Selective Information Processing of Body Size and Food Related Stimuli in Women Who Are Preoccupied With Body Size.

Overconcern or preoccupation with body size and weight is a central psychopathological feature of the eating disorders. The overconcern with body size is considered to be a function of fear of weight gain or fear of fatness . Cognitive theories of psychopathology have hypothesized that fear results in an increased activation of cognitive structures associated with the feared object. This increased activation (priming) is hypothesized to enhance the processing of information related to the feared object. This study tested this hypothesis using a lexical decision task. Individuals with extreme body size preoccupation were evaluated for a selective information processing of body size related words and food related words. Subjects with high body size preoccupation, i.e. a score of 110 or greater on the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ), correctly identified significantly more food and body words when compared to subjects with low concern about body size, i.e. a score of 50 or less on the BSQ. The groups did not differ on identification of control words. These results were interpreted as support for the anxiety model of eating disorders and cognitive theories of psychopathology

125 - 211 GHz low noise MMIC amplifier design for radio astronomy

To achieve the low noise and wide bandwidth required for millimeter wavelength astronomy applications, superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixer based receiver systems have typically been used. This paper investigates the performance of high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) based low noise amplifiers (LNAs) as an alternative approach for systems operating in the 125 — 211 GHz frequency range. A four-stage, common-source, unconditionally stable monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) design is presented using the state-of-the-art 35 nm indium phosphide HEMT process from Northrop Grumman Corporation. The simulated MMIC achieves noise temperature (T_e) lower than 58 K across the operational bandwidth, with average T_e of 38.8 K (corresponding to less than 5 times the quantum limit (hf/k) at 170 GHz) and forward transmission of 20.5 ± 0.85 dB. Input and output reflection coefficients are better than -6 and -12 dB, respectively, across the desired bandwidth. To the authors knowledge, no LNA currently operates across the entirety of this frequency range. Successful fabrication and implementation of this LNA would challenge the dominance SIS mixers have on sub-THz receivers

Hydrology of the Ferron Sandstone Aquifer and Effects of Proposed Surface-Coal Mining in Castle Valley, Utah

Coal in the Ferron Sandstone Member of the Mancos Shale of Cretaceous age has traditionally been mined by underground techniques in the Emery Coal Field in the southern end of Castle Valley in east-central Utah. However, approximately 99 million tons are recoverable by surface mining. Ground water in the Ferron is the sole source of supply for the town of Emery, but the aquifer is essentially untapped outside the Emery area. The Ferron Sandstone Member crops out along the eastern edge of Castle Valley and generally dips 2 to 10 to the northwest beneath the surface. Sandstones in the Ferron are enclosed between relatively impermeable shale in the Tununk and Blue Gate Members of the Mancos Shale. Along the outcrop, the Ferron ranges in thickness from about 80 feet in the northern part of Castle Valley to 850 feet in the southern part. The Ferron also generally thickens in the subsurface downdip from the outcrop. Records from wells and test holes indicate that the full thickness of the Ferron is saturated with water in most areas downdip from the outcrop area. Tests in the Emery area indicate that transmissivity of the Ferron sandstone aquifer ranges from about 200 to 700 feet squared per day where the Ferron is fully saturated. Aquifer transmissivity is greatest near the Paradise Valley-- Joes Valley fault system where permeability has been increased by fracturing. Storage coefficient ranges from about 10^-6 to 10^-3 where the Ferron sandstone aquifer is confined and probably averages 5 x 10^-2 where in is unconfined

Open/closed window research: sound insulation through ventilated domestic windows.

