Crystal structure and magnetic properties of LiCuCl3-2H2O

Interest in the study of the effect of cation size upon the configuration assumed by a complex anion led to the determination of the crystal structure of LiCuCl3 • 2H2O. A unique (Cu2Cl6)= dimer ion was discovered in the structure that was determined by conventional X-ray diffraction techniques. These dimer ions are linked together into a zigzag chain by means of long Cu-Cl bonds between the dimers. The chains in any given unit cell of the crystal are related to each other by a two-fold screw axis. Each dimer has two water molecules associated with it through long Cu-O interactions, giving a distorted octahedral array about each copper ion. There are two additional water molecules per dimer ion which are lattice waters and which, along with one of the other oxygens and a chlorine ion, form a tetrahedral hole in which the lithium ion is probably located

Structure of neodymium sulfate octahydrate

The problems of X-ray crystal structure determination require some type of automatic computing machinery. An evaluation of these problems has lead to the conclusions that a parallel channel relay digital computer operating in conjunction with the standard I. B. M. units will meet the calculation needs of a structure determination and greatly shorten the time and labor involved. A brief description of a relay computer designed to meet these needs has been given. The computer will be able to perform all of the calculations required with the exception of the Patterson and electron density calculations. The latter may be carried out efficiently on standard I. B. M. units

Attentional Bias Measured in a Modified Addiction Stroop Task for Problem Gamers

The current study aims to determine the relationship between individuals attentional bias scores, measured in a modified Addiction Stroop task, with four other variables; level of involvement in Internet games, impulsivity, behavioural inhibition/activation, and sensation seeking. Recruitment was gathered through the Psychology Sona Research Participation Pool at Western University and was exclusive to male, English speaking, non-colour blind individuals. Participant’s completed a modified version of the Addiction Stroop task (for Internet gamers). Additionally, participant’s fill out five questionnaires: a Demographics form, the Problem Online Gaming Questionnaire (POGQ), the Barratt Inhibition Scale (BIS), the Behavioural Inhibition/Activation Systems Scale (BIS/BAS), and the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS). E-prime measured participants’ reaction times to target and matched control words in a modified Addiction Stroop task. Results suggest that higher levels of involvement with Internet games are significantly correlated with attentional bias. This correlation is shown by highly-involved individuals having slower reaction times to target words in comparison to matched control words in the modified Addiction Stroop task. BIS scores and the inhibition factor of the BIS/BAS were significantly correlated with participant’s level of involvement with Internet games. In conclusion, results suggest that individual’s with higher levels of involvement with Internet games display attentional bias indicating another similarity between IGD, substance use, and gambling disorders

Trait compensation in marine gastropods: shell shape, avoidance behavior, and susceptibility to predation

Many organisms have evolved morphological and behavioral traits that reduce their susceptibility to predation. However, few studies have explicitly investigated the relationships between defensive traits and susceptibility. Here we demonstrate a negative correlation between morphological defenses and behavioral avoidance across several species of marine gastropod that is linked to vulnerability to crab predation. Snails that had relatively taller shell spires (high aspect ratio) showed greater responsiveness when exposed to predation cues than did species with disc-like shells (low aspect ratio). Our results suggest that the snail species most vulnerable to predation compensated by showing the highest levels of behavioral avoidance, and hence may be at a disadvantage in competition with less vulnerable species. This has important implications because the behavioral response of herbivorous gastropods to predation cues may play a central role in structuring rocky intertidal communities through trait-mediated indirect effects

Nonlinear Network Dynamics on Earthquake Fault Systems

Earthquake faults occur in networks that have dynamical modes not displayed by single isolated faults. Using simulations of the network of strike-slip faults in southern California, we find that the physics depends critically on both the interactions among the faults, which are determined by the geometry of the fault network, as well as on the stress dissipation properties of the nonlinear frictional physics, similar to the dynamics of integrate-and-fire neural networks.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

A high-throughput and open-source platform for embryo phenomics

<div><p>Phenomics has the potential to facilitate significant advances in biology but requires the development of high-throughput technologies capable of generating and analysing high-dimensional data. There are significant challenges associated with building such technologies, not least those required for investigating dynamic processes such as embryonic development, during which high rates of temporal, spatial, and functional change are inherently difficult to capture. Here, we present EmbryoPhenomics, an accessible high-throughput platform for phenomics in aquatic embryos comprising an Open-source Video Microscope (OpenVIM) that produces high-resolution videos of multiple embryos under tightly controlled environmental conditions. These videos are then analysed by the Python package Embryo Computer Vision (EmbryoCV), which extracts phenomic data for morphological, physiological, behavioural, and proxy traits during the process of embryonic development. We demonstrate the broad-scale applicability of EmbryoPhenomics in a series of experiments assessing chronic, acute, and multistressor responses to environmental change (temperature and salinity) in >30 million images of >600 embryos of two species with markedly different patterns of development—the pond snail <i>Radix balthica</i> and the marine amphipod <i>Orchestia gammarellus</i>. The challenge of phenomics is significant but so too are the rewards, and it is particularly relevant to the urgent task of assessing complex organismal responses to current rates of environmental change. EmbryoPhenomics can acquire and process data capturing functional, temporal, and spatial responses in the earliest, most dynamic life stages and is potentially game changing for those interested in studying development and phenomics more widely.</p></div

Reducing weight and increasing physical activity in people at high risk of cardiovascular disease: a randomised controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of enhanced motivational interviewing intervention with usual care.

