Who the hell was that? Stories, bodies and actions in the world

This article explores a two-way relationship between stories and the experiential actions of bodies in the world. Through an autoethnographic approach, the article presents a series of interlinked story fragments in an effort to show and evoke a feel for the ways in which stories, bodies, and actions influence and shape each other over time. It offers some reflections on the experiences the stories portray from the perspective of a social constructionist conception of narrative theory and suggest that while stories exert a powerful influence on the actions of our bodies, our bodies intrude on or ‘talk back’ to this process because bodies have an existence beyond stories

Neoadjuvant endocrine therapy in primary breast cancer: indications and use as a research tool

Neoadjuvant endocrine therapy has been increasingly employed in clinical practice to improve surgical options for postmenopausal women with bulky hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. Recent studies indicate that tumour response in this setting may predict long-term outcome of patients on adjuvant endocrine therapy, which argues for its broader application in treating hormone receptor-positive disease. From the research perspective, neoadjuvant endocrine therapy provides a unique opportunity for studies of endocrine responsiveness and the development of novel therapeutic agents

Regional differences in the pattern of airway remodeling following chronic allergen exposure in mice

BACKGROUND: Airway remodeling present in the large airways in asthma or asthma models has been associated with airway dysfunction in humans and mice. It is not clear if airways distal to the large conducting airways have similar degrees of airway remodeling following chronic allergen exposure in mice. Our objective was to test the hypothesis that airway remodeling is heterogeneous by optimizing a morphometric technique for distal airways and applying this to mice following chronic exposure to allergen or saline. METHODS: In this study, BALB/c mice were chronically exposed to intranasal allergen or saline. Lung sections were stained for smooth muscle, collagen, and fibronectin content. Airway morphometric analysis of small (0–50000 μm(2)), medium (50000 μm(2)–175000 μm(2)) and large (>175000 μm(2)) airways was based on quantifying the area of positive stain in several defined sub-epithelial regions of interest. Optimization of this technique was based on calculating sample sizes required to detect differences between allergen and saline exposed animals. RESULTS: Following chronic allergen exposure BALB/c mice demonstrate sustained airway hyperresponsiveness. BALB/c mice demonstrate an allergen-induced increase in smooth muscle content throughout all generations of airways, whereas changes in subepithelial collagen and fibronectin content are absent from distal airways. CONCLUSION: We demonstrate for the first time, a systematic objective analysis of allergen induced airway remodeling throughout the tracheobronchial tree in mice. Following chronic allergen exposure, at the time of sustained airway dysfunction, BALB/c mice demonstrate regional differences in the pattern of remodeling. Therefore results obtained from limited regions of lung should not be considered representative of the entire airway tree

Probing CPT in transitions with entangled neutral kaons

In this paper we present a novel CPT symmetry test in the neutral kaon system based, for the first time, on the direct comparison of the probabilities of a transition and its CPT reverse. The required interchange of in out states for a given process is obtained exploiting the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlations of neutral kaon pairs produced at a phi-factory. The observable quantities have been constructed by selecting the two semileptonic decays for flavour tag, the pi and 3 pi(0) decays for CP tag and the time orderings of the decay pairs. The interpretation in terms of the standard Weisskopf-Wigner approach to this system, directly connects CPT violation in these observables to the violating R delta parameter in the mass matrix of K-0 (K) over bar (0), a genuine CPT violating effect independent of Delta Gamma and not requiring the decay as an essential ingredient. Possible spurious effects induced by CP violation in the decay and/or a violation of the Delta S = Delta Q rule have been shown to be well under control. The proposed test is thus fully robust, and might shed light on possible new CPT violating mechanisms, or further improve the precision of the present experimental limits. It could be implemented at the DA Phi NE facility in Frascati, where the KLOE-2 experiment might reach a statistical sensitivity of O (10(-3)) on the newly proposed observable quantities

What motivates senior clinicians to teach medical students?

