Investigation of contact deformation and wear characteristics of discrete track recording media

The even semester 2014/2015 Technical Information Engineering University of Semarang (USM) has been running the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) in the management of learning. Conversions that occur in some subjects at an increase in scheduled meetings in the classroom or in the laboratory. Computer Networks is one of the subjects who experienced a conversion. In the curriculum in 2008, Computer Networking has a number of credits 3. From the 2 credits 3 credits are for credits 1 credits for theory and practical credits. While at the CBC in 2013, Computer Networking has 4 credits, with details of 2 credits 2 credits theory and practicum. As lecture and instructor Computer Network, researchers interested in studying the effect of applying the CBC in 2013 in the subje ct of Computer Network. Does the addition of meeting practical and theoretical material renewal in accordance with the expected competencies?. Researchers tried applying the CBC in 2013 by conducting action research. Implementation of the research was conducted during an ongoing lecture that even semester 2015/2016. The results of the study during the first half of researchers will compare with the achievements that never existed when the old curriculum still in use. The goals of this research is, subjects in the Computer Network has always been one of the subjects that the content of the material and its application in the lab was able to follow the needs of the workforc

Sex matters during adolescence: Testosterone-related cortical thickness maturation differs between boys and girls

Age-related changes in cortical thickness have been observed during adolescence, including thinning in frontal and parietal cortices, and thickening in the lateral temporal lobes. Studies have shown sex differences in hormone-related brain maturation when boys and girls are age-matched, however, because girls mature 1-2 years earlier than boys, these sex differences could be confounded by pubertal maturation. To address puberty effects directly, this study assessed sex differences in testosterone-related cortical maturation by studying 85 boys and girls in a narrow age range and matched on sexual maturity. We expected that testosterone-by-sex interactions on cortical thickness would be observed in brain regions known from the animal literature to be high in androgen receptors. We found sex differences in associations between circulating testosterone and thickness in left inferior parietal lobule, middle temporal gyrus, calcarine sulcus, and right lingual gyrus, all regions known to be high in androgen receptors. Visual areas increased with testosterone in boys, but decreased in girls. All other regions were more impacted by testosterone levels in girls than boys. The regional pattern of sex-by-testosterone interactions may have implications for understanding sex differences in behavior and adolescent-onset neuropsychiatric disorders. © 2012 Bramen et al

Effect of an education programme for patients with osteoarthritis in primary care - a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease, considered to be one of the major public health problems. Research suggests that patient education is feasible and valuable for achieving improvements in quality of life, in function, well-being and improved coping. Since 1994, Primary Health Care in Malmö has used a patient education programme directed towards OA. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of this education programme for patients with OA in primary health care in terms of self-efficacy, function and self-perceived health.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>The study was a single-blind, randomized controlled trial (RCT) in which the EuroQol-5D and Arthritis self-efficacy scale were used to measure self-perceived health and self-efficacy and function was measured with Grip Ability Test for the upper extremity and five different functional tests for the lower extremity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found differences between the intervention group and the control group, comparing the results at baseline and after 6 months in EuroQol-5D (p < 0.001) and in standing one leg eyes closed (p = 0.02) in favour of the intervention group. No other differences between the groups were found.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study has shown that patient education for patients with osteoarthritis is feasible in a primary health care setting and can improve self-perceived health as well as function in some degree, but not self-efficacy. Further research to investigate the effect of exercise performance on function, as well as self-efficacy is warranted.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov. Registration number: NCT00979914</p

Lying about the Valence of Affective Pictures: An fMRI Study

The neural correlates of lying about affective information were studied using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methodology. Specifically, 13 healthy right-handed Chinese men were instructed to lie about the valence, positive or negative, of pictures selected from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) while their brain activity was scanned by a 3T Philip Achieva scanner. The key finding is that the neural activity associated with deception is valence-related. Comparing to telling the truth, deception about the valence of the affectively positive pictures was associated with activity in the inferior frontal, cingulate, inferior parietal, precuneus, and middle temporal regions. Lying about the valence of the affectively negative pictures, on the other hand, was associated with activity in the orbital and medial frontal regions. While a clear valence-related effect on deception was observed, common neural regions were also recruited for the process of deception about the valence of the affective pictures. These regions included the lateral prefrontal and inferior parietal regions. Activity in these regions has been widely reported in fMRI studies on deception using affectively-neutral stimuli. The findings of this study reveal the effect of valence on the neural activity associated with deception. Furthermore, the data also help to illustrate the complexity of the neural mechanisms underlying deception

Who Eats Whom in a Pool? A Comparative Study of Prey Selectivity by Predatory Aquatic Insects

