436 research outputs found
Optimal use of visual information in adolescents and young adults with developmental coordination disorder
Recent reports offer contrasting views on whether or not the use of online visual control is impaired in individuals with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). This study explored the optimal temporal basis for processing and using visual information in adolescents and young adults with DCD. Participants were 22 adolescents and young adults (12 males and 10 females; M = 19 years, SD = 3). Half had been diagnosed with DCD as children and still performed poorly on the movement assessment battery for children (DCD group; n = 11), and half reported typical development (TD group; n = 11) and were age- and gender-matched with the DCD group. We used performance on a steering task as a measure of information processing and examined the use of advance visual information. The conditions varied the duration of advance visual information: 125, 250, 500, 750, and 1,000 ms. With increased duration of advance visual information, the TD group showed a pattern of linear improvement. For the DCD group, however, the pattern was best described by a U-curve where optimal performance occurred with about 750 ms of advance information. The results suggest that the DCD group has an underlying preference for immediate online processing of visual information. The exact timing for optimal online control may depend crucially on the task, but too much advance information is detrimental to performance
The first determination of Generalized Polarizabilities of the proton by a Virtual Compton Scattering experiment
Absolute differential cross sections for the reaction (e+p -> e+p+gamma) have
been measured at a four-momentum transfer with virtuality Q^2=0.33 GeV^2 and
polarization \epsilon = 0.62 in the range 33.6 to 111.5 MeV/c for the momentum
of the outgoing photon in the photon-proton center of mass frame. The
experiment has been performed with the high resolution spectrometers at the
Mainz Microtron MAMI. From the photon angular distributions, two structure
functions which are a linear combination of the generalized polarizabilities
have been determined for the first time.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Perceived Social Support Network and Achievement : Mediation by Motivational Beliefs and Moderation by Gender
Research has shown that perceived social support (PSS) (from parents and teachers) influences achievement. However, little is known about how this relationship operates. This study examines the multiple mediational effects of studentsâ motivational beliefs in relationship to the association between PSS and mathematics achievement. The sample included the African countries that participated in the TIMSS 2011 (Ghana, Botswana, South Africa, Morocco, and Tunisia). A bootstrap analysis indicated a unique pattern of the role of motivational beliefs in mediating the relationships between PSS and achievement. Moreover, gender was found to moderate the indirect effect in some countries. The findings indicate that total mediation effect of studentsâ motivational belief on the relationship between PSS and achievement is âculture-fair but not culture-freeâResearch has shown that perceived social support (PSS) (from parents and teachers) influences achievement. However, little is known about how this relationship operates. This study examines the multiple mediational effects of studentsâ motivational beliefs in relationship to the association between PSS and mathematics achievement. The sample included the African countries that participated in the TIMSS 2011 (Ghana, Botswana, South Africa, Morocco, and Tunisia). A bootstrap analysis indicated a unique pattern of the role of motivational beliefs in mediating the relationships between PSS and achievement. Moreover, gender was found to moderate the indirect effect in some countries. The findings indicate that total mediation effect of studentsâ motivational belief on the relationship between PSS and achievement is âculture-fair but not culture-freeâ.Peer reviewe
Cross-cultural adaptation and construct validity of the German version of the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit for service users (German ASCOT)
Background: There has been considerable interest in using the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT), developed in England, to measure quality-of-life outcomes of long-term care (LTC-QoL) service provision in national and cross-national studies. Objectives: The aim of this study was to translate and culturally adapt the original ASCOT service user measure into German and to evaluate its content and construct validity in Austrian home care service users. Methods: The translation and cultural adaptation process followed the ISPOR TCA guidelines. We used qualitative data from six cognitive debriefing interviews with Austrian recipients of home care services to assess linguistic and content validity. In addition, cross-sectional survey data (nâ=â633) were used to evaluate construct validity by testing hypothesized associations established in a previous study for the original English ASCOT service user instrument. Results: Cognitive debriefing interviews confirmed that the German adaptation of the ASCOT service user instrument was understood as intended, although two domains (âControl over daily lifeâ and âDignityâ) and selected phrases of the response options were challenging to translate into German. All ASCOT domains were statistically significantly associated with related constructs and sensitive to service user sub-group differences. Conclusions: We found good evidence for a valid cross-cultural adaptation of the German version of ASCOT for service users. The analysis also supports the construct validity of the translated instrument and its use in evaluations of QoL-effects of LTC service provision in German-speaking countries. Further research on the reliability and feasibility in different care settings is encouraged
