scores when analyzing RCTs. Two studies are presented, a real-life RCT, and a simulation study. Both IRT and sum scores are used to measure the construct and are subsequently used as outcomes for effect calculation. The bias in RCT results is conditional on the measurement model that was used to construct the scores. A bias in estimated trend of around one standard deviation was found when sum scores were used, where IRT showed negligible bias. Accurate statistical inferences are made from an RCT study when using IRT to estimate construct measurements. The use of sum scores leads to incorrect RCT results. Copyright Â© 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Responsible Leadership Research: A Bibliometric Review

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Tânia Marques

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Political, religious, sports and business leaders across the world have been under scrutiny regarding allegedly unethical behaviors. The current study analyzes the use of responsible leadership in management research. Using a sample of 64 articles published in SSCI-indexed journals over 10 years (2006-2016, we carried out a bibliometric analysis to understand the intellectual structure of the responsible leadership literature. The results of authorship, citation and co-citation, and factor analyses reveal the most prolific authors and the most notable journals writing and publishing on responsible leadership. The most cited works are theoretical, using Western frameworks and cultures, and focus on the concept of responsible leadership; only a few empirical/case study articles appear. Also, the most prevalent links are between theoretical works and highlight the conceptualization, understanding, and roles and parameters of responsible leaders. Six distinct factors emerge, denoting the groups of studies devoted to the evolution of leadership, transformational leadership, stakeholder theory and leadership, conceptualization and understanding of the topic, and roles of responsible leaders. These various research topics show the central tenets of responsible leadership, as well as the existing gaps in the existent literature.
Evidence for functional interaction between brassinosteroids and cadmium response in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Science.gov (United States)

Villiers, Florent; Jourdain, Agnès; Bastien, Olivier; Leonhardt, Nathalie; Fujioka, Shozo; Tichtincky, Gabrielle; Parcy, François; Bourguignon, Jacques; Hugouvieux, Véronique

2012-02-01

Plant hormones, in addition to regulating growth and development, are involved in biotic and abiotic stress responses. To investigate whether a hormone signalling pathway plays a role in the plant response to the heavy metal cadmium (Cd), gene expression data in response to eight hormone treatments were retrieved from the Genevestigator Arabidopsis thaliana database and compared with published microarray analysis performed on plants challenged with Cd. Across more than 3000 Cd-regulated genes, statistical approaches and cluster analyses highlighted that gene expression in response to Cd and brassinosteroids (BR) showed a significant similarity. Of note, over 75% of the genes showing consistent (e.g. opposite) regulation upon BR and Brz (BR biosynthesis inhibitor) exposure exhibited a BR-like response upon Cd exposure. This phenomenon was confirmed by qPCR analysis of the expression level of 10 BR-regulated genes in roots of Cd-treated wild-type (WT) plants. Although no change in BR content was observed in response to Cd in our experimental conditions, adding epibrassinolide (eBL, a synthetic brassinosteroid) to WT plants significantly enhanced Cd-induced root growth inhibition, highlighting a synergistic response between eBL and the metal. This effect was specific to this hormone treatment. On the other hand, dwarf1 seedlings, showing a reduced BR level, exhibited decreased root growth inhibition in response to Cd compared with WT, reversed by the addition of eBL. Similar results were obtained on Brz-treated WT plants. These results argue in favour of an interaction between Cd and BR signalling that modulates plant sensitivity, and opens new perspectives to understand the plant response to Cd.
Influence of training and competitive sessions on peripheral β-endorphin levels in training show jumping horses

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Cristina Cravana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Aim: To investigate the effects of training sessions on circulating β-endorphin changes in sport horses before and after competition and to ascertain whether competition would affect this response. Materials and Methods: A total of 24 trained jumping horses were randomly assigned to one of two training groups: Group A (competing and Group B (not competing. To determined plasma β-endorphin concentrations, two pre- and postcompetition training weeks at aerobic workout and two competitive show jumping event days at anaerobic workout were measured before, 5 and 30 min after exercise. Exercise intensity is described using lactate concentrations and heart rate. The circuit design, intensity, and duration of training sessions were the same for both groups. Results: In Group A, one-way analysis of variance for repeated measures (RM-ANOVA showed significant effects of exercise on β-endorphin changes (F=14.41; p<0.001, only in the post-competition training sessions, while in Group B showed no significant effects. Two-way RM-ANOVA showed, after post-competition training sessions, a significant difference between Group A and Group B (F=6.235; p=0.023, with higher β-endorphin changes in Group A, compared to Group B. During the competitive show jumping sessions, one-way RM ANOVA showed significant effects of exercise on β-endorphin changes (F=51.10; p<0.001. The statistical analysis, in Group A, showed a significant difference between postcompetition training and competitive exercise (F=6.32; p=0.024 with higher β-endorphin values in competitive sessions compared to those of post-competition training. Conclusion: Lactate concentrations seem to be the main factors being correlated with the raise of β-endorphin during anaerobic exercise of competitive events. Exercise of low intensity, as well as that one of training sessions, does not appear to stimulate a significant increased release of β-endorphin and it may depend on the duration of the exercise
Neural Correlates of Response Inhibition and Conflict Control on Facial Expressions

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Tongran Liu

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Response inhibition and conflict control on affective information can be regarded as two important emotion regulation and cognitive control processes. The emotional Go/Nogo flanker paradigm was adopted and participant’s event-related potentials (ERPs were analyzed to investigate how response inhibition and conflict control interplayed. The behavioral findings revealed that participants showed higher accuracy to identify happy faces in congruent condition relative to that in incongruent condition. The electrophysiological results manifested that response inhibition and conflict control interplayed during the detection/conflict monitoring stage, and Nogo-N2 was more negative in the incongruent trials than the congruent trials. With regard to the inhibitory control/conflict resolution stage, Nogo responses induced greater frontal P3 and parietal P3 responses than Go responses did. The difference waveforms of N2 and parietal P3 showed that response inhibition and conflict control had distinct processes, and the multiple responses requiring both conflict control and response inhibition processes induced stronger monitoring and resolution processes than conflict control. The current study manifested that response inhibition and conflict control on emotional information required separable neural mechanisms during emotion regulation processes.
Torsional structural response from free-field ground motion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lam, P.C.; Scavuzzo, R.J.

1979-01-01

Torsional response of structures subjected to the action of both the free-field torsional inputs and external torque is investigated. By expanding the work of Scanlan, both lateral and torsional foundation inputs due to a travelling shear wave are derived from the free-field point motion. These free-field torsional motions are used as the basis of numerical studies. Response for different soil stiffness and structural characteristics are studied, as well as different dynamic models. In one dynamic model the structure is coupled to the soil using a compliance spring matrix and in the second model the structure coupled to an elastic half-space. Results of these two basic models are compared and found to be in good agreement. Finally, torsional structural response caused by torsional inputs is compared with lateral response caused by modified lateral inputs to determine the significance of torsional excitation on the seismic response of building structures. Numerical results show that these torsional seismic loads are as large or larger than those from modified lateral inputs. (orig.)
PILOT RESULTS ON FORWARD COLLISION WARNING SYSTEM EFFECTIVENESS IN OLDER DRIVERS.

Science.gov (United States)

Lester, Benjamin D; Sager, Lauren N; Dawson, Jeffrey; Hacker, Sarah D; Aksan, Nazan; Rizzo, Matthew; Kitazaki, Satoshi

2015-06-01

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) have largely been developed with a "one-size-fits-all" approach. This approach neglects the large inter-individual variability in perceptual and cognitive abilities that affect aging ADAS users. We investigated the effectiveness of a forward collision warning (FCW) with fixed response parameters in young and older drivers with differing levels of cognitive functioning. Drivers responded to a pedestrian stepping into the driver's path on a simulated urban road. Behavioral metrics included response times (RT) for pedal controls and two indices of risk penetration (e.g., maximum deceleration and minimum time-to-collision (TTC)). Older drivers showed significantly slower responses at several time points compared to younger drivers. The FCW facilitated response times (RTs) for older and younger drivers. However, older drivers still showed smaller safety gains compared to younger drivers at accelerator pedal release and initial brake application when the FCW was active. No significant differences in risk metrics were observed within the condition studied. The results demonstrate older drivers likely differ from younger drivers using a FCW with a fixed parameter set. Finally, we briefly discuss how future research should examine predictive relationships between domains of cognitive functioning and ADAS responses to develop parameter sets to fit the individual.
Treatment response in HCV related chronic hepatitis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussain, A.B.; Hussain, T.; Hussain, S.; Masood, A.; Kazmi, Y.; Tariq, W.Z.; Karamat, K.A.

2004-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the virological response to treatment with interferon and ribavirin in-patients with hepatitis C related liver disease. Material and Methods: Two hundred seventy-nine patients were included in the study. These patients had taken interferon and ribavirin treatment for HCV related chronic hepatitis, and were referred to AFIP for HCV RNA testing by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) between January 2002 and September 2002. Out of 279 cases, 229 had taken the treatment for 06 or 12 months and were tested for end-of-treatment response (ETR). Fifty patients had completed there treatment regimens of 6 or 12 months treatment, at least 24 weeks before their PCR test and were having follow-up testing for sustained viral response (SVR). The sera of these patients were tested for HCV RNA by PCR, using a commercial kit of Amplicor (Roche) for qualitative detection of HCV RNA. Results: Out of 229 cases tested for end-of-treatment response, 198 (86.5%) had no detectable HCV RNA (responders) and 31 (13.50%) were PCR positive (non-responders). Thirty-eight out of 50 cases, tested for a sustained viral response, had a negative result for HCV PCR thus showing sustained response rate of 76%. Conclusion: The viral remission/response to interferon and ribavirin combination therapy in our patients was better than that quoted in other regions. (author)

Current and Developing Conceptions of Use: Evaluation Use TIG Survey Results.

Science.gov (United States)

Preskill, Hallie; Caracelli, Valerie

1997-01-01

A survey was sent to members of the Evaluation Use Topical Interest Group (TIG) to determine their perceptions about and experiences with evaluation use. Responses from 282 members show agreement on the major purposes of evaluation and an increased use of performance-results oriented and formative evaluations. (SLD)
Tannic acid modified silver nanoparticles show antiviral activity in herpes simplex virus type 2 infection.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piotr Orlowski

Full Text Available The interaction between silver nanoparticles and herpesviruses is attracting great interest due to their antiviral activity and possibility to use as microbicides for oral and anogenital herpes. In this work, we demonstrate that tannic acid modified silver nanoparticles sized 13 nm, 33 nm and 46 nm are capable of reducing HSV-2 infectivity both in vitro and in vivo. The antiviral activity of tannic acid modified silver nanoparticles was size-related, required direct interaction and blocked virus attachment, penetration and further spread. All tested tannic acid modified silver nanoparticles reduced both infection and inflammatory reaction in the mouse model of HSV-2 infection when used at infection or for a post-infection treatment. Smaller-sized nanoparticles induced production of cytokines and chemokines important for anti-viral response. The corresponding control buffers with tannic acid showed inferior antiviral effects in vitro and were ineffective in blocking in vivo infection. Our results show that tannic acid modified silver nanoparticles are good candidates for microbicides used in treatment of herpesvirus infections.
New Insight in Understanding the mechanical responses of polymer glasses using molecular dynamic simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Yexin; Wang, Shi-Qing; Tsige, Mesfin

The Kremer-Grest bead-spring model has been the standard model in molecular dynamics simulation of polymer glasses. However, due to current computational limitations in accessing relevant time scales in polymer glasses in a reasonable amount of CPU time, simulation of mechanical response of polymer glasses in molecular dynamic simulations requires a much higher quenching rate and deformation rate than used in experiments. Despite several orders of magnitude difference in time scale between simulation and experiment, previous studies have shown that simulations can produce meaningful results that can be directly compared with experimental results. In this work we show that by tuning the quenching rate and deformation rate relative to the segmental relaxation times, a reasonable mechanical response shows up in the glassy state. Specifically, we show a younger glass prepared with a faster quenching rate shows glassy responses only when the imposed deformation rate is proportionally higher. the National Science Foundation (DMR-1444859 and DMR-1609977).
Amphibian DNA shows marked genetic structure and tracks pleistocene climate change in northeastern Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Carnaval, Ana Carolina; Bates, John M

2007-12-01

The glacial refugia paradigm has been broadly applied to patterns of species dynamics and population diversification. However, recent geological studies have demonstrated striking Pleistocene climate changes in currently semiarid northeastern Brazil at time intervals much more frequent than the climatic oscillations associated with glacial and interglacial periods. These geomorphic data documented recurrent pulses of wet regimes in the past 210,000 years that correlate with climate anomalies affecting multiple continents. While analyzing DNA sequences of two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome b and NADH-dehydrogenase subunit 2) and one nuclear marker (cellular-myelocytomatosis proto-oncogene) in the forest-associated frogs Proceratophrys boiei and Ischnocnema gr. ramagii, we found evidence of biological responses consistent with these pluvial maxima events. Sampled areas included old, naturally isolated forest enclaves within the semiarid Caatinga, as well as recent man-made fragments of humid coastal Atlantic forest. Results show that mtDNA lineages in enclave populations are monophyletic or nearly so, whereas nonenclave populations are polyphyletic and more diverse. The studied taxa show evidence of demographic expansions at times that match phases of pluvial maxima inferred from geological data. Divergence times between several populations fall within comparatively drier intervals suggested by geomorphology. Mitochondrial and nuclear data show local populations to be genetically structured, with some high levels of differentiation that suggest the need of further taxonomic work.
Davedan Show Di Amphi Theatre Nusa Dua Bali

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Ni Made Ruastiti

2018-05-01

Bali karena berimplikasi positif pada ekonomi para pihak terkait, pengayaan bagi seni pertunjukan daerah setempat, dan identitas bagi kawasan wisata Nusa Dua, Bali. This article was compiled from the research results that aimed to understand the Davedan Show at Amphi Theater Nusa Dua, Bali. This research was conducted due to the imbalance between the assumption and the reality in real life. Generally, tourists visiting Bali are more excited and enthusiastic to watch the tourism performing arts that are based on local traditional art and culture. However, the reality is different. The questions are: how is the form of the Davedan show?; why do the tourists enjoy watching the show ?; what are the implications for the performer, the society, and the tourism industry in Nusa Dua, Bali?. This research applied qualitative research methods, especially the participative implementation that prioritized cooperation between the researchers and the related informants. The data sources of the research were the Davedan show, management, dancers, audiences, and similar research results produced by previous researchers. All data that had been collected by observation, interview, FGD, and literature study were then analyzed with aesthetic postmodern theory, theory of practice, and theory of power relationship. The results showed that: (1 Davedan Show was presented with the concept of a new presentation in the tourism performing arts in Bali. It could be seen from the material, the form, the way of presentation, and the management of the show. Davedan Show, presenting the theme of Treasure of the Archipelago and opening the new adventure gate, was accompanied by ethnic music recordings of the archipelago in a medley then continued with the performance structures of: Balinese, Sumatran, Sundanese, Solo, Borneo and Papuan art and culture; (2 Davedan Show attracted many foreign tourists because the show was based on the existence of market, aesthetic, and cultural ideologies of the
Preliminary results on response assessment using 68Ga-HBED-CC-PSMA PET/CT in patients with metastatic prostate cancer undergoing docetaxel chemotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seitz, Anna Katharina; Rauscher, Isabel; Kroenke, Markus; Schwaiger, Markus; Haller, Bernhard; Luther, Sophia; Heck, Matthias M.; Horn, Thomas; Gschwend, Juergen E.; Maurer, Tobias; Eiber, Matthias

2018-01-01

results corresponded in seven of 12 patients (58%, 28% to 85%). Our preliminary results suggest that 68 Ga-PSMA PET might be a promising method for treatment response assessment in mCSPC and mCRPC. The data indicate that for different metastatic sites, the performance of 68 Ga-PSMA PET in response assessment might be superior to that of the conventional CT approach and could help differentiate between progressive disease and treatment response. Because of the limited number of patients, the differences revealed in our study were not statistically significant. Thus larger and prospective studies are clearly needed and warranted to confirm the value of 68 Ga-PSMA PET as an imaging biomarker for response assessment. (orig.)
African Trypanosomes Undermine Humoral Responses and Vaccine Development: Link with Inflammatory Responses?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benoit Stijlemans

2017-05-01

Full Text Available African trypanosomosis is a debilitating disease of great medical and socioeconomical importance. It is caused by strictly extracellular protozoan parasites capable of infecting all vertebrate classes including human, livestock, and game animals. To survive within their mammalian host, trypanosomes have evolved efficient immune escape mechanisms and manipulate the entire host immune response, including the humoral response. This report provides an overview of how trypanosomes initially trigger and subsequently undermine the development of an effective host antibody response. Indeed, results available to date obtained in both natural and experimental infection models show that trypanosomes impair homeostatic B-cell lymphopoiesis, B-cell maturation and survival and B-cell memory development. Data on B-cell dysfunctioning in correlation with parasite virulence and trypanosome-mediated inflammation will be discussed, as well as the impact of trypanosomosis on heterologous vaccine efficacy and diagnosis. Therefore, new strategies aiming at enhancing vaccination efficacy could benefit from a combination of (i early parasite diagnosis, (ii anti-trypanosome (drugs treatment, and (iii anti-inflammatory treatment that collectively might allow B-cell recovery and improve vaccination.
Dynamic lateral response of suction caissons

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Latini, Chiara; Zania, Varvara

2017-01-01

Deeper water installations of offshore wind turbines may be supported by jacket structures. This study investigates the dynamic response of suction caissons for jackets by analysing 3D finite element models in the frequency domain. The numerical modelling was firstly validated by analytical...... solutions for pile foundations. Groups of crucial dimensionless parameters related to the soil profile and the foundation geometry are identified and their effects on the response of suction caissons are studied. Static stiffness coefficients are presented in a form of mathematical formulas obtained...... by fitting the numerical results, pertaining foundations with different slenderness ratios and embedded in different soil profiles. Sensitivity of the dynamic impedances of suction caissons on the skirt length was showed in this study. Moreover, the results for the suction caissons indicated that the overall...
Behavioral Fever Drives Epigenetic Modulation of the Immune Response in Fish.

Science.gov (United States)

Boltana, Sebastian; Aguilar, Andrea; Sanhueza, Nataly; Donoso, Andrea; Mercado, Luis; Imarai, Monica; Mackenzie, Simon

2018-01-01

Ectotherms choose the best thermal conditions to mount a successful immune response, a phenomenon known as behavioral fever. The cumulative evidence suggests that behavioral fever impacts positively upon lymphocyte proliferation, inflammatory cytokine expression, and other immune functions. In this study, we have explored how thermal choice during infection impacts upon underpinning molecular processes and how temperature increase is coupled to the immune response. Our results show that behavioral fever results in a widespread, plastic imprint on gene regulation, and lymphocyte proliferation. We further explored the possible contribution of histone modification and identified global associations between temperature and histone changes that suggest epigenetic remodeling as a result of behavioral fever. Together, these results highlight the critical importance of thermal choice in mobile ectotherms, particularly in response to an infection, and demonstrate the key role of epigenetic modification to orchestrate the thermocoupling of the immune response during behavioral fever.
Responses and damages during long-term continuous irradiation in plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watanabe, Yoshito

2011-01-01

Effects of long-term continuous irradiation are relevant to studies in radiation ecotoxicology. To investigate plants biological responses to continuous irradiation, we performed metabolome and transcriptome analysis in a model plant, arabidopsis. Comprehensive analysis of primary metabolites using capillary electrophoresis mass spectrometry revealed extensive metabolic changes at early onset of growth inhibition in plants exposed to gamma rays at the dose rate of 20 Gy/day. The changes included elevated levels of B vitamins and second metabolites, commonly responsive to many abiotic and biotic stresses. Responses at early onset of growth inhibition were also observed in the transcriptome analysis using microarray, which showed up-regulation of 55 genes in plants exposed to gamma rays at 20 Gy/day. Although about a half of the up-regulated genes were also responsive just after acute irradiation, the other half was responsive only during long-term continuous irradiation. Database analyses showed that the specifically up-regulated genes to long-term continuous irradiation included genes relating to general stress responses and protein metabolism. The results of these analyses appear to reflect plants responses to progressive radiation damages, from radiation-specific responses, which repair primary DNA damage, to more general stress responses, which maintain homoeostasis against secondary damages. (author)
D-Serine exposure resulted in gene expression changes indicative of activation of fibrogenic pathways and down-regulation of energy metabolism and oxidative stress response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soto, Armando; DelRaso, Nicholas J.; Schlager, John J.; Chan, Victor T.

