Compulsive Hoarding In Children: Six Case Studies

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the parents of six children who showed signs of compulsive hoarding. The cases revealed a wide variety of hoarding behaviors. Hoarding manifested in difficulties in discarding and maintaining control over possessions. Few cases had problems with clutter or excessive acquisition. In three cases hoarding was episodic and stress-related. Most of the cases showed overlapping ADHD symptoms and a majority demonstrated problems with perfectionism. Only two had clear obsessive-compulsive disorder, although concerns about others touching or moving possessions, which was present in all of the cases, may represent a form of ordering and arranging compulsions. None of the cases demonstrated clear insight, and several showed abnormal personification of inanimate objects and exaggerated “essentialism.

Evolution of a Large, Conserved, and Syntenic Gene Family in Insects

The Osiris gene family, first described in Drosophila melanogaster, is clustered in the genomes of all Drosophila species sequenced to date. In D. melanogaster, it explains the enigmatic phenomenon of the triplo-lethal and haploinsufficient locus Tpl. The synteny of Osiris genes in flies is well conserved, and it is one of the largest syntenic blocks in the Drosophila group. By examining the genome sequences of other insects in a wide range of taxonomic orders, we show here that the gene family is well-conserved and syntenic not only in the diptera but across the holometabolous and hemimetabolous insects. Osiris gene homologs have also been found in the expressed sequence tag sequences of various other insects but are absent from all groups that are not insects, including crustacea and arachnids. It is clear that the gene family evolved by gene duplication and neofunctionalization very soon after the divergence of the insects from other arthropods but before the divergence of the insects from one another and that the sequences and synteny have been maintained by selection ever since

Evidence-based practice 'on-the-go': using ViaTherapy as a tool to enhance clinical decision making in upper limb rehabilitation after stroke, a quality improvement initiative.

Recovery of upper limb function after stroke is currently sub-optimal, despite good quality evidence showing that interventions enabling repetitive practice of task-specific activity are effective in improving function. Therapists need to access and engage with such evidence to optimise outcomes with people with stroke, but this is challenging in fast-paced stroke rehabilitation services. This quality improvement project aimed to investigate acceptability and service impact of a new, international tool for accessing evidence on upper limb rehabilitation after stroke-'ViaTherapy'-in a team of community rehabilitation therapists. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken at baseline to determine confidence in, and barriers to, evidence-based practice (EBP) to support clinical decision making. Reported barriers included time, lack of access to evidence and a research-practice disconnect. The clinicians then integrated use of 'ViaTherapy' into their practice for 4 weeks. Follow-up interviews explored the accessibility of the tool in community rehabilitation practice, and its impact on clinician confidence, treatment planning and provision. Clinicians found the tool, used predominantly in mobile device app format, to be concise and simple to use, providing evidence 'on-the-go'. Confidence in accessing and using EBP grew by 22% from baseline. Clinicans reported changes in intensity of delivery of interventions, as rapid access to recommended doses via the tool was available. Following this work, the participating health and social care service provider changed provision of therapists' technology to enable use of apps. Barriers to use of EBP in stroke rehabilitation persist; the baseline situation here supported the need for more accessible means of integrating best evidence into clinical processes. This quality improvement project successfully integrated ViaTherapy into clinical practice, and found that the tool has potential to underpin positive changes in upper limb therapy service delivery after stroke, by increasing accessibility to, use of and confidence in EBP. Definitive evaluation is now indicated

Kondo-like transport and magnetic field effect of charge carrier fluctuations in granular aluminum oxide thin films

Granular aluminum oxide is an attractive material for superconducting quantum electronics. However, its low-temperature normal state transport properties are still not fully understood, while they could be related to the unconventional phenomenon of the superconductivity in this material. In order to obtain useful information on this aspect, a detailed study of charge carrier fluctuations has been performed in granular aluminum oxide films. The results of electric noise measurements indicate the presence of a Kondo-type spin-flip scattering mechanism for the conducting electrons in the normal state, at low temperatures. Moreover, the magnetic field dependence of the noise amplitude suggests that interface magnetic moments are the main source of fluctuations. The identification of the nature of fluctuation processes is a mandatory requirement for the improvement of quality and performance of quantum devices

