Development of structural dynamic test environments for subsystems and components

Structural dynamic environmental test levels were developed for the thematic mapper instrument, components of the Tandberg-Hanssen instrument, and components of the International Ultraviolet Explorer spacecraft using NASTRAN structural models and test data. Both static and dynamic NASTRAN analyses were used. The model size required could be as small as 300 degrees of freedom for the static analysis and as large as 4000 degrees of freedom or more for the high frequency dynamic analysis. An important step in the development of the levels is model verification by test. The launch environments that generally dictate many important features of the design of an instrument or component are steady state acceleration, sinusoidal vibration, and random vibration

A Cognitive Look at the "Invisibility" of Older Gay Men Within the Categories 'Gay Man' and 'Elderly Man'

Two studies analyzed whether, at the cognitive level, 'Elderly gay man' is "invisible" both when processing the labels 'Gay man' and 'Elderly man'. We suggest that 'Gay man' is conflated with 'Young man', and that 'Elderly man' is conflated with 'Heterosexual man'. Contact with elderly gay men did not alter the perception of 'Gay man' as prevalently young but weakened the perception of 'Elderly man' as heterosexual by default

Mirrored images but not silicone models trigger aggressive responses in male common wall lizards

Disentangling the effects of single releasers in animal communication is a demanding task because a releaser often consists of a combination of different key stimuli. Territorial communication in reptiles usually depends on visual, chemical, and acoustic stimuli, but the role of each of them depends on phylogeny. Lacertids are modern lizards that rely mainly on chemical cues for their communication, but they also use aggressive displays based on visual recognition. We experimentally tested the visual stimuli that release an aggressive response in the males of a typical lacertid, the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis), testing the effects of silicone models and mirrored images in captivity. The response to models and control (a blank sheet) was not significantly different and these stimuli did not release any aggressive behaviour. On the contrary, the reflected image in a mirror caused overt aggression (i.e., bites against it) in 63% of tested individuals. The results clearly demonstrate the role of visual stimuli in territorial communication, but only as a combined effect of shape and motion, differently from other lizard families for which shape is enough to stimulate aggre sive responses. Mirrors can be useful tools to investigate aggression related to physiological and morphological aspects in lacertid lizards

NUTRITIONAL AND DIGESTIVE EFFECTS OF GASTRECTOMY FOR GASTRIC CANCER

Background: Gastrectomy often leads to malnutrition. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze nutritional and digestive effects of gastrectomy for cancer. Patients and methods: Gastrectomized patients were studied by nutritional assessment including a weekly nutritional diary exploring digestive symptoms. Results: Thirty-two patients were analyzed after a mean follow-up of 41.8 months. The mean percentage of weight loss was 12.9% \ub1 13.5%. After total gastrectomy, mean weight loss was 22% \ub1 1.2%, against 7.4% \ub111.9% for subtotal gastrectomy (p = 0.002). Moreover, advancing age was related to weight loss (p = 0.02), with a peak around 70 years. The most frequent postprandial symptoms were abdominal swelling (62%) and early satiety (59%). Finally, findings of the present study imply that overm a long follow-up, there are no specific intolerances related to gastrectomy. Conclusions: Patients who have undergone a total gastrectomy and elderly gastrectomized patients are at risk of malnutrition and need postoperative nutritional support

Combining N-mixture models with ecological niche modeling supplies a low-cost and fast procedure for estimating population size in remote areas

Monitoring population changes and trends is a central task in conservation. However, obtaining detailed information for wide and low accessible areas, such as remote islands, is challenging, and cannot be achieved with conventional approaches, such as capture-mark-recapture protocols (CMR). In this paper, we show that combining N-mixture models with ecological niche modeling allows assessing reliable estimates of population size over large target areas on short time intervals. We used it to estimate the population size of a subspecies of the Italian wall lizards (Podarcis siculus calabresiae) endemic to the Island of Montecristo (10.39 km(2) in surface). During a single week, we first generated a niche model of the species based on satellite images sampled few days before sampling. Then, we estimated lizard abundance through Bayesian N-mixture models on repeated counts (n=3) along transects (n=6), settled in different areas of habitat suitability defined on the basis of the niche model. Finally, we estimated in approximately 20.000 the total number of lizards living in the Island by extrapolating the values computed on transects to the areas of the islands with the same suitability estimated by the niche model. The procedure can be easily repeated allowing monitoring the status of conservation of the species in the island of Montecristo. More in general, this procedure has the potential to be applied to monitor any other species of conservation interest in remote areas whenever detailed satellite images are available.[GRAPHICS]

Extrapolating Stereotypical Information on Sexual Orientation From Race Categories: The Case of Black and Asian Men

The current research analyzed whether race categories concerning Black and Asian men could lead to extrapolative inferences concerning the sexual orientation (i.e., extrapolative sexual orientation stereotyping [ESOS]) of these category members. Study 1 assessed perceived culturally based ESOS and showed that Black men, compared with Asian men, were thought to be more heterosexual than gay men. Study 2 assessed participants' own ESOS and showed that Black men were conflated with heterosexual men to a greater extent than were Asian men, although Asian men were not assimilated to gay men. Black and White men were equally stereotyped as heterosexual men, thus suggesting a drop in the perceived heterosexuality of Asian men rather than an enhancement of the perceived heterosexuality of Black men. Study 3 confirmed that Black men were perceived as more masculine, less feminine, and more heterosexual than Asian men, although no difference was found between the two racial categories in the perceived homosexuality. The enhanced perception of femininity of Asian compared with Black men was associated with a decreased perception of Asian compared with Black men as heterosexual. Together, results suggest that the category of Asian and Black men worked as the basis for inferring the sexual orientation of these group members. These racial categories affected the inferred heterosexuality and less, if not somewhat elusively, the inferred homosexuality of Asian and Black men. Results were discussed with respect to research concerning the extrapolative stereotyping and gender-inversion stereotypes of gay men

Race can be sexually oriented: The intersection between Asian/Black and Heterosexual/ Homosexual categories

Based on previous studies showing that Black men are conflated with masculinity more than Asian men, we hypothesized that Black men were processed as more heterosexual than Asian men. In Study 1, we found that Black men, compared to Asian men, were rated as more masculine and more heterosexual. In Study 2, by using an implicit paradigm (paper-and-pencil IAT), we showed that Black men were more strongly associated with heterosexuals than Asian men. These studies contribute to the debate on how different categories intersect, suggesting that intervention aimed at enhancing the visibility of racial groups within sexual minorities is needed

Opportunistic datasets perform poorly in Ecological Niche Modelling: a case study from a polymorphic lizard

Context. Among processes involved in colour polymorphism, geographic variation in morph composition and frequency has been attracting interest since it reflects morph local adaptation. A recent study in the Pyrenees associated the pattern of geographic variation in morph frequency of the common wall lizard with the divergence in climatic niches, supporting the hypothesis that morphs represent alternative local climatic adaptations. However, the Pyrenees represent only a small portion of the species range. Aims. We modelled the ecological niches of Italian morphs using the same procedure adopted for the Pyrenees to check whether the effects detected at local scales (i.e. the Pyrenees) were repeatable at regional scales (i.e. Italy). This generalisation is needed to investigate how natural selection maintains locally adapted polymorphisms. Methods. We classified each locality (120 populations) according to the presence/absence of morphs, and independent Ecological Niche Models (ENMs) against the same background were fitted. Receiver Operating Curves accounting for sampling biases, equivalency and similarity tests were used to check and compare models accounting for spatial distribution of data. Key results. Morph-specific ENMs did not reproduce any of the patterns detected in the Pyrenees. Any difference among morphs disappeared after controlling for morph spatial distribution. Since occurrence points of the rarest morphs were a subsample of the occurrence points of the most common morph, it is not possible to separate the effects of true ecological differences among morphs from the effects of the spatial distribution patterns of morph occurrence. Conclusions. Using presence data not specifically collected for ENM comparisons does not allow reliable assessments of morph niche segregation. Our analysis points out the need to be very cautious in ecological interpretations of ENMs built on presence/background or presence-only data when occurrences are spatially nested