2008-01-01

Renal toxicity can commonly occur after exposure to xenobiotics, pharmaceutical agents or environmental pollutants. Changes in the gene expression in kidney parenchymal cells that precede and/or accompany renal injury may be hallmark critical events in the onset of pathologic changes of renal functions. Over the last several years, transcriptomic analysis has evolved to enable simultaneous analysis of the expression profiles of tens of thousands of genes in response to various endogenous and exogenous stimuli. In this study, we investigated gene expression changes in the kidney after acute exposure to a nephrotoxin, D-serine, which targets the proximal tubule of the kidney. Male F-344 rats injected intraperitoneally with a single dose of D-serine (5, 20, 50, 200 or 500 mg/kg), and gene expression profiles in the kidney were determined using the Affymetrix RAE230A gene arrays at 96 h post-dosing. D-Serine treatment resulted in the up- and down-regulation of 1158 and 749 genes, respectively, over the entire dose range based on the intersection of the results of t-test, p < 0.01 over two consecutive doses, and ANOVA with Bonferonni correction for multiple testing. Interestingly, both the up-and down-regulated genes show a unified dose response pattern as revealed in the self-organized map clustering analysis using the expression profiles of the 1907 differentially expressed genes as input data. There appears to be minimal changes in the expression level of these genes in the dose range of 5-50 mg/kg, while the most prominent changes were observed at the highest doses tested, i.e. 200 and 500 mg/kg. Pathway analysis of the differentially expressed genes showed perturbation of a large number of biological processes/pathways after D-serine exposure. Among the up-regulated pathways are actin cytoskeleton biogenesis and organization, apoptosis, cell cycle regulation, chromatin assembly, excision repair of damaged DNA, DNA replication and packaging, protein biosynthesis
Geographical and temporal flexibility in the response to crosswinds by migrating raptors.

Science.gov (United States)

Klaassen, Raymond H G; Hake, Mikael; Strandberg, Roine; Alerstam, Thomas

2011-05-07

Wind and ocean currents may potentially have important effects on travelling animals, as an animal which does not respond to lateral flow will be drifted from its intended direction of movement. By analysing daily movements of migrating ospreys Pandion haliaetus and marsh harriers Circus aeruginosus, as recorded by satellite telemetry, in relation to global wind data, we showed that these raptors allow on average 47 per cent drift. Furthermore, our analyses revealed significant geographical and temporal variation in the response to crosswinds. During some parts of the migration, the birds drifted and in other parts they compensated or even overcompensated. In some regions, the response of marsh harriers depended on the wind direction. They drifted when the wind came from one side and (over)compensated when the wind came from the opposite side, and this flexible response was different in different geographical regions. These results suggest that migrating raptors modulate their response to crosswinds at different places and times during their travels and show that individual birds use a much more varied repertoire of behavioural responses to wind than hitherto assumed. Our results may also explain why contrasting and variable results have been obtained in previous studies of the effect of wind on bird migration.
Improving Rice Modeling Success Rate with Ternary Non-structural Fertilizer Response Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Juan; Zhang, Mingqing; Chen, Fang; Yao, Baoquan

2018-06-13

Fertilizer response modelling is an important technical approach to realize metrological fertilization on rice. With the goal of solving the problems of a low success rate of a ternary quadratic polynomial model (TPFM) and to expand the model's applicability, this paper established a ternary non-structural fertilizer response model (TNFM) based on the experimental results from N, P and K fertilized rice fields. Our research results showed that the TNFM significantly improved the modelling success rate by addressing problems arising from setting the bias and multicollinearity in a TPFM. The results from 88 rice field trials in China indicated that the proportion of typical TNFMs that satisfy the general fertilizer response law of plant nutrition was 40.9%, while the analogous proportion of TPFMs was only 26.1%. The recommended fertilization showed a significant positive linear correlation between the two models, and the parameters N 0 , P 0 and K 0 that estimated the value of soil supplying nutrient equivalents can be used as better indicators of yield potential in plots where no N or P or K fertilizer was applied. The theoretical analysis showed that the new model has a higher fitting accuracy and a wider application range.
Sex differences in the response to emotional distraction: an event-related fMRI investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Iordan, Alexandru D; Dolcos, Sanda; Denkova, Ekaterina; Dolcos, Florin

2013-03-01

Evidence has suggested that women have greater emotional reactivity than men. However, it is unclear whether these differences in basic emotional responses are also associated with differences in emotional distractibility, and what the neural mechanisms that implement differences in emotional distractibility between women and men are. Functional MRI recording was used in conjunction with a working memory (WM) task, with emotional distraction (angry faces) presented during the interval between the memoranda and the probes. First, we found an increased impact of emotional distraction among women in trials associated with high-confidence responses, in the context of overall similar WM performance in women and men. Second, women showed increased sensitivity to emotional distraction in brain areas associated with "hot" emotional processing, whereas men showed increased sensitivity in areas associated with "cold" executive processing, in the context of overall similar patterns of response to emotional distraction in women and men. Third, a sex-related dorsal-ventral hemispheric dissociation emerged in the lateral PFC related to coping with emotional distraction, with women showing a positive correlation with WM performance in left ventral PFC, and men showing similar effects in the right dorsal PFC. In addition to extending to men results that have previously been reported in women, by showing that both sexes engage mechanisms that are similar overall in response to emotional distraction, the present study identifies sex differences in both the response to and coping with emotional distraction. These results have implications for understanding sex differences in the susceptibility to affective disorders, in which basic emotional responses, emotional distractibility, and coping abilities are altered.
UV-responsive polyvinyl alcohol nanofibers prepared by electrospinning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khatri, Zeeshan, E-mail: zeeshan.khatri@faculty.muet.edu.pk [Department of Textile Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro 76062 (Pakistan); Nano Fusion Technology Research Lab, Division of Frontier Fibers, Institute for Fiber Engineering (IFES), Interdisciplinary Cluster for Cutting Edge Research (ICCER), Shinshu University, 3-15-1, Tokida, Ueda, Nagano 386-8567 (Japan); Ali, Shamshad [Department of Textile Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro 76062 (Pakistan); Department of Organic and Nano Engineering, Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 133-791 (Korea, Republic of); Khatri, Imran [Department of Entomology, Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam (Pakistan); Mayakrishnan, Gopiraman [Nano Fusion Technology Research Lab, Division of Frontier Fibers, Institute for Fiber Engineering (IFES), Interdisciplinary Cluster for Cutting Edge Research (ICCER), Shinshu University, 3-15-1, Tokida, Ueda, Nagano 386-8567 (Japan); Kim, Seong Hun [Department of Organic and Nano Engineering, Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 133-791 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Ick-Soo, E-mail: kim@shinshu-u.ac.jp [Nano Fusion Technology Research Lab, Division of Frontier Fibers, Institute for Fiber Engineering (IFES), Interdisciplinary Cluster for Cutting Edge Research (ICCER), Shinshu University, 3-15-1, Tokida, Ueda, Nagano 386-8567 (Japan)

2015-07-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • UV responsive PVA nanofibers were prepared via electrospinning. • Quick response codes were recorded multiple times on UV responsive nanofibers. • The rate of photo-coloration was found faster than the rate of photo-reversibility. - Abstract: We report UV-responsive polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers for potential application for recording and erasing quick response (QR) codes. We incorporate 1′-3′-dihydro-8-methoxy-1′,3′,3′-trimethyl-6-nitrospiro [2H-1-benzopyran-2,2′-(2H)-indole] (indole) and,3-dihydro-1,3,3-trimethylspiro [2H-indole-2,3′-[3H] phenanthr [9,10-b] (1,4) oxazine] (oxazine) into PVA polymer matrix via electrospinning technique. The resultant nanofibers were measured for recording–erasing, photo-coloration and thermal reversibility. The rate of photo-coloration of PVA–indole nanofibers was five times higher than the PVA–oxazine nanofibers, whereas the thermal reversibility found to be more than twice as fast as PVA–oxazine nanofibers. Results showed that the resultant nanofibers have very good capability of recording QR codes multiple times. The FTIR spectroscopy and SEM were employed to characterize the electrospun nanofibers. The UV-responsive PVA nanofibers have great potentials as a light-driven nanomaterials incorporated within sensors, sensitive displays and in optical devices such as erasable and rewritable optical storage.
UV-responsive polyvinyl alcohol nanofibers prepared by electrospinning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khatri, Zeeshan; Ali, Shamshad; Khatri, Imran; Mayakrishnan, Gopiraman; Kim, Seong Hun; Kim, Ick-Soo

2015-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • UV responsive PVA nanofibers were prepared via electrospinning. • Quick response codes were recorded multiple times on UV responsive nanofibers. • The rate of photo-coloration was found faster than the rate of photo-reversibility. - Abstract: We report UV-responsive polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers for potential application for recording and erasing quick response (QR) codes. We incorporate 1′-3′-dihydro-8-methoxy-1′,3′,3′-trimethyl-6-nitrospiro [2H-1-benzopyran-2,2′-(2H)-indole] (indole) and,3-dihydro-1,3,3-trimethylspiro [2H-indole-2,3′-[3H] phenanthr [9,10-b] (1,4) oxazine] (oxazine) into PVA polymer matrix via electrospinning technique. The resultant nanofibers were measured for recording–erasing, photo-coloration and thermal reversibility. The rate of photo-coloration of PVA–indole nanofibers was five times higher than the PVA–oxazine nanofibers, whereas the thermal reversibility found to be more than twice as fast as PVA–oxazine nanofibers. Results showed that the resultant nanofibers have very good capability of recording QR codes multiple times. The FTIR spectroscopy and SEM were employed to characterize the electrospun nanofibers. The UV-responsive PVA nanofibers have great potentials as a light-driven nanomaterials incorporated within sensors, sensitive displays and in optical devices such as erasable and rewritable optical storage
A cross-sectional study of 2550 amateur cyclists shows lack of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Kathryn van Boom

overwhelming industry presence and advertising appeal regarding ... Methods: Amateur cyclists, of all age and sex groups, were requested ... Results: Responses were received from 2 550 out of 30 640 race entrants ..... gaining weight and GIT side effects. ... available, consumers are expected to be more aware, educated.
2015 California Demand Response Potential Study - Charting California’s Demand Response Future. Interim Report on Phase 1 Results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alstone, Peter; Potter, Jennifer; Piette, Mary Ann; Schwartz, Peter; Berger, Michael A.; Dunn, Laurel N.; Smith, Sarah J.; Sohn, Michael D.; Aghajanzadeh, Arian; Stensson, Sofia; Szinai, Julia

2016-04-01

Demand response (DR) is an important resource for keeping the electricity grid stable and efficient; deferring upgrades to generation, transmission, and distribution systems; and providing other customer economic benefits. This study estimates the potential size and cost of the available DR resource for California’s three investor-owned utilities (IOUs), as the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) evaluates how to enhance the role of DR in meeting California’s resource planning needs and operational requirements. As the state forges a clean energy future, the contributions of wind and solar electricity from centralized and distributed generation will fundamentally change the power grid’s operational dynamics. This transition requires careful planning to ensure sufficient capacity is available with the right characteristics – flexibility and fast response – to meet reliability needs. Illustrated is a snapshot of how net load (the difference between demand and intermittent renewables) is expected to shift. Increasing contributions from renewable generation introduces steeper ramps and a shift, into the evening, of the hours that drive capacity needs. These hours of peak capacity need are indicated by the black dots on the plots. Ultimately this study quantifies the ability and the cost of using DR resources to help meet the capacity need at these forecasted critical hours in the state.
Emotional response to advertising

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogdan Anastasiei

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Emotions can transcend cultural, linguistic, demographic, and social boundaries. Emotions affect information processing and create a positive attitude toward the ad, which becomes associated with the brand. Objectives. This study investigates the role of pleasure (P, arousal (A and domination (D emotions in mobile’s photo camera advertisement and how each of them is influencing consumer attitude towards the advertisement and brand. Prior Work. Holbrook and Batra (1987 developed their own emotional scale based on these three dimensions (PAD, showing that these emotions mediate consumer responses to advertising. Approach. A 1*4 factorial experiment design method was adopted in order to measure the impact of independent variables (emotion type on dependent variables (attitude toward ad, attitude toward brand. Results. The results revealed that emotions like Pleasure (loving, friendly, grateful and Arousal (active, interested, excited, entertained influence consumers' attitudes towards brand and advertising. Value. Marketers need to understand the role of pleasure and arousal emotions when making advertising campaign; an effective promotion leads to persuading consumers. The results indicate that marketing practitioners should measure affective responses when testing an advertisement, as long as this action would predict brand attitude.
Seismic response of structures by the response spectrum method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hadjian, A.H.

1981-01-01

The problems of the acceleration profile at the lower elevations of cantilever structures and the response of relatively rigid structures are explored. It is shown that the use of the conventional methods for the above problems provide very approximate results. An alternate combination of the modal responses is proposed that not only resolves the above problems but also provides better estimates of response for the complete range of structure frequencies. The procedure treats the relative and rigid body responses separately and then appropriately combines the two results. For the rigid range of frequencies (fundamental frequencies greater than about 2 Hz), the proposed procedure does not encounter any numerical difficulties because of the additive nature of the component responses; however, the application of the proposed procedure for very flexible structures causes accuracy problems since the rigid body effects tend to be subtractive from the flexural response of about equal magnitude. For this latter class of problems, the conventional approach of modal combination provides adequate results and avoids the above mentioned numerical difficulties. (orig.)

Results from a survey of the South African GISc community show ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Serena Coetzee

the GISc community fulfil roles of data analysis and interpretation, together with data ... The remainder of the article is structured as follows: related work is briefly ...... 2. Analysis design. 3. Project definition. Geospatial information systems,.
Socially responsible companies performance: an analysis with financial and accounting ratios

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcelo Alvaro da Silva Macedo

2008-07-01

listed, were the Paper and Pulp and Steel and Metallurgy. From this point, it was made a comparison of the behavior of the socially responsible companies with the other belonging to their sector, which were listed among the Best and Bigger, “Maiores e Melhores” from the Exame Magazine (2006. The idea is to check if the companies which have adopted “politically” correct practices through social and environmental actions showed a performance, in terms of liquidity, debt and profitability, statistically higher in relation to the market. The results show that, it isn’t observed significant differences in the indexes under analysis between the two companies groups (socially responsible and the market. Key-words: Social Responsibility; Performance; ISE.
Hidden Markov Item Response Theory Models for Responses and Response Times.

Science.gov (United States)

Molenaar, Dylan; Oberski, Daniel; Vermunt, Jeroen; De Boeck, Paul

2016-01-01

Current approaches to model responses and response times to psychometric tests solely focus on between-subject differences in speed and ability. Within subjects, speed and ability are assumed to be constants. Violations of this assumption are generally absorbed in the residual of the model. As a result, within-subject departures from the between-subject speed and ability level remain undetected. These departures may be of interest to the researcher as they reflect differences in the response processes adopted on the items of a test. In this article, we propose a dynamic approach for responses and response times based on hidden Markov modeling to account for within-subject differences in responses and response times. A simulation study is conducted to demonstrate acceptable parameter recovery and acceptable performance of various fit indices in distinguishing between different models. In addition, both a confirmatory and an exploratory application are presented to demonstrate the practical value of the modeling approach.
Cisatracurium dose–response relationship in patients with chronic liver disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamed Z. Ali

2014-04-01

Results: The preoperative laboratory parameters showed statistically significant differences between the two groups regarding serum albumin, total bilirubin, ALT, AST, PT, PC and INR. The operative data showed statistically insignificant difference between the two groups regarding the 1st dose response (p = 0.152, the estimated ED80 (p = 0.886 and the calculated 2nd dose (p = 0.886 and statistically significant differences between the two groups regarding the 2nd dose response (p = 0.006, the measured ED50 (p = 0.010 and the measured ED95 (p = 0.001. In conclusion, the measured ED50 and ED95 through two-dose dose–response curve technique were clinically insignificant from using the single-dose technique. The dose–response curve of cisatracurium in patients with chronic liver disease was clinically insignificant in comparison with healthy subjects.
Considering Affective Responses towards Environments for Enhancing Location Based Services

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, H.; Gartner, G.; Klettner, S.; Schmidt, M.

2014-04-01

A number of studies in the field of environmental psychology show that humans perceive and evaluate their surroundings affectively. Some places are experienced as unsafe, while some others as attractive and interesting. Experiences from daily life show that many of our daily behaviours and decision-making are often influenced by this kind of affective responses towards environments. Location based services (LBS) are often designed to assist and support people's behaviours and decision-making in space. In order to provide services with high usefulness (usability and utility), LBS should consider these kinds of affective responses towards environments. This paper reports on the results of a research project, which studies how people's affective responses towards environments can be modelled and acquired, as well as how LBS can benefit by considering these affective responses. As one of the most popular LBS applications, mobile pedestrian navigation systems are used as an example for illustration.
Remodeling of tick cytoskeleton in response to infection with Anaplasma phagocytophilum.

Science.gov (United States)

Cabezas-Cruz, Alejandro; Alberdi, Pilar; Valdes, James J; Villar, Margarita; de la Fuente, Jose

2017-06-01

The obligate intracellular pathogen Anaplasma phagocytophilum infects vertebrate and tick hosts. In this study, a genome-wide search for cytoskeleton components was performed in the tick vector, Ixodes scapularis . The available transcriptomics and proteomics data was then used to characterize the mRNA and protein levels of I. scapularis cytoskeleton components in response to A. phagocytophilum infection. The results showed that cytoskeleton components described in other model organisms were present in the I. scapularis genome. One type of intermediate filaments (lamin), a family of septins that was recently implicated in the cellular response to intracellular pathogens, and several members of motor proteins (kinesins and dyneins) that could be implicated in the cytoplasmic movements of A. phagocytophilum were found. The results showed that levels of tubulin, actin, septin, actin-related proteins and motor proteins were affected by A. phagocytophilum , probably to facilitate infection in I. scapularis . Functional studies demonstrated a role for selected cytoskeleton components in pathogen infection. These results provided a more comprehensive view of the cytoskeletal components involved in the response to A. phagocytophilum infection in ticks.
On not showing scalps

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marselis, Randi Lorenz

2016-01-01

makes. This article examines how the National Museum of Denmark attempted to inform and discuss with the Danish public the museum’s decision to not exhibit scalps in their temporary exhibition on Native American culture, Powwow: We Dance, We’re Alive. Building on the new, contingent museum ethics......Museums are increasingly taking the cultural values of source communities into account in their representational strategies, and that means that they now face the challenge of explaining to their publics how social responsibility toward distant source communities informs the choices each museum...
Superradiance Effects in the Linear and Nonlinear Optical Response of Quantum Dot Molecules

Science.gov (United States)

Sitek, A.; Machnikowski, P.

2008-11-01

We calculate the linear optical response from a single quantum dot molecule and the nonlinear, four-wave-mixing response from an inhomogeneously broadened ensemble of such molecules. We show that both optical signals are affected by the coupling-dependent superradiance effect and by optical interference between the two polarizations. As a result, the linear and nonlinear responses are not identical.
Proteomic Characterization of Host Response to Yersinia pestis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chromy, B; Perkins, J; Heidbrink, J; Gonzales, A; Murhpy, G; Fitch, J P; McCutchen-Maloney, S

2004-05-11

Host-pathogen interactions result in protein expression changes within both the host and the pathogen. Here, results from proteomic characterization of host response following exposure to Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, and to two near neighbors, Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. enterocolitica, are reported. Human monocyte-like cells were chosen as a model for macrophage immune response to pathogen exposure. Two-dimensional electrophoresis followed by mass spectrometry was used to identify host proteins with differential expression following exposure to these three closely related Yersinia species. This comparative proteomic characterization of host response clearly shows that host protein expression patterns are distinct for the different pathogen exposures, and contributes to further understanding of Y. pestis virulence and host defense mechanisms. This work also lays the foundation for future studies aimed at defining biomarkers for presymptomatic detection of plague.
Determination for energy response and directionality of neutron survey meters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Changmao; Liu Jinhua; Xie Jianlun; Su Jingling

1992-01-01

The energy response and directionality of neutron survey meter type MK7 and 2202D are determined. The reactor thermal column beam, reactor filtered beams (6 eV, 24.4 keV and 144 keV), 226 Ra-Be, 241 Am-Be, 252 Cf and its moderated sources are used for the measurement. The results shows: the survey meters are influenced obviously by the direction; the response of middle-energy region is large, the energy response of 2202D is better than MK7
Modal response of interior mass based upon external measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chow, C T; Eli, M; Jorgensen, B R; Woehrle, T.