Kondo-like transport and magnetic field effect of charge carrier fluctuations in granular aluminum oxide thin films

Granular aluminum oxide is an attractive material for superconducting quantum electronics. However, its low-temperature normal state transport properties are still not fully understood, while they could be related to the unconventional phenomenon of the superconductivity in this material. In order to obtain useful information on this aspect, a detailed study of charge carrier fluctuations has been performed in granular aluminum oxide films. The results of electric noise measurements indicate the presence of a Kondo-type spin-flip scattering mechanism for the conducting electrons in the normal state, at low temperatures. Moreover, the magnetic field dependence of the noise amplitude suggests that interface magnetic moments are the main source of fluctuations. The identification of the nature of fluctuation processes is a mandatory requirement for the improvement of quality and performance of quantum devices

Radiation pressure instability as a variability mechanism in the microquasar GRS 1915+105

Physical mechanism responsible for high viscosity in accretion disks is still under debate. Parameterization of the viscous stress as $\alpha P$ proved to be a successful representation of this mechanism in the outer parts of the disk, explaining the dwarf novae and X-ray novae outbursts as due to ionization instability. We show that this parameterization can be also adopted in the innermost part of the disk where the adoption of the $\alpha$-viscosity law implies the presence of the instability in the radiation pressure dominated region. We study the time evolution of such disks. We show that the time-dependent behavior of GRS 1915+105 can be well reproduced if $\alpha$-viscosity disk model is calculated accurately (with proper numerical coefficients in vertically averaged equations and with advection included), and if the model is supplemented with (i) moderate corona dissipating 50% of energy (ii) jet carrying luminosity-dependent fraction of energy. These necessary modifications in the form of the presence of a corona and a jet are well justified observationally. The model predicts outbursts at luminosity larger than 0.16$\dot M_{Edd}$, as required, correct outburst timescales and amplitudes, including the effect of increasing outburst timescale with mean luminosity. This result strongly suggests that the $\alpha$-viscosity law is a good description of the actual mechanism responsible for angular momentum transfer also in the innermost, radiation pressure dominated part of the disk around a black hole.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Emission and economic performance assessment of a solid oxide fuel cell micro-combined heat and power system in a domestic building

Combined heat and power (CHP) is a promising technological configuration for reducing energy consumption and increasing energy security in the domestic built environment. Fuel cells, on account of their: high electrical efficiency, low emissions and useful heat output have been identified as a key technological option for improving both building energy efficiency and reducing emissions in domestic CHP applications. The work presented in this paper builds upon results currently reported in the literature of fuel cells operating in domestic building applications, with an emission and economic performance assessment of a real, commercially available SOFC mCHP system operating in a real building; under a UK context. This paper aims to assess the emission and economic performance of a commercially available solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) mCHP system, operating at The University of Nottingham's Creative Energy Homes. The performance assessment evaluates, over a one year period, the associated carbon (emission assessment) and operational costs (economic assessment) of the SOFC mCHP case compared to a ‘base case’ of grid electricity and a highly efficient gas boiler. Results from the annual assessment show that the SOFC mCHP system can generate annual emission reductions of up to 56% and cost reductions of 177% compared to the base case scenario. However support mechanisms such as; electrical export, feed in tariff and export tariff, are required in order to achieve this, the results are significantly less without. A net present value (NPV) analysis shows that the base case is still more profitable over a 15 year period, even though the SOFC mCHP system generates annual revenue; this is on account of the SOFC's high capital cost. In summary, grid interaction and incubator support is essential for significant annual emission and cost reductions compared to a grid electricity and gas boiler scenario. Currently capital cost is the greatest barrier to the economic viability of the system