OBJECTIVE: The epidemic of obesity is contributing to the increasing prevalence of people at high risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), negating the medical advances in reducing CVD mortality. We compared the clinical and cost-effectiveness of an intensive lifestyle intervention consisting of enhanced motivational interviewing in reducing weight and increasing physical activity for patients at high risk of CVD. METHODS: A three-arm, single-blind, parallel-group randomised controlled trial was conducted in consenting primary care centres in south London. We recruited patients aged 40-74 years with a QRisk2 score ≥20.0%, which indicates the probability of having a CVD event in the next 10 years. The intervention was enhanced motivational interviewing which included additional behaviour change techniques and was delivered by health trainers in 10 sessions over 1 year, in either group (n=697) or individual (n=523) format. The third arm received usual care (UC; n=522). The primary outcomes were physical activity (mean steps/day) and weight (kg). Secondary outcomes were changes in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and CVD risk score. We estimated the relative cost-effectiveness of each intervention. RESULTS: At 24 months, the group and individual interventions were not more effective than UC in increasing physical activity (mean difference=70.05 steps, 95% CI -288.00 to 147.90 and mean difference=7.24 steps, 95% CI -224.01 to 238.50, respectively), reducing weight (mean difference=-0.03 kg, 95% CI -0.49 to 0.44 and mean difference=-0.42 kg, 95% CI -0.93 to 0.09, respectively) or improving any secondary outcomes. The group and individual interventions were not cost-effective at conventional thresholds. CONCLUSIONS: Enhancing motivational interviewing with additional behaviour change techniques was not effective in reducing weight or increasing physical activity in those at high CVD risk

Report of the panel on plate motion and deformation, section 2

Given here is a panel report on the goals and objectives, requirements and recommendations for the investigation of plate motion and deformation. The goals are to refine our knowledge of plate motions, study regional and local deformation, and contribute to the solution of important societal problems. The requirements include basic space-positioning measurements, the use of global and regional data sets obtained with space-based techniques, topographic and geoid data to help characterize the internal processes that shape the planet, gravity data to study the density structure at depth and help determine the driving mechanisms for plate tectonics, and satellite images to map lithology, structure and morphology. The most important recommendation of the panel is for the implementation of a world-wide space-geodetic fiducial network to provide a systematic and uniform measure of global strain

Enhanced motivational interviewing for reducing weight and increasing physical activity in adults with high cardiovascular risk: the MOVE IT three-arm RCT.

BACKGROUND: Motivational interviewing (MI) enhanced with behaviour change techniques (BCTs) and deployed by health trainers targeting multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) may be more effective than interventions targeting a single risk factor. OBJECTIVES: The clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an enhanced lifestyle motivational interviewing intervention for patients at high risk of CVD in group settings versus individual settings and usual care (UC) in reducing weight and increasing physical activity (PA) were tested. DESIGN: This was a three-arm, single-blind, parallel randomised controlled trial. SETTING: A total of 135 general practices across all 12 South London Clinical Commissioning Groups were recruited. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1742 participants aged 40-74 years with a ≥ 20.0% risk of a CVD event in the following 10 years were randomised. INTERVENTIONS: The intervention was designed to integrate MI and cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), delivered by trained healthy lifestyle facilitators in 10 sessions over 1 year, in group or individual format. The control group received UC. RANDOMISATION: Simple randomisation was used with computer-generated randomisation blocks. In each block, 10 participants were randomised to the group, individual or UC arm in a 4 : 3 : 3 ratio. Researchers were blind to the allocation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcomes are change in weight (kg) from baseline and change in PA (average number of steps per day over 1 week) from baseline at the 24-month follow-up, with an interim follow-up at 12 months. An economic evaluation estimates the relative cost-effectiveness of each intervention. Secondary outcomes include changes in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and CVD risk score. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 69.75 years (standard deviation 4.11 years), 85.5% were male and 89.4% were white. At the 24-month follow-up, the group and individual intervention arms were not more effective than UC in increasing PA [mean 70.05 steps, 95% confidence interval (CI) -288 to 147.9 steps, and mean 7.24 steps, 95% CI -224.01 to 238.5 steps, respectively] or in reducing weight (mean -0.03 kg, 95% CI -0.49 to 0.44 kg, and mean -0.42 kg, 95% CI -0.93 to 0.09 kg, respectively). At the 12-month follow-up, the group and individual intervention arms were not more effective than UC in increasing PA (mean 131.1 steps, 95% CI -85.28 to 347.48 steps, and mean 210.22 steps, 95% CI -19.46 to 439.91 steps, respectively), but there were reductions in weight for the group and individual intervention arms compared with UC (mean -0.52 kg, 95% CI -0.90 to -0.13 kg, and mean -0.55 kg, 95% CI -0.95 to -0.14 kg, respectively). The group intervention arm was not more effective than the individual intervention arm in improving outcomes at either follow-up point. The group and individual interventions were not cost-effective. CONCLUSIONS: Enhanced MI, in group or individual formats, targeted at members of the general population with high CVD risk is not effective in reducing weight or increasing PA compared with UC. Future work should focus on ensuring objective evidence of high competency in BCTs, identifying those with modifiable factors for CVD risk and improving engagement of patients and primary care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN84864870. FUNDING: This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 23, No. 69. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information. This research was part-funded by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London