1999-01-01

Modal response testing has been used to predict the motion of interior masses of a system in which only external instrumentation is allowed. Testing of this form may occasionally be necessary in validation of a computer model, but also has potential as a tool for validating individual assemblies in a QA process. Examination of the external frequency response and mode shapes can offer insight into interior response. The interpretation of these results is improved through parallel analytical solutions. A simple, three-mass model has been examined experimentally and analytically to demonstrate modal theory. These results show the limitations of the external measurement in predicting internal response due to transmissibility. A procedure for utilizing external testing is described. The question posed through this research is whether or not modal correlation analysis can be adapted for use in systems for which instrumentation of critical components is missing
Tomato Fruits Show Wide Phenomic Diversity but Fruit Developmental Genes Show Low Genomic Diversity.

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Vijee Mohan

Full Text Available Domestication of tomato has resulted in large diversity in fruit phenotypes. An intensive phenotyping of 127 tomato accessions from 20 countries revealed extensive morphological diversity in fruit traits. The diversity in fruit traits clustered the accessions into nine classes and identified certain promising lines having desirable traits pertaining to total soluble salts (TSS, carotenoids, ripening index, weight and shape. Factor analysis of the morphometric data from Tomato Analyzer showed that the fruit shape is a complex trait shared by several factors. The 100% variance between round and flat fruit shapes was explained by one discriminant function having a canonical correlation of 0.874 by stepwise discriminant analysis. A set of 10 genes (ACS2, COP1, CYC-B, RIN, MSH2, NAC-NOR, PHOT1, PHYA, PHYB and PSY1 involved in various plant developmental processes were screened for SNP polymorphism by EcoTILLING. The genetic diversity in these genes revealed a total of 36 non-synonymous and 18 synonymous changes leading to the identification of 28 haplotypes. The average frequency of polymorphism across the genes was 0.038/Kb. Significant negative Tajima'D statistic in two of the genes, ACS2 and PHOT1 indicated the presence of rare alleles in low frequency. Our study indicates that while there is low polymorphic diversity in the genes regulating plant development, the population shows wider phenotype diversity. Nonetheless, morphological and genetic diversity of the present collection can be further exploited as potential resources in future.
Coupling Metallic Nanostructures to Thermally Responsive Polymers Allows the Development of Intelligent Responsive Membranes

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J. Rubén Morones-Ramírez

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Development of porous membranes capable of controlling flow or changing their permeability to specific chemical entities, in response to small changes in environmental stimuli, is an area of appealing research, since these membranes present a wide variety of applications. The synthesis of these membranes has been mainly approached through grafting of environmentally responsive polymers to the surface walls of polymeric porous membranes. This synergizes the chemical stability and mechanical strength of the polymer membrane with the fast response times of the bonded polymer chains. Therefore, different composite membranes capable of changing their effective pore size with environmental triggers have been developed. A recent interest has been the development of porous membranes responsive to light, since these can achieve rapid, remote, noninvasive, and localized flow control. This work describes the synthesis pathway to construct intelligent optothermally responsive membranes. The method followed involved the grafting of optothermally responsive polymer-metal nanoparticle nanocomposites to polycarbonate track-etched porous membranes (PCTEPMs. The nanoparticles coupled to the polymer grafts serve as the optothermal energy converters to achieve optical switching of the pores. The results of the paper show that grafting of the polymer and in situ synthesis of the metallic particles can be easily achieved. In addition, the composite membranes allow fast and reversible switching of the pores using both light and heat permitting control of fluid flow.
From root to fruit: RNA-Seq analysis shows that arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis may affect tomato fruit metabolism.

Science.gov (United States)

Zouari, Inès; Salvioli, Alessandra; Chialva, Matteo; Novero, Mara; Miozzi, Laura; Tenore, Gian Carlo; Bagnaresi, Paolo; Bonfante, Paola

2014-03-21

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) establishes a beneficial symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. The formation of the mycorrhizal association in the roots leads to plant-wide modulation of gene expression. To understand the systemic effect of the fungal symbiosis on the tomato fruit, we used RNA-Seq to perform global transcriptome profiling on Moneymaker tomato fruits at the turning ripening stage. Fruits were collected at 55 days after flowering, from plants colonized with Funneliformis mosseae and from control plants, which were fertilized to avoid responses related to nutrient deficiency. Transcriptome analysis identified 712 genes that are differentially expressed in fruits from mycorrhizal and control plants. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis of these genes showed 81 overrepresented functional GO classes. Up-regulated GO classes include photosynthesis, stress response, transport, amino acid synthesis and carbohydrate metabolism functions, suggesting a general impact of fungal symbiosis on primary metabolisms and, particularly, on mineral nutrition. Down-regulated GO classes include cell wall, metabolism and ethylene response pathways. Quantitative RT-PCR validated the RNA-Seq results for 12 genes out of 14 when tested at three fruit ripening stages, mature green, breaker and turning. Quantification of fruit nutraceutical and mineral contents produced values consistent with the expression changes observed by RNA-Seq analysis. This RNA-Seq profiling produced a novel data set that explores the intersection of mycorrhization and fruit development. We found that the fruits of mycorrhizal plants show two transcriptomic "signatures": genes characteristic of a climacteric fleshy fruit, and genes characteristic of mycorrhizal status, like phosphate and sulphate transporters. Moreover, mycorrhizal plants under low nutrient conditions produce fruits with a nutrient content similar to those from non-mycorrhizal plants under high nutrient conditions
Do Fraternities and Sororities Enhance Socially Responsible Leadership?

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Georgianna L.; Hevel, Michael S.; Pascarella, Ernest T.

2012-01-01

This study explored the effects of fraternity and sorority membership on first-year college students' development of socially responsible leadership at 24 colleges and universities. The institutions varied in terms of public versus private, size, region, and student residential patterns. Results showed that fraternity members demonstrated…
Solanum cultivar responses to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: growth ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A greenhouse experiment was carried out in a sandy soil with a low available phosphorus to evaluate responsiveness of four Solanum aethiopicum cultivars to indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Results showed clear interaction between genetic variability of cultivars and fungal isolates on shoot biomass and on ...
Response criteria for myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia: results of an initiative of the European Myelofibrosis Network (EUMNET)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barosi, Giovanni; Bordessoule, Dominique; Briere, Jean

2005-01-01

, minor, or no response according to changes of the clinicohematologic criteria. Using the experts' consensus as the gold standard, the performance of 100 possible definitions of response was evaluated. Criteria for major or moderate clinicohematologic response were determined to be changes in hemoglobin...
Mothers' pupillary responses to infant facial expressions.

Science.gov (United States)

Yrttiaho, Santeri; Niehaus, Dana; Thomas, Eileen; Leppänen, Jukka M

2017-02-06

Human parental care relies heavily on the ability to monitor and respond to a child's affective states. The current study examined pupil diameter as a potential physiological index of mothers' affective response to infant facial expressions. Pupillary time-series were measured from 86 mothers of young infants in response to an array of photographic infant faces falling into four emotive categories based on valence (positive vs. negative) and arousal (mild vs. strong). Pupil dilation was highly sensitive to the valence of facial expressions, being larger for negative vs. positive facial expressions. A separate control experiment with luminance-matched non-face stimuli indicated that the valence effect was specific to facial expressions and cannot be explained by luminance confounds. Pupil response was not sensitive to the arousal level of facial expressions. The results show the feasibility of using pupil diameter as a marker of mothers' affective responses to ecologically valid infant stimuli and point to a particularly prompt maternal response to infant distress cues.
Modulation of systemic immune responses through commensal gastrointestinal microbiota.

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Kyle M Schachtschneider

Full Text Available Colonization of the gastrointestinal (GI tract is initiated during birth and continually seeded from the individual's environment. Gastrointestinal microorganisms play a central role in developing and modulating host immune responses and have been the subject of investigation over the last decades. Animal studies have demonstrated the impact of GI tract microbiota on local gastrointestinal immune responses; however, the full spectrum of action of early gastrointestinal tract stimulation and subsequent modulation of systemic immune responses is poorly understood. This study explored the utility of an oral microbial inoculum as a therapeutic tool to affect porcine systemic immune responses. For this study a litter of 12 pigs was split into two groups. One group of pigs was inoculated with a non-pathogenic oral inoculum (modulated, while another group (control was not. DNA extracted from nasal swabs and fecal samples collected throughout the study was sequenced to determine the effects of the oral inoculation on GI and respiratory microbial communities. The effects of GI microbial modulation on systemic immune responses were evaluated by experimentally infecting with the pathogen Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae. Coughing levels, pathology, toll-like receptors 2 and 6, and cytokine production were measured throughout the study. Sequencing results show a successful modulation of the GI and respiratory microbiomes through oral inoculation. Delayed type hypersensitivity responses were stronger (p = 0.07, and the average coughing levels and respiratory TNF-α variance were significantly lower in the modulated group (p<0.0001 and p = 0.0153, respectively. The M. hyopneumoniae infection study showed beneficial effects of the oral inoculum on systemic immune responses including antibody production, severity of infection and cytokine levels. These results suggest that an oral microbial inoculation can be used to modulate microbial communities, as well as
Study of analysis techniques of thermoluminescent dosimeters response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castro, Walber Amorim

2002-01-01

The Personal Monitoring Service of the Centro Regional de Ciencias Nucleares uses in its dosemeter the TLD 700 material . The TLD's analysis is carried out using a Harshaw-Bicron model 6600 automatic reading system. This system uses dry air instead of the traditional gaseous nitrogen. This innovation brought advantages to the service but introduced uncertainties in the reference of the detectors; one of these was observed for doses below 0,5 mSv. In this work different techniques of analysis of the TLD response were investigated and compared, involving dose values in this interval. These techniques include thermal pre-treatment, and different kinds of the glow curves analysis methods were investigated. Obtained results showed the necessity of developing a specific software that permits the automatic background subtraction for the glow curves for each dosemeter . This software was developed and it bean tested. Preliminary results showed the software increase the response reproducibility. (author)

The ethylene response factor AtERF4 negatively regulates the iron deficiency response in Arabidopsis thaliana.

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Wei Liu

Full Text Available Iron (Fe deficiency is one of many conditions that can seriously damage crops. Low levels of photosynthesis can lead to the degradation of chlorophyll content and impaired respiration in affected plants, which together cause poor growth and reduce quality. Although ethylene plays an important role in responses to Fe deficiency, a limited number of studies have been carried out on ethylene response factor (ERFs as components of plant regulation mechanisms. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the role of AtERF4 in plant responses to Fe deficiency. Results collected when Arabidopsis thaliana was grown under Fe deficient conditions as well as in the presence of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC revealed that leaf chlorosis did not occur over short timescales and that chloroplast structural integrity was retained. At the same time, expression of the chlorophyll degradation-related genes AtPAO and AtCLH1 was inhibited and net H+ root flux was amplified. Our results show that chlorophyll content was enhanced in the mutant erf4, while expression of the chlorophyll degradation gene AtCLH1 was reduced. Ferric reductase activity in roots was also significantly higher in the mutant than in wild type plants, while erf4 caused high levels of expression of the genes AtIRT1 and AtHA2 under Fe deficient conditions. We also utilized yeast one-hybrid technology in this study to determine that AtERF4 binds directly to the AtCLH1 and AtITR1 promoter. Observations show that transient over-expression of AtERF4 resulted in rapid chlorophyll degradation in the leaves of Nicotiana tabacum and the up-regulation of gene AtCLH1 expression. In summary, AtERF4 plays an important role as a negative regulator of Fe deficiency responses, we hypothesize that AtERF4 may exert a balancing effect on plants subject to nutrition stress.
Response of Solar Irradiance to Sunspot-area Variations

Science.gov (United States)

Dudok de Wit, T.; Kopp, G.; Shapiro, A.; Witzke, V.; Kretzschmar, M.

2018-02-01

One of the important open questions in solar irradiance studies is whether long-term variability (i.e., on timescales of years and beyond) can be reconstructed by means of models that describe short-term variability (i.e., days) using solar proxies as inputs. Preminger & Walton showed that the relationship between spectral solar irradiance and proxies of magnetic-flux emergence, such as the daily sunspot area, can be described in the framework of linear system theory by means of the impulse response. We significantly refine that empirical model by removing spurious solar-rotational effects and by including an additional term that captures long-term variations. Our results show that long-term variability cannot be reconstructed from the short-term response of the spectral irradiance, which questions the extension of solar proxy models to these timescales. In addition, we find that the solar response is nonlinear in a way that cannot be corrected simply by applying a rescaling to a sunspot area.
Germination, growth and physiological responses of Senegalia ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

For plants growth and physiological responses, seedlings were individually cultivated in plastic bags (25×12 cm) containing non-sterile soil and watered with four salt solutions (0, 86, 171 and 257 mM NaCl). Four months after the plants' cultivation, the results showed that for all species, the salinity reduced significantly the ...
A randomised trial and economic evaluation of the effect of response mode on response rate, response bias, and item non-response in a survey of doctors

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Witt Julia

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Surveys of doctors are an important data collection method in health services research. Ways to improve response rates, minimise survey response bias and item non-response, within a given budget, have not previously been addressed in the same study. The aim of this paper is to compare the effects and costs of three different modes of survey administration in a national survey of doctors. Methods A stratified random sample of 4.9% (2,702/54,160 of doctors undertaking clinical practice was drawn from a national directory of all doctors in Australia. Stratification was by four doctor types: general practitioners, specialists, specialists-in-training, and hospital non-specialists, and by six rural/remote categories. A three-arm parallel trial design with equal randomisation across arms was used. Doctors were randomly allocated to: online questionnaire (902; simultaneous mixed mode (a paper questionnaire and login details sent together (900; or, sequential mixed mode (online followed by a paper questionnaire with the reminder (900. Analysis was by intention to treat, as within each primary mode, doctors could choose either paper or online. Primary outcome measures were response rate, survey response bias, item non-response, and cost. Results The online mode had a response rate 12.95%, followed by the simultaneous mixed mode with 19.7%, and the sequential mixed mode with 20.7%. After adjusting for observed differences between the groups, the online mode had a 7 percentage point lower response rate compared to the simultaneous mixed mode, and a 7.7 percentage point lower response rate compared to sequential mixed mode. The difference in response rate between the sequential and simultaneous modes was not statistically significant. Both mixed modes showed evidence of response bias, whilst the characteristics of online respondents were similar to the population. However, the online mode had a higher rate of item non-response compared
Microglia are required for astroglial toll-like receptor 4 response and for optimal TLR2 and TLR3 response

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm, Thomas H; Draeby, Dina; Owens, Trevor

2012-01-01

Within the central nervous system, astrocytes and microglia are the primary responders to endogenous ligands released upon injury and stress, as well as to infectious pathogens. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are implicated in recognition of both types of stimulus. Whether astrocytes respond as stron......Within the central nervous system, astrocytes and microglia are the primary responders to endogenous ligands released upon injury and stress, as well as to infectious pathogens. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are implicated in recognition of both types of stimulus. Whether astrocytes respond...... astrocytes from mixed glial cultures and measured their response to TLR agonists. Our results show that the response of astrocytes to TLR2 and TLR3 agonists is greatly enhanced by, and response to TLR4 agonists is completely dependent on, the presence of functional microglia. In the case of the TLR4 response...
Vaccine platforms combining circumsporozoite protein and potent immune modulators, rEA or EAT-2, paradoxically result in opposing immune responses.

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Nathaniel J Schuldt

Full Text Available Malaria greatly impacts the health and wellbeing of over half of the world's population. Promising malaria vaccine candidates have attempted to induce adaptive immune responses to Circumsporozoite (CS protein. Despite the inclusion of potent adjuvants, these vaccines have limited protective efficacy. Conventional recombinant adenovirus (rAd based vaccines expressing CS protein can induce CS protein specific immune responses, but these are essentially equivalent to those generated after use of the CS protein subunit based vaccines. In this study we combined the use of rAds expressing CS protein along with rAds expressing novel innate immune response modulating proteins in an attempt to significantly improve the induction of CS protein specific cell mediated immune (CMI responses.BALB/cJ mice were co-vaccinated with a rAd vectors expressing CS protein simultaneous with a rAd expressing either TLR agonist (rEA or SLAM receptors adaptor protein (EAT-2. Paradoxically, expression of the TLR agonist uncovered a potent immunosuppressive activity inherent to the combined expression of the CS protein and rEA. Fortunately, use of the rAd vaccine expressing EAT-2 circumvented CS protein's suppressive activity, and generated a fivefold increase in the number of CS protein responsive, IFNγ secreting splenocytes, as well as increased the breadth of T cells responsive to peptides present in the CS protein. These improvements were positively correlated with the induction of a fourfold improvement in CS protein specific CTL functional activity in vivo.Our results emphasize the need for caution when incorporating CS protein into malaria vaccine platforms expressing or containing other immunostimulatory compounds, as the immunological outcomes may be unanticipated and/or counter-productive. However, expressing the SLAM receptors derived signaling adaptor EAT-2 at the same time of vaccination with CS protein can overcome these concerns, as well as significantly
Speech-evoked brainstem frequency-following responses during verbal transformations due to word repetition.

Science.gov (United States)

Galbraith, G C; Jhaveri, S P; Kuo, J

1997-01-01

Speech-evoked brainstem frequency-following responses (FFRs) were recorded to repeated presentations of the same stimulus word. Word repetition results in illusory verbal transformations (VTs) in which word perceptions can differ markedly from the actual stimulus. Previous behavioral studies support an explanation of VTs based on changes in arousal or attention. Horizontal and vertical dipole FFRs were recorded to assess responses with putative origins in the auditory nerve and central brainstem, respectively. FFRs were recorded from 18 subjects when they correctly heard the stimulus and when they reported VTs. Although horizontal and vertical dipole FFRs showed different frequency response patterns, dipoles did not differentiate between perceptual conditions. However, when subjects were divided into low- and high-VT groups (based on percentage of VT trials), a significant Condition x Group interaction resulted. This interaction showed the largest difference in FFR amplitudes during VT trials, with the low-VT group showing increased amplitudes, and the high-VT group showing decreased amplitudes, relative to trials in which the stimulus was correctly perceived. These results demonstrate measurable subject differences in the early processing of complex signals, due to possible effects of attention on the brainstem FFR. The present research shows that the FFR is useful in understanding human language as it is coded and processed in the brainstem auditory pathway.
Long-Time Exposure to Violent Video Games Does Not Show Desensitization on Empathy for Pain: An fMRI Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Xuemei; Pan, Wei; Li, Chao; Weng, Lei; Yao, Mengyun; Chen, Antao

2017-01-01

As a typical form of empathy, empathy for pain refers to the perception and appraisal of others' pain, as well as the corresponding affective responses. Numerous studies investigated the factors affecting the empathy for pain, in which the exposure to violent video games (VVGs) could change players' empathic responses to painful situations. However, it remains unclear whether exposure to VVG influences the empathy for pain. In the present study, in terms of the exposure experience to VVG, two groups of participants (18 in VVG group, VG; 17 in non-VVG group, NG) were screened from nearly 200 video game experience questionnaires. And then, the functional magnetic resonance imaging data were recorded when they were viewing painful and non-painful stimuli. The results showed that the perception of others' pain were not significantly different in brain regions between groups, from which we could infer that the desensitization effect of VVGs was overrated.
A cry in the dark: depressed mothers show reduced neural activation to their own infant’s cry

Science.gov (United States)

Ablow, Jennifer C.

