Effects of synchronous music among elite endurance athletes

Effects of synchronous music were investigated in two field studies. In Study 1, music effects were assessed among two elite triathletes and six elite runners during three training runs. A custom-designed iPhone application was developed to record in-task RPE, feeling states, mood responses, distance run, cadence and heart rate data. Compared to the no-music condition, participants ran, on average, 7.5% and 7.2% further but reported lower RPE and more positive feelings and mood responses when running to synchronous music (d = .35) and a music-led condition (d = .29), respectively. In Study 2, nine elite ultra-distance athletes participating in 24-hr and 48-hr races listened to rotating playlists of synchronous motivational music, neutral music, audiobook and silence delivered by iPhone. During the 18-24 hr period, motivational music was associated with a 14 sec, 18 sec and 27 sec per 400-m lap improvement compared to silence (d = .39, p < .01), neutral music (d = .54, p < .001) and audio book (d = .54, p < .001) conditions, respectively. Collectively, findings supported the judicious use of music interventions among endurance athletes

Validation of spaceborne and modelled surface soil moisture products with cosmic-ray neutron probes

The scale difference between point in situ soil moisture measurements and low resolution satellite products limits the quality of any validation efforts in heterogeneous regions. Cosmic Ray Neutron Probes (CRNP) could be an option to fill the scale gap between both systems, as they provide area-average soil moisture within a 150–250 m radius footprint. In this study, we evaluate differences and similarities between CRNP observations, and surface soil moisture products from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2), the METOP-A/B Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT), the Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP), the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS), as well as simulations from the Global Land Data Assimilation System Version 2 (GLDAS2). Six CRNPs located on five continents have been selected as test sites: the Rur catchment in Germany, the COSMOS sites in Arizona and California (USA), and Kenya, one CosmOz site in New South Wales (Australia), and a site in Karnataka (India). Standard validation scores as well as the Triple Collocation (TC) method identified SMAP to provide a high accuracy soil moisture product with low noise or uncertainties as compared to CRNPs. The potential of CRNPs for satellite soil moisture validation has been proven; however, biomass correction methods should be implemented to improve its application in regions with large vegetation dynamics

Use of combinations of antipsychotics: McLean Hospital inpatients, 2002

Background The empirical use of combinations of antipsychotic agents appears to be increasing with little research support for the relative efficacy, safety or cost-effectiveness of this practice. Such treatment was evaluated in hospitalized psychiatric patients. Methods Samples of consecutive inpatients treated with > 2 ('polytherapy') vs 1 antipsychotic ('monotherapy') were matched on age, sex, diagnosis and admission clinical ratings, and these groups were compared on total daily chlorpromazine-equivalent doses, days in hospital, and changes in clinical ratings between admission and discharge. Results The study sample included 69 polytherapy and 115 well-matched monotherapy subjects. Despite matching for initial CGI and GAF ratings, polytherapy was associated with high PANSS subscale scores of positive symptoms among affective psychosis, and relatively greater PANSS subscale ratings of excitement-agitation among patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Estimated clinical improvement during hospitalization was similar among poly- and monotherapy patients, but total daily CPZ-eq doses at discharge averaged twice-greater with polytherapy, and hospitalization lasted 1.5 times longer. Conclusions Antipsychotic polytherapy as well as the types of agents combined may reflect clinician responses to particular symptom patterns. The value of specific combinations of antipsychotic agents and their comparison with monotherapies requires specific, prospective, randomized and well-controlled trials that consider matching on clinical characteristics and truly comparable doses across regimens. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

The Morphology of Galaxies in the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

We study the morphology of luminous and massive galaxies at 0.3<z<0.7 targeted in the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) using publicly available Hubble Space Telescope imaging from COSMOS. Our sample (240 objects) provides a unique opportunity to check the visual morphology of these galaxies which were targeted based solely on stellar population modelling. We find that the majority (74+/-6%) possess an early-type morphology (elliptical or S0), while the remainder have a late-type morphology. This is as expected from the goals of the BOSS target selection which aimed to predominantly select slowly evolving galaxies, for use as cosmological probes, while still obtaining a fair fraction of actively star forming galaxies for galaxy evolution studies. We show that a colour cut of (g-i)>2.35 selects a sub-sample of BOSS galaxies with 90% early-type morphology - more comparable to the earlier Luminous Red Galaxy (LRG) samples of SDSS-I/II. The remaining 10% of galaxies above this cut have a late-type morphology and may be analogous to the "passive spirals" found at lower redshift. We find that 23+/-4% of the early-type galaxies are unresolved multiple systems in the SDSS imaging. We estimate that at least 50% of these are real associations (not projection effects) and may represent a significant "dry merger" fraction. We study the SDSS pipeline sizes of BOSS galaxies which we find to be systematically larger (by 40%) than those measured from HST images, and provide a statistical correction for the difference. These details of the BOSS galaxies will help users of the data fine-tune their selection criteria, dependent on their science applications. For example, the main goal of BOSS is to measure the cosmic distance scale and expansion rate of the Universe to percent-level precision - a point where systematic effects due to the details of target selection may become important.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures; v2 as accepted by MNRA

