Screening for Parkinson’s Disease with Response Time Barriers: A Pilot Study

Background: Although significant response time deficits (both reaction time and movement time) have been identified in numerous studies of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), few attempts have been made to evaluate the use of these measures in screening for PD. Methods: Receiver operator characteristic curves were used to identify cutoff scores for a unitweighted composite of two choice response tasks in a sample of 40 patients and 40 healthy participants. These scores were then cross-validated in an independent sample of 20 patients and 20 healthy participants. Results: The unit-weighted movement time composite demonstrated high sensitivity (90%) and specificity (90%) in the identification of PD. Movement time was also significantly correlated (r = 0.59, p \u3c 0.025) with the motor score of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Conclusions: Measures of chronometric speed, assessed without the use of biomechanically complex movements, have a potential role in screening for PD. Furthermore, the significant correlation between movement time and UPDRS motor score suggests that movement time may be useful in the quantification of PD severity

Mineral Acquisition from Clay by Budongo Forest Chimpanzees

Chimpanzees of the Sonso community, Budongo Forest, Uganda were observed eating clay and drinking clay-water from waterholes. We show that clay, clay-rich water, and clay obtained with leaf sponges, provide a range of minerals in different concentrations. The presence of aluminium in the clay consumed indicates that it takes the form of kaolinite. We discuss the contribution of clay geophagy to the mineral intake of the Sonso chimpanzees and show that clay eaten using leaf sponges is particularly rich in minerals. We show that termite mound soil, also regularly consumed, is rich in minerals. We discuss the frequency of clay and termite soil geophagy in the context of the disappearance from Budongo Forest of a formerly rich source of minerals, the decaying pith of Raphia farinifera palms

Barriers to sustainability among tourism-related businesses : identification and reduction

The attainment of sustainable development has emerged as one of the main challenges facing society and the economy in the twenty-first century. In tourism, the English Tourism Council (2001 a, p. 11) recognise that sustainable tourism can no longer be regarded as an optional extra, but is fundamental to safeguarding the long-term competitiveness of the industry. To establish sustainable development as a primary strategic objective within the tourism industry represents a substantial challenge. Such a goal is problematic not least because the sector is so diverse and is based around a large number of small businesses which are not always accessible or responsive to change and innovation. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the response of tourism-related businesses to environmental sustainability issues in South East Cornwall. The research represents a three-year joint project funded by the University of Plymouth and Caradon District Council, with support from South West Tourism and the European Regional Development Fund through Caradon Area LEADER II (1999-2001). The aims of the project were to obtain a more detailed understanding of the issues and barriers that tourism businesses face in the implementation of sustainable business practices. The results had practical outcomes in the formulation of a district-wide strategy for sustainable tourism. Through a mixed-method research programme, almost half of tourism businesses in the district contributed to the study. The results revealed a diversity of behaviour, attitudes and motives that are currently not recognised within policy interventions or conceptual models of business behavior. Additionally, the research demonstrated that business responses are modified by a range of complex barriers, which operate at different geographical scales and require a broad policy focus. Within policy initiatives for sustainable tourism, small tourism businesses cannot be treated as scaled-down versions of large businesses. More sophisticated policy interventions will have to be developed if sustainable development is to become a reality within the sector.Caradon District Council and the University of Plymouth, in collaboration with South West Tourism and Caradon Area LEADER II

Studies of tungsten hexachloride

The purpose of this thesis is to give a summary of the work done in studying the equilibrium conditions and rate of reaction of the compound tungsten hexachloride, together with some of its applications to the elimination of spots in coiled filaments. Tungsten hexachloride is a purple colored crystalline compound formed by passing chlorine over red hot tungsten in a tube from which all the air has been washed. It is rather unstable at room temperature in the presence of moist air, forming an oxychloride formula WoCl4 and then decomposing into tungsten oxide into the formula WO3 and the vapor decomposes at still higher temperatures. It volatilizes appreciatively at about 150 degrees C in vacuum and at about 320 degrees C in hydrogen

Finding Core Members of Cooperative Games using Agent-Based Modeling

Agent-based modeling (ABM) is a powerful paradigm to gain insight into social phenomena. One area that ABM has rarely been applied is coalition formation. Traditionally, coalition formation is modeled using cooperative game theory. In this paper, a heuristic algorithm is developed that can be embedded into an ABM to allow the agents to find coalition. The resultant coalition structures are comparable to those found by cooperative game theory solution approaches, specifically, the core. A heuristic approach is required due to the computational complexity of finding a cooperative game theory solution which limits its application to about only a score of agents. The ABM paradigm provides a platform in which simple rules and interactions between agents can produce a macro-level effect without the large computational requirements. As such, it can be an effective means for approximating cooperative game solutions for large numbers of agents. Our heuristic algorithm combines agent-based modeling and cooperative game theory to help find agent partitions that are members of a games' core solution. The accuracy of our heuristic algorithm can be determined by comparing its outcomes to the actual core solutions. This comparison achieved by developing an experiment that uses a specific example of a cooperative game called the glove game. The glove game is a type of exchange economy game. Finding the traditional cooperative game theory solutions is computationally intensive for large numbers of players because each possible partition must be compared to each possible coalition to determine the core set; hence our experiment only considers games of up to nine players. The results indicate that our heuristic approach achieves a core solution over 90% of the time for the games considered in our experiment.Comment: 19 page

A serial Mediation Model of Depression and Drinking Motives Underlying Problem Drinking Among Hispanic College Women Following Rape

Problem drinking and depression are common following sexual assault. The current study applied a coping motives model of drinking and examined the association between rape experiences and problem drinking serially mediated by depression symptoms and coping-depression drinking motives among Hispanic college women. A total of 330 college women were classified into a single rape experience (SGL) group (n = 44), a multiple rape experiences (MLT) group (n = 70), and a no sexual assault experience group (n = 221). Participants completed self-report measures online. Serial mediation analyses with multi-categorical predictors found that significantly increased alcohol consumptions in rape survivors compared to individuals with no sexual assault experience were largely explained by the serially connected underlying mechanisms of depression symptoms and coping-depression drinking motives. The prevalence rates of rape experiences in this Hispanic female sample are alarming, suggesting Hispanic college women as a particularly vulnerable group for rape. The current results contribute to a greater understanding of the effects of rape experiences on behavioral and emotional outcomes among young Hispanic women who have been underrepresented in sexual victimization research. The findings emphasize the importance of assessing depression symptoms and coping-depression drinking motives in Hispanic rape survivors to reduce risks for hazardous drinking behavior

Administrators’ Views of Teacher Salary Changes Under the Arkansas LEARNS Act

We surveyed superintendents and principals statewide to understand their perspectives on the salary changes they implemented in response to the LEARNS Act and their future plans related to teacher compensation. Administrators reported that the teacher compensation changes required by the LEARNS Act are likely to help them better recruit and retain teachers. The primary goals administrators reported they have when designing teacher compensation include: being competitive with nearby districts, retaining existing teachers, and rewarding effective teachers. Administrators anticipate offering across-the-board pay increases but also appear open to implementing bonuses for effective teachers in their district. Most administrators, 69% of principals and 67% of superintendents, report that their district will likely continue to use traditional salary schedules over the next three years, but a sizable proportion (22% of superintendents and 13% of principals) report that this is very unlikely. This may indicate that a relatively large number of districts in Arkansas are considering alternative teacher compensation plans. The primary barriers that district leaders identified to making substantial changes to teacher compensation were related to funding uncertainty. State leaders and policymakers should address this uncertainty and provide compensation design support if they want to promote new and more creative teacher compensation approaches