2012-01-01

This study investigated depression-related differences in primiparous mothers’ neural response to their own infant’s distress cues. Mothers diagnosed with major depressive disorder (n = 11) and comparison mothers with no diagnosable psychopathology (n = 11) were exposed to their own 18-months-old infant’s cry sound, as well as unfamiliar infant’s cry and control sound, during functional neuroimaging. Depressed mothers’ response to own infant cry greater than other sounds was compared to non-depressed mothers’ response in the whole brain [false discovery rate (FDR) corrected]. A continuous measure of self-reported depressive symptoms (CESD) was also tested as a predictor of maternal response. Non-depressed mothers activated to their own infant’s cry greater than control sound in a distributed network of para/limbic and prefrontal regions, whereas depressed mothers as a group failed to show activation. Non-depressed compared to depressed mothers showed significantly greater striatal (caudate, nucleus accumbens) and medial thalamic activation. Additionally, mothers with lower depressive symptoms activated more strongly in left orbitofrontal, dorsal anterior cingulate and medial superior frontal regions. Non-depressed compared to depressed mothers activated uniquely to own infant greater than other infant cry in occipital fusiform areas. Disturbance of these neural networks involved in emotional response and regulation may help to explain parenting deficits in depressed mothers. PMID:21208990
Response of neural reward regions to food cues in autism spectrum disorders

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Cascio Carissa J

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background One hypothesis for the social deficits that characterize autism spectrum disorders (ASD is diminished neural reward response to social interaction and attachment. Prior research using established monetary reward paradigms as a test of non-social reward to compare with social reward may involve confounds in the ability of individuals with ASD to utilize symbolic representation of money and the abstraction required to interpret monetary gains. Thus, a useful addition to our understanding of neural reward circuitry in ASD includes a characterization of the neural response to primary rewards. Method We asked 17 children with ASD and 18 children without ASD to abstain from eating for at least four hours before an MRI scan in which they viewed images of high-calorie foods. We assessed the neural reward network for increases in the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD signal in response to the food images Results We found very similar patterns of increased BOLD signal to these images in the two groups; both groups showed increased BOLD signal in the bilateral amygdala, as well as in the nucleus accumbens, orbitofrontal cortex, and insula. Direct group comparisons revealed that the ASD group showed a stronger response to food cues in bilateral insula along the anterior-posterior gradient and in the anterior cingulate cortex than the control group, whereas there were no neural reward regions that showed higher activation for controls than for ASD. Conclusion These results suggest that neural response to primary rewards is not diminished but in fact shows an aberrant enhancement in children with ASD.
Reception of Talent Shows in Denmark: First Results from a Trans-National Audience Study of a Global Format Genre

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Pia Majbritt

This paper will discuss the methodology and present the preliminary findings of the Danish part of a trans-national, comparative audience study of the musical talent show genre undertaken in Denmark, Finland, Germany and Great Britain in Spring 2013. Within the international business model...... of format adaptation, the musical talent show genre has been particularly successful in crossing cultural borders. Formats such as Idols, X Factor and Voice have sold to a large variety of countries, covering all continents. Such global reach inevitably raises the question of the genre’s audience appeal......; to what degree its reach has to do with a universal appeal inherent in the genre and/or the innovative character of individual formats, and to what degree its global success is due to local broadcasters’ ability to successfully adapt the formats to local audience tastes. A consensus has developed...
Modelling structural systems for transient response analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Melosh, R.J.

1975-01-01

This paper introduces and reports success of a direct means of determining the time periods in which a structural system behaves as a linear system. Numerical results are based on post fracture transient analyses of simplified nuclear piping systems. Knowledge of the linear response ranges will lead to improved analysis-test correlation and more efficient analyses. It permits direct use of data from physical tests in analysis and simplication of the analytical model and interpretation of its behavior. The paper presents a procedure for deducing linearity based on transient responses. Given the forcing functions and responses of discrete points of the system at various times, the process produces evidence of linearity and quantifies an adequate set of equations of motion. Results of use of the process with linear and nonlinear analyses of piping systems with damping illustrate its success. Results cover the application to data from mathematical system responses. The process is successfull with mathematical models. In loading ranges in which all modes are excited, eight digit accuracy of predictions are obtained from the equations of motion deduced. Small changes (less than 0.01%) in the norm of the transfer matrices are produced by manipulation errors for linear systems yielding evidence that nonlinearity is easily distinguished. Significant changes (greater than five %) are coincident with relatively large norms of the equilibrium correction vector in nonlinear analyses. The paper shows that deducing linearity and, when admissible, quantifying linear equations of motion from transient response data for piping systems can be achieved with accuracy comparable to that of response data
Individual differences in the cortisol responses of neglected and comparison children.

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, Margaret Wolan; Bennett, David S; Lewis, Michael

2013-02-01

Neglected children's acute hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) reactivity in response to a laboratory visit was contrasted with that of a comparison group. The authors examined initial salivary cortisol response upon entering the laboratory and its trajectory following a set of tasks designed to elicit negative self-evaluation in 64 children (30 with a history of neglect and 34 demographically matched comparison children). Neglected, but not comparison, children showed higher initial cortisol responses. The cortisol response of both groups showed a decline from the sample taken at lab entry, with neglected children's cortisol exhibiting steeper decline. The groups, however, did not differ in their mean cortisol levels at 20 and 35 min post-task. The results are interpreted in terms of the meaning of initial responses as a "baseline" and as evidence for neglected children's heightened HPA-axis reactivity as either a reflection of differences in home levels or the consequence of stress/anxiety associated with arrival at the laboratory.
Corporate social responsibility approaches and implementation in selected fast food restaurants

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Emma E. Montalbo

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This study sought to determine Corporate Social Responsibility approaches and implementation in Fast Food Restaurants in Batangas City, Philippines. The researchers employed a descriptive design and quantitative method in the analysis of data with the questionnaire as the main instrument. Five (5 restaurant- participants were purposively chosen from the total population of 15. Results showed that CSR related mission/vision is clearly not embedded in the institutional websites of fast food restaurants while personal relation/social proximity approach is highly evident. Also, factors in the implementation of corporate social responsibility in relation to philanthropic behavior, shows a significant behavioral change from the statistical result such as moderately evident. CSR approaches and implementation are highly evident that clearly proves the responsible behavior of local fast food restaurants. Institutional integration of CSR in the company’s mission/vision statements, structure, decisions, activities, communication, practices stated appears to be beneficial in light of new corporate-state-market-society relationship.
The neural response to maternal stimuli: an ERP study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lili Wu

Full Text Available Mothers are important to all humans. Research has established that maternal information affects individuals' cognition, emotion, and behavior. We measured event-related potentials (ERPs to examine attentional and evaluative processing of maternal stimuli while participants completed a Go/No-go Association Task that paired mother or others words with good or bad evaluative words. Behavioral data showed that participants responded faster to mother words paired with good than the mother words paired with bad but showed no difference in response to these others across conditions, reflecting a positive evaluation of mother. ERPs showed larger P200 and N200 in response to mother than in response to others, suggesting that mother attracted more attention than others. In the subsequent time window, mother in the mother + bad condition elicited a later and larger late positive potential (LPP than it did in the mother + good condition, but this was not true for others, also suggesting a positive evaluation of mother. These results suggest that people differentiate mother from others during initial attentional stage, and evaluative mother positively during later stage.
The response to prism deviations in human infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Riddell, P M; Horwood, A M; Houston, S M; Turner, J E

1999-09-23

Previous research has suggested that infants are unable to make a corrective eye movement in response to a small base-out prism placed in front of one eye before 14-16 weeks [1]. Three hypotheses have been proposed to explain this early inability, and each of these makes different predictions for the time of onset of a response to a larger prism. The first proposes that infants have a 'degraded sensory capacity' and so require a larger retinal disparity (difference in the position of the image on the retina of each eye) to stimulate disparity detectors [2]. This predicts that infants might respond at an earlier age than previously reported [1] when tested using a larger prism. The second hypothesis proposes that infants learn to respond to larger retinal disparities through practice with small disparities [3]. According to this theory, using a larger prism will not result in developmentally earlier responses, and may even delay the response. The third hypothesis proposes that the ability to respond to prismatic deviation depends on maturational factors indicated by the onset of stereopsis (the ability to detect depth in an image on the basis of retinal disparity cues only) [4] [5], predicting that the size of the prism is irrelevant. To differentiate between these hypotheses, we tested 192 infants ranging from 2 to 52 weeks of age using a larger prism. Results showed that 63% of infants of 5-8 weeks of age produced a corrective eye movement in response to placement of a prism in front of the eye when in the dark. Both the percentage of infants who produced a response, and the speed of the response, increased with age. These results suggest that infants can make corrective eye movements in response to large prismatic deviations before 14-16 weeks of age. This, in combination with other recent results [6], discounts previous hypotheses.
A comparison of floor response spectra techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan, M.J.; Galford, J.E.

1983-01-01

Floor response spectra (FRS) conventionally have been generated using a time-history method. Babcock and Wilcox has developed a new technique, the Fast Floor Response Spectra (FFRS) method, in which dynamic analyses are done entirely in the frequency domain. This paper compares the two techniques and demonstrates that the FFRS method complies with the 'equivalency' and 'conservatism' requirements of the US NRC's Standard Review Plan. The upper end of a once-through steam generator in the B and W 205 nuclear steam supply system (NSSS) was used to demonstrate that the FFRS method is equivalent to the time-history technique. The two techniques were compared with respect to frequency content and magnitude of response for a given point on the structure. First, the specified forcing function was described in terms of an acceleration time history and an acceleration spectra enveloping that time history. The time-history forcing function was then used in a direct transient analysis to determine the response at the specified point on the NSSS. The resultant response was subsequently converted to a floor response spectra for that point. To show that the FFRS method gave equivalent and conservative results, the FFRS technique was used to determine the modal response directly from the spectral description of the forcing function. The FFRS- and time-history-generated data agreed to within 13 (worst case on conservative side) of each other with the former cutting analytical costs by 99%. (orig./HP)
Show Horse Welfare: Horse Show Competitors' Understanding, Awareness, and Perceptions of Equine Welfare.

Science.gov (United States)

Voigt, Melissa A; Hiney, Kristina; Richardson, Jennifer C; Waite, Karen; Borron, Abigail; Brady, Colleen M

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of stock-type horse show competitors' understanding of welfare and level of concern for stock-type show horses' welfare. Data were collected through an online questionnaire that included questions relating to (a) interest and general understanding of horse welfare, (b) welfare concerns of the horse show industry and specifically the stock-type horse show industry, (c) decision-making influences, and (d) level of empathic characteristics. The majority of respondents indicated they agree or strongly agree that physical metrics should be a factor when assessing horse welfare, while fewer agreed that behavioral and mental metrics should be a factor. Respondent empathy levels were moderate to high and were positively correlated with the belief that mental and behavioral metrics should be a factor in assessing horse welfare. Respondents indicated the inhumane practices that most often occur at stock-type shows include excessive jerking on reins, excessive spurring, and induced excessive unnatural movement. Additionally, respondents indicated association rules, hired trainers, and hired riding instructors are the most influential regarding the decisions they make related to their horses' care and treatment.
Melanopsin Regulates Both Sleep-Promoting and Arousal-Promoting Responses to Light.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Violetta Pilorz

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Light plays a critical role in the regulation of numerous aspects of physiology and behaviour, including the entrainment of circadian rhythms and the regulation of sleep. These responses involve melanopsin (OPN4-expressing photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (pRGCs in addition to rods and cones. Nocturnal light exposure in rodents has been shown to result in rapid sleep induction, in which melanopsin plays a key role. However, studies have also shown that light exposure can result in elevated corticosterone, a response that is not compatible with sleep. To investigate these contradictory findings and to dissect the relative contribution of pRGCs and rods/cones, we assessed the effects of light of different wavelengths on behaviourally defined sleep. Here, we show that blue light (470 nm causes behavioural arousal, elevating corticosterone and delaying sleep onset. By contrast, green light (530 nm produces rapid sleep induction. Compared to wildtype mice, these responses are altered in melanopsin-deficient mice (Opn4-/-, resulting in enhanced sleep in response to blue light but delayed sleep induction in response to green or white light. We go on to show that blue light evokes higher Fos induction in the SCN compared to the sleep-promoting ventrolateral preoptic area (VLPO, whereas green light produced greater responses in the VLPO. Collectively, our data demonstrates that nocturnal light exposure can have either an arousal- or sleep-promoting effect, and that these responses are melanopsin-mediated via different neural pathways with different spectral sensitivities. These findings raise important questions relating to how artificial light may alter behaviour in both the work and domestic setting.
Environmental drivers of phototrophic biofilms in an Alpine show cave (SW-Italian Alps)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piano, E.; Bona, F.; Falasco, E.; La Morgia, V.; Badino, G.; Isaia, M.

2015-01-01

The proliferation of lampenflora is a major threat for the conservation of show caves, since phototrophic organisms cause physical, chemical and aesthetic damage to speleothems. In this paper we examine the environmental factors influencing the presence and the growth of the three main photosynthetic groups composing phototrophic biofilms in the Bossea show cave (SW-Italian Alps). The presence and the primary production of cyanobacteria, diatoms and green algae were detected with BenthoTorch®, an instrument for in situ measurement of chlorophyll a concentration that has never been used before in caves. By means of different techniques of regression analysis, we highlighted the response of the three photosynthetic groups to different environmental factors. Illuminance proved to be the main factor influencing positively both the probability of the presence and the productivity of the three groups. The presence of seeping water on the substrate and the distance from the cave entrance proved to play an important role in determining patterns of colonization. By means of GIS techniques, we provide thematic maps of the cave, providing a representation of pattern of the density of the three examined photosynthetic groups within different areas of the cave. The same approach may apply to other show caves, aiming at providing suggestions for the cave management (i.e. cleaning of the cave walls and positioning of artificial lights) and reduce impact caused by tourism. - Highlights: • We used a PAM fluorimeter on autotrophic biofilms in a show cave for the first time. • We modelled the environmental factors influencing phototrophic biofilms. • Illuminance, moisture and distance from the entrance proved to be significant. • We produced thematic maps illustrating our results. • We provide suggestions for cave management

Environmental drivers of phototrophic biofilms in an Alpine show cave (SW-Italian Alps)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Piano, E., E-mail: elena.piano@unito.it [Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Turin (Italy); Bona, F.; Falasco, E. [Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Turin (Italy); La Morgia, V. [ISPRA, via Ca' Fornacetta, 9, 40064 Ozzano dell' Emilia (Italy); Badino, G. [Department of Physics, University of Turin, Via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Turin (Italy); Isaia, M. [Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Turin (Italy)

2015-12-01

The proliferation of lampenflora is a major threat for the conservation of show caves, since phototrophic organisms cause physical, chemical and aesthetic damage to speleothems. In this paper we examine the environmental factors influencing the presence and the growth of the three main photosynthetic groups composing phototrophic biofilms in the Bossea show cave (SW-Italian Alps). The presence and the primary production of cyanobacteria, diatoms and green algae were detected with BenthoTorch®, an instrument for in situ measurement of chlorophyll a concentration that has never been used before in caves. By means of different techniques of regression analysis, we highlighted the response of the three photosynthetic groups to different environmental factors. Illuminance proved to be the main factor influencing positively both the probability of the presence and the productivity of the three groups. The presence of seeping water on the substrate and the distance from the cave entrance proved to play an important role in determining patterns of colonization. By means of GIS techniques, we provide thematic maps of the cave, providing a representation of pattern of the density of the three examined photosynthetic groups within different areas of the cave. The same approach may apply to other show caves, aiming at providing suggestions for the cave management (i.e. cleaning of the cave walls and positioning of artificial lights) and reduce impact caused by tourism. - Highlights: • We used a PAM fluorimeter on autotrophic biofilms in a show cave for the first time. • We modelled the environmental factors influencing phototrophic biofilms. • Illuminance, moisture and distance from the entrance proved to be significant. • We produced thematic maps illustrating our results. • We provide suggestions for cave management.
Showing Value (Editorial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denise Koufogiannakis

2009-06-01

librarians on student achievement. Todd notes, “If we do not show value, we will not have a future. Evidence-based practice is not about the survival of school librarians, it’s about the survival of our students” (40. In this issue we feature school libraries and their connection to evidence based practice. Former Editor-in-Chief, Lindsay Glynn, began putting the wheels in motion for this feature almost a year ago. She invited Carol Gordon and Ross Todd to act as guest editors of the section, drawing upon their contacts and previous work in this field. The result is an issue with five feature articles exploring different aspects of the connection between school libraries and evidence based practice, from the theoretical to the practical. In addition, there is a thought-provoking Commentary by David Loertscher, asking whether we need the evolutionary model of evidence based practice, or something more revolutionary!In addition to the Feature section, we have a well-rounded issue with articles on the topics of library human resources, and the development of a scholars’ portal. As well, there are a record 10 evidence summaries and our educational EBL101 column. I hope there is something for everyone in this issue of EBLIP – enjoy, and see you soon in Stockholm!
Societal response to nanotechnology: converging technologies–converging societal response research?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ronteltap, Amber; Fischer, Arnout R. H.; Tobi, Hilde

2011-01-01

Nanotechnology is an emerging technology particularly vulnerable to societal unrest, which may hinder its further development. With the increasing convergence of several technological domains in the field of nanotechnology, so too could convergence of social science methods help to anticipate societal response. This paper systematically reviews the current state of convergence in societal response research by first sketching the predominant approaches to previous new technologies, followed by an analysis of current research into societal response to nanotechnology. A set of 107 papers on previous new technologies shows that rational actor models have played an important role in the study of societal response to technology, in particular in the field of information technology and the geographic region of Asia. Biotechnology and nuclear power have, in contrast, more often been investigated through risk perception and other affective determinants, particularly in Europe and the USA. A set of 42 papers on societal response to nanotechnology shows similarities to research in biotechnology, as it also builds on affective variables such as risk perception. Although there is a tendency to extend the rational models with affective variables, convergence in social science approaches to response to new technologies still has a long way to go. The challenge for researchers of societal response to technologies is to converge to some shared principles by taking up the best parts from the rational actor models dominant in information technology, whilst integrating non-rational constructs from biotechnology research. The introduction of nanotechnology gives a unique opportunity to do so.
Impact of Australia's introduction of tobacco plain packs on adult smokers’ pack-related perceptions and responses: results from a continuous tracking survey

Science.gov (United States)

Dunlop, Sally M; Dobbins, Timothy; Young, Jane M; Perez, Donna; Currow, David C

2014-01-01

Objectives To investigate the impact of Australia's plain tobacco packaging policy on two stated purposes of the legislation—increasing the impact of health warnings and decreasing the promotional appeal of packaging—among adult smokers. Design Serial cross-sectional study with weekly telephone surveys (April 2006–May 2013). Interrupted time-series analyses using ARIMA modelling and linear regression models were used to investigate intervention effects. Participants 15 745 adult smokers (aged 18 years and above) in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Random selection of participants involved recruiting households using random digit dialling and selecting the nth oldest smoker for interview. Intervention The introduction of the legislation on 1 October 2012. Outcomes Salience of tobacco pack health warnings, cognitive and emotional responses to warnings, avoidance of warnings, perceptions regarding one's cigarette pack. Results Adjusting for background trends, seasonality, antismoking advertising activity and cigarette costliness, results from ARIMA modelling showed that, 2–3 months after the introduction of the new packs, there was a significant increase in the absolute proportion of smokers having strong cognitive (9.8% increase, p=0.005), emotional (8.6% increase, p=0.01) and avoidant (9.8% increase, p=0.0005) responses to on-pack health warnings. Similarly, there was a significant increase in the proportion of smokers strongly disagreeing that the look of their cigarette pack is attractive (57.5% increase, pbrand they buy (40.6% increase, p<0.0001), makes their pack stand out (55.6% increase, p<0.0001), is fashionable (44.7% increase, p<0.0001) and matches their style (48.1% increase, p<0.0001). Changes in these outcomes were maintained 6 months postintervention. Conclusions The introductory effects of the plain packaging legislation among adult smokers are consistent with the specific objectives of the legislation in regard to reducing promotional
Basic emotions induced by odorants: a new approach based on autonomic pattern results.

Science.gov (United States)

Vernet-Maury, E; Alaoui-Ismaïli, O; Dittmar, A; Delhomme, G; Chanel, J

1999-02-15

'. A high correlation was evidenced between subjects' hedonic evaluation and autonomic estimation of basic emotions. These results obtained from 15 subjects were compared to those observed in two similar experiments. These approaches showed comparable results. Thus, more than 60 subjects showed similar autonomic responses which can be transcribed into basic emotions. Thus, a multiparametric autonomic analysis allows the identification of the quality of the response, i.e. the type of basic emotion in addition to the intensity.
Relevance of sampling schemes in light of Ruelle's linear response theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lucarini, Valerio; Wouters, Jeroen; Faranda, Davide; Kuna, Tobias

2012-01-01

We reconsider the theory of the linear response of non-equilibrium steady states to perturbations. We first show that using a general functional decomposition for space–time dependent forcings, we can define elementary susceptibilities that allow us to construct the linear response of the system to general perturbations. Starting from the definition of SRB measure, we then study the consequence of taking different sampling schemes for analysing the response of the system. We show that only a specific choice of the time horizon for evaluating the response of the system to a general time-dependent perturbation allows us to obtain the formula first presented by Ruelle. We also discuss the special case of periodic perturbations, showing that when they are taken into consideration the sampling can be fine-tuned to make the definition of the correct time horizon immaterial. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results in terms of strategies for analysing the outputs of numerical experiments by providing a critical review of a formula proposed by Reick
Differential Effects of Motor Efference Copies and Proprioceptive Information on Response Evaluation Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Stock, Ann-Kathrin; Wascher, Edmund; Beste, Christian

2013-01-01

It is well-kown that sensory information influences the way we execute motor responses. However, less is known about if and how sensory and motor information are integrated in the subsequent process of response evaluation. We used a modified Simon Task to investigate how these streams of information are integrated in response evaluation processes, applying an in-depth neurophysiological analysis of event-related potentials (ERPs), time-frequency decomposition and sLORETA. The results show that response evaluation processes are differentially modulated by afferent proprioceptive information and efference copies. While the influence of proprioceptive information is mediated via oscillations in different frequency bands, efference copy based information about the motor execution is specifically mediated via oscillations in the theta frequency band. Stages of visual perception and attention were not modulated by the interaction of proprioception and motor efference copies. Brain areas modulated by the interactive effects of proprioceptive and efference copy based information included the middle frontal gyrus and the supplementary motor area (SMA), suggesting that these areas integrate sensory information for the purpose of response evaluation. The results show how motor response evaluation processes are modulated by information about both the execution and the location of a response. PMID:23658624
Crosses between monokaryons of Pleurotus sapidus or Pleurotus florida show an improved biotransformation of (+)-valencene to (+)-nootkatone.

