A Q-method investigation of individual value priorities in subjective well-being: understanding what makes well-being matter.

Objectives: The current investigation aimed to inform theory by exploring the question: How do individual value-priorities influence participants’ constructions of personal well-being? Design: The study employed Q Methodology, which assembles a comprehensive concourse of literature-informed viewpoints, operationalised as numbered qualitative statements for objective quantitative analysis. Q Method provided the ability to operationalise and integrate complex subjective values, facilitating subsequent interpretative analysis of how values influence subjective well-being. Methods: An opportunity sample of 30 participants (12 male, 18 female; 19-66 years), ranked 60 value statements according to subjective importance on a 13-point forced choice distribution grid ranging from -6 (most unimportant) to +6 (most important). Data were subjected to factor analysis and factor extraction using principle component analysis with Varimax rotation. Data sets loading on separate factors with an Eigenvalue of .06 or above were merged to form holistic factor arrays, each subjected to holistic interpretive analyses. Results: Thirteen participants (8 male 5 female), loaded significantly on five factors, (factors 1,2 and 3; three loadings), (factors 4 and 5; two loadings), accounting for 53% of the sample variance. Holistic analyses identified five themes: Exploring Life through my Choices; Faith Family Acceptance and Balance; Keeping Family Close and Embracing Life; Finding Positive Meaning in the World; Being True to Myself and Defining my Boundaries. Conclusions: Findings demonstrate that individual values have a significant influence on subsequent development of subjective constructs of personal well-being. These constructs do not conform to components associated with one distinct domain of well-being, but incorporate dynamic, interactive components from multiple domains

Comparison of DMSP cross-track ion drifts and SuperDARN line-of-sight velocities

Cross-track ion drifts measured by the DMSP satellites are compared with line-of-sight SuperDARN HF velocities in approximately the same directions. Good overall agreement is found for a data set comprising of 209 satellite passes over the field of view of nine SuperDARN radars in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The slope of the best linear fit line relating the SuperDARN and DMSP velocities is of the order of 0.7 with a tendency for SuperDARN velocities to be smaller. The agreement implies that the satellite and radar data can be merged into a common set provided that spatial and temporal variations of the velocity as measured by both instruments are smooth.<br><br> <b>Keywords.</b> Ionosphere (Ionospheric irregularities; Plasma convection; Auroral ionosphere

A Comparison of Fitness Functions in a Genetic Algorithm for Acoustic–Articulatory Parameter Inversion of Vowels

Articulatory speech synthesis provides an alternative to the state of the art concatenative and formant systems, holding potential for more versatile and expressive arti cial speech due to its physical modelling basis. However, a major limitation of practical articulatory synthesis is gaining adequate control of the complex underlying physical models, which stems from a lack of articulatory data. In an e ort to procure more data, a Genetic Algorithm approach to Acoustic-Articulatory Parameter Inversion is taken. is paper presents the initial results from testing a number of tness functions for the Acoustic-Articulatory Parameter Inversion of three vowels, /a/, /o/, and /e/. ree feature vector representations of the vowels were tested; Hertz, Mel–scale, and Cents, in conjunction with three distance metrics. e distance metrics de ned the tness score by calculating the similarity between a candidate and targets feature vector. A Voiced/Un–Voiced constraint was also added as a penalty function, and an indicator of loudness was implemented using a Root Mean Square based co-e cient. e results indicated that certain combinations of the above could lead to convergence towards all three vowels. However, the quality of convergence was not uniform

A high calcium diet containing nonfat dry milk reduces weight gain and associated adipose tissue inflammation in diet-induced obese mice when compared to high calcium alone

