An investigation of the mental health and psychological resilience of UK armed forces personnel following physical combat-related injury in Afghanistan (Operation Herrick) between 2009 and 2011.

The relationship between traumatic injury and mental health diagnoses is still not well understood, and mental health outcomes among military personnel with physical, combat-related injuries remain poorly described. At present there are no studies describing the mental health morbidity of UK Armed Forces Personnel following physical combat-related injury. This unique study comprehensively explores post-traumatic stress disorder, common mental disorders and alcohol use disorder, and assesses psychological resilience in that group. This prospective study of 199 UKAF personnel admitted to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) utilises a range of self-report measures to assess the prevalence of PTSD, CMD and AUD on admission, in addition to reported levels of Hardiness and Psychological Resilience. Statistical analysis of this data, using Pearson's Chi-Square and Odds Ratio (OR) calculations was conducted to explore relationships between the primary outcome variables and a range of sociodemographic, military, physical (injury) and psychological factors. The study achieved an overall response rate of 56.28% (n=101). 11.9% (n=12) of participants met the criteria for PTSD, 66.7% (n=66) met the criteria for CMD and 41.6% (n=37) met the criteria for hazardous drinking. Exploration of the relationships between the primary outcome variables and additional factors highlights a number of statistically significant associations for CMD, PTI, AUD, and of hardiness and psychological resilience. Significantly higher levels of PTSD, CMD and AUD, and a high degree of comorbidity between PTSD and CMD were observed in this population when compared with the general UK Armed Forces population. The long-term management of the mental health of UK Armed Forces Personnel following physical, combat-related injury is complex and challenging. This important study provides a valuable insight into that group and presents a number of policy and clinical recommendations intended to facilitate positive outcomes in the longer term

CHARACTERIZATION OF PLANT POLYADENYLATION TRANSACTING FACTORS-FACTORS THAT MODIFY POLY(A) POLYMERSE ACTIVITY

Plant polyadenylation factors have proven difficult to purify and characterize, owing to the presence of excessive nuclease activity in plant nuclear extracts, thereby precluding the identification of polyadenylation signal-dependent processing and polyadenylation in crude extracts. As an alternative approach to identifying such factors, a screen was conducted for activities that inhibit the non-specific activity of plant poly(A) polymerases (PAP). One such factor (termed here as Putative Polyadenylation Factor B, or PPF-B) was identified in a screen of DEAE-Sepharose column fractions using a partially purified preparation of a plant nuclear poly(A) polymerase. This factor was purified to near homogeneity. Surprisingly, in addition to being an effective inhibitor of the nuclear PAP, PPF-B inhibited the activity of a chloroplast PAP. In contrast, this factor stimulated the activity of the yeast PAP. Direct assays of ATPase, proteinase, and nuclease activities indicated that inhibition of PAP activity was not due to depletion of substrates or degradation of products of the PAP reaction. The major polypeptide component of PPF-B proved to be a novel linker histone (RSP), which copurified with inhibitory activity by affinity chromatography on DNA-cellulose. The association of inhibitory activity with a linker histone and the spectrum of inhibitory activity, raise interesting possibilities regarding the role of PPF-B in nuclear RNA metabolism. These include a link between DNA damage and polyadenylation, as well as a role for limiting the polyadenylation of stable RNAs in the nucleus and nucleolus. The Arabidopsis genome possesses genes encoding probable homologs of most of the polyadenylation subunits that have been identified in mammals and yeast. Two of these reside on chromosome III and V and have the potential to encode a protein that is related to the yeast and mammalian Fip1 subunit (AtFip1-III and AtFip1-V). These genes are universally expressed in Arabidopsis tissues. AtFip1-V stimulates the non-specific activity of at least one Arabidopsis nuclear PAP, binds RNA, and interacts with other polyadenylation homologs AtCstF77 and AtCPSF30. These studies suggest that AtFip1- V is an authentic polyadenylation factor that coordinates other subunits and plays a role in regulating the activityof PAP in plants

Rapidly decaying Fourier-like bases

International audienceIn many applications it is natural to seek to extract a characteristic scale for a function's variations by reference to a frequency spectrum. Although the moments of a spectrum appear to promise simple options to make such a connection, standard Fourier methods fail to yield finite moments when the function's domain is itself finite. We investigate a family of Fourier-like bases with rapidly decaying spectra that yield well-defined moments for such cases. These bases are derived by considering classes of functions for which a normalised mean square derivative is stationary. They are shown to provide precisely the type of spectrum needed to complete a recent investigation of mid-spatial frequency structure on optical surfaces [K. Liang, Opt. Express 27, 3390-3408 (2019)]

Comparing the 2013 ACC/AHA & 2014 NLA Dyslipidemia Guidelines and Their Impact on Clinical Decision Making

This home-study CPE activity has been developed to educate pharmacists on the similarities and differences between the 2014 NLA Recommendations for Dyslipidemia Management and the 2013 ACC/AHA Guidelines for Treatment of Blood Cholesterol