Science.gov (United States)

Omarini, Alejandra B; Plagemann, Ina; Schimanski, Silke; Krings, Ulrich; Berger, Ralf G

2014-11-01

Several hundred monokaryotic and new dikaryotic strains derived thereof were established from (+)-valencene tolerant Pleurotus species. When grouped according to their growth rate on agar plates and compared to the parental of Pleurotus sapidus 69, the slowly growing monokaryons converted (+)-valencene more efficiently to the grapefruit flavour compound (+)-nootkatone. The fast growing monokaryons and the slow×slow and the fast×fast dikaryotic crosses showed similar or inferior yields. Some slow×fast dikaryons, however, exceeded the biotransformation capability of the parental dikaryon significantly. The activity of the responsible enzyme, lipoxygenase, showed a weak correlation with the yields of (+)-nootkatone indicating that the determination of enzyme activity using the primary substrate linoleic acid may be misleading in predicting the biotransformation efficiency. This exploratory study indicated that a classical genetics approach resulted in altered and partly improved terpene transformation capability (plus 60%) and lipoxygenase activity of the strains. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Key factors driving corporate social responsibility of Vietnamese firms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kabir, Mohammed Rezaul; Thai Minh, H.

2016-01-01

We examine the impact of firm, corporate governance and managerial characteristics on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of Vietnamese listed firms. Our results show that export-oriented firms engage in more CSR activities. As for corporate governance factors, we observe that
Thermo-responsive magnetic liposomes for hyperthermia-triggered local drug delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Min; Wu, Cong; Fang, Hong-Ming; Li, Li; Yan, Jia-Bao; Zeng, Dan-Lin; Zou, Tao

2017-06-01

We prepared and characterised thermo-responsive magnetic liposomes, which were designed to combine features of magnetic targeting and thermo-responsive control release for hyperthermia-triggered local drug delivery. The particle size and zeta-potential of the thermo-responsive magnetic ammonium bicarbonate (MagABC) liposomes were about 210 nm and -14 mV, respectively. The MagABC liposomes showed encapsulation efficiencies of about 15% and 82% for magnetic nanoparticles (mean crystallite size 12 nm) and doxorubicin (DOX), respectively. The morphology of the MagABC liposomes was visualised using transmission electron microscope (TEM). The MagABC liposomes showed desired thermo-responsive release. The MagABC liposomes, when physically targeted to tumour cells in culture by a permanent magnetic field yielded a substantial increase in intracellular accumulation of DOX as compared to non-magnetic ammonium bicarbonate (ABC) liposomes. This resulted in a parallel increase in cytotoxicity for DOX loaded MagABC liposomes over DOX loaded ABC liposomes in tumour cells.
Laboratory experiments examining inducible defense show variable responses of temperate brown and red macroalgae Experimentos de laboratorio para examinar las defensas inducibles muestran respuestas variables en macroalgas pardas y rojas de ambientes templados

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

EVA ROTHÄUSLER

2005-12-01

Full Text Available Macroalgae can defend themselves against generalist and specialist herbivores via morphological and/or chemical traits. Herein we examined the defensive responses (via relative palatability of two brown (Lessonia nigrescens, Glossophora kunthii and two red algae (Grateloupia doryphora, Chondracanthus chamissoi from the northern-central coast of Chile against selected generalist meso-herbivores. Two laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate whether (i algae can respond generally to grazing pressure of meso-herbivores (amphipods, isopods and juvenile sea urchins and whether (ii these algal responses were inducible. In order to examine palatability and thus effectiveness of responses, feeding assays were run after each experiment using fresh algal pieces and artificial agar-based food. Lessonia nigrescens responded to amphipods but not to sea urchins, and G. kunthii showed inducible response against one species of amphipods. Grateloupia doryphora did not respond against any of the tested grazers, whereas C. chamissoi responded against one species of amphipods and the tested isopod. Our results indicate variable responses of macroalgae against selected generalist meso-herbivores and evidence of an inducible defense in the brown alga G. kunthii.Muchas macroalgas poseen la capacidad de defenderse contra herbívoros generalistas y especialistas utilizando defensas químicas y/o morfológicas. En este trabajo se examinó la respuesta de la palatabilidad ante meso-herbívoros generalistas de dos algas pardas (Lessonia nigrescens, Glossophora kunthii y dos algas rojas (Grateloupia doryphora, Chondracanthus chamissoi de la costa Norte de Chile. Se realizaron dos experimentos de laboratorio para investigar si: (i las algas pueden responder al pastoreo realizado por meso-herbivoros generalistas (anfípodos, isópodos y erizos juveniles y (ii si la respuesta de estas algas es inducible. Para examinar la palatabilidad y de esta forma la efectividad
Re-thinking the role of the dorsal striatum in egocentric/response strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

Botreau, Fanny; Gisquet-Verrier, Pascale

2010-01-01

Rats trained in a dual-solution cross-maze task, which can be solved by place and response strategies, predominantly used a response strategy after extensive training. This paper examines the involvement of the medial and lateral dorsal striatum (mDS and lDS) in the choice of these strategies after partial and extensive training. Our results show that rats with lDS and mDS lesions used mainly a response strategy from the early phase of training. We replicated these unexpected data in rats with lDS lesions and confirmed their tendency to use the response strategy in a modified cross-maze task. When trained in a dual-solution water-maze task, however, control and lesioned rats consistently used a place strategy, demonstrating that lDS and mDS lesioned rats can use a place strategy and that the shift towards a response strategy did not systematically result from extensive training. The present data did not show any clear dissociation between the mDS and lDS in dual solution tasks. They further indicate that the dorsal striatum seems to determine the strategies adopted in a particular context but cannot be considered as a neural support for the response memory system. Accordingly, the role of the lateral and medial part of the dorsal striatum in egocentric/response memory should be reconsidered.
Towards a more responsible press

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taimur ul Hassan

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The article analyses Pakistan’s newspapers’ performance with regard to civil society in2003 by using content analysis approach. There is no gainsaying that a strong civil society guaranteesa strong democracy. In Pakistan, spells of military rule have stunted the growth of democracy,adversely affecting civil society. Media too has suffered as a result. Normative theories of media callfor laying down norms and conventions for media. In democracy, all sections of society should berepresented in media. In Pakistan’s case, due to military regimes and quasi democratic governments,combined with the demands of market economy, the media have largely not been able to fulfill thisresponsibility towards society. Social Responsibility demands that the media must fulfill itsresponsibility towards society, while giving a free space to all voices of society. In Pakistan, whethernewspapers played that role in 2003 when civil society had accelerated its campaign to end honorkillings and crimes against women is investigated. The findings show that newspapers did supportcivil society, showing a gradual movement towards a more responsible press.
Demand response evaluation and forecasting â€” Methods and results from the EcoGrid EU experiment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Emil Mahler; Pinson, Pierre; Leimgruber, Fabian

2017-01-01

Understanding electricity consumers participating in new demand response schemes is important for investment decisions and the design and operation of electricity markets. Important metrics include peak response, time to peak response, energy delivered, ramping, and how the response changes...... with respect to external conditions. Such characteristics dictate the services DR is capable of offering, like primary frequency reserves, peak load shaving, and system balancing. In this paper, we develop methods to characterise price-responsive demand from the EcoGrid EU demonstration in a way that was bid...... into a real-time market. EcoGrid EU is a smart grid experiment with 1900 residential customers who are equipped with smart meters and automated devices reacting to five-minute electricity pricing. Customers are grouped and analysed according to the manufacturer that controlled devices. A number of advanced...
Psychobiological responses at the beginning and the end of an academic year in teachers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miguel A. Serrano

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Evidence shows that work stress increases risk of cardiovascular disease. Emotional, cardiovascular and endocrine responses are affected by day-to-day experience. Perceived stress, negative mood, heart rate (HR and blood pressure (BP increase in working periods. Cortisol (C response is not so clear, there being contradictory results. The main purpose is to study stress markers in two working days in teachers. Moreover, we evaluate the role of gender in stress markers in 49 school teachers. Perceived stress, mood, BP, HR, and C were measured at the beginning and at the end of an academic year. Results show that psychological and heart rate responses to a working day were different at the end of the year, increasing, especially in men. BP and C responses descended at the end of the year. In conclusion, an academic year could affect negatively to the emotional state and heart rate of teachers.
Two Genetically Similar H9N2 Influenza A Viruses Show Different Pathogenicity in Mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qingtao Liu

2016-11-01

Full Text Available H9N2 Avian influenza virus has repeatedly infected humans and other mammals, which highlights the need to determine the pathogenicity and the corresponding mechanism of this virus for mammals. In this study, we found two H9N2 viruses with similar genetic background but with different pathogenicity in mice. The A/duck/Nanjing/06/2003 (NJ06 virus was highly pathogenic for mice, with a 50% mouse lethal dose of 102.83 50% egg infectious dose, whereas the A/duck/Nanjing/01/1999 (NJ01 virus was low pathogenic for mice, with a 50% mouse lethal dose of >106.81 50% egg infectious dose. Further studies showed that the NJ06 virus grew faster and reached significantly higher titers than NJ01 in vivo and in vitro. Moreover, the NJ06 virus induced more severe lung lesions, and higher levels of inflammatory cellular infiltration and cytokine response in lungs than NJ01 did. However, only twelve different amino acid residues (HA-K157E, NA-A9T, NA-R435K, PB2-T149P, PB2-K627E, PB1-R187K, PA-L548M, PA-M550L, NP-G127E, NP-P277H, NP-D340N, NS1-D171N were found between the two viruses, and all these residues except for NA-R435K were located in the known functional regions involved in interaction of viral proteins or between the virus and host factors. Summary, our results suggest that multiple amino acid differences may be responsible for the higher pathogenicity of the NJ06 virus for mice, resulting in lethal infection, enhanced viral replication, severe lung lesions, and excessive inflammatory cellular infiltration and cytokine response in lungs. These observations will be helpful for better understanding the pathogenic potential and the corresponding molecular basis of H9N2 viruses that might pose threats to human health in the future.
Seismic Responses of Shot Span Bridge under Three Different Patterns of Earthquake Excitations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Daochuan; Chen Guorong; Lu Yan

2010-01-01

This paper presents a study of the influence of three different types of seismic input methods on the longitudinal seismic response of a short, three-span, variable cross-section, reinforced concrete bridge. Research progress of the seismic model is introduced briefly. Finite element model is created for the bridge and time history analysis conducted. Three different types of illustrative excitations are considered: 1) the EI-Centro seismic wave is used as uniform excitations at all bridge supports; 2) fixed apparent wave velocity is used for response analysis of traveling wave excitations on the bridge; 3) conforming to a selected coherency model, the multiple seismic excitation time histories considering spatially variable effects are generated. The contrast study of the response analysis result under the three different seismic excitations is conducted and the influence of different seismic input methods is studied. The comparative analysis of the bridge model shows that the uniform ground motion input can not provide conservative seismic demands-in a number of cases it results in lower response than that predicted by multiple seismic excitations. The result of uniform excitation and traveling wave excitation shows very small difference. Consequently, multiple seismic excitations needs to be applied at the bridge supports for response analysis of short span bridge.
New insights into fully-depleted SOI transistor response during total-dose irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwank, J.R.; Shaneyfelt, M.R.; Dodd, P.E.; Burns, J.A.; Keast, C.L.; Wyatt, P.W.

1999-01-01

In this paper, we present irradiation results on 2-fully depleted processes (HYSOI6, RKSOI) that show SOI (silicon on insulator) device response can be more complicated than originally suggested by others. The major difference between the 2 process versions is that the RKSOI process incorporates special techniques to minimize pre-irradiation parasitic leakage current from trench sidewalls. Transistors were irradiated at room temperature using 10 keV X-ray source. Worst-case bias configuration for total-dose testing fully-depleted SOI transistors was found to be process dependent. It appears that the worst-case bias for HYPOI6 process is the bias that causes the largest increase in sidewall leakage. The RKSOI process shows a different response during irradiation, the transition response appears to be dominated by charge trapping in the buried oxide. These results have implications for hardness assurance testing. (A.C.)
Synthesising empirical results to improve predictions of post-wildfire runoff and erosion response

Science.gov (United States)

Richard A. Shakesby; John A. Moody; Deborah A. Martin; Pete Robichaud

2016-01-01

Advances in research into wildfire impacts on runoff and erosion have demonstrated increasing complexity of controlling factors and responses, which, combined with changing fire frequency, present challenges for modellers. We convened a conference attended by experts and practitioners in post-wildfire impacts, meteorology and related research, including...
Item response theory analysis of the mechanics baseline test

Science.gov (United States)

Cardamone, Caroline N.; Abbott, Jonathan E.; Rayyan, Saif; Seaton, Daniel T.; Pawl, Andrew; Pritchard, David E.

2012-02-01

Item response theory is useful in both the development and evaluation of assessments and in computing standardized measures of student performance. In item response theory, individual parameters (difficulty, discrimination) for each item or question are fit by item response models. These parameters provide a means for evaluating a test and offer a better measure of student skill than a raw test score, because each skill calculation considers not only the number of questions answered correctly, but the individual properties of all questions answered. Here, we present the results from an analysis of the Mechanics Baseline Test given at MIT during 2005-2010. Using the item parameters, we identify questions on the Mechanics Baseline Test that are not effective in discriminating between MIT students of different abilities. We show that a limited subset of the highest quality questions on the Mechanics Baseline Test returns accurate measures of student skill. We compare student skills as determined by item response theory to the more traditional measurement of the raw score and show that a comparable measure of learning gain can be computed.

Persian Back Channel Responses in Formal versus Informal Contexts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahla Sharifi

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Utterances like /xob/ (okay, /doroste/ (right, /hmm/, /ee/, /?re/ (yeah, occur frequently in Persian conversations, but have thus far escaped from the systematic studies. Good listeners generally produce these short utterances, called "back channel responses", in appropriate times to show their participation in the conversation, but the rules governing back channeling vary from one context to another. The usage of back channel responses is different in various contexts, due to politeness or formality. This paper studies the types and functions of the back channel responses in both formal and informal settings and provides a comparison of the usage of these responses in these two kinds of contexts. The results show /bale/ (yes and /doroste/ (right are used with formal or polite verbal form, while /xob/ (okay is used with the informal style of speech and less polite verbal form. With respect to the function of back channels, signaling the understanding is the main function of back channels in informal contexts. Also, back channels signaling agreement are more frequent in formal contexts, where emotional function is less likely.
Responses of the ocean carbon cycle to climate change: Results from an earth system climate model simulation

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

WANG Shuang-Jing; CAO Long; LI Na

2014-01-01

Based on simulations using the University of Victoria’s Earth System Climate Model, we analyzed the responses of the ocean carbon cycle to increasing atmospheric CO2 levels and climate change from 1800 to 2500 following the RCP 8.5 scenario and its extension. Compared to simulations without climate change, the simulation with a climate sensitivity of 3.0 K shows that in 2100, due to increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations, the simulated sea surface temperature increases by 2.7 K, the intensity of the North Atlantic deep water formation reduces by4.5 Sv, and the oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO2 decreases by 0.8 Pg C. Climate change is also found to have a large effect on the North Atlantic’s ocean column inventory of anthropogenic CO2. Between the years 1800 and 2500, compared with the simulation with no climate change, the simulation with climate change causes a reduction in the total anthropogenic CO2 column inventory over the entire ocean and in North Atlantic by 23.1% and 32.0%, respectively. A set of simulations with climate sensitivity variations from 0.5 K to 4.5 K show that with greater climate sensitivity climate change would have a greater effect in reducing the ocean’s ability to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere.
FIRST RESULTS FROM THE RAPID-RESPONSE SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC CHARACTERIZATION OF NEAR-EARTH OBJECTS USING UKIRT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mommert, M.; Trilling, D. E.; Petersen, E. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 (United States); Borth, D. [Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz (DFKI), D-67663 Kaiserslautern (Germany); Jedicke, R. [Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States); Butler, N. [School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287 (United States); Reyes-Ruiz, M. [Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Astronomía, Ensenada, B.C. 22860, México (Mexico); Pichardo, B. [Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, D.F. 04510, México (Mexico); Axelrod, T. [Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Moskovitz, N., E-mail: michael.mommert@nau.edu [Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 (United States)

2016-04-15

Using the Wide Field Camera for the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT), we measure the near-infrared colors of near-Earth objects (NEOs) in order to put constraints on their taxonomic classifications. The rapid-response character of our observations allows us to observe NEOs when they are close to the Earth and bright. Here we present near-infrared color measurements of 86 NEOs, most of which were observed within a few days of their discovery, allowing us to characterize NEOs with diameters of only a few meters. Using machine-learning methods, we compare our measurements to existing asteroid spectral data and provide probabilistic taxonomic classifications for our targets. Our observations allow us to distinguish between S-complex, C/X-complex, D-type, and V-type asteroids. Our results suggest that the fraction of S-complex asteroids in the whole NEO population is lower than the fraction of ordinary chondrites in the meteorite fall statistics. Future data obtained with UKIRT will be used to investigate the significance of this discrepancy.
Chin Shan analyses show advantages of whole pool multi-rack approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, K.P.; Soler, A.I.

1991-01-01

Nuclear fuel storage racks are essentially thin-walled, cellular structures of prismatic cross-section. Although the details of design vary from one supplier to another, certain key physical attributes are common to all designs. For example, all racks feature square cells of sufficient opening size and height to enable insertion and withdrawal of the fuel assembly. The array of cells is positioned in a vertical orientation and is supported off the pool slab surface by four or more support legs. The spent fuel pool is filled with the individual fuel racks. The plenum created by the support legs is essential for proper cooling of the fuel assemblies stored in the rack, which relies on natural convective cooling to extract the heat emitted by the spent fuel. However, it has the insalutary effect of making it kinematically less stable. Regulatory authorities require careful and comprehensive analysis of the response of the racks under the seismic motions postulated for the pool slab. Results from whole pool multi-rack (WPMR) analyses at the Chin Shan and Oyster Creek nuclear plants point up the potential inadequacies of single rack 3D analyses, and show just how important it is to carry out WPMR simulations, despite their abstruseness and high cost. (author)
Shade response of a full size TESSERA module

Science.gov (United States)

Slooff, Lenneke H.; Carr, Anna J.; de Groot, Koen; Jansen, Mark J.; Okel, Lars; Jonkman, Rudi; Bakker, Jan; de Gier, Bart; Harthoorn, Adriaan

2017-08-01

A full size TESSERA shade tolerant module has been made and was tested under various shadow conditions. The results show that the dedicated electrical interconnection of cells result in an almost linear response under shading. Furthermore, the voltage at maximum power point is almost independent of the shadow. This decreases the demand on the voltage range of the inverter. The increased shadow linearity results in a calculated increase in annual yield of about 4% for a typical Dutch house.
Validating a visual version of the metronome response task.