Projeto de Extensão “Lendo e Escrevendo na Casa Lar”

Trabalho apresentado no 31º SEURS - Seminário de Extensão Universitária da Região Sul, realizado em Florianópolis, SC, no período de 04 a 07 de agosto de 2013 - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.O Projeto “Lendo e Escrevendo na Casa Lar”, edição 2012, teve como objetivo desenvolver atividades de leitura, escrita e alfabetização com crianças usuárias da Casa Lar da cidade de Marechal Cândido Rondon. Elaborado pela equipe pedagógica do Núcleo de Estudos e Defesa dos Direitos da Infância e da Juventude (NEDDIJ), em parceria com o Grupo de Estudo e Pesquisa em Formação de Professores (GEPEFOP), o Núcleo de Formação Docente e Prática de Ensino (NUFOPE) e o Programa Institucional de Bolsa de Iniciação à Docência (PIBID), o projeto visou atender ao pedido do Conselho Municipal dos Direitos da Criança e do Adolescente - CMDCA do município de Marechal Cândido Rondon, de modo a minimizar as dificuldades pedagógicas apresentadas pelas crianças atendidas na Casa Lar desta cidade. Para efetivar seu objetivo, as atividades que compuseram o projeto foram organizadas nas dependências da Casa Lar, conforme horário esquematizado pelos pais sociais, contando com a participação das coordenadoras e dos graduandos envolvidos. Em cada encontro foram desenvolvidas oficinas sobre coordenação motora, ludicidade, leitura, escrita e aplicação de técnicas de Yoga que visam auxiliar na aprendizagem e execução das atividades propostas. Para a realização dessas atividades, dividimos o grupo de participantes em três equipes, composta por monitores dos cursos de Pedagogia, Letras, Geografia e Serviço Social. A cada período, por meio de reuniões entre os monitores e as coordenadoras do projeto, foi realizada uma verificação do andamento e progresso das crianças

Numerical modelling of slope–vegetation–atmosphere interaction: an overview

The behaviour of natural and artificial slopes is controlled by their thermo-hydro-mechanical conditions and by soil–vegetation–atmosphere interaction. Porewater pressure changes within a slope related to variable meteorological settings have been shown to be able to induce soil erosion, shrinkage–swelling and cracking, thus leading to an overall decrease of the available soil strength with depth and, ultimately, to a progressive slope collapse. In terms of numerical modelling, the stability analysis of partially saturated slopes is a complex problem and a wide range of approaches from simple limit equilibrium solutions to advanced numerical analyses have been proposed in the literature. The more advanced approaches, although more rigorous, require input data such as the soil water retention curve and the hydraulic conductivity function, which are difficult to obtain in some cases. The quantification of the effects of future climate scenarios represents an additional challenge in forecasting slope–atmosphere interaction processes. This paper presents a review of real and ideal case histories regarding the numerical analysis of natural and artificial slopes subjected to different types of climatic perturbations. The limits and benefits of the different numerical approaches adopted are discussed and some general modelling recommendations are addressed

Application of Nanotrap technology for high sensitivity measurement of urinary outer surface protein A carboxyl-terminus domain in early stage Lyme borreliosis