BACKGROUND: This study was designed to assess the motivations of senior medical clinicians to teach medical students. This understanding could improve the recruitment and retention of important clinical teachers. METHODS: The study group was 101 senior medical clinicians registered on a teaching list for a medical school teaching hospital (The Canberra Hospital, ACT, Australia). Their motivations to teach medical students were assessed applying Q methodology. RESULTS: Of the 75 participants, 18 (24%) were female and 57 (76%) were male. The age distribution was as follows: 30–40 years = 16 participants (21.3%), 41–55 years = 46 participants (61.3%) and >55 years = 13 participants (17.3%). Most participants (n = 48, 64%) were staff specialists and 27 (36%) were visiting medical officers. Half of the participants were internists (n = 39, 52%), 12 (16%) were surgeons, and 24 (32%) were other sub-specialists. Of the 26 senior clinicians that did not participate, two were women; 15 were visiting medical officers and 11 were staff specialists; 16 were internists, 9 were surgeons and there was one other sub-specialist. The majority of these non-participating clinicians fell in the 41–55 year age group. The participating clinicians were moderately homogenous in their responses. Factor analysis produced 4 factors: one summarising positive motivations for teaching and three capturing impediments for teaching. The main factors influencing motivation to teach medical students were intrinsic issues such as altruism, intellectual satisfaction, personal skills and truth seeking. The reasons for not teaching included no strong involvement in course design, a heavy clinical load or feeling it was a waste of time. CONCLUSION: This study provides some insights into factors that may be utilised in the design of teaching programs that meet teacher motivations and ultimately enhance the effectiveness of the medical teaching workforce

As cold as a fish? Relationships between the Dark Triad personality traits and affective experience during the day: A day reconstruction study

The Dark Triad of personality is a cluster of three socially aversive personality traits: Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy. These traits are associated with a selfish, aggressive and exploitative interpersonal strategy. The objective of the current study was to establish relationships between the Dark Triad traits (and their dimensions) and momentary affect. Machiavellianism, grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism and the dimensions of the Triarchic model of psychopathy (namely, boldness, meanness and disinhibition) were examined. We used the Day Reconstruction Method, which is based on reconstructing affective states experienced during the previous day. The final sample consisted of 270 university students providing affective ratings of 3047 diary episodes. Analyses using multilevel modelling showed that only boldness had a positive association with positive affective states and affect balance, and a negative association with negative affective states. Grandiose narcissism and its sub-dimensions had no relationship with momentary affect. The other dark traits were related to negative momentary affect and/or inversely related to positive momentary affect and affect balance. As a whole, our results empirically demonstrated distinctiveness of the Dark Triad traits in their relationship to everyday affective states. These findings are not congruent with the notion that people with the Dark Triad traits, who have a dispositional tendency to manipulate and exploit others, are generally cold and invulnerable to negative feelings. The associations between the Dark Triad and momentary affect were discussed in the contexts of evolutionary and positive psychology, in relation to the role and adaptive value of positive and negative emotions experienced by individuals higher in Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy

RhoD regulates cytoskeletal dynamics via the actin nucleation-promoting factor WASp homologue associated with actin Golgi membranes and microtubules

The Rho GTPases have mainly been studied in association with their roles in the regulation of actin filament organization. These studies have shown that the Rho GTPases are essential for basic cellular processes, such as cell migration, contraction, and division. In this paper, we report that RhoD has a role in the organization of actin dynamics that is distinct from the roles of the better-studied Rho members Cdc42, RhoA, and Rac1. We found that RhoD binds the actin nucleation–promoting factor WASp homologue associated with actin Golgi membranes and microtubules (WHAMM), as well as the related filamin A–binding protein FILIP1. Of these two RhoD-binding proteins, WHAMM was found to bind to the Arp2/3 complex, while FILIP1 bound filamin A. WHAMM was found to act downstream of RhoD in regulating cytoskeletal dynamics. In addition, cells treated with small interfering RNAs for RhoD and WHAMM showed increased cell attachment and decreased cell migration. These major effects on cytoskeletal dynamics indicate that RhoD and its effectors control vital cytoskeleton-driven cellular processes. In agreement with this notion, our data suggest that RhoD coordinates Arp2/3-dependent and FLNa-dependent mechanisms to control the actin filament system, cell adhesion, and cell migration

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Search for high-mass resonances decaying to dilepton final states in pp collisions at s√=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is used to search for high-mass resonances decaying to an electron-positron pair or a muon-antimuon pair. The search is sensitive to heavy neutral Z′ gauge bosons, Randall-Sundrum gravitons, Z * bosons, techni-mesons, Kaluza-Klein Z/γ bosons, and bosons predicted by Torsion models. Results are presented based on an analysis of pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 fb−1 in the e + e − channel and 5.0 fb−1 in the μ + μ −channel. A Z ′ boson with Standard Model-like couplings is excluded at 95 % confidence level for masses below 2.22 TeV. A Randall-Sundrum graviton with coupling k/MPl=0.1 is excluded at 95 % confidence level for masses below 2.16 TeV. Limits on the other models are also presented, including Technicolor and Minimal Z′ Models