Science.gov (United States)

Laflamme, Patrick; Seli, Paul; Smilek, Daniel

2018-02-12

The metronome response task (MRT)-a sustained-attention task that requires participants to produce a response in synchrony with an audible metronome-was recently developed to index response variability in the context of studies on mind wandering. In the present studies, we report on the development and validation of a visual version of the MRT (the visual metronome response task; vMRT), which uses the rhythmic presentation of visual, rather than auditory, stimuli. Participants completed the vMRT (Studies 1 and 2) and the original (auditory-based) MRT (Study 2) while also responding to intermittent thought probes asking them to report the depth of their mind wandering. The results showed that (1) individual differences in response variability during the vMRT are highly reliable; (2) prior to thought probes, response variability increases with increasing depth of mind wandering; (3) response variability is highly consistent between the vMRT and the original MRT; and (4) both response variability and depth of mind wandering increase with increasing time on task. Our results indicate that the original MRT findings are consistent across the visual and auditory modalities, and that the response variability measured in both tasks indexes a non-modality-specific tendency toward behavioral variability. The vMRT will be useful in the place of the MRT in experimental contexts in which researchers' designs require a visual-based primary task.
Group Effects on Individual Attitudes Toward Social Responsibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Secchi, Davide; Bui, Hong T M

2018-01-01

This study uses a quasi-experimental design to investigate what happens to individual socially responsible attitudes when they are exposed to group dynamics. Findings show that group engagement increases individual attitudes toward social responsibility. We also found that individuals with low attitudes toward social responsibility are more likely to change their opinions when group members show more positive attitudes toward social responsibility. Conversely, individuals with high attitudes do not change much, independent of group characteristics. To better analyze the effect of group dynamics, the study proposes to split social responsibility into relative and absolute components. Findings show that relative social responsibility is correlated with but different from absolute social responsibility although the latter is more susceptible than the former to group dynamics.
Electric Water Heater Modeling and Control Strategies for Demand Response

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diao, Ruisheng; Lu, Shuai; Elizondo, Marcelo A.; Mayhorn, Ebony T.; Zhang, Yu; Samaan, Nader A.

2012-07-22

Abstract— Demand response (DR) has a great potential to provide balancing services at normal operating conditions and emergency support when a power system is subject to disturbances. Effective control strategies can significantly relieve the balancing burden of conventional generators and reduce investment on generation and transmission expansion. This paper is aimed at modeling electric water heaters (EWH) in households and tests their response to control strategies to implement DR. The open-loop response of EWH to a centralized signal is studied by adjusting temperature settings to provide regulation services; and two types of decentralized controllers are tested to provide frequency support following generator trips. EWH models are included in a simulation platform in DIgSILENT to perform electromechanical simulation, which contains 147 households in a distribution feeder. Simulation results show the dependence of EWH response on water heater usage . These results provide insight suggestions on the need of control strategies to achieve better performance for demand response implementation. Index Terms— Centralized control, decentralized control, demand response, electrical water heater, smart grid
Induction of the immune response suppression in mice inoculated with Candida albicans.

Science.gov (United States)

Valdez, J C; Mesón, D E; Sirena, A; de Petrino, S F; Eugenia, M; de Jorrat, B B; de Valdex, M G

1986-03-01

There is a controversy in respect to the immunological response (humoral or cellular) concerning the defense against Candida albicans. Candidosis would induce sub-populations of suppressor cells in the host cell-immune response. This report tries to show the effect of different doses of C. albicans (alive or heat-killed) on the expression of cell-mediated and humoral immunity. The effect upon cell immunity was determined by inoculating different lots of singeneic mice, doses of varied concentration of C. albicans and checking for delayed-type hipersensitivity (D.T.H.). D.T.H. was also controlled in syngeneic normal mice which had previously been injected with inoculated mice spleen cells. Humoral immunity was assayed by measuring the induced blastogenesis by Pokeweed Mitogen on spleen mononuclear cells with different doses of C. albicans. Results obtained show that the different doses gave origin to: Suppression of humoral and cell response (10(8) alive); Suppression of only humoral response (10(6) alive); Suppression of cell response and increase of humoral response (10(9) dead); Increase of both responses (10(8) dead).
AREVA: Operating performance shows distinct improvement; Results heavily impacted by the cost of remedial measures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

The 2015 results illustrate the progress AREVA made in 2015 and open up favorable prospects for 2016 and the following years in view of its fundamentals. The group's competitiveness plan had a very positive impact on its costs and cash, despite the heavy net loss situation which continues and in a market environment that remained difficult in 2015. Half of this loss of 2 billion Euro is due to additional provisions for OL3 and half to provisions for restructuring and impairment related to market conditions. Concerning the group's liquidity, 2016 is funded and the capital increase which will be launched in the coming months will enable AREVA to gradually regain the group's positive profile. A new phase awaits the Group in 2016 with clarity and confidence in the implementation of the restructuring announced in 2015 and in particular the autonomy of AREVA NP and the creation of New AREVA
Transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis of Yukon Thellungiella plants grown in cabinets and their natural habitat show phenotypic plasticity.

Science.gov (United States)

Guevara, David R; Champigny, Marc J; Tattersall, Ashley; Dedrick, Jeff; Wong, Chui E; Li, Yong; Labbe, Aurelie; Ping, Chien-Lu; Wang, Yanxiang; Nuin, Paulo; Golding, G Brian; McCarry, Brian E; Summers, Peter S; Moffatt, Barbara A; Weretilnyk, Elizabeth A

2012-10-01

Thellungiella salsuginea is an important model plant due to its natural tolerance to abiotic stresses including salt, cold, and water deficits. Microarray and metabolite profiling have shown that Thellungiella undergoes stress-responsive changes in transcript and organic solute abundance when grown under controlled environmental conditions. However, few reports assess the capacity of plants to display stress-responsive traits in natural habitats where concurrent stresses are the norm. To determine whether stress-responsive changes observed in cabinet-grown plants are recapitulated in the field, we analyzed leaf transcript and metabolic profiles of Thellungiella growing in its native Yukon habitat during two years of contrasting meteorological conditions. We found 673 genes showing differential expression between field and unstressed, chamber-grown plants. There were comparatively few overlaps between genes expressed under field and cabinet treatment-specific conditions. Only 20 of 99 drought-responsive genes were expressed both in the field during a year of low precipitation and in plants subjected to drought treatments in cabinets. There was also a general pattern of lower abundance among metabolites found in field plants relative to control or stress-treated plants in growth cabinets. Nutrient availability may explain some of the observed differences. For example, proline accumulated to high levels in cold and salt-stressed cabinet-grown plants but proline content was, by comparison, negligible in plants at a saline Yukon field site. We show that proline accumulated in a stress-responsive manner in Thellungiella plants salinized in growth cabinets and in salt-stressed seedlings when nitrogen was provided at 1.0 mM. In seedlings grown on 0.1 mM nitrogen medium, the proline content was low while carbohydrates increased. The relatively higher content of sugar-like compounds in field plants and seedlings on low nitrogen media suggests that Thellungiella shows
Fibroblasts maintained in 3 dimensions show a better differentiation state and higher sensitivity to estrogens

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Montani, Claudia [Laboratory of Biotechnology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Civic Hospital of Brescia (Italy); Steimberg, Nathalie; Boniotti, Jennifer [Laboratory of Tissue Engineering, Anatomy and Physiopathology Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Brescia (Italy); Biasiotto, Giorgio; Zanella, Isabella [Laboratory of Biotechnology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Civic Hospital of Brescia (Italy); Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia (Italy); Diafera, Giuseppe [Integrated Systems Engineering (ISE), Milan (Italy); Biunno, Ida [IRGB-CNR, Milan (Italy); IRCCS-Multimedica, Milan (Italy); Caimi, Luigi [Laboratory of Biotechnology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Civic Hospital of Brescia (Italy); Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia (Italy); Mazzoleni, Giovanna [Laboratory of Tissue Engineering, Anatomy and Physiopathology Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Brescia (Italy); Di Lorenzo, Diego, E-mail: diego.dilorenzo@yahoo.it [Laboratory of Biotechnology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Civic Hospital of Brescia (Italy)

2014-11-01

Cell differentiation and response to hormonal signals were studied in a 3D environment on an in-house generated mouse fibroblast cell line expressing a reporter gene under the control of estrogen responsive sequences (EREs). 3D cell culture conditions were obtained in a Rotary Cell Culture System; (RCCS™), a microgravity based bioreactor that promotes the aggregation of cells into multicellular spheroids (MCS). In this bioreactor the cells maintained a better differentiated phenotype and more closely resembled in vivo tissue. The RCCS™ cultured fibroblasts showed higher expression of genes regulating cell assembly, differentiation and hormonal functions. Microarray analysis showed that genes related to cell cycle, proliferation, cytoskeleton, migration, adhesion and motility were all down-regulated in 3D as compared to 2D conditions, as well as oncogene expression and inflammatory cytokines. Controlled remodeling of ECM, which is an essential aspect of cell organization, homeostasis and tissue was affected by the culture method as assessed by immunolocalization of β-tubulin. Markers of cell organization, homeostasis and tissue repair, metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) and its physiological inhibitor (TIMP4) changed expression in association with the relative formation of cell aggregates. The fibroblasts cultured in the RCCS™ maintain a better responsiveness to estrogens, measured as expression of ERα and regulation of an ERE-dependent reporter and of the endogenous target genes CBP, Rarb, MMP1 and Dbp. Our data highlight the interest of this 3D culture model for its potential application in the field of cell response to hormonal signals and the pharmaco-toxicological analyses of chemicals and natural molecules endowed of estrogenic potential. - Highlights: • We here characterized the first cell line derived from an estrogen reporter mouse. • In the RCCS cells express an immortalized behavior but not a transformed phenotype. • The RCCS provides a system for
Calcium influx determines the muscular response to electrotransfer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Pernille Højman; Brolin, Camilla; Gissel, Hanne

2012-01-01

expression analyses and histology, we showed a clear association between Ca(2+) influx and muscular response. Moderate Ca(2+) influx induced by HVLV pulses results in activation of pathways involved in immediate repair and hypertrophy. This response could be attenuated by intramuscular injection of EGTA...... low-voltage pulse (HVLV), either alone or in combination with injection of DNA. Mice and rats were anesthetized before pulsing. At the times given, animals were killed, and intact tibialis cranialis muscles were excised for analysis. Uptake of Ca(2+) was assessed using (45)Ca as a tracer. Using gene...
A non-linear association between self-reported negative emotional response to stress and subsequent allostatic load: prospective results from the Whitehall II cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Dich, Nadya; Doan, Stacey N; Kivimäki, Mika; Kumari, Meena; Rod, Naja Hulvej

2014-11-01

Previous research suggests that high levels of negative emotions may affect health. However, it is likely that the absence of an emotional response following stressful events may also be problematic. Accordingly, we investigated whether a non-linear association exists between negative emotional response to major life events and allostatic load, a multisystem indicator of physiological dysregulation. Study sample was 6764 British civil service workers from the Whitehall II cohort. Negative emotional response was assessed by self-report at baseline. Allostatic load was calculated using cardiovascular, metabolic and immune function biomarkers at three clinical follow-up examinations. A non-linear association between negative emotional response and allostatic load was observed: being at either extreme end of the distribution of negative emotional response increased the risk of physiological dysregulation. Allostatic load also increased with age, but the association between negative emotional response and allostatic load remained stable over time. These results provide evidence for a more nuanced understanding of the role of negative emotions in long-term physical health. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Reshock and release response of aluminum single crystal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, H.; Asay, J. R.

2007-01-01

Reshock and release experiments were performed on single crystal aluminum along three orientations and on polycrystalline 1050 aluminum with 50 μm grain size at shock stresses of 13 and 21 GPa to investigate the mechanisms for previously observed quasielastic recompression behavior. Particle velocity profiles obtained during reshocking both single crystals and polycrystalline aluminum from initial shock stresses of 13-21 GPa show similar quasielastic recompression behavior. Quasielastic release response is also observed in all single crystals, but the magnitude of the effect is crystal orientation dependent, with [111] and [110] exhibiting more ideal elastic-plastic release for unloading from the shocked state than for the [100] orientation and polycrystalline aluminum. The quasielastic response of 1050 aluminum is intermediate to that of the [100] and [111] orientations. Comparison of the wave profiles obtained for both unloading and reloading of single crystals and polycrystalline 1050 aluminum from shocked states suggests that the observed quasielastic response of polycrystalline aluminum results from the averaging response of single crystals for shock propagation along different orientations, and that the response of 1050 aluminum with large grain boundaries is not significantly different from the results obtained on single crystal aluminum. The yield strength of the single crystals and 1050 aluminum is found to increase with shock stress, which is consistent with previous results [H. Huang and I. R. Asay, J. Appl. Phys. 98, 033524 (2005)
The desmoplastic response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fearns, C.

1989-04-01

Desmoplasia, a process in which excessive connective tissue is deposited in a neoplasm, is discussed. To study the process, a human malignant melanoma cell line (UCT-Mel 7) was used, that was established in the laboratory, and when injected into athymic mice, it gave rise to tumours that showed a number of interesting features. The tumour induced a marked desmoplastic response and the desmoplasia was associated in UCT-Mel 7-derived tumours with an unusual phasic pattern of growth. Two possible mechanisms were identified by which UCT-Mel 7 cells could have induced the desmoplastic response. UCT-Mel 7 cells were shown to be chemotactic for mouse macrophages and human foreskin fibroblasts were stimulated, in a dose-dependent manner, to synthesize increased amounts of collagen when co-cultured with mouse peritoneal exudate cells. Tumour cells were also found to act directly. Co-culture of UCT-Mel 7 cells and fibroblasts resulted in increased collagen synthesis by the fibroblasts. DNA synthesis was not required. Dexamethasone, retinoic acid and the tumour promoter, phorbol myristate acetate, had significant primary effects on fibroblast collagen synthesis but did not modify the response to melanoma cells. Recombinant basic fibroblast growth factor did not seem to be involved in the desmoplastic response. A surprising finding was the production of a potent inhibitor of collagen synthesis by superinduced cells of the mouse macrophage cell line, P388D 1 . This inhibitor has not been fully characterised. 49 figs., 33 tabs., 362 refs
Comparative Response of Four Pedogenic Soil Materials to Cement ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A comparative response of four Pedogenic soil materials to cement stabilization was investigated. The studies focused on the compaction characteristics, the unconfined sompressive strength and the California bearing ratio of the samples. The results obtained show that soil materials from Maiduguri responded favorably to ...
Time dependent patient no-show predictive modelling development.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yu-Li; Hanauer, David A

2016-05-09

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop evident-based predictive no-show models considering patients' each past appointment status, a time-dependent component, as an independent predictor to improve predictability. Design/methodology/approach - A ten-year retrospective data set was extracted from a pediatric clinic. It consisted of 7,291 distinct patients who had at least two visits along with their appointment characteristics, patient demographics, and insurance information. Logistic regression was adopted to develop no-show models using two-thirds of the data for training and the remaining data for validation. The no-show threshold was then determined based on minimizing the misclassification of show/no-show assignments. There were a total of 26 predictive model developed based on the number of available past appointments. Simulation was employed to test the effective of each model on costs of patient wait time, physician idle time, and overtime. Findings - The results demonstrated the misclassification rate and the area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic gradually improved as more appointment history was included until around the 20th predictive model. The overbooking method with no-show predictive models suggested incorporating up to the 16th model and outperformed other overbooking methods by as much as 9.4 per cent in the cost per patient while allowing two additional patients in a clinic day. Research limitations/implications - The challenge now is to actually implement the no-show predictive model systematically to further demonstrate its robustness and simplicity in various scheduling systems. Originality/value - This paper provides examples of how to build the no-show predictive models with time-dependent components to improve the overbooking policy. Accurately identifying scheduled patients' show/no-show status allows clinics to proactively schedule patients to reduce the negative impact of patient no-shows.
Pilot-model analysis and simulation study of effect of control task desired control response

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, J. J.; Gera, J.; Jaudon, J. B.

1978-01-01

A pilot model analysis was performed that relates pilot control compensation, pilot aircraft system response, and aircraft response characteristics for longitudinal control. The results show that a higher aircraft short period frequency is required to achieve superior pilot aircraft system response in an altitude control task than is required in an attitude control task. These results were confirmed by a simulation study of target tracking. It was concluded that the pilot model analysis provides a theoretical basis for determining the effect of control task on pilot opinions.
Proactive Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Financial Performance: Evidence from Chinese Energy Enterprises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ying Jiang

2018-03-01

Full Text Available With increasing concerns about environmental issues and the advancement of China’s “going global” strategy, a new issue-proactive corporate social responsibility has emerged. Proactive corporate environmental responsibility refers to business actions that go beyond regulatory requirements for supporting sustainable environmental development. This study examines the role of proactive corporate environmental responsibility on corporate financial performance in the Chinese energy industry by the multi-variables regression analysis of panel data. Using data of 264 firm-year observations from 2009–2014 in the energy industry, the results showed that Proactive corporate environmental responsibility has a positive effect on corporate financial performance passing the endogeneity test. The results also demonstrate that private ownership has stronger promotion on the relationship between proactive corporate environmental responsibility and corporate financial performance. This study helps to increase the body of knowledge about proactive corporate environmental responsibility of the emerging economy, provides insights into the corporate environmental responsibility practice, and government environmental regulation and policy.

Exposure to Candida albicans polarizes a T-cell driven arthritis model towards Th17 responses, resulting in a more destructive arthritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Marijnissen, Renoud J; Koenders, Marije I; van de Veerdonk, Frank L; Dulos, John; Netea, Mihai G; Boots, Annemieke M H; Joosten, Leo A B; van den Berg, Wim B

2012-01-01

Fungal components have been shown very effective in generating Th17 responses. We investigated whether exposure to a minute amount of C. albicans in the arthritic joint altered the local cytokine environment, leading to enhanced Th17 expansion and resulting in a more destructive arthritis. Chronic SCW arthritis was induced by repeated injection with Streptococcus pyogenes (SCW) cell wall fragments into the knee joint of C57Bl/6 mice, alone or in combination with the yeast of C. albicans or Zymosan A. During the chronic phase of the arthritis, the cytokine levels, mRNA expression and histopathological analysis of the joints were performed. To investigate the phenotype of the IL-17 producing T-cells, synovial cells were isolated and analyzed by flowcytometry. Intra-articular injection of either Zymosan A or C. albicans on top of the SCW injection both resulted in enhanced joint swelling and inflammation compared to the normal SCW group. However, only the addition of C. albicans during SCW arthritis resulted in severe chondrocyte death and enhanced destruction of cartilage and bone. Additionally, exposure to C. albicans led to increased IL-17 in the arthritic joint, which was accompanied by an increased synovial mRNA expression of T-bet and RORγT. Moreover, the C. albicans-injected mice had significantly more Th17 cells in the synovium, of which a large population also produced IFN-γ. This study clearly shows that minute amounts of fungal components, like C. albicans, are very potent in interfering with the local cytokine environment in an arthritic joint, thereby polarizing arthritis towards a more destructive phenotype.
Adaptive Queue Management with Restraint on Non-Responsive Flows

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lan Li

2003-12-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes an adaptive queue management scheme (adaptive RED to improve Random Early Detection (RED on restraining non-responsive flows. Due to a lack of flow control mechanism, non-responsive flows can starve responsive flows for buffer and bandwidth at the gateway. In order to solve the disproportionate resource problem, RED framework is modified in this way: on detecting when the non-responsive flows starve the queue, packet-drop intensity (Max_p in RED can be adaptively adjusted to curb non-responsive flows for resource fair-sharing, such as buffer and bandwidth fair-sharing. Based on detection of traffic behaviors, intentionally restraining nonresponsive flows is to increase the throughput and decrease the drop rate of responsive flows. Our experimental results based on adaptive RED shows that the enhancement of responsive traffic and the better sharing of buffer and bandwidth can be achieved under a variety of traffic scenarios.
Development and evaluation of a leadership training program for public health emergency response: results from a Chinese study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xu Yihua

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Since the 9/11 attack and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS, the development of qualified and able public health leaders has become a new urgency in building the infrastructure needed to address public health emergencies. Although previous studies have reported that the training of individual leaders is an important approach, the systemic and scientific training model need further improvement and development. The purpose of this study was to develop, deliver, and evaluate a participatory leadership training program for emergency response. Methods Forty-one public health leaders (N = 41 from five provinces completed the entire emergency preparedness training program in China. The program was evaluated by anonymous questionnaires and semi-structured interviews held prior to training, immediately post-training and 12-month after training (Follow-up. Results The emergency preparedness training resulted in positive shifts in knowledge, self-assessment of skills for public health leaders. More than ninety-five percent of participants reported that the training model was scientific and feasible. Moreover, the response of participants in the program to the avian influenza outbreak, as well as the planned evaluations for this leadership training program, further demonstrated both the successful approaches and methods and the positive impact of this integrated leadership training initiative. Conclusion The emergency preparedness training program met its aims and objectives satisfactorily, and improved the emergency capability of public health leaders. This suggests that the leadership training model was effective and feasible in improving the emergency preparedness capability.
Defective B cell response to T-dependent immunization in lupus-prone mice

