The UCF Report, Vol. 05 No. 09, October 6, 1982

Improved employee benefits targeted; University Blvd joins parade for progress; Sick leave pool sets deadline; 11-day central decal exchange begins today in Admin Building; Trio tests $238,000 computer system; Academically speaking: Improvement of faculty teaching skills goal of new development center; Kay Harward: October\u27s employee of the month

Understanding successful physical activity behaviour change using a grounded theory methodology

Research evidence highlights regular physical activity (PA) as an increasingly important factor in the prevention of a variety of chronic diseases. Consequently, encouraging people to make PA related lifestyle changes is an everyday challenge faced by health professionals in primary and secondary health care settings. Although a number of intervention strategies have been developed and implemented, research evidence presents only limited support for their efficacy. While short-term changes may be achievable using current intervention strategies, long-term change (i.e. maintenance) appears much more difficult to achieve. Although many public health interventions are developed without explicit reference to theory, evidence suggests that the explicit use of theory will significantly improve the chances of effectiveness (Nutbeam & Harris, 2004). As no existing theoretical models are specifically intended to account for PA behaviour change, a number of pre-existing theoretical frameworks have been adopted to explain PA participation. This thesis reviews the existing body of theoretical literature in exercise psychology alongside conducting a systematic review (Study 1) of interventions based on the Transtheoretical Model (TTM). As a result, the theoretical depth or explanatory quality of existing models and theories is called into question, when applied to a PA context and specific phenomena such as long-term PA behaviour change. After reflecting on the debate surrounding different epistemological viewpoints and theoretical perspectives, applications of an alternative theory generating research approach (the Grounded Theory Methodology: GTM) are explored and evaluated. As a result, in light of the considerable epistemological debate that surrounds GTM, study 2 of this thesis focuses explicitly on methodological issues within exercise psychology. A critical review of applications of GTM within exercise psychology is conducted. Results reveal that many existing studies.demonstrate a poor understanding of GTM and/or fail to present an adequate account of the research process. Ultimately the results of study 2 provide valuable implications for study 3 of this thesis, which adopts GTM to develop an ecologically valid explanatory model of long-term PA behaviour change. Twenty-one adult participants (9 male, 12 female), aged between 38 and 62 years, were recruited from a countywide PA referral scheme. All participants had made long-term, positive changes to their PA habits. Participants contributed to 25 in-depth interviews. All sampling and analytical procedures were dictated by the key tenets of GTM and a constructivist theoretical stance. To assist with the GTM process, the software package QSR-NVivo was used throughout. A grounded theory of longterm PA behaviour change is presented in the form of a multidimensional explanatory model. The model identifies a number of observed cognitive processes, which appear central to PA behaviour change and maintenance. The underlying mechanisms responsible for these are also highlighted. Results are discussed with specific emphasis on literature surrounding value theories, core beliefs and the introduction of prominent clinical psychology and psychotherapy approaches within exercise psychology. Finally, implications for theory development and applied practice are highlighted and directions for future research suggested

A convergent relaxation of the Douglas-Rachford algorithm

This paper proposes an algorithm for solving structured optimization problems, which covers both the backward-backward and the Douglas-Rachford algorithms as special cases, and analyzes its convergence. The set of fixed points of the algorithm is characterized in several cases. Convergence criteria of the algorithm in terms of general fixed point operators are established. When applying to nonconvex feasibility including the inconsistent case, we prove local linear convergence results under mild assumptions on regularity of individual sets and of the collection of sets which need not intersect. In this special case, we refine known linear convergence criteria for the Douglas-Rachford algorithm (DR). As a consequence, for feasibility with one of the sets being affine, we establish criteria for linear and sublinear convergence of convex combinations of the alternating projection and the DR methods. These results seem to be new. We also demonstrate the seemingly improved numerical performance of this algorithm compared to the RAAR algorithm for both consistent and inconsistent sparse feasibility problems

Asymptotic bounds for spherical codes

The set of all error-correcting codes C over a fixed finite alphabet F of cardinality q determines the set of code points in the unit square with coordinates (R(C), delta (C)):= (relative transmission rate, relative minimal distance). The central problem of the theory of such codes consists in maximizing simultaneously the transmission rate of the code and the relative minimum Hamming distance between two different code words. The classical approach to this problem explored in vast literature consists in the inventing explicit constructions of "good codes" and comparing new classes of codes with earlier ones. Less classical approach studies the geometry of the whole set of code points (R,delta) (with q fixed), at first independently of its computability properties, and only afterwords turning to the problems of computability, analogies with statistical physics etc. The main purpose of this article consists in extending this latter strategy to domain of spherical codes.Comment: 34 pages amstex, 3 figure

Charged-particle nuclear modification factors in PbPb and pPb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV

The spectra of charged particles produced within the pseudorapidity window vertical bar eta vertical bar LT 1 at root s(NN) = 5 : 02 TeV are measured using 404 mu b(-1) of PbPb and 27.4 pb(-1) of pp data collected by the CMS detector at the LHC in 2015. The spectra are presented over the transverse momentum ranges spanning 0 : 5 LT p(T) LT 400 GeV in pp and 0 : 7 LT p(T) LT 400 GeV in PbPb collisions. The corresponding nuclear modification factor, R-AA, is measured in bins of collision centrality. The R-AA in the 5% most central collisions shows a maximal suppression by a factor of 7-8 in the p(T) region of 6-9 GeV. This dip is followed by an increase, which continues up to the highest p(T) measured, and approaches unity in the vicinity of p(T) = 200 GeV. The R-AA is compared to theoretical predictions and earlier experimental results at lower collision energies. The newly measured pp spectrum is combined with the pPb spectrum previously published by the CMS collaboration to construct the pPb nuclear modification factor, R-pA, up to 120 GeV. For p(T) GT 20 GeV, R-pA exhibits weak momentum dependence and shows a moderate enhancement above unity

New Mexico Lobo, Volume 063, No 86, 6/18/1960

New Mexico Lobo, Volume 063, No 86, 6/18/1960https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/daily_lobo_1960/1050/thumbnail.jp

Graph complexity analysis identifies an ETV5 tumor-specific network in human and murine low-grade glioma

Conventional differential expression analyses have been successfully employed to identify genes whose levels change across experimental conditions. One limitation of this approach is the inability to discover central regulators that control gene expression networks. In addition, while methods for identifying central nodes in a network are widely implemented, the bioinformatics validation process and the theoretical error estimates that reflect the uncertainty in each step of the analysis are rarely considered. Using the betweenness centrality measure, we identified Etv5 as a potential tissue-level regulator in murine neurofibromatosis type 1 (Nf1) low-grade brain tumors (optic gliomas). As such, the expression of Etv5 and Etv5 target genes were increased in multiple independently-generated mouse optic glioma models relative to non-neoplastic (normal healthy) optic nerves, as well as in the cognate human tumors (pilocytic astrocytoma) relative to normal human brain. Importantly, differential Etv5 and Etv5 network expression was not directly the result of Nf1 gene dysfunction in specific cell types, but rather reflects a property of the tumor as an aggregate tissue. Moreover, this differential Etv5 expression was independently validated at the RNA and protein levels. Taken together, the combined use of network analysis, differential RNA expression findings, and experimental validation highlights the potential of the computational network approach to provide new insights into tumor biology