Alien Registration- Trenholm, Chana M. (Southwest Harbor, Hancock County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/19551/thumbnail.jp

Can a brief interaction with online, digital art improve wellbeing? A comparative study of the impact of online art and culture presentations on mood, state-anxiety, subjective wellbeing, and loneliness

When experienced in-person, engagement with art has been associated—in a growing body of evidence—with positive outcomes in wellbeing and mental health. This represents an exciting new field for psychology, curation, and health interventions, suggesting a widely-accessible, cost-effective, and non-pharmaceutical means of regulating factors such as mood or anxiety. However, can similar impacts be found with online presentations? If so, this would open up positive outcomes to an even-wider population—a trend accelerating due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Despite its promise, this question, and the underlying mechanisms of art interventions and impacts, has largely not been explored. Participants (N = 84) were asked to engage with one of two online exhibitions from Google Arts and Culture (a Monet painting or a similarly-formatted display of Japanese culinary traditions). With just 1–2 min exposure, both improved negative mood, state-anxiety, loneliness, and wellbeing. Stepdown analysis suggested the changes can be explained primarily via negative mood, while improvements in mood correlated with aesthetic appraisals and cognitive-emotional experience of the exhibition. However, no difference was found between exhibitions. We discuss the findings in terms of applications and targets for future research

Examining Co-management of National Parks through the Lens of Common-pool Resource Design Principles: A Comparative Case Study of Liwonde and Majete in Malawi

Co-management which was founded on common-pool resource design principles has been popularized in solving sustainability challenges of national parks. Co-management was imposed on all national parks in Malawi under the 2000 Wildlife Policy. However, such a top-down approach might neglect the local contexts that influenced policy implementation. The objective of this study was to examine the implementation of co-management and determine the extent of conformity to Ostrom’s eight design principles. The Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework was engaged through a qualitative case study of Liwonde National Park and Majete Wildlife Reserve. Based on co-management documentations and key informant interviews, the research found varied extents of conformity in the two cases despite a unified national policy framework. Majete was more supportive to the design principles than Liwonde because of resource, user and institutional attributes. The study proposed fine tuning the implementation process towards contextualizing these attributes for long term delivery of perceivable biodiversity and livelihoods benefits

Autoradiographic Localization of [3H]-Nisoxetine Binding Sites in the CNS of Male and Female Japanese Quail

Background In the central nervous system of mammals, transporters localized on the presynaptic nerve terminals regulate the reuptake of neurotransmitters. These transporters are selective for a specific neurotransmitter such as dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE). Specifically in the synapse, the dopamine transporter (DAT) reuptakes DA and the norepinephrine transporter (NET) reuptakes NE. However previous research has found that avian species do not have a gene for DAT, and therefore, birds may be using the NET to clear both NE and DA from the synapse. The current study aimed to extend this finding by localizing NET expression in male and female Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) brains using [3H]Nisoxetine, a selective NET blocker. Results High densities of binding sites were observed in the olfactory tubercle (OTu), the medial striatum (MSt), and the lateral striatum (LSt). Lower densities of binding sites were detected in the amygdala (AMY) and hypothalamus (Hyp), and low binding was found in the medial preoptic area (mPOA) and the pallium. Conclusion The areas with the highest densities of NET are also areas that previous research has shown to have high levels of DA activity but low levels of NE innervation (e.g. striatum). The distribution of this reuptake transporter is consistent with the theory that NET acts to clear both DA and NE from the synapse

Advanced diagnostic genetic testing in inherited retinal disease: experience from a single tertiary referral centre in the UK National Health Service

In 2013, as part of our genetic investigation of patients with inherited retinal disease, we utilized multigene panel testing of 105 genes known to cause retinal disease in our patient cohorts. This test was performed in a UK National Health Service (NHS) accredited laboratory. The results of all multigene panel tests requested between 1.4.13 and 31.8.14 were retrospectively reviewed. All patients had been previously seen at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, UK and diagnosed with an inherited retinal dystrophy after clinical examination and detailed retinal imaging. The results were categorized into three groups: (i) Testing helped establish a certain molecular diagnosis in 45 out of 115 (39%). Variants in USH2A (n = 6) and RP1 (n = 4) were most common. (ii) Definitive conclusions could not be drawn from molecular testing alone in 13 out of 115 (11%) as either insufficient pathogenic variants were discovered or those identified were not consistent with the phenotype. (iii) Testing did not identify any pathogenic variants responsible for the phenotype in 57 out of 115 (50%). Multigene panel testing performed in an NHS setting has enabled a molecular diagnosis to be confidently made in 40% of cases. Novel variants accounted for 38% of all identified variants. Detailed retinal phenotyping helped the interpretation of specific variants. Additional care needs to be taken when assessing polymorphisms in genes that have been infrequently associated with disease, as historical techniques were not as rigorous as contemporary ones. Future iterations of sequencing are likely to offer higher sensitivity, testing a broader range of genes, more rapidly and at a reduced cost

Simulating eddy current sensor outputs for blade tip timing

Blade tip timing is a contactless method used to monitor the vibration of blades in rotating machinery. Blade vibration and clearance are important diagnostic features for condition monitoring, including the detection of blade cracks. Eddy current sensors are a practical choice for blade tip timing and have been used extensively. As the data requirements from the timing measurement become more stringent and the systems become more complicated, including the use of multiple sensors, the ability to fully understand and optimize the measurement system becomes more important. This requires detailed modeling of eddy current sensors in the blade tip timing application; the current approaches often rely on experimental trials. Existing simulations for eddy current sensors have not considered the particular case of a blade rotating past the sensor. Hence, the novel aspect of this article is the development of a detailed quasi-static finite element model of the electro-magnetic field to simulate the integrated measured output of the sensor. This model is demonstrated by simulating the effect of tip clearance, blade geometry, and blade velocity on the output of the eddy current sensor. This allows an understanding of the sources of error in the blade time of arrival estimate and hence insight into the accuracy of the blade vibration measurement

Deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap: Impact of drain free donor abdominal site on long term patient outcomes and duration of inpatient stay

Background: The deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap is widely regarded as the Gold Standard in autologous breast reconstruction. Although drain-free abdominoplasty is performed in many centres, there is a paucity of evidence comparing outcomes when applied to DIEP breast reconstruction. Method: A retrospective review of patients who underwent DIEP breast reconstruction without abdominal drain insertion at Royal Free Hospital between Jan 2012-Nov 2016 was undertaken. Results were compared to previously published data from our centre on patients undergoing DIEP breast reconstruction with abdominal drains between Jan 2011-Jul 2012. Results: Thirty-five patients underwent abdominal drain-free reconstruction (GroupA). Of 74 patients who previously underwent reconstruction with abdominal drains, 33 patients underwent drain removal by postoperative day (POD)3 regardless of output (GroupB) and 41 underwent drain removal after POD3 following instructions on drainage volume/24 h (GroupC). There was no significant difference in the length of stay between patients in Group A and B (3.6 vs. 3.9 days; p = 0.204). Length of stay in Group C was significantly higher than Group A and B (p = 0.001, p = 0.001). There were no statistically significant differences in total (11.43% vs. 12.12% vs 17.07%, p = 0.780) or specific complications: Seroma: 2.86% vs. 0% vs. 4.88% (p = 0.774); Wound dehiscence: 8.57% vs. 9.09% vs. 4.88% (p = 0.728); Haematoma: 0% vs. 3.00% vs. 7.32% (p = 0.316) between Groups A, B and C, respectively. Conclusion: Our data suggests that drain-free abdominal closure in DIEP reconstruction can be safely achieved without increased postoperative complications. These conclusions support existing evidence on the use of a drain-free approach in cosmetic abdominoplasty

Decoupling of a Current-Biased Intrinsic Josephson Junction from its Environment

We have observed a dissipative phase diffusion branch in arrays of hysteretic high-Tc intrinsic Josephson junctions. By comparing the data with a thermal activation model we extract the impedance seen by the junction in which phase diffusion is occurring. At the plasma frequency this junction is isolated from its environment and it sees its own large (~ kilo Ohm) impedance. Our results suggest that stacks of Josephson junctions may be used for isolation purposes in the development of a solid state quantum computer

Religion/Spirituality, Stress, and Resilience Among Sexual and Gender Minorities: The Religious/Spiritual Stress and Resilience Model

Although many sexual and gender minorities (SGMs) consider themselves religious or spiritual, the impact of this religiousness or spirituality (RS) on their health is poorly understood. We introduce the religious/spiritual stress and resilience model (RSSR) to provide a robust framework for understanding the variegated ways that RS influences the health of SGMs. The RSSR bridges existing theorizing on minority stress, structural stigma, and RS-health pathways to articulate the circumstances under which SGMs likely experience RS as health promoting or health damaging. The RSSR makes five key propositions: (a) Minority stress and resilience processes influence health; (b) RS influences general resilience processes; (c) RS influences minority-specific stress and resilience processes; (d) these relationships are moderated by a number of variables uniquely relevant to RS among SGMs, such as congregational stances on same-sex sexual behavior and gender expression or an individual’s degree of SGM and RS identity integration; and (e) relationships between minority stress and resilience, RS, and health are bidirectional. In this manuscript, we describe the empirical basis for each of the five propositions focusing on research examining the relationship between RS and health among SGMs. We conclude by describing how the RSSR may inform future research on RS and health among SGMs