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Haitao; Sobel, Eric S.; Morel, Laurence

2009-01-01

Lupus anti-nuclear Abs show the characteristics of Ag-driven T cell-dependent (TD) humoral responses. If autoAgs elicit the same response as exogenous Ags, lupus should enhance humoral responses to immunization. Blunted responses to various immunizations have, however, been reported in a significant portion of lupus patients. In this study, we show that lupus-prone B6.Sle1.Sle2.Sle3 (B6.TC) mice produce significantly less Ab in response to TD immunization than congenic controls, while producing significantly more total Ig. This blunted Ab response to TD Ag could be reconstituted with B6.TC B and CD4+ T cells. Multiple defects were found in the B6.TC response to NP-KLH as compared to total Ig, including a smaller percentage of B cells participating to the NP-response, a reduced entry into germinal centers, and highly defective production of NP-specific long-lived plasma cells in the bone marrow. B6.TC plasma cells expressed reduced levels of FcγRIIb, which suggests that reduced apoptosis in resident plasma cells prevents the establishment of newly-formed NP-specific plasma cells in bone marrow niches. Overall, these results show that lupus-prone mice responded differently to auto- and exogenous antigens and suggest that low FcγRIIb, hypergammaglobulinemia and high autoantibody production would be predictive of a poor response to immunization in lupus patients. PMID:18924209
Long-Time Exposure to Violent Video Games Does Not Show Desensitization on Empathy for Pain: An fMRI Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xuemei Gao

2017-05-01

Full Text Available As a typical form of empathy, empathy for pain refers to the perception and appraisal of others’ pain, as well as the corresponding affective responses. Numerous studies investigated the factors affecting the empathy for pain, in which the exposure to violent video games (VVGs could change players’ empathic responses to painful situations. However, it remains unclear whether exposure to VVG influences the empathy for pain. In the present study, in terms of the exposure experience to VVG, two groups of participants (18 in VVG group, VG; 17 in non-VVG group, NG were screened from nearly 200 video game experience questionnaires. And then, the functional magnetic resonance imaging data were recorded when they were viewing painful and non-painful stimuli. The results showed that the perception of others’ pain were not significantly different in brain regions between groups, from which we could infer that the desensitization effect of VVGs was overrated.
Long-Time Exposure to Violent Video Games Does Not Show Desensitization on Empathy for Pain: An fMRI Study

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Xuemei; Pan, Wei; Li, Chao; Weng, Lei; Yao, Mengyun; Chen, Antao

2017-01-01

As a typical form of empathy, empathy for pain refers to the perception and appraisal of others’ pain, as well as the corresponding affective responses. Numerous studies investigated the factors affecting the empathy for pain, in which the exposure to violent video games (VVGs) could change players’ empathic responses to painful situations. However, it remains unclear whether exposure to VVG influences the empathy for pain. In the present study, in terms of the exposure experience to VVG, two groups of participants (18 in VVG group, VG; 17 in non-VVG group, NG) were screened from nearly 200 video game experience questionnaires. And then, the functional magnetic resonance imaging data were recorded when they were viewing painful and non-painful stimuli. The results showed that the perception of others’ pain were not significantly different in brain regions between groups, from which we could infer that the desensitization effect of VVGs was overrated. PMID:28512439
Emotion Knowledge and Attentional Differences in Preschoolers Showing Context-Inappropriate Anger.

Science.gov (United States)

Locke, Robin L; Lang, Nichole J

2016-08-01

Some children show anger inappropriate for the situation based on the predominant incentives, which is called context-inappropriate anger. Children need to attend to and interpret situational incentives for appropriate emotional responses. We examined associations of context-inappropriate anger with emotion recognition and attention problems in 43 preschoolers (42% male; M age = 55.1 months, SD = 4.1). Parents rated context-inappropriate anger across situations. Teachers rated attention problems using the Child Behavior Checklist-Teacher Report Form. Emotion recognition was ability to recognize emotional faces using the Emotion Matching Test. Anger perception bias was indicated by anger to non-anger situations using an adapted Affect Knowledge Test. 28% of children showed context-inappropriate anger, which correlated with lower emotion recognition (β = -.28) and higher attention problems (β = .36). Higher attention problems correlated with more anger perception bias (β = .32). This cross-sectional, correlational study provides preliminary findings that children with context-inappropriate anger showed more attention problems, which suggests that both "problems" tend to covary and associate with deficits or biases in emotion knowledge. © The Author(s) 2016.
Synthesis, characterization and non-linear optical response of organophilic carbon dots

KAUST Repository

Bourlinos, Athanasios B.

2013-09-01

For the first time ever we report the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of carbon dots (C-dots). The C-dots for these experiments were synthesized by mild pyrolysis of lauryl gallate. The resulting C-dots bear lauryl chains and, hence, are highly dispersible in polar organic solvents, like chloroform. Dispersions in CHCl3 show significant NLO response. Specifically, the C-dots show negative nonlinear absorption coefficient and negative nonlinear refraction. Using suspensions with different concentrations these parameters are quantified and compared to those of fullerene a well-known carbon molecule with proven NLO response. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Synthesis, characterization and non-linear optical response of organophilic carbon dots

KAUST Repository

Bourlinos, Athanasios B.; Karakassides, Michael A.; Kouloumpis, Antonios; Gournis, Dimitrios; Bakandritsos, Aristides; Papagiannouli, Irene; Aloukos, Panagiotis; Couris, Stelios; Hola, Katerina; Zboril, Radek; Krysmann, Marta; Giannelis, Emmanuel P.

2013-01-01

For the first time ever we report the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of carbon dots (C-dots). The C-dots for these experiments were synthesized by mild pyrolysis of lauryl gallate. The resulting C-dots bear lauryl chains and, hence, are highly dispersible in polar organic solvents, like chloroform. Dispersions in CHCl3 show significant NLO response. Specifically, the C-dots show negative nonlinear absorption coefficient and negative nonlinear refraction. Using suspensions with different concentrations these parameters are quantified and compared to those of fullerene a well-known carbon molecule with proven NLO response. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Response format, magnitude of laterality effects, and sex differences in laterality.

Science.gov (United States)

Voyer, Daniel; Doyle, Randi A

2012-01-01

The present study examined the evidence for the claim that response format might affect the magnitude of laterality effects by means of a meta-analysis. The analysis included the 396 effect sizes drawn from 266 studies retrieved by Voyer (1996) and relevant to the main effect of laterality and sex differences in laterality for verbal and non-verbal tasks in the auditory, tactile, and visual sensory modality. The response format used in specific studies was the only moderator variable of interest in the present analysis, resulting in four broad response categories (oral, written, computer, and pointing). A meta-analysis analogue to ANOVA showed no significant influence of response format on either the main effect of laterality or sex differences in laterality when all sensory modalities were combined. However, when modalities were considered separately, response format affected the main effect of laterality in the visual modality, with a clear advantage for written responses. Further pointed analyses revealed some specific differences among response formats. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for the measurement of laterality.
Parametric Response Maps of Perfusion MRI May Identify Recurrent Glioblastomas Responsive to Bevacizumab and Irinotecan

Science.gov (United States)

Aquino, Domenico; Cuppini, Lucia; Anghileri, Elena; Finocchiaro, Gaetano; Bruzzone, Maria Grazia; Eoli, Marica

2014-01-01

Background Perfusion weighted imaging (PWI) can be used to measure key aspects of tumor vascularity in vivo and recent studies suggest that perfusion imaging may be useful in the early assessment of response to angiogenesis inhibitors. Aim of this work is to compare Parametric Response Maps (PRMs) with the Region Of Interest (ROI) approach in the analysis of tumor changes induced by bevacizumab and irinotecan in recurrent glioblastomas (rGBM), and to evaluate if changes in tumor blood volume measured by perfusion MRI may predict clinical outcome. Methods 42 rGBM patients with KPS ≥50 were treated until progression, as defined by MRI with RANO criteria. Relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) variation after 8 weeks of treatment was calculated through semi-automatic ROI placement in the same anatomic region as in baseline. Alternatively, rCBV variations with respect to baseline were calculated into the evolving tumor region using a voxel-by-voxel difference. PRMs were created showing where rCBV significantly increased, decreased or remained unchanged. Results An increased blood volume in PRM (PRMCBV+) higher than 18% (first quartile) after 8 weeks of treatment was associated with increased progression free survival (PFS; 24 versus 13 weeks, p = 0.045) and overall survival (OS; 38 versus 25 weeks, p = 0.016). After 8 weeks of treatment ROI analysis showed that mean rCBV remained elevated in non responsive patients (4.8±0.9 versus 5.1±1.2, p = 0.38), whereas decreased in responsive patients (4.2±1.3 versus 3.8±1.6 p = 0.04), and re-increased progressively when patients approached tumor progression. Conclusions Our data suggest that PRMs can provide an early marker of response to antiangiogenic treatment and warrant further confirmation in a larger cohort of GBM patients. PMID:24675671
Before and after retrofit - response of a building during ambient and strong motions

Science.gov (United States)

Celebi, M.; Liu, Huaibao P.; ,

1998-01-01

This paper presents results obtained from ambient vibration and strong-motion responses of a thirteen-story, moment-resisting steel framed Santa Clara County Office Building (SCCOB) before being retrofitted by visco-elastic dampers and from ambient vibration response following the retrofit. Understanding the cumulative structural and site characteristics that affect the response of SCCOB before and after the retrofit is important in assessing earthquake hazards to other similar buildings and decision making in retrofitting them. The results emphasize the need to better evaluate structural and site characteristics in developing earthquake resisting designs that avoid resonating effects. Various studies of the strong-motion response records from the SCCOB during the 24 April 1984 (MHE) Morgan Hill (MS = 6.1), the 31 March 1986 (MLE) Mt. Lewis (MS = 6.1) and the 17 October 1989 (LPE) Loma Prieta (MS = 7.1) earthquakes show that the dynamic characteristics of the building are such that it (a) resonated (b) responded with a beating effect due to close-coupling of its translational and torsional frequencies, and (c) had a long-duration response due to low-damping. During each of these earthquakes, there was considerable contents damage and the occupants felt the rigorous vibration of the building. Ambient tests of SCCOB performed following LPE showed that both translational and torsional periods of the building are smaller than those derived from strong motions. Ambient tests performed following the retrofit of the building with visco-elastic dampers show that the structural fundamental mode frequency of the building has increased. The increased frequency implies a stiffer structure. Strong-motion response of the building during future earthquakes will ultimately validate the effectiveness of the retrofit method.This paper presents results obtained from ambient vibration and strong-motion responses of a thirteen-story, moment-resisting steel framed Santa Clara County
Dissociating the influence of response selection and task anticipation on corticospinal suppression during response preparation.

Science.gov (United States)

Duque, Julie; Labruna, Ludovica; Cazares, Christian; Ivry, Richard B

2014-12-01

Motor behavior requires selecting between potential actions. The role of inhibition in response selection has frequently been examined in tasks in which participants are engaged in some advance preparation prior to the presentation of an imperative signal. Under such conditions, inhibition could be related to processes associated with response selection, or to more general inhibitory processes that are engaged in high states of anticipation. In Experiment 1, we manipulated the degree of anticipatory preparation. Participants performed a choice reaction time task that required choosing between a movement of the left or right index finger, and used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to elicit motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in the left hand agonist. In high anticipation blocks, a non-informative cue (e.g., fixation marker) preceded the imperative; in low anticipation blocks, there was no cue and participants were required to divide their attention between two tasks to further reduce anticipation. MEPs were substantially reduced before the imperative signal in high anticipation blocks. In contrast, in low anticipation blocks, MEPs remained unchanged before the imperative signal but showed a marked suppression right after the onset of the imperative. This effect occurred regardless of whether the imperative had signalled a left or right hand response. After this initial inhibition, left MEPs increased when the left hand was selected and remained suppressed when the right hand was selected. We obtained similar results in Experiment 2 except that the persistent left MEP suppression when the left hand was not selected was attenuated when the alternative response involved a non-homologous effector (right foot). These results indicate that, even in the absence of an anticipatory period, inhibitory mechanisms are engaged during response selection, possibly to prevent the occurrence of premature and inappropriate responses during a competitive selection process. Copyright
Dissociating the Influence of Response Selection and Task Anticipation on Corticospinal Suppression During Response Preparation

Science.gov (United States)

Duque, Julie; Labruna, Ludovica; Cazares, Christian; Ivry, Richard B.

2014-01-01

Motor behavior requires selecting between potential actions. The role of inhibition in response selection has frequently been examined in tasks in which participants are engaged in some advance preparation prior to the presentation of an imperative signal. Under such conditions, inhibition could be related to processes associated with response selection, or to more general inhibitory processes that are engaged in high states of anticipation. In Experiment 1, we manipulated the degree of anticipatory preparation. Participants performed a choice reaction time task that required choosing between a movement of the left or right index finger, and used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to elicit motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in the left hand agonist. In high anticipation blocks, a non-informative cue (e.g., fixation marker) preceded the imperative; in low anticipation blocks, there was no cue and participants were required to divide their attention between two tasks to further reduce anticipation. MEPs were substantially reduced before the imperative signal in high anticipation blocks. In contrast, in low anticipation blocks, MEPs remained unchanged before the imperative signal but showed a marked suppression right after the onset of the imperative. This effect occurred regardless of whether the imperative had signaled a left or right hand response. After this initial inhibition, left MEPs increased when the left hand was selected and remained suppressed when the right hand was selected. We obtained similar results in Experiment 2 except that the persistent left MEP suppression when the left hand was not selected was attenuated when the alternative response involved a non-homologous effector (right foot). These results indicate that, even in the absence of an anticipatory period, inhibitory mechanisms are engaged during response selection, possibly to prevent the occurrence of premature and inappropriate responses during a competitive selection process. PMID
Computer incident response and forensics team management conducting a successful incident response

CERN Document Server

Johnson, Leighton

2013-01-01

Computer Incident Response and Forensics Team Management provides security professionals with a complete handbook of computer incident response from the perspective of forensics team management. This unique approach teaches readers the concepts and principles they need to conduct a successful incident response investigation, ensuring that proven policies and procedures are established and followed by all team members. Leighton R. Johnson III describes the processes within an incident response event and shows the crucial importance of skillful forensics team management, including when and where the transition to forensics investigation should occur during an incident response event. The book also provides discussions of key incident response components. Provides readers with a complete handbook on computer incident response from the perspective of forensics team management Identify the key steps to completing a successful computer incident response investigation Defines the qualities necessary to become a succ...
Adaptive response induced by occupational exposures to ionizing radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barquinero, J.F.; Caballin, M.R.; Barrios, L.; Murtra, P.; Egozcue, J.; Miro, R.; Ribas, M.

1997-01-01

We have found a significant decreased sensitivity to the cytogenetic effects of ionizing radiation (IR) and bleomycin (BLM) in lymphocytes from individuals occupationally exposed to IR when compared with a control population. These results suggest that occupational exposures to IR can induce adaptive response that can be detected by a subsequent treatment by IR or by BLM. However, no correlation between the results obtained with both treatments was observed. A great heterogeneity in the frequencies of chromatid aberrations induced by BLM was observed. The study of the influence of different harvesting times showed that there was no correlation with the frequencies of chromatid breaks. Our results indicate that the use of BLM to detect adaptive response has several difficulties at the individual level. (author)
Immature dendritic cells generated from cryopreserved human monocytes show impaired ability to respond to LPS and to induce allogeneic lymphocyte proliferation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guilherme Ferreira Silveira

Full Text Available Dendritic cells play a key role in the immune system, in the sensing of foreign antigens and triggering of an adaptive immune response. Cryopreservation of human monocytes was investigated to understand its effect on differentiation into immature monocyte-derived dendritic cells (imdDCs, the response to inflammatory stimuli and the ability to induce allogeneic lymphocyte proliferation. Cryopreserved (crp-monocytes were able to differentiate into imdDCs, albeit to a lesser extent than freshly (frh-obtained monocytes. Furthermore, crp-imdDCs had lower rates of maturation and cytokine/chemokine secretion in response to LPS than frh-imdDCs. Lower expression of Toll-like receptor 4 (at 24 and 48 h and higher susceptibility to apoptosis in crp-imdDCs than in fresh cells would account for the impaired maturation and cytokine/chemokine secretion observed. A mixed leukocyte reaction showed that lymphocyte proliferation was lower with crp-imdDCs than with frh-imdDCs. These findings suggested that the source of monocytes used to generate human imdDCs could influence the accuracy of results observed in studies of the immune response to pathogens, lymphocyte activation, vaccination and antigen sensing. It is not always possible to work with freshly isolated monocytes but the possible effects of freezing/thawing on the biology and responsiveness of imdDCs should be taken into account.
Auditory temporal-order thresholds show no gender differences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Kesteren, Marlieke T. R.; Wierslnca-Post, J. Esther C.

2007-01-01

Purpose: Several studies on auditory temporal-order processing showed gender differences. Women needed longer inter-stimulus intervals than men when indicating the temporal order of two clicks presented to the left and right ear. In this study, we examined whether we could reproduce these results in
Auditory temporal-order thresholds show no gender differences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Kesteren, Marlieke T R; Wiersinga-Post, J Esther C

2007-01-01

PURPOSE: Several studies on auditory temporal-order processing showed gender differences. Women needed longer inter-stimulus intervals than men when indicating the temporal order of two clicks presented to the left and right ear. In this study, we examined whether we could reproduce these results in
Nano-industry operationalizations of "responsibility"

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shelley-Egan, Clare; Davies, Sarah Rachael

2013-01-01

and the United States in order to map industry operationalizations of "responsibility" in these contexts. We show that a number of different articulations of "responsibility" are present, including as a response to public lack of trust and perceived public pressure, and as the management of risk. We close...

Comparison of Tuberculin Skin Test result and interferon gamma response to human PPD in BCG scar positive and negative children.

