The Effect of a Maternal Mediterranean Diet in Pregnancy on Insulin Resistance is Moderated by Maternal Negative Affect.

There is inconsistent evidence that healthy dietary interventions can effectively mitigate the risk of adverse outcomes associated with elevated insulin resistance in pregnancy, suggesting that other moderating factors may be at play. Maternal psychological state is an important factor to consider in this regard, because stress/mood state can directly influence glycemia and a bidirectional relationship may exist between nutrition and psychological state. The objective of this study was to examine the interaction between maternal negative affect and diet quality on third trimester insulin resistance. We conducted a prospective longitudinal study of N = 203 women with assessments in early and mid-pregnancy, which included an ecological momentary assessment of maternal psychological state, from which a negative affect score (NAS) was derived, and 24-h dietary recalls, from which the Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS) was computed. The homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was computed from third trimester fasting plasma glucose and insulin values. Early pregnancy MDS was inversely associated with the HOMA-IR, but this did not maintain significance after adjusting for covariates. There was a significant effect of the mid-pregnancy MDS*NAS interaction term with the HOMA-IR in the adjusted model, such that a higher negative affect was found to override the beneficial effects of a Mediterranean diet on insulin resistance. These results highlight the need to consider nutrition and affective state concurrently in the context of gestational insulin resistance

Passive broadband full Stokes polarimeter using a Fresnel cone

Light's polarisation contains information about its source and interactions, from distant stars to biological samples. Polarimeters can recover this information, but reliance on birefringent or rotating optical elements limits their wavelength range and stability. Here we present a static, single-shot polarimeter based on a Fresnel cone - the direct spatial analogue to the popular rotating quarter-wave plate approach. We measure the average angular accuracy to be 2.9 (3.6) degrees for elliptical(linear) polarisation states across the visible spectrum, with the degree of polarisation determined to within 0.12(0.08). Our broadband full Stokes polarimeter is robust, cost-effective, and could find applications in hyper-spectral polarimetry and scanning microscopy.Comment: 6 Pages, 4 Figure

The breakdown flash of Silicon Avalance Photodiodes - backdoor for eavesdropper attacks?

Silicon avalanche photodiodes are the most sensitive photodetectors in the visible to near infrared region. However, when they are used for single photon detection in a Geiger mode, they are known to emit light on the controlled breakdown used to detect a photoelectron. This fluorescence light might have serious impacts on experimental applications like quantum cryptography or single-particle spectroscopy. We characterized the fluorescence behaviour of silicon avalanche photodiodes in the experimentally simple passive quenching configuration and discuss implications for their use in quantum cryptography systems.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, submitted to J. Mod. Optic

IFNα and IFNγ Impede Marek’s Disease Progression

Marek’s disease virus (MDV) is an alphaherpesvirus that causes Marek’s disease, a malignant lymphoproliferative disease of domestic chickens. While MDV vaccines protect animals from clinical disease, they do not provide sterilizing immunity and allow field strains to circulate and evolve in vaccinated flocks. Therefore, there is a need for improved vaccines and for a better understanding of innate and adaptive immune responses against MDV infections. Interferons (IFNs) play important roles in the innate immune defenses against viruses and induce upregulation of a cellular antiviral state. In this report, we quantified the potent antiviral effect of IFNα and IFNγ against MDV infections in vitro. Moreover, we demonstrate that both cytokines can delay Marek’s disease onset and progression in vivo. Additionally, blocking of endogenous IFNα using a specific monoclonal antibody, in turn, accelerated disease. In summary, our data reveal the effects of IFNα and IFNγ on MDV infection and improve our understanding of innate immune responses against this oncogenic virus

Electrophysiology of normal and pathological language processing

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New Mexico Cooperative Extension Service Home Economists\u27 Perceived Technical Knowledge and Estimated Client Needs

The study reported here determined the differences between New Mexico Cooperative Extension Service Home Economics agents\u27 perceived technical knowledge and client needs for 144 Family and Consumer Sciences concepts. Data were collected using mailed questionnaires to all agents. Follow-up procedures resulted in a 94% return rate. For 71 of the concepts, respondents felt their knowledge exceeded client needs; for 67 of the concepts, respondents felt client needs exceeded their knowledge. Analysis of variance found no differences for participants by years of employment. Data indicated a need for agent information in some critical areas that will influence future pre-service and in-service education

News From The Gamma Cephei Planetary System

The Gamma Cephei planetary system is one of the most interesting systems due to several reasons: 1.) it is the first planet candidate detected by precise radial velocity (RV) measurements that was discussed in the literature (Campbell et al. 1988); 2.) it is a tight binary system with a ~ 20AU; and 3.) the planet host star is an evolved K-type star. In Hatzes et al. (2003) we confirmed the presence of the planetary companion with a minimum mass of 1.7 M_Jup at 2 AU. In this paper we present additional eight years of precise RV data from the Harlan J. Smith 2.7 m Telescope and its Tull Coude spectrograph at McDonald Observatory. The 900 d signal, that is interpreted as the presence of the giant planetary companion, is strongly confirmed by adding the new data. We present an updated orbital solution for the planet, which shows that the planet is slightly more massive and the orbit more circular than previous results have suggested. An intensive high-cadence week of RV observations in 2007 revealed that Gamma Cep A is a multi-periodic pulsator. We discuss this issue within the context of searching for additional planets in this system.Comment: Part of PlanetsbeyondMS/2010 proceedings http://arxiv.org/html/1011.660

Comment:The Next Frontier: Prosody Research Gets Interpersonal

Neurocognitive models (e.g., Schirmer & Kotz, 2006) have helped to characterize how listeners incrementally derive meaning from vocal expressions of emotion in spoken language, what neural mechanisms are involved at different processing stages, and their relative time course. But how can these insights be applied to communicative situations in which prosody serves a predominantly interpersonal function? This comment examines recent data highlighting the dynamic interplay of prosody and language, when vocal attributes serve the sociopragmatic goals of the speaker or reveal interpersonal information that listeners use to construct a mental representation of what is being communicated. Our comment serves as a beacon to researchers interested in how the neurocognitive system “makes sense” of socioemotive aspects of prosody