Mechanisms of attention for cues associated with rewarding and aversive outcomes

Attentional biases arising from classical conditioning processes may contribute to the maintenance of drug addictions and anxiety disorders. This thesis examined whether attentional mechanisms for conditioned stimuli (CS) would be dominated by affective properties (Lang, Greenwald, Bradley, & Hamm, 1993), or the uncertainty of the stimulus in predicting the outcome (Pearce & Hall, 1980). In chapter one affective and uncertainty-driven mechanisms of attention are discussed in relation to rewarding and aversive outcomes. In experimental chapter 2 methodological issues are addressed. In experimental chapters three and four attentional mechanisms are tested using a discriminative conditioning procedure with visual stimuli of varying predictive certainty (CS+,CS+/-,CS-) for a monetary or noise outcome (US). Attention was measured using an eye-tracker, and emotional conditioning and learning were measured using Likert scales. It was found that attention was mediated by uncertainty (chapter 3), but increasing the intensity of the outcome switched attention to affective-driven mechanisms for the noise outcome (chapter 4). In a further experiment this effect on attention remained for the noise outcome even under conditions promoting uncertainty-driven mechanisms (chapter 6). When cigarettes were the unconditioned stimuli instead of money in the appetitive conditioning, attention was also mediated by stimulus affect (chapter 5). In chapter 7 the data are discussed and it is concluded that when the outcome is highly emotionally salient, affective-driven mechanisms of attention dominate over uncertainty

How Will Tobacco Farmers Respond to the Quota Buyout? Findings from a Survey of North Carolina Tobacco Farmers

The tobacco quota buyout is expected to have significant impacts on U.S. tobacco markets, farmers, tobacco-dependent communities, and public health. Using data from four surveys of a panel of North Carolina tobacco farmers conducted between 1997 and 2004, we investigate changing farmer attitudes towards and intentions following a quota buyout.Crop Production/Industries,

Protein secondary structure prediction from circular dichroism spectra using a self-organizing map with concentration correction

Collecting circular dichroism (CD) spectra for protein solutions is a simple experiment, yet reliable extraction of secondary structure content is dependent on knowledge of the concentration of the protein—which is not always available with accuracy. We previously developed a self-organizing map (SOM), called Secondary Structure Neural Network (SSNN), to cluster a database of CD spectra and use that map to assign the secondary structure content of new proteins from CD spectra. The performance of SSNN is at least as good as other available protein CD structure-fitting algorithms. In this work we apply SSNN to a collection of spectra of experimental samples where there was suspicion that the nominal protein concentration was incorrect. We show that by plotting the normalized root mean square deviation of the SSNN predicted spectrum from the experimental one versus a concentration scaling-factor it is possible to improve the estimate of the protein concentration while providing an estimate of the secondary structure. For our implementation (51 data points 240–190 nm in nm increments) good fits and structure estimates were obtained if the NRMSD (normalized root mean square displacement, RMSE/data range) is <0.03; reasonable for NRMSD <0.05; and variable above this. We also augmented the reference database with 100% helical spectra and truly random coil spectra

SSNN, a method for neural network protein secondary structure fitting using circular dichroism data

Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy is a quick method for measuring data that can be used to determine the average secondary structures of proteins, probe their interactions with their environment, and aid in drug discovery. This paper describes the operation and testing of a self-organising map (SOM) structure-fitting methodology named Secondary Structure Neural Network (SSNN), which is a methodology for estimating protein secondary structure from CD spectra of unknown proteins using CD spectra of proteins with known X-ray structures. SSNN comes in two standalone MATLAB applications for estimating unknown proteins' structures, one that uses a pre-trained map and one that begins by training the SOM with a reference set of the user's choice. These are available at http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/chemistry/research/arodger/arodgergroup/research_intro/instrumentation/ssnn/ as SSNNGUI and SSNN1_2 respectively. They are available for both Macintosh and Windows formats with two reference sets: one obtained from the CDPro website, referred to as CDDATA.48 which has 48 protein spectra and structures, and one with 53 proteins (CDDATA.48 with 5 additional spectra). Here we compare SSNN with CDSSTR, a widely-used secondary structure methodology, and describe how to use the standalone SSNN applications. Current input format is Δε per amino acid residue from 240 nm to 190 nm in 1 nm steps for the known and unknown proteins and a vector summarising the secondary structure elements of the known proteins. The format is readily modified to include input data with e.g. extended wavelength ranges or different assignment of secondary structures

Injury-Dependent and Disability-Specific Lumbar Spinal Gene Regulation following Sciatic Nerve Injury in the Rat