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>High dietary calcium (Ca) is reported to have anti-obesity and anti-inflammatory properties. Evidence for these properties of dietary Ca in animal models of polygenic obesity have been confounded by the inclusion of dairy food components in experimental diets; thus, effect of Ca <it>per se </it>could not be deciphered. Furthermore, potential anti-inflammatory actions of Ca <it>in vivo </it>could not be dissociated from reduced adiposity.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We characterized adiposity along with metabolic and inflammatory phenotypes in diet-induced obese (DIO) mice fed 1 of 3 high fat diets (45% energy) for 12 wk: control (<it>n </it>= 29), high-Ca (<it>n </it>= 30), or high-Ca + nonfat dry milk (NFDM) (<it>n </it>= 30).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mice fed high-Ca + NFDM had reduced body weight and adiposity compared to high-Ca mice (<it>P </it>< 0.001). Surprisingly, the high-Ca mice had increased adiposity compared to lower-Ca controls (<it>P </it>< 0.001). Hyperphagia and increased feed efficiency contributed to obesity development in high-Ca mice, in contrast to NFDM mice that displayed significantly reduced weight gain despite higher energy intake compared to controls (P < 0.001). mRNA markers of macrophages (e.g., CD68, CD11d) strongly correlated with body weight in all diet treatment groups, and most treatment differences in WAT inflammatory factor mRNA abundances were lost when controlling for body weight gain as a covariate.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results indicate that high dietary Ca is not sufficient to dampen obesity-related phenotypes in DIO mice, and in fact exacerbates weight gain and hyperphagia. The data further suggest that putative anti-obesity properties of dairy emanate from food components beyond Ca.</p

Translation and Community in the work of Elizabeth Cary

Explores the role of female community within Elizabeth Cary\u27s translations and her play, The Tragedy of Mariam

Fast gas chromotography with luminol detection for measurement of nitrogen dioxide and PANs.

Fast capillary gas chromatography has been coupled to a luminol-based chemiluminescence detection system for the rapid monitoring of nitrogen dioxide and peroxyacyl nitrates. A first-generation instrument was described recently (Gaffney et al., 1998). This system is capable of monitoring nitrogen dioxide and peroxyacyl nitrates (PANs; to and including the C4 species) with 1-min time resolution. This is an improvement by a factor of five over gas chromatography methods with electron capture detection. In addition, the luminol method is substantially less expensive than laser fluorescent detection or mass spectroscopic methods. Applications in aircraft-based research have been published electronically and will appear shortly in Environmental Science and Technology (Gaffney et al., 1999a). An improved version of the instrument that has been designed and built makes use of a Hammamatsu photon-counting system. Detection limits of this instrumentation are at the low tens of ppt. The range of the instrument can be adjusted by modifying sampling volumes and detection counting times. A review of past work and of recent application of the instrumentation to field measurements of nitrogen dioxide and PANs is presented. The data clearly indicate that the luminol approach can determine the target species with time resolution of less than 1 min. Examples of applications for estimation of peroxyacetyl radical concentrations and nitrate radical formation rates are also presented. This instrumentation can further be used for evaluation of surfaces for loss of nitrogen dioxide and PANs, phenomena of possible importance for sampling interfaces and chamber wall design. Our high-frequency field data clearly indicate that the ''real world'' is not well mixed and that turbulent mixing and plume-edge chemistries might play an important role in urban- and regional-scale interactions. Dynamic flow systems might be required to evaluate such effects in new-generation chamber studies

An unfolding signifier: London's Baltic Exchange in Tallinn

In the summer of 2007 an unusual cargo arrived at Muuga and Paldiski harbors outside Tallinn. It consisted of nearly 50 containers holding over 1,000 tons of building material ranging from marble columns, staircases and fireplaces, to sculpted allegorical figures, wooden paneling and old-fashioned telephone booths. They were once part of the Baltic Exchange in the City of London. Soon they will become facets of the landscape of Tallinn. The following article charts this remarkable story and deploys this fragmented monument to analyze three issues relating to the Estonian capital: the relocation of the ‘Bronze Soldier’, the demolition of the Sakala Culture Center, and Tallinn’s future role as European Cultural Capital in 2011

SNP Discovery and Haplotypic Variation in Full-Length Herbage Quality Genes of Perennial Ryegrass (Lolium Perenne L.)

The development of forages with enhanced nutritive value through improvements of herbage quality (digestibility, carbohydrate content) is potentially capable of increasing both meat and milk production by up to 25%. However, the expense and time-consuming nature of the relevant biochemical and biophysical assays has limited breeding improvement for forage quality. The development of accurate high-throughput molecular marker-based selection systems such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) permits evaluation of genetic variation and selection of favourable variants to accelerate the production of elite new varieties