Objectives: Prompt antibiotic treatment of early stage Lyme borreliosis (LB) prevents progression to severe multisystem disease. There is a clinical need to improve the diagnostic specificity of early stage Lyme assays in the period prior to the mounting of a robust serology response. Using a novel analyte harvesting nanotechnology, Nanotrap particles, we evaluated urinary Borrelia Outer surface protein A (OspA) C-terminus peptide in early stage LB before and after treatment, and in patients suspected of late stage disseminated LB. Method: We employed Nanotrap particles to concentrate urinary OspA and used a highly specific anti-OspA monoclonal antibody (mAb) as a detector of the C-terminus peptides. We mapped the mAb epitope to a narrow specific OspA C-terminal domain OspA236-239 conserved across infectious Borrelia species but with no homology to human proteins and no cross-reactivity with relevant viral and non-Borrelia bacterial proteins. 268 urine samples from patients being evaluated for all categories of LB were collected in a LB endemic area. The urinary OspA assay, blinded to outcome, utilized Nanotrap particle pre-processing, western blotting to evaluate the OspA molecular size, and OspA peptide competition for confirmation. Results: OspA test characteristics: sensitivity 1.7 pg/mL (lowest limit of detection), % coefficient of variation (CV) = 8 %, dynamic range 1.7-30 pg/mL. Pre-treatment, 24/24 newly diagnosed patients with an erythema migrans (EM) rash were positive for urinary OspA while false positives for asymptomatic patients were 0/117 (Chi squared p < 10-6). For 10 patients who exhibited persistence of the EM rash during the course of antibiotic therapy, 10/10 were positive for urinary OspA. Urinary OspA of 8/8 patients switched from detectable to undetectable following symptom resolution post-treatment. Specificity of the urinary OspA test for the clinical symptoms was 40/40. Specificity of the urinary OspA antigen test for later serology outcome was 87.5 % (21 urinary OspA positive/24 serology positive, Chi squared p = 4.072e-15). 41 of 100 patients under surveillance for persistent LB in an endemic area were positive for urinary OspA protein. Conclusions: OspA urinary shedding was strongly linked to concurrent active symptoms (e.g. EM rash and arthritis), while resolution of these symptoms after therapy correlated with urinary conversion to OspA negative

Smokeless tobacco use in Sweden and other 17 European countries

Introduction: The purpose of this study is to report prevalence and determinants of use of smokeless tobacco in a representative sample of men and women from Sweden, where Swedish snus sales are legal, and from 17 other European countries, where sales of smokeless tobacco are restricted. Methods: In 2010, a face-to-face survey including information on current smokeless tobacco use was conducted in a representative sample of around 1000 individuals aged 6515 years per country in Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, England, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden. Results: In Sweden, the overall prevalence of smokeless tobacco use was 12.3% (20.7% in men, 3.5% in women). The corresponding estimate for other European countries combined was 1.1% (1.2% in men, 1.1% in women). Compared with never smokers, former smokers in Sweden were significantly more likely to use smokeless tobacco (odds ratio, OR: 2.67), whereas no difference in use was observed in other countries (OR: 1.04). Use of smokeless tobacco was similar among current smokers in Sweden (OR: 1.96) and in other countries (OR: 2.40) when contrasted to never smokers. In Sweden there were no differences in the number of cigarettes/day between smokers who also use smokeless tobacco (13.3 cigarettes/day) and exclusive cigarette smokers (12.9 cigarettes/day; P = 0.785). Conclusions: Excluding Sweden, current oral tobacco use was not commonly reported in the European countries surveyed and was similarly rare both in men and in women. In Sweden, however, use of smokeless tobacco was about 10-fold higher than the rest of Europe and more prevalent in men than in women

The effects of low doses of pregabalin on morphine analgesia in advanced cancer patients

Abstract OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the opioid response in patients receiving morphine and pregabalin, independently from the presumed pain mechanisms, in comparison with patients receiving morphine treatment only. METHODS: A multicenter prospective randomized controlled study was carried out in a sample of 70 advanced cancer patients with pain requiring strong opioids. Thirty-five patients (group MO) were randomized to receive sustained-release morphine using initial doses of 60 mg/day. Thirty-five patients (group MO-PR) were randomized to start the same morphine doses and pregabalin in increasing doses, starting with 25 mg/day up to 150 mg/day in one week. The following data were also recorded before starting the treatments (T0) and then at week intervals for four weeks (W1-4): age, gender, primary cancer and known metastases, pain causes and mechanisms, symptoms associated with opioid therapy, pain intensity, Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), morphine doses and escalation indexes (OEIs), and quality of life. RESULTS: Forty-eight patients completed the study, twenty-eight and sixteen patients in group MO and MO-PR, respectively. Twenty patients were females, the mean age was 65.5 (± 10.3), and the mean Karnofsky status was 66.0 (± 18.9). No differences between groups were found in age (P = 0.839), Karnofsky status (P = 0.741), opioid doses as well as escalation indexes (OEI mg, P = 0.260, and OEI%, P = 0.270). No differences between the two groups were found in quality of life and all BPI items. CONCLUSION: The use of low doses of pregabalin added to morphine therapy in advanced cancer patients does not seem to provide advantageous analgesic effects, despite limitations of the present study due to the number of drop-outs