Allodynia, hyperalgesia and spontaneous pain are cardinal sensory signs of neuropathic pain. Clinically, many neuropathic pain patients experience affective-motivational state changes, including reduced familial and social interactions, decreased motivation, anhedonia and depression which are severely debilitating. In earlier studies we have shown that sciatic nerve chronic constriction injury (CCI) disrupts social interactions, sleep-wake-cycle and endocrine function in one third of rats, a subgroup reliably identified six days after injury. CCI consistently produces allodynia and hyperalgesia, the intensity of which was unrelated either to the altered social interactions, sleep-wake-cycle or endocrine changes. This decoupling of the sensory consequences of nerve injury from the affective-motivational changes is reported in both animal experiments and human clinical data. The sensory changes triggered by CCI are mediated primarily by functional changes in the lumbar dorsal horn, however, whether lumbar spinal changes may drive different affective-motivational states has never been considered. In these studies, we used microarrays to identify the unique transcriptomes of rats with altered social behaviours following sciatic CCI to determine whether specific patterns of lumbar spinal adaptations characterised this subgroup. Rats underwent CCI and on the basis of reductions in dominance behaviour in resident-intruder social interactions were categorised as having Pain & Disability, Pain & Transient Disability or Pain alone.We examined the lumbar spinal transcriptomes two and six days after CCI. Fifty-four ‘disability-specific’ genes were identified. Sixty-five percent were unique to Pain & Disability rats, two-thirds of which were associated with neurotransmission, inflammation and/or cellular stress. In contrast, 40% of genes differentially regulated in rats without disabilities were involved with more general homeostatic processes (cellular structure, transcription or translation). We suggest that these patterns of gene expression lead to either the expression of disability, or to resilience and recovery, by modifying local spinal circuitry at the origin of ascending supraspinal pathways

Biogeographic anomaly or human introduction: A cryptogenic population of tree skink (Reptilia: Squamata) from the Cook Islands, Oceania

Archaeological and molecular data have revealed that the present day faunas of many island groups in Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia are not representative of the biodiversity generated within this region on an evolutionary timescale. Erroneous inferences regarding the mechanisms of speciation and the significance of long distance dispersal in shaping the present diversity of these island systems have resulted from this incomplete diversity and distributional data. The lizard fauna east of Samoa has been suggested to derive entirely from human-mediated introductions, a distribution congruent with biogeographic patterns for other Pacific species. Distinguishing between introduced populations and those that result from natural colonization events is difficult, although molecular data provide a useful means for elucidating population history and identifying the likely sources of introductions. We use molecular data (1726 bp of mitochondrial DNA and 286 bp of nuclear DNA) to evaluate a population of arboreal lizards from the Cook Islands and to determine whether this arboreal skink population is the sole endemic component of the lizard fauna east of Samoa or the result of human-mediated introduction. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London

Gastrointestinal helminths in two species of geckos, gekko vittatus, gehyra oceanica, and five species of skinks, caledoniscincus atropunctatus, Emoia cyanogaster, Emoia erronan, Emoia nigra, Emoia sanfordi (Squamata) from the republic of Vanuatu, Oceania

Two species of geckos, Gekko vittatus, Gehyra oceanica and 5 species of skinks, Caledoniscincus atropunctatus, Emoia cyanogaster, Emoia erronan, Emoia nigra, and Emoia sanfordi from the Republic of Vanuatu were examined for helminths. One species of Digenea (Mesocoelium microon), 3 species of Cestoda (Gekkotaenia novaeguineaensis, Cylindrotaenia hickmani, Ophiotaenia greeri), and 7 species of Nematoda, gravid individuals of Hedruris hanleyae, Maxvachonia chabaudi, Parapharyngodon maplestoni, Spauligodon gehyrae, Spauligodon zweifeli, juveniles assigned to the Filarioidea, and larvae of Physocephalus sp. in cysts were found. Eighteen new host records and 7 new locality records are reported. The lizards of Vanuatu are infected by generalist helminths that occur in a variety of lizards throughout Oceania. © The Helminthological Society of Washington

Workplace-based interventions to promote healthy lifestyles in the NHS workforce : a rapid scoping and evidence map

Background:The health and well-being of staff working in the NHS is a significant issue for UK health care. We sought to identify research relevant to the promotion of healthy lifestyles among NHS staff on behalf of NHS England. Objectives:To map existing reviews on workplace-based interventions to promote health and well-being, and to assess the scope for further evidence synthesis work. Design:Rapid and responsive scoping search and evidence map. Participants:Adult employees in any occupational setting and in any role. Interventions:Any intervention aimed at promoting or maintaining physical or mental health and well-being. Early intervention initiatives and those addressing violence against staff, workplace bullying or harassment were also included. Main outcome measures:Any outcome related to the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness or implementation of interventions.Data sources:A scoping search of nine databases was conducted to identify systematic reviews on health and well-being at work. Searches were limited by publication date (2000 to January/February 2019). Review methods:The titles and abstracts of over 8241 records were screened and a total of 408 potentially relevant publications were identified. Information on key characteristics were extracted from the titles and abstracts of all potentially relevant publications. Descriptive statistics (counts and percentages) for key characteristics were generated and data from reviews and ‘reviews of reviews’ were used to produce the evidence map. Results:Evidence related to a broad range of physical and mental health issues was identified across 12 ‘reviews of reviews’ and 312 other reviews, including 16 Cochrane reviews. There also exists National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance addressing multiple issues of potential relevance. A large number of reviews focused on mental health, changing lifestyle behaviour, such as physical activity, or on general workplace health/health promotion. Most of the reviews that focused only on health-care staff addressed mental health issues, and stress/burnout in particular. Limitations:The scoping search process was extensive and clearly effective at identifying relevant publications, but the strategy used may not have identified every potentially relevant review. Owing to the large number of potentially relevant reviews identified from the scoping search, it was necessary to produce the evidence map using information from the titles and abstracts of reviews only. Conclusions: It is doubtful that further evidence synthesis work at this stage would generate substantial new knowledge, particularly within the context of the NHS Health and Wellbeing Framework published in 2018. Additional synthesis work may be useful if it addressed an identifiable need and it was possible to identify one of the following: (1) a specific and focused research question arising from the current evidence map; it may then be appropriate to focus on a smaller number of reviews only, and provide a more thorough and critical assessment of the available evidence; and (2) a specific gap in the literature (i.e. an issue not already addressed by existing reviews or guidance); it may then be possible to undertake further literature searching and conduct a new evidence review

Informing NHS policy in 'digital-first primary care': a rapid evidence synthesis

Background In ‘digital-first primary care’ models of health-care delivery, a patient’s first point of contact with a general practitioner or other health professional is through a digital channel, rather than a face-to-face consultation. Patients are able to access advice and treatment remotely from their home or workplace via a number of different technologies. Objectives This rapid responsive evidence synthesis was undertaken to inform NHS England policy in ‘digital-first primary care’. It was conducted in two stages: (1) scoping the published evidence and (2) addressing a refined set of questions produced by NHS England from the evidence retrieved during the scoping stage. Data sources Searches were conducted of five electronic databases (MEDLINE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, the Health Technology Assessment database and PROSPERO were searched in July 2018) and relevant research/policy and government websites, as well as the National Institute for Health Research Health Service and Delivery Research programme database of ongoing and completed projects. No date or geographical limitations were applied. Review methods After examining the initial scoping material, NHS England provided a list of questions relating to the potential effects of digital modes and models of engagement, and the contracting and integration of these models into primary care. Systematic reviews and evidence syntheses, including evidence on the use of digital (online) modes and models of engagement between patients and primary care, were examined more closely, as was ongoing research and any incidentally identified primary studies focused on the use of digital (online) modes and models of engagement. All records were screened by two reviewers, with disagreements resolved by consensus or consulting a third reviewer. Results Evidence suggests that uptake of existing digital modes of engagement is currently low. Patients who use digital alternatives to face-to-face consultations are likely to be younger, female and have higher income and education levels. There is some evidence that online triage tools can divert demand away from primary care, but results vary between interventions and outcome measures. A number of potential barriers exist to using digital alternatives to face-to-face consultations, including inadequate NHS technology and staff concerns about workload and confidentiality. There are currently insufficient empirical data to either substantiate or allay such concerns. Very little evidence exists on outcomes related to quality of care, service delivery, benefits or harms for patients, or on financial costs/cost-effectiveness. No studies examining how to contract and commission alternatives to face-to-face consultations were identified. Limitations The quality of the included reviews was variable. Poor reporting of methodology and a lack of adequate study details were common issues. Much of the evidence focused on exploring stakeholder views rather than on objective measurement of potential impacts. The current evidence synthesis is based on a rapid scoping exercise and cannot provide the breadth or depth of insight that might have been achieved with a full systematic review. Conclusions Rapid scoping of the literature suggests that there is little high-quality evidence relating to ‘digital-first primary care’ as defined by NHS England. The broader evidence on alternatives to face-to-face consultation addresses certain policy-maker concerns, such as the possible impact of new technologies on workload and workforce, inequalities, local implementation and integration with existing services. However, although this evidence gives an insight into the views and experiences of health professionals in relation to such concerns, quantitative empirical data are lacking