Monitoring HSVtk suicide gene therapy: the role of [18F]FHPG membrane transport
Favourable pharmacokinetics of the prodrug are essential for successful HSVtk/ganciclovir (GCV) suicide gene therapy. [F-18] FHPG PET might be a suitable technique to assess the pharmacokinetics of the prodrug GCV noninvasively, provided that [F-18] FHPG mimics the behaviour of GCV. Since membrane transport is an important aspect of the pharmacokinetics of the prodrug, we investigated the cellular uptake mechanism of [F-18] FHPG in an HSVtk expressing C6 rat glioma cell line and in tumour- bearing rats. The nucleoside transport inhibitors dipyridamol, NBMPR and 2- chloroadenosine did not significantly affect the [F-18] FHPG uptake in vitro. Thymidine and uridine significantly decreased [F-18] FHPG uptake by 84 and 58%, respectively, but an enzyme assay revealed that this decline was due to inhibition of the HSVtk enzyme rather than membrane transport. Nucleobase transport inhibitors, thymine and adenine, caused a 58 and 55% decline in tracer uptake, respectively. In vivo, the ratio of [F-18] FHPG uptake in C6tk and C6 tumours decreased from 3.070.5 to 1.070.2 after infusion of adenine. Thus, in our tumour model, [F-18] FHPG transport exclusively occurred via purine nucleobase transport. In this respect, FHPG does not resemble GCV, which is predominantly taken up via the nucleoside transporter, but rather acyclovir, which is also taken up via the purine nucleobase carrier
Universal cures for idiosyncratic illnesses: a genealogy of therapeutic reasoning in the mental health field
Over the past decades, there has been a significant increase in prescriptions of psychotropic drugs for mental disorders. So far, most of the explanations of the phenomenon have focused on the process of medicalization, but little attention has been cast towards physicians' day-to-day clinical reasoning, and the way it affects therapeutic decision-making. This article addresses the complex relationship between aetiology, diagnosis and drug treatment by examining the style of reasoning underlying prescribing practices through an historical lens. A genealogy of contemporary prescribing practices is proposed, that draws significant comparisons between 19th-century medicine and modern psychiatry. Tensions between specific, standardized cures and specific, idiosyncratic patients have been historically at play in clinical reasoning - and still are today. This inquiry into the epistemological foundations of contemporary drug prescription reveals an underlying search for scientific legitimacy
photoproduction on the proton for photon energies from 0.725 to 2.875 GeV
Differential cross sections for the reaction have been
measured with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) and a tagged
photon beam with energies from 0.725 to 2.875 GeV. Where available, the results
obtained here compare well with previously published results for the reaction.
Agreement with the SAID and MAID analyses is found below 1 GeV. The present set
of cross sections has been incorporated into the SAID database, and exploratory
fits have been made up to 2.7 GeV. Resonance couplings have been extracted and
compared to previous determinations. With the addition of these cross sections
to the world data set, significant changes have occurred in the high-energy
behavior of the SAID cross-section predictions and amplitudes.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figure
Display of probability densities for data from a continuous distribution
Based on cumulative distribution functions, Fourier series expansion and
Kolmogorov tests, we present a simple method to display probability densities
for data drawn from a continuous distribution. It is often more efficient than
using histograms.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, presented at Computer Simulation Studies XXIV,
Athens, GA, 201
Observation of an Exotic Baryon in Exclusive Photoproduction from the Deuteron
In an exclusive measurement of the reaction , a
narrow peak that can be attributed to an exotic baryon with strangeness
is seen in the invariant mass spectrum. The peak is at
GeV/c with a measured width of 0.021 GeV/c FWHM, which is largely
determined by experimental mass resolution. The statistical significance of the
peak is . The mass and width of the observed peak are
consistent with recent reports of a narrow baryon by other experimental
groups.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
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