Selectively lockable knee brace

A knee brace for aiding in rehabilitation of damaged leg muscles includes upper and lower housings, normally pivotable, one relative to the other about the knee joint axis of a patient. The upper housing is attachable to the thigh of the patient above the knee joint, while the lower housing is secured to a stirrup which extends downwardly along the patient's leg and is attached to the patient's shoe. An actuation rod is carried within the lower housing and is coupled to a cable. The upper and lower housings carry cooperative clutch/brake elements which normally are disengaged to permit relative movement between the upper and lower housings. When the cable is extended, the clutch/brake elements engage and lock the housings together. A heel strike mechanism fastened to the stirrup and the heel of the shoe is connected to the cable to selectively extend the cable and lock the brace in substantially any position when the patient places weight on the heel

Efficiency in a Thinly Traded Market: The Case of Pakistan

This paper tests the weak form efficiency hypothesis in the Pakistani equity market. Using daily closing prices of 36 stocks, 8 sector indices, and the market index from January 1, 1989 to December 30, 1993 and applying Serial correlation and Runs analysis, the paper does not find the market to be efficient. The market exhibits strong serial dependence and the factors responsible appear to be infrequent trading and stock returns volatility. The intertemporal behavior of serial dependence suggests that the serial dependence increased significantly when the market was opened to international investors but started to decrease after a year. The analysis indicates that the Pakistani market adjusts slowly to new information. This points to the weaknesses of the market regarding the dissemination of pertinent information to potential investors, suggesting that effective measures should be taken in this regard

Efficiency in a Thinly Traded Market: The Case of Pakistan

This paper tests the weak form efficiency hypothesis in the Pakistani equity market. Using daily closing prices of 36 stocks, 8 sector indices, and the market index from January 1, 1989 to December 30, 1993 and applying Serial correlation and Runs analysis, the paper does not find the market to be efficient. The market exhibits strong serial dependence and the factors responsible appear to be infrequent trading and stock returns volatility. The intertemporal behavior of serial dependence suggests that the serial dependence increased significantly when the market was opened to international investors but started to decrease after a year. The analysis indicates that the Pakistani market adjusts slowly to new information. This points to the weaknesses of the market regarding the dissemination of pertinent information to potential investors, suggesting that effective measures should be taken in this regard

Using satellite and reanalysis data to evaluate the representation of latent heating in extratropical cyclones in a climate model

Extratropical cyclones are a key feature of the weather in the extratropics, which climate models need to represent in order to provide reliable projections of future climate. Extratropical cyclones produce significant precipitation and the associated latent heat release can play a major role in their development. This study evaluates the ability of a climate model, HiGEM, to represent latent heating in extratropical cyclones. Remote sensing data is used to investigate the ability of both the climate model and ERA-Interim (ERAI) reanalysis to represent extratropical cyclone cloud features before latent heating itself is assessed. An offline radiance simulator, COSP, and the ISCCP and CloudSat datasets are used to evaluate comparable fields from HiGEM and ERAI. HiGEM is found to exhibit biases in the cloud structure of extratropical cyclones, with too much high cloud produced in the warm conveyor belt region compared to ISCCP. Significant latent heating occurs in this region, derived primarily from HiGEM’s convection scheme. ERAI is also found to exhibit biases in cloud structure, with more clouds at lower altitudes than those observed in ISCCP in the warm conveyor belt region. As a result, latent heat release in ERAI is concentrated at lower altitudes. CloudSat indicates that much precipitation may be produced at too low an altitude in both HiGEM and ERAI, particularly ERAI, and neither capture observed variability in precipitation intensity. The potential vorticity structure in composite extratropical cyclones in HiGEM and ERAI is also compared. A more pronounced tropopause ridge evolves in HiGEM on the leading edge of the composite as compared to ERAI. One future area of research to be addressed is what impact these biases in the representation of latent heating have on climate projections produced by HiGEM. The biases found in ERAI indicate caution is required when using reanalyses to study cloud features and precipitation processes in extratropical cyclones or using reanalysis to evaluate climate models’ ability to represent their structure

Dwarf galaxies in the Perseus Cluster: further evidence for a disc origin for dwarf ellipticals

We present the results of a Keck-ESI (Echellette Spectrograph and Imager) spectroscopic study of six dwarf elliptical (dE) galaxies in the Perseus Cluster core, and confirm two dwarfs as cluster members for the first time. All six dEs follow the size–magnitude relation for dE/dSph galaxies. Central velocity dispersions are measured for three Perseus dwarfs in our sample, and all lie on the σ–luminosity relation for early-type, pressure-supported systems. We furthermore examine SA 0426-002, a unique dE in our sample with a bar-like morphology surrounded by low surface brightness wings/lobes (μB = 27 mag arcsec¯²). Given its morphology, velocity dispersion (σ₀ = 33.9 ± 6.1 km s⁻¹), velocity relative to the brightest cluster galaxy NGC 1275 (2711 km s⁻¹), size (Rₑ = 2.1 ± 0.10 kpc), and Sersic index ( ´ n = 1.2 ± 0.02), we hypothesize the dwarf has morphologically transformed from a low-mass disc to dE via harassment. The low surface brightness lobes can be explained as a ring feature, with the bar formation triggered by tidal interactions via speed encounters with Perseus Cluster members. Alongside spiral structure found in dEs in Fornax and Virgo, SA 0426-002 provides crucial evidence that a fraction of bright dEs have a disc infall origin, and are not part of the primordial cluster population