Predatory aquatic insects are a diverse group comprising top predators in small fishless water bodies. Knowledge of their diet composition is fragmentary, which hinders the understanding of mechanisms maintaining their high local diversity and of their impacts on local food web structure and dynamics. We conducted multiple-choice predation experiments using nine common species of predatory aquatic insects, including adult and larval Coleoptera, adult Heteroptera and larval Odonata, and complemented them with literature survey of similar experiments. All predators in our experiments fed selectively on the seven prey species offered, and vulnerability to predation varied strongly between the prey. The predators most often preferred dipteran larvae; previous studies further reported preferences for cladocerans. Diet overlaps between all predator pairs and predator overlaps between all prey pairs were non-zero. Modularity analysis separated all primarily nectonic predator and prey species from two groups of large and small benthic predators and their prey. These results, together with limited evidence from the literature, suggest a highly interconnected food web with several modules, in which similarly sized predators from the same microhabitat are likely to compete strongly for resources in the field (observed Pianka’s diet overlap indices >0.85). Our experiments further imply that ontogenetic diet shifts are common in predatory aquatic insects, although we observed higher diet overlaps than previously reported. Hence, individuals may or may not shift between food web modules during ontogeny

Age-Related Impairment of Ultrasonic Vocalization in Tau.P301L Mice: Possible Implication for Progressive Language Disorders

Tauopathies, including Alzheimer's Disease, are the most frequent neurodegenerative diseases in elderly people and cause various cognitive, behavioural and motor defects, but also progressive language disorders. For communication and social interactions, mice produce ultrasonic vocalization (USV) via expiratory airflow through the larynx. We examined USV of Tau.P301L mice, a mouse model for tauopathy expressing human mutant tau protein and developing cognitive, motor and upper airway defects.At age 4-5 months, Tau.P301L mice had normal USV, normal expiratory airflow and no brainstem tauopathy. At age 8-10 months, Tau.P301L mice presented impaired USV, reduced expiratory airflow and severe tauopathy in the periaqueductal gray, Kolliker-Fuse and retroambiguus nuclei. Tauopathy in these nuclei that control upper airway function and vocalization correlates well with the USV impairment of old Tau.P301L mice.In a mouse model for tauopathy, we report for the first time an age-related impairment of USV that correlates with tauopathy in midbrain and brainstem areas controlling vocalization. The vocalization disorder of old Tau.P301L mice could be, at least in part, reminiscent of language disorders of elderly suffering tauopathy

A Meta-Analysis and Genome-Wide Association Study of Platelet Count and Mean Platelet Volume in African Americans

Several genetic variants associated with platelet count and mean platelet volume (MPV) were recently reported in people of European ancestry. In this meta-analysis of 7 genome-wide association studies (GWAS) enrolling African Americans, our aim was to identify novel genetic variants associated with platelet count and MPV. For all cohorts, GWAS analysis was performed using additive models after adjusting for age, sex, and population stratification. For both platelet phenotypes, meta-analyses were conducted using inverse-variance weighted fixed-effect models. Platelet aggregation assays in whole blood were performed in the participants of the GeneSTAR cohort. Genetic variants in ten independent regions were associated with platelet count (N = 16,388) with p<5×10−8 of which 5 have not been associated with platelet count in previous GWAS. The novel genetic variants associated with platelet count were in the following regions (the most significant SNP, closest gene, and p-value): 6p22 (rs12526480, LRRC16A, p = 9.1×10−9), 7q11 (rs13236689, CD36, p = 2.8×10−9), 10q21 (rs7896518, JMJD1C, p = 2.3×10−12), 11q13 (rs477895, BAD, p = 4.9×10−8), and 20q13 (rs151361, SLMO2, p = 9.4×10−9). Three of these loci (10q21, 11q13, and 20q13) were replicated in European Americans (N = 14,909) and one (11q13) in Hispanic Americans (N = 3,462). For MPV (N = 4,531), genetic variants in 3 regions were significant at p<5×10−8, two of which were also associated with platelet count. Previously reported regions that were also significant in this study were 6p21, 6q23, 7q22, 12q24, and 19p13 for platelet count and 7q22, 17q11, and 19p13 for MPV. The most significant SNP in 1 region was also associated with ADP-induced maximal platelet aggregation in whole blood (12q24). Thus through a meta-analysis of GWAS enrolling African Americans, we have identified 5 novel regions associated with platelet count of which 3 were replicated in other ethnic groups. In addition, we also found one region associated with platelet aggregation that may play a potential role in atherothrombosis