Planning guidance is required to advise on appropriate standards against which the suitability of development can be assessed. Consideration is needed of the locale, itsexisting character and of future residential amenity. In the noise context, advice is primarily required to define threshold exposure levels relative to extraneous sources of environmental noise. A thorough knowledge of the acoustic transmission characteristics afforded by the building envelope is therefore desirable to assist in the setting of threshold levels and to aid in the design and verification of developmentproposals.The insulation of an open window has been generally accepted as being 10-15 dBA although its precision and affect on opening style, open area and window size, arenot readily available. A programme of laboratory measurements have been undertaken by the Building Performance Centre at Napier University on behalf of theDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in order to quantify the sound insulation provided by a variety of window types, opening styles, areas of openingand ventilator devices.Open Windows: The test regime measured the sound insulation provided by seven separate windows, with a combination of twelve different opening styles. Thevariation in weighted level difference, Dw, across the different opening styles for approximately equivalent area openings has been consistently measured as between 4 and 6 dB.The range of measured insulation ratings, for window with a free open area of 0.05 m2, is Dw 14 – 20 dB. This translates to the following dBA level differences, due to variations in the source noise characteristics:• Road Traffic Noise 12 –18 dBA• Railway Noise 12 –18 dBA• Aircraft Noise 14 – 19 dBA• Amplified Music 15 –20 dBAThe window results do not show any one opening style which provides significantly better insulating characteristics. In general the set of windows with an outward opening light performed well. The windows with no extending opening lights, namely the internal turn and tilt and the sliding sash, were also among the best performing open units; particularly when the source of noise was neither random nor normal incidence. Variations in the window size, frame material and glazing type have little significance on the insulating performance of an open window.Closed Window. The introduction of a ‘closed’ 4000 mm2 slot ventilator within the window frame reduced the overall weighted insulation performance of the window by 6 dB. This reduction increased to 11 dB when the vent was in its ‘open’ condition.Proprietary over frame vents gave a marked improvement in the high frequency acoustic performance; however the weighted insulation rating is generally dominated by low-frequency transmission which is not substantially improved over that of a slot vent.Sound Directivity: Rotation of source incidence away from the normal, within a nondiffuse acoustic environment, is found to consistently improve the resulting open window façade insulation

Open/closed window research: sound insulation through ventilated domestic windows.

Planning guidance is required to advise on appropriate standards against which the suitability of development can be assessed. Consideration is needed of the locale, itsexisting character and of future residential amenity. In the noise context, advice is primarily required to define threshold exposure levels relative to extraneous sources of environmental noise. A thorough knowledge of the acoustic transmission characteristics afforded by the building envelope is therefore desirable to assist in the setting of threshold levels and to aid in the design and verification of developmentproposals.The insulation of an open window has been generally accepted as being 10-15 dBA although its precision and affect on opening style, open area and window size, arenot readily available. A programme of laboratory measurements have been undertaken by the Building Performance Centre at Napier University on behalf of theDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in order to quantify the sound insulation provided by a variety of window types, opening styles, areas of openingand ventilator devices.Open Windows: The test regime measured the sound insulation provided by seven separate windows, with a combination of twelve different opening styles. Thevariation in weighted level difference, Dw, across the different opening styles for approximately equivalent area openings has been consistently measured as between 4 and 6 dB.The range of measured insulation ratings, for window with a free open area of 0.05 m2, is Dw 14 – 20 dB. This translates to the following dBA level differences, due to variations in the source noise characteristics:• Road Traffic Noise 12 –18 dBA• Railway Noise 12 –18 dBA• Aircraft Noise 14 – 19 dBA• Amplified Music 15 –20 dBAThe window results do not show any one opening style which provides significantly better insulating characteristics. In general the set of windows with an outward opening light performed well. The windows with no extending opening lights, namely the internal turn and tilt and the sliding sash, were also among the best performing open units; particularly when the source of noise was neither random nor normal incidence. Variations in the window size, frame material and glazing type have little significance on the insulating performance of an open window.Closed Window. The introduction of a ‘closed’ 4000 mm2 slot ventilator within the window frame reduced the overall weighted insulation performance of the window by 6 dB. This reduction increased to 11 dB when the vent was in its ‘open’ condition.Proprietary over frame vents gave a marked improvement in the high frequency acoustic performance; however the weighted insulation rating is generally dominated by low-frequency transmission which is not substantially improved over that of a slot vent.Sound Directivity: Rotation of source incidence away from the normal, within a nondiