The gas production rate of periodic comet d'Arrest

Comet P/d'Arrest is a potential target for a rendezvous mission to a short period comet. Its light curve is rather peculiar, the comet being active only after perihelion passage. One apparition out of two is easy to observe from the ground. The 1995 apparition of the comet will offer a unique opportunity to characterize the outgassing properties of its nucleus

The Value of Literacy Practices

The concepts of literacy events and practices have received considerable attention in educational research and policy. In comparison, the question of value, that is, ‘which literacy practices do people most value?’ has been neglected. With the current trend of cross-cultural adult literacy assessment, it is increasingly important to recognise locally valued literacy practices. In this paper we argue that measuring preferences and weighting of literacy practices provides an empirical and democratic basis for decisions in literacy assessment and curriculum development and could inform rapid educational adaptation to changes in the literacy environment. The paper examines the methodological basis for investigating literacy values and its potential to inform cross-cultural literacy assessments. The argument is illustrated with primary data from Mozambique. The correlation between individual values and respondents’ socio-economic and demographic characteristics is explored

Occurrence and population densities of yeast species in a fresh-water lake

Quantitative studies of yeasts present in surface and deep water samples from a fresh water body (Douglas Lake, Michigan) revealed 12 species ( Candida parapsilosis, C. pulcherrima, Cryptococcus albidus, Cr. diffluens, Cr. gastricus, Cr. laurentii, Rhodotorula glutinis, R. pilimanae, R. rubra, Trichosporon cutaneum, Debaryomyces sp., “black yeasts”). In two regions of surface sampling the population densities averaged 39.6 and 5.5 cells per 100 ml respectively, whereas the average deep water count was 40.3 cells per 100 ml. Yeasts of the genus Rhodotorula predominated.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41778/1/10482_2005_Article_BF02046074.pd

Inter-individual Differences in fMRI Entropy Measurements in Old Age

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI linkWe investigated the association between individual differences in cognitive performance in old age and the approximate entropy (ApEn) measured from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data acquired from 40 participants of the Aberdeen Birth Cohort 1936 (ABC1936), while undergoing a visual information processing task: inspection time (IT). Participants took a version of the Moray House Test (MHT) No. 12 at age 11, a valid measure of childhood intelligence. The same individuals completed a test of non-verbal reasoning (Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices [RPM]) aged about 68 years. The IT, MHT and RPM scores were used as indicators of cognitive performance. Our results show that higher regional signal entropy is associated with better cognitive performance. This finding was independent of ability in childhood but not independent of current cognitive ability. ApEn is used for the first time to identify a potential source of individual differences in cognitive ability using fMRI data

Intramyocellular lipid saturation as a new metabolic biomarker

Background: Endurance trained athletic healthy volunteers (Athl-HV) and type 2 diabetes patients (T2D) have higher levels of lipids in their skele- tal myocytes compared to healthy controls. Despite apparently similar metabolic storage, they are at opposite ends of insulin sensitivity and cardio-metabolic risk. Purpose: We investigated if the degree of saturation of the IntraMyoCel- lular Lipids (IMCL) will differentiate Athl-HV from T2D; and explored if an exercise intervention will induce changes in the IMCL saturation. Methods: Male, age matched Athl-HV and T2D were enrolled (n=25/group). Athl-HV had ≥ 5 years endurance training, T2D were seden- tary. Subjects were studied at baseline and after an exercise intervention (4 week deconditioning in Athl-HV and supervised bike training at ≥ 65% of peakVO2, 5 hours/week x 8 weeks in T2D). All subjects underwent cardio-pulmonary exercise testing (CPET), blood sampling for insulin sen- sitivity (QUICKI*) and single voxel 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) of the right vastus lateralis. 1H-MRS was acquired on 3T Philips Achieva with a 16-channel coil, point-resolved spectroscopy, variable pulse power and optimized relaxation delay water suppression and analysed in LCModel. We derived fractional lipid mass (fLM) and fractions of saturated (fSL) and unsaturated (fUL) lipids. Data were analysed by t tests, shown as mean±SEM, statistical significance p < 0.05. Results: CPET and insulin sensitivity are presented in Table 1. T2D had higher fLM in the skeletal muscle compared to Athl-HV, at base- line (p=0.003) and after the exercise intervention (p=0.009), Figure 1A. At baseline, T2D had a different phenotype with a lower fSL and higher fUL compared to Athl-HV (82±3 vs 88±1% and 18±3 vs 12±1%, p=0.02 for both). Whilst deconditioning did not attract any significant changes in either fSL or fUL in Athl-HV (88±1 to 86±1% and 12±1 to 14±1, p=0.2), in contrast, with exercise training T2D significantly increased fSL (82±3 to 88±1%) and decreased their fUL (18±3 to 12±1%) (both p=0.01). Figure 1B and 1C. Conclusion: We demonstrate for the first time, in vivo, significant differ- ences in the IMCL amount and saturation between Athl-HV and T2D. IMCL saturation was changed by exercise training in T2D to mirror the phenotype seen in Athl-HV uncovering a new, independent biomarker of improved cardio-metabolic health

Two new species of Phalangopsis Serville, 1831 (Orthoptera: Grylloidea: Phalangopsidae) from Brazilian Amazon Forest

We describe here two new species of the genus Phalangopsis Serville, 1831 from the Brazilian Amazon Forest. The male genitalia and the female copulatory papilla were described, and a combination of diagnostic characteristics was given to separate both new species from the other described species. The principal morphological characteristics of this genus were discussed.Aqui foram descritas duas espécies novas do gênero Phalangopsis Serville, 1831 da Floresta Amazônica brasileira. A genitália masculina e a papila copulatória feminina são descritas, bem como uma combinação de características diagnósticas para separar ambas as novas espécies das outras espécies descritas. As principais características morfológicas foram discutidas

Attention Performance in an Epidemiological Sample of Urban Children: The Role of Gender and Verbal Intelligence

We administered a comprehensive attentional battery to an epidemiologically defined sample of 435 first and second-grade children to assess the influence of gender and verbal intelligence on attention. The battery included three versions of the continuous performance test (CPT), two digit cancellation tasks, three subtests from the WISC-R, and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. The results indicated that both gender and intelligence had an impact on attentional performance. Girls performed better than boys; they made fewer errors on the CPT and obtained higher scores on the digit cancellation task and the Coding subtest of the WISC-R. Children with higher verbal intelligence also performed better on the attentional tests, but this advantage was not observed across measures or levels of performance. For example, children with limited verbal skills performed significantly worse than their peers only in measures with high processing demands(the degraded CPT and the distraction version of the digit cancellation task)