Science.gov (United States)

Sayyahfar, Shirin; Karimi, Abdollah; Fahimzad, Alireza; Shamshiri, Ahmad Reza

2014-03-01

The aim of this study is to compare Tuberculin Skin Test (TST) result and interferon gamma response to human PPD (purified protein derivative), in scar positive and scar negative BCG-vaccinated children. Between August 2007 and May 2008 a total of 236 children aged 1-168 months (mean 21 months) admitted to Mofid Children's Hospital, Tehran, Iran, were enrolled in a cross-sectional study. Each patient was examined for BCG vaccine scar and tested with TST and human PPD-based Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA). Two hundred and twenty one cases out of 236 (44% female, 1-168 months, mean age 21 months) were scar positive of whom 95% TST result was negative. Human PPD-based IGRA was positive in 110 (49.8%), negative in 85 (38.4 %) and indeterminate in 26 (11.8%) of scar positive patients. Fifteen children (40% female, 1-156 months; mean age 42 months) were scar negative. All the scar negative cases were TST negative. Human PPD-based IGRA was positive in 10 (66.7%), negative in 4 (26.7%) and indeterminate in 1 (6.7%) of scar negative patients. Immune responsiveness to human PPD antigens in scar positive and negative children may not correspond with results of the Tuberculin Skin Test. Copyright © 2013 Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Acute posttraumatic stress symptoms and depression after exposure to the 2005 Saskatchewan Centennial Air Show disaster: prevalence and predictors.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Steven; Asmundson, Gordon J G; Carleton, R Nicholas; Brundin, Peter

2007-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of acute distress-that is, clinically significant posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and depression-and to identify predictors of each in a sample of people who witnessed a fatal aircraft collision at the 2005 Saskatchewan Centennial Air Show. Air Show attendees (N = 157) were recruited by advertisements in the local media and completed an Internet-administered battery of questionnaires. Based on previously established cut-offs, 22 percent respondents had clinically significant PTSS and 24 percent had clinically significant depressive symptoms. Clinically significant symptoms were associated with posttrauma impairment in social and occupational functioning. Acute distress was associated with several variables, including aspects of Air Show trauma exposure, severity of prior trauma exposure, low posttrauma social support (ie, negative responses by others), indices of poor coping (eg, intolerance of uncertainty, rumination about the trauma), and elevated scores on anxiety sensitivity, the personality trait of absorption, and dissociative tendencies. Results suggest that clinically significant acute distress is common in the aftermath of witnessed trauma. The statistical predictors (correlates) of acute distress were generally consistent with the results of studies of other forms of trauma. People with elevated scores on theoretical vulnerability factors (eg, elevated anxiety sensitivity) were particularly likely to develop acute distress.
Breast Cancer-Derived Lung Metastases Show Increased Pyruvate Carboxylase-Dependent Anaplerosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefan Christen

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Cellular proliferation depends on refilling the tricarboxylic acid (TCA cycle to support biomass production (anaplerosis. The two major anaplerotic pathways in cells are pyruvate conversion to oxaloacetate via pyruvate carboxylase (PC and glutamine conversion to α-ketoglutarate. Cancers often show an organ-specific reliance on either pathway. However, it remains unknown whether they adapt their mode of anaplerosis when metastasizing to a distant organ. We measured PC-dependent anaplerosis in breast-cancer-derived lung metastases compared to their primary cancers using in vivo 13C tracer analysis. We discovered that lung metastases have higher PC-dependent anaplerosis compared to primary breast cancers. Based on in vitro analysis and a mathematical model for the determination of compartment-specific metabolite concentrations, we found that mitochondrial pyruvate concentrations can promote PC-dependent anaplerosis via enzyme kinetics. In conclusion, we show that breast cancer cells proliferating as lung metastases activate PC-dependent anaplerosis in response to the lung microenvironment.
Ninety-six hours to build a prototype robot showing human emotions

CERN Multimedia

Stefania Pandolfi

2016-01-01

Thirty-five Master's students in the fields of business, design and engineering participated in an intensive five-day project-based introduction to programming and advanced electronics. The goal of the initiative was to build a fully functional prototype robot able to communicate and show at least four basic human emotions. A group of students is presenting a prototype robot showing human emotions at IdeaSquare. With no previous experience in electronics or coding, groups of students from Portugal, Italy, Norway and Estonia were introduced to the basics of sensors, integrated circuits and actuators, and after just 96 hours they presented their functioning robots at IdeaSquare on Friday, 15 January. These robots, mostly built around Arduino boards and recycled materials, were able to display different human emotions as a response to external environmental inputs. The five-day workshop, called öBot, was organised by the IdeaSquare te...
Dynamics of harmonically-confined systems: Some rigorous results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Zhigang, E-mail: zwu@physics.queensu.ca; Zaremba, Eugene, E-mail: zaremba@sparky.phy.queensu.ca

2014-03-15

In this paper we consider the dynamics of harmonically-confined atomic gases. We present various general results which are independent of particle statistics, interatomic interactions and dimensionality. Of particular interest is the response of the system to external perturbations which can be either static or dynamic in nature. We prove an extended Harmonic Potential Theorem which is useful in determining the damping of the centre of mass motion when the system is prepared initially in a highly nonequilibrium state. We also study the response of the gas to a dynamic external potential whose position is made to oscillate sinusoidally in a given direction. We show in this case that either the energy absorption rate or the centre of mass dynamics can serve as a probe of the optical conductivity of the system. -- Highlights: •We derive various rigorous results on the dynamics of harmonically-confined atomic gases. •We derive an extension of the Harmonic Potential Theorem. •We demonstrate the link between the energy absorption rate in a harmonically-confined system and the optical conductivity.
Racial bias in neural empathic responses to pain.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis Sebastian Contreras-Huerta

Full Text Available Recent studies have shown that perceiving the pain of others activates brain regions in the observer associated with both somatosensory and affective-motivational aspects of pain, principally involving regions of the anterior cingulate and anterior insula cortex. The degree of these empathic neural responses is modulated by racial bias, such that stronger neural activation is elicited by observing pain in people of the same racial group compared with people of another racial group. The aim of the present study was to examine whether a more general social group category, other than race, could similarly modulate neural empathic responses and perhaps account for the apparent racial bias reported in previous studies. Using a minimal group paradigm, we assigned participants to one of two mixed-race teams. We use the term race to refer to the Chinese or Caucasian appearance of faces and whether the ethnic group represented was the same or different from the appearance of the participant' own face. Using fMRI, we measured neural empathic responses as participants observed members of their own group or other group, and members of their own race or other race, receiving either painful or non-painful touch. Participants showed clear group biases, with no significant effect of race, on behavioral measures of implicit (affective priming and explicit group identification. Neural responses to observed pain in the anterior cingulate cortex, insula cortex, and somatosensory areas showed significantly greater activation when observing pain in own-race compared with other-race individuals, with no significant effect of minimal groups. These results suggest that racial bias in neural empathic responses is not influenced by minimal forms of group categorization, despite the clear association participants showed with in-group more than out-group members. We suggest that race may be an automatic and unconscious mechanism that drives the initial neural responses to
Racial Bias in Neural Empathic Responses to Pain

Science.gov (United States)

Contreras-Huerta, Luis Sebastian; Baker, Katharine S.; Reynolds, Katherine J.; Batalha, Luisa; Cunnington, Ross

2013-01-01

Recent studies have shown that perceiving the pain of others activates brain regions in the observer associated with both somatosensory and affective-motivational aspects of pain, principally involving regions of the anterior cingulate and anterior insula cortex. The degree of these empathic neural responses is modulated by racial bias, such that stronger neural activation is elicited by observing pain in people of the same racial group compared with people of another racial group. The aim of the present study was to examine whether a more general social group category, other than race, could similarly modulate neural empathic responses and perhaps account for the apparent racial bias reported in previous studies. Using a minimal group paradigm, we assigned participants to one of two mixed-race teams. We use the term race to refer to the Chinese or Caucasian appearance of faces and whether the ethnic group represented was the same or different from the appearance of the participant' own face. Using fMRI, we measured neural empathic responses as participants observed members of their own group or other group, and members of their own race or other race, receiving either painful or non-painful touch. Participants showed clear group biases, with no significant effect of race, on behavioral measures of implicit (affective priming) and explicit group identification. Neural responses to observed pain in the anterior cingulate cortex, insula cortex, and somatosensory areas showed significantly greater activation when observing pain in own-race compared with other-race individuals, with no significant effect of minimal groups. These results suggest that racial bias in neural empathic responses is not influenced by minimal forms of group categorization, despite the clear association participants showed with in-group more than out-group members. We suggest that race may be an automatic and unconscious mechanism that drives the initial neural responses to observed pain in
The influence of the diffusion of responsibility effect on outcome evaluations: electrophysiological evidence from an ERP study.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Peng; Jia, Shiwei; Feng, Tingyong; Liu, Qiang; Suo, Tao; Li, Hong

2010-10-01

Previous studies have revealed that personal responsibility has an influence on outcome evaluation, although the way this influence works is still unclear. This study imitated the phenomenon of responsibility diffusion in a laboratory to examine the influence of the effect of responsibility diffusion on the processing of outcome evaluation using the event-related potential (ERP) technique. Participants of the study were required to perform the gambling task individually in the high-responsibility condition and with others in the low-responsibility scenario. Self-rating results showed that the participants felt more responsible for monetary loss and believed that they had more contributions to the monetary gains in the high-responsibility condition than in the low-responsibility situation. Both the feedback-related negativity (FRN) and the P300 were sensitive to the responsibility level, as evidenced by the enhanced amplitudes in the high-responsibility condition for both components. Further correlation analysis showed a negative correlation between FRN amplitudes and subjective rating scores (i.e., the higher the responsibility level, the larger the FRN amplitude). The results probably indicate that the FRN and P300 reflect personal responsibility processing under the social context of diffusion of responsibility. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Preliminary results on response assessment using {sup 68}Ga-HBED-CC-PSMA PET/CT in patients with metastatic prostate cancer undergoing docetaxel chemotherapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seitz, Anna Katharina [Technical University of Munich, Department of Urology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Munich (Germany); Julius Maximilians University Medical Centre of Wuerzburg, Department of Urology and Paediatric Urology, Wuerzburg (Germany); Rauscher, Isabel; Kroenke, Markus; Schwaiger, Markus [Technical University of Munich, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Munich (Germany); Haller, Bernhard [Technical University of Munich, Institute of Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Munich (Germany); Luther, Sophia; Heck, Matthias M.; Horn, Thomas; Gschwend, Juergen E.; Maurer, Tobias [Technical University of Munich, Department of Urology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Munich (Germany); Eiber, Matthias [Technical University of Munich, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Munich (Germany); David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, Los Angeles (United States)

2018-04-15

lesions on CT. {sup 68}Ga-PSMA PET and CT results corresponded in seven of 12 patients (58%, 28% to 85%). Our preliminary results suggest that {sup 68}Ga-PSMA PET might be a promising method for treatment response assessment in mCSPC and mCRPC. The data indicate that for different metastatic sites, the performance of {sup 68}Ga-PSMA PET in response assessment might be superior to that of the conventional CT approach and could help differentiate between progressive disease and treatment response. Because of the limited number of patients, the differences revealed in our study were not statistically significant. Thus larger and prospective studies are clearly needed and warranted to confirm the value of {sup 68}Ga-PSMA PET as an imaging biomarker for response assessment. (orig.)
A meta-analysis of the response of soil moisture to experimental warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Wenfang; Yuan, Wenping; Dong, Wenjie; Xia, Jiangzhou; Liu, Dan; Chen, Yang

2013-01-01

Soil moisture is an important variable for regulating carbon, water and energy cycles of terrestrial ecosystems. However, numerous inconsistent conclusions have been reported regarding the responses of soil moisture to warming. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis for examination of the response of soil moisture to experimental warming across global warming sites including several ecosystem types. The results showed that soil moisture decreased in response to warming treatments when compared with control treatments in most ecosystem types. The largest reduction of soil moisture was observed in forests, while intermediate reductions were observed in grassland and cropland, and they were both larger than the reductions observed in shrubland and tundra ecosystems. Increases (or no change) in soil moisture also occurred in some ecosystems. Taken together, these results showed a trend of soil drying in most ecosystems, which may have exerted profound impacts on a variety of terrestrial ecosystem processes as well as feedbacks to the climate system. (letter)
Digestive and locomotor capacity show opposing responses to changing food availability in an ambush predatory fish.

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Shi-Jian; Peng, Jing; Killen, Shaun S

2018-06-14

Metabolic rates vary widely within species, but little is known about how variation in the 'floor' [i.e. standard metabolic rate (SMR) in ectotherms] and 'ceiling' [maximum metabolic rate (MMR)] for an individual's aerobic scope (AS) are linked with digestive and locomotor function. Any links among metabolic traits and aspects of physiological performance may also be modulated by fluctuations in food availability. This study followed changes in SMR, MMR, and digestive and locomotor capacity in southern catfish ( Silurus meridionalis ) throughout 15 days of food deprivation and 15 days of refeeding. Individuals downregulated SMR during food deprivation and showed only a 10% body mass decrease during this time. Whereas critical swim speed ( U crit ) was robust to food deprivation, digestive function decreased after fasting with a reduced peak oxygen uptake during specific dynamic action (SDA) and prolonged SDA duration. During refeeding, individuals displayed rapid growth and digestive function recovered to pre-fasting levels. However, refed fish showed a lower U crit than would be expected for their increased body length and in comparison to measures at the start of the study. Reduced swimming ability may be a consequence of compensatory growth: growth rate was negatively correlated with changes in U crit during refeeding. Southern catfish downregulate digestive function to reduce energy expenditure during food deprivation, but regain digestive capacity during refeeding, potentially at the cost of decreased swimming performance. The plasticity of maintenance requirements suggests that SMR is a key fitness trait for in this ambush predator. Shifts in trait correlations with food availability suggest that the potential for correlated selection may depend on context. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.
Results of expert response when forming an exhaustive list of potential risks of constructions projects using energy efficient technologies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryzhkova Anastasiya Igorevna

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The author deals with the most widely used methods of risk events identification. The expert response method is most applicable for construction projects using energy efficient technologies. The article presents the results of an opinion poll of the professional expert community using expert response method, which is aimed to identify the most likely potential “pure” risk of construction projects with energy-efficient technologies in use. 74 experts representing different levels of the construction process were polled: customers and directors of construction companies, project managers, risk managers, advisors. The answers were collected during private talks and also using a special website Survey Monkey. Experts from different countries took part: Russia, Great Britain, Austria, Luxemburg, Switzerland and Norway. Also the article presents the expert evaluation of the “effect” of risk implementation on the cost of a project, implementation time, the product quality, the environment and safety on the construction site.
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma response evaluation with MRI texture classification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heinonen Tomi T

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To show magnetic resonance imaging (MRI texture appearance change in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL during treatment with response controlled by quantitative volume analysis. Methods A total of 19 patients having NHL with an evaluable lymphoma lesion were scanned at three imaging timepoints with 1.5T device during clinical treatment evaluation. Texture characteristics of images were analyzed and classified with MaZda application and statistical tests. Results NHL tissue MRI texture imaged before treatment and under chemotherapy was classified within several subgroups, showing best discrimination with 96% correct classification in non-linear discriminant analysis of T2-weighted images. Texture parameters of MRI data were successfully tested with statistical tests to assess the impact of the separability of the parameters in evaluating chemotherapy response in lymphoma tissue. Conclusion Texture characteristics of MRI data were classified successfully; this proved texture analysis to be potential quantitative means of representing lymphoma tissue changes during chemotherapy response monitoring.
Deletion of Nhlh2 results in a defective torpor response and reduced Beta adrenergic receptor expression in adipose tissue.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Umesh D Wankhade

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Mice with a targeted deletion of the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, Nescient Helix-Loop-Helix 2 (Nhlh2, display adult-onset obesity with significant increases in their fat depots, abnormal responses to cold exposure, and reduced spontaneous physical activity levels. These phenotypes, accompanied by the hypothalamic expression of Nhlh2, make the Nhlh2 knockout (N2KO mouse a useful model to study the role of central nervous system (CNS control on peripheral tissue such as adipose tissue.Differences in body temperature and serum analysis of leptin were performed in fasted and ad lib fed wild-type (WT and N2KO mice. Histological analysis of white (WAT and brown adipose tissue (BAT was performed. Gene and protein level expression of inflammatory and metabolic markers were compared between the two genotypes.We report significant differences in serum leptin levels and body temperature in N2KO mice compared with WT mice exposed to a 24-hour fast, suggestive of a defect in both white (WAT and brown adipose tissue (BAT function. As compared to WT mice, N2KO mice showed increased serum IL-6 protein and WAT IL-6 mRNA levels. This was accompanied by slight elevations of mRNA for several macrophage markers, including expression of macrophage specific protein F4/80 in adipose, suggestive of macrophage infiltration of WAT in the mutant animals. The mRNAs for beta3-adrenergic receptors (beta3-AR, beta2-AR and uncoupling proteins were significantly reduced in WAT and BAT from N2KO mice compared with WT mice.These studies implicate Nhlh2 in the central control of WAT and BAT function, with lack of Nhlh2 leading to adipose inflammation and altered gene expression, impaired leptin response to fasting, all suggestive of a deficient torpor response in mutant animals.
Response effects in the perception of conjunctions of colour and form.

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Chmiel, N

1989-01-01

Two experiments addressed the question whether visual search for a target defined by a conjunction of colour and form requires a central, serial, attentional process, but detection of a single feature, such as colour, is preattentive, as proposed by the feature-integration theory of attention. Experiment 1 investigated conjunction and feature search using small array sizes of up to five elements, under conditions which precluded eye-movements, in contrast to previous studies. The results were consistent with the theory. Conjunction search showed the effect of adding distractors to the display, the slopes of the curves relating RT to array size were in the approximate ratio of 2:1, consistent with a central, serial search process, exhaustive for absence responses and self-terminating for presence responses. Feature search showed no significant effect of distractors for presence responses. Experiment 2 manipulated the response requirements in conjunction search, using vocal response in a GO-NO GO procedure, in contrast to Experiment 1, which used key-press responses in a YES-NO procedure. Strikingly, presence-response RT was not affected significantly by the number of distractors in the array. The slope relating RT to array size was 3.92. The absence RT slope was 30.56, producing a slope ratio of approximately 8:1. There was no interaction of errors with array size and the presence and absence conditions, implying that RT-error trade-offs did not produce this slope ratio. This result suggests that feature-integration theory is at least incomplete.
The importance of socially responsible strategic planning

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Štrukelj, Tjaša

2017-10-01

This paper researches the importance of social responsible strategic planning regardless of the sector and shows research results on the case example of the selected tourism sector, which has economic and employment potential and social and environmental implications. Tourism sector is closely interdependent with transport sector and influences it. Therefore, the more we develop the tourism sector, the more the transport sector is developing as well. Based on Mulej’s Dialectical Systems Theory (DST) we found out that enterprises should integrate sustainability and social responsibility into their strategic planning if they want the Earth to survive. This urged the European Union, ISO International Standards Organization, many other organisations and many researchers. To make strategic planning socially responsible, enterprise’s governors should request social responsibility in business policy, which represents their governance guidelines and is implemented through the strategies set up by top managers and realised in the basic realisation process - their business operations.
Nanoscale theranostics for physical stimulus-responsive cancer therapies.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Qian; Ke, Hengte; Dai, Zhifei; Liu, Zhuang

2015-12-01

Physical stimulus-responsive therapies often employing multifunctional theranostic agents responsive to external physical stimuli such as light, magnetic field, ultra-sound, radiofrequency, X-ray, etc., have been widely explored as novel cancer therapy strategies, showing encouraging results in many pre-clinical animal experiments. Unlike conventional cancer chemotherapy which often accompanies with severe toxic side effects, physical stimulus-responsive agents usually are non-toxic by themselves and would destruct cancer cells only under specific external stimuli, and thus could offer greatly reduced toxicity and enhanced treatment specificity. In addition, physical stimulus-responsive therapies can also be combined with other traditional therapeutics to achieve synergistic anti-tumor effects via a variety of mechanisms. In this review, we will summarize the latest progress in the development of physical stimulus-responsive therapies, and discuss the important roles of nanoscale theranostic agents involved in those non-conventional therapeutic strategies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Responses of hadrons to the chemical potential at finite temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choe, S.; Liu, Y.; Miyamura, O.; Forcrand, Ph. de; Garcia Perez, M.; Hioki, S.; Matsufuru, H.; Nakamura, A.; Stamatescu, I.-O.; Takaishi, T.; Umeda, T.

2002-01-01

We present a framework to compute the responses of hadron masses to the chemical potential in lattice QCD simulations. As a first trial, the screening mass of the pseudoscalar meson and its first and second responses are evaluated. We present results on a 16x8 2 x4 lattice with two flavors of staggered quarks below and above T c . The responses to both the isoscalar and isovector chemical potentials are obtained. They show different behavior in the low and the high temperature phases, which may be explained as a consequence of chiral symmetry breaking and restoration, respectively
Talk Show Science.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Mitzi Ruth

1992-01-01

Proposes having students perform skits in which they play the roles of the science concepts they are trying to understand. Provides the dialog for a skit in which hot and cold gas molecules are interviewed on a talk show to study how these properties affect wind, rain, and other weather phenomena. (MDH)
Glutathione-responsive core cross-linked micelles for controlled cabazitaxel delivery

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Xiaoxiong; Gong, Feirong; Sun, Jing; Li, Yueqi; Liu, XiaoFei; Chen, Dan; Liu, Jianwen; Shen, Yaling

2018-02-01

Stimulus-responsive polymeric micelles (PMs) have recently received attention due to the controlled delivery of drug or gene for application in cancer diagnosis and treatment. In this work, novel glutathione-responsive PMs were prepared to encapsulate hydrophobic antineoplastic drug, cabazitaxel (CTX), to improve its solubility and toxicity. These CTX-loaded micelles core cross-linked by disulfide bonds (DCL-CTX micelles) were prepared by a novel copolymer, lipoic acid grafted mPEG-PLA. These micelles had regular spherical shape, homogeneous diameter of 18.97 ± 0.23 nm, and a narrow size distribution. The DCL-CTX micelles showed high encapsulation efficiency of 98.65 ± 1.77%, and the aqueous solubility of CTX was improved by a factor of 1:1200. In vitro release investigation showed that DCL-CTX micelles were stable in the medium without glutathione (GSH), whereas the micelles had burst CTX release in the medium with 10 mM GSH. Cell uptake results implied that DCL-CTX micelles were internalized into MCF-7 cells through clathrin-mediated endocytosis and released cargo more effectively than Jevtana (commercially available CTX) owing to GSH-stimulated degradation. In MTT assay against MCF-7 cells, these micelles inhibited tumor cell proliferation more effectively than Jevtana due to their GSH-responsive CTX release. All results revealed the potency of GSH-responsive DCL-CTX micelles for stable delivery in blood circulation and for intracellular GSH-trigged release of CTX. Therefore, DCL-CTX micelles show potential as safe and effective CTX delivery carriers and as a cancer chemotherapy formulation.

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