1,399 research outputs found
Economic Impact of the Conservation Reserve Program in North Dakota
Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use,
One evidence base; three stories: do opioids relieve chronic breathlessness?
Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/. The efficacy of low-dose systemic opioids for chronic breathlessness was questioned by the recent Cochrane review by Barnes et al We examined the reasons for this conflicting finding and re-evaluated the efficacy of systemic opioids. Compared with previous meta-analyses, Barnes et al reported a smaller effect and lower precision, but did not account for matched data of crossover trials (11/12 included trials) and added a risk-of-bias criterion (sample size). When re-analysed to account for crossover data, opioids decreased breathlessness (standardised mean differences -0.32; -0.18 to -0.47; I2=44.8%) representing a clinically meaningful reduction of 0.8 points (0-10 numerical rating scale), consistent across meta-analyses
Close binary evolution. III. Impact of tides, wind magnetic braking, and internal angular momentum transport
Massive stars with solar metallicity lose important amounts of rotational
angular momentum through their winds. When a magnetic field is present at the
surface of a star, efficient angular momentum losses can still be achieved even
when the mass-loss rate is very modest, at lower metallicities, or for
lower-initial-mass stars. In a close binary system, the effect of wind magnetic
braking also interacts with the influence of tides, resulting in a complex
evolution of rotation. We study the interactions between the process of wind
magnetic braking and tides in close binary systems. We discuss the evolution of
a 10 M star in a close binary system with a 7 M companion using
the Geneva stellar evolution code. The initial orbital period is 1.2 days. The
10 M star has a surface magnetic field of 1 kG. Various initial
rotations are considered. We use two different approaches for the internal
angular momentum transport. In one of them, angular momentum is transported by
shear and meridional currents. In the other, a strong internal magnetic field
imposes nearly perfect solid-body rotation. The evolution of the primary is
computed until the first mass-transfer episode occurs. The cases of different
values for the magnetic fields and for various orbital periods and mass ratios
are briefly discussed. We show that, independently of the initial rotation rate
of the primary and the efficiency of the internal angular momentum transport,
the surface rotation of the primary will converge, in a time that is short with
respect to the main-sequence lifetime, towards a slowly evolving velocity that
is different from the synchronization velocity. (abridged).Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Can variability in the effect of opioids on refractory breathlessness be explained by genetic factors?
© 2015, BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved. Objectives: Opioids modulate the perception of breathlessness with a considerable variation in response, with poor correlation between the required opioid dose and symptom severity. The objective of this hypothesis-generating, secondary analysis was to identify candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) from those associated with opioid receptors, signalling or pain modulation to identify any related to intensity of breathlessness while on opioids. This can help to inform prospective studies and potentially lead to better tailoring of opioid therapy for refractory breathlessness. Setting: 17 hospice/palliative care services (tertiary services) in 11 European countries. Participants: 2294 people over 18 years of age on regular opioids for pain related to cancer or its treatment. Primary outcome measures: The relationship between morphine dose, breathlessness intensity (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire; EORTCQLQC30 question 8) and 112 candidate SNPs from 25 genes (n=588). Secondary outcome measures: The same measures for people on oxycodone (n=402) or fentanyl (n=429). Results: SNPs not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium or with allele frequencies ( < 5%) were removed. Univariate associations between each SNP and breathlessness intensity were determined with Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate set at 20%. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression, clustering over country and adjusting for available confounders, was conducted with remaining SNPs. For univariate morphine associations, 1 variant on the 5-hydroxytryptamine type 3B (HTR3B) gene, and 4 on the β-2-arrestin gene (ARRB2) were associated with more intense breathlessness. 1 SNP remained significant in the multivariable model: people with rs7103572 SNP (HTR3B gene; present in 8.4% of the population) were three times more likely to have more intense breathlessness (OR 2.86; 95% CIs 1.46 to 5.62; p=0.002). No associations were seen with fentanyl nor with oxycodone. Conclusions: This large, exploratory study identified 1 biologically plausible SNP that warrants further study in the response of breathlessness to morphine therapy
Children's construction task performance and spatial ability: controlling task complexity and predicting mathematics performance.
This paper presents a methodology to control construction task complexity and examined the relationships between construction performance and spatial and mathematical abilities in children. The study included three groups of children (N = 96); ages 7-8, 10-11, and 13-14 years. Each group constructed seven pre-specified objects. The study replicated and extended previous findings that indicated that the extent of component symmetry and variety, and the number of components for each object and available for selection, significantly predicted construction task difficulty. Results showed that this methodology is a valid and reliable technique for assessing and predicting construction play task difficulty. Furthermore, construction play performance predicted mathematical attainment independently of spatial ability
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