3,770 research outputs found
Marine litter education boosts childrenâs understanding and self-reported actions
Marine litter is a significant environmental problem inherently linked to individualsâ purchasing, use and disposal behaviour. This research examined 176 British schoolchildrenâs (aged 8â13 years) baseline marine litter understanding and self-reported actions, and tested the impact of an educational intervention. All children participated in the educational intervention and completed a pre- and post-intervention questionnaire. At baseline, children were quite concerned about marine litter and recognised some of the causes and impacts of the problem. Children also reported taking a number of actions to help solve the problem. After the intervention, children were significantly more concerned, had a better understanding of the causes and negative impacts, and reported engaging in more actions to reduce the potential causes of marine litter. Understanding the perceptions and behaviours of children is crucial as they represent current and future actors and a potentially important source of social influence among their peers, parents and community
Non-equilibrium condensation and coarsening of field-driven dipolar colloids
In colloidal suspensions, self-organization processes can be easily fueled by
external fields. One particularly interesting class of phenomena occurs in
monolayers of dipolar particles that are driven by rotating external fields.
Here we report results from a computer simulation study of such systems
focusing on the clustering behavior also observed in recent experiments. The
key result of this paper is a novel interpretation of this pattern formation
phenomenon: We show the clustering to be a by-product of a vapor-liquid first
order phase transition. In fact, the observed dynamic coarsening process
corresponds to the spindodal demixing that occurs during such a transitionComment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Temporal and spatial dynamics of CO2 air-sea flux in the Gulf of Maine
Ocean surface layer carbon dioxide (CO2) data collected in the Gulf of Maine from 2004 to 2008 are presented. Monthly shipboard observations are combined with additional higherâresolution CO2 observations to characterize CO2 fugacity ( fCO2) and CO2 flux over hourly to interannual time scales. Observed fCO2 andCO2 flux dynamics are dominated by a seasonal cycle, with a large spring influx of CO2 and a fallâtoâwinter efflux back to the atmosphere. The temporal results at inner, middle, and outer shelf locations are highly correlated, and observed spatial variability is generally small relative to the monthly to seasonal temporal changes. The averaged annual flux is in near balance and is a net source of carbon to the atmosphere over 5 years, with a value of +0.38 mol mâ2 yrâ1. However, moderate interannual variation is also observed, where years 2005 and 2007 represent cases of regional source (+0.71) and sink (â0.11) anomalies. We use moored daily CO2 measurements to quantify aliasing due to temporal undersampling, an important error budget term that is typically unresolved. The uncertainty of our derived annual flux measurement is ±0.26 mol mâ2 yrâ1 and is dominated by this aliasing term. Comparison of results to the neighboring Middle and South Atlantic Bight coastal shelf systems indicates that the Gulf of Maine exhibits a similar annual cycle and range of oceanic fCO2 magnitude but differs in the seasonal phase. It also differs by enhanced fCO2 controls by factors other than temperatureâdriven solubility, including biological drawdown, fallâtoâwinter vertical mixing, and river runoff
Investigating Habituation to Premonitory Urges in Behavior Therapy for Tic Disorders
Behavior therapy is effective for Persistent Tic Disorders (PTDs), but behavioral processes facilitating tic reduction are not well understood. One process, habituation, is thought to create tic reduction through decreases in premonitory urge severity. The current study tested whether premonitory urges decreased in youth with PTDs (N = 126) and adults with PTDs (N = 122) who participated in parallel randomized clinical trials comparing behavior therapy to psychoeducation and supportive therapy (PST). Trends in premonitory urges, tic severity, and treatment outcome were analyzed according to the predictions of a habituation model, whereby urge severity would be expected to decrease in those who responded to behavior therapy. Although adults who responded to behavior therapy showed a significant trend of declining premonitory urge severity across treatment, results failed to demonstrate that behavior therapy specifically caused changes in premonitory urge severity. In addition, reductions in premonitory urge severity in those who responded to behavior therapy were significant greater than those who did not respond to behavior therapy but no different than those who responded or did not respond to PST. Children with PTDs failed to show any significant changes in premonitory urges. Reductions in premonitory urge severity did not mediate the relationship between treatment and outcome in either adults or children. These results cast doubt on the notion that habituation is the therapeutic process underlying the effectiveness of behavior therapy, which has immediate implications for the psychoeducation and therapeutic rationale presented in clinical practice. Moreover, there may be important developmental changes in premonitory urges in PTDs, and alternative models of therapeutic change warrant investigation
Non-linear rheology of active particle suspensions: Insights from an analytical approach
We consider active suspensions in the isotropic phase subjected to a shear
flow. Using a set of extended hydrodynamic equations we derive a variety of
{\em analytical} expressions for rheological quantities such as shear viscosity
and normal stress differences. In agreement to full-blown numerical
calculations and experiments we find a shear thickening or -thinning behaviour
depending on whether the particles are contractile or extensile. Moreover, our
analytical approach predicts that the normal stress differences can change
their sign in contrast to passive suspensions.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, appear in PR
The Effect of Movement Therapy on Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia - A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial
Objective: Negative symptoms of patients with Schizophrenia are resistant to
medical treatment or conventional group therapy. Understanding schizophrenia
as a form of disembodiment of the self, a number of scientists have argued
that the approach of embodiment and associated embodied therapies, such as
Dance and Movement Therapy (DMT) or Body Psychotherapy (BPT), may be more
suitable to explain the psychopathology underlying the mental illness and to
address its symptoms. Hence the present randomized controlled trial
(DRKS00009828, http://apps.who.int/trialsearch/) aimed to examine the
effectiveness of manualized movement therapy (BPT/DMT) on the negative
symptoms of patients with schizophrenia. Method:A total of 68 out-patients
with a diagnosis of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder were randomly allocated
to either the treatment (n = 44, 20 sessions of BPT/DMT) or the control
condition [n = 24, treatment as usual (TAU)]. Changes in negative symptom
scores on the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) were
analyzed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) with Simpson-Angus Scale (SAS)
scores as covariates in order to control for side effects of antipsychotic
medication. Results:After 20 sessions of treatment (BPT/DMT or TAU), patients
receiving movement therapy had significantly lower negative symptom scores
(SANS total score, blunted affect, attention). Effect sizes were moderate and
mean symptom reduction in the treatment group was 20.65%. Conclusion:The study
demonstrates that embodied therapies, such as BPT/DMT, are highly effective in
the treatment of patients with schizophrenia. Results strongly suggest that
BPT/DMT should be embedded in the daily clinical routine
The Minimal Length and Large Extra Dimensions
Planck scale physics represents a future challenge, located between particle
physics and general relativity. The Planck scale marks a threshold beyond which
the old description of spacetime breaks down and conceptually new phenomena
must appear. Little is known about the fundamental theory valid at Planckian
energies, except that it necessarily seems to imply the occurrence of a minimal
length scale, providing a natural ultraviolet cutoff and a limit to the
possible resolution of spacetime.
Motivated by String Theory, the models of large extra dimensions lower the
Planck scale to values soon accessible. These models predict a vast number of
quantum gravity effects at the lowered Planck scale, among them the production
of TeV-mass black holes and gravitons. Within the extra dimensional scenario,
also the minimal length comes into the reach of experiment and sets a
fundamental limit to short distance physics.
We review the status of Planck scale physics in these effective models.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, brief review to appear in Mod. Phys. Let.
T Cell Maturation Stage Prior to and During GMP Processing Informs on CAR T Cell Expansion in Patients
textabstractAutologous T cells were genetically modified to express a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) directed toward carboxy-anhydrase-IX (CAIX) and used to treat patients with CAIX-positive metastatic renal cell carcinoma. In this study, we questioned whether the T cell maturation stage in the pre-infusion product affected CAIX CAR expression and function in vitro as well as in vivo CAR T cell numbers and expansion. During the 14 days expansion of CAR T cells prior to administration, we observed shifts from a predominant CD4 to a CD8 T cell phenotype and from a significant fraction of naĂŻve to central effector T cells. Surface expression of the CAR was equally distributed among different T cell subsets and T cell maturation stages. During T cell culture days 14-18 (which covered patient treatment days 1-5), T cells demonstrated a decline in CAR expression level per cell irrespective of T cell maturation stage, although the proportion of CAR-positive T cells and CAR-mediated T cell effector functions remained similar for both CD4 and CD8 T cell populations. Notably, patients with a higher fraction of naĂŻve CD8 T cells at baseline (prior to genetic modification) or central effector CD8 T cells at 2 weeks of CAR T cell culture demonstrated a higher fold expansion and absolute numbers of circulating CAR T cells at 1 month after start of therapy. We conclude that the T cell maturation stage prior to and during CAR T cell expansion culture is related to in vivo CAR T cell expansion
Stroke impact on mortality and psychologic morbidity within the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.
BackgroundPoor socioeconomic and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) outcomes in survivors of childhood cancer can lead to distress and overall negatively impact the lives of these individuals. The current report has highlighted the impact of stroke and stroke recurrence on mortality, psychological HRQOL, and socioeconomic outcomes within the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS).MethodsThe CCSS is a retrospective cohort study with longitudinal follow-up concerning survivors of pediatric cancer who were diagnosed between 1970 and 1986. Mortality rates per 100 person-years were calculated across 3 periods: 1) prior to stroke; 2) after first stroke and before recurrent stroke; and 3) after recurrent stroke. Socioeconomic outcomes, the standardized Brief Symptoms Inventory-18, the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey, and the CCSS-Neurocognitive Questionnaire also were assessed.ResultsAmong 14,358 participants (median age, 39.7 years), 224 had a stroke after their cancer diagnosis (single stroke in 161 patients and recurrent stroke in 63 patients). Based on 2636 deaths, all-cause late mortality rates were 0.70 (95% CI, 0.68-0.73) prior to stroke, 1.03 (95% CI, 0.73-1.46) after the first stroke, and 2.42 (95% CI, 1.48-3.94) after the recurrent stroke. Among 7304 survivors, those with stroke were more likely to live with a caregiver (single stroke odds ratio [OR], 2.3 [95% CI, 1.4-3.8]; and recurrent stroke OR, 5.3 [95% CI, 1.7-16.8]) compared with stroke-free survivors. Stroke negatively impacted task efficiency (single stroke OR, 2.4 [95% CI, 1.4-4.1] and recurrent stroke OR, 3.3 [95% CI, 1.1-10.3]) and memory (single stroke OR, 2.1 [95% CI, 1.2-3.7]; and recurrent stroke OR, 3.5 [95% CI, 1.1-10.5]).ConclusionsStroke and stroke recurrence are associated with increased mortality and negatively impact HRQOL measures in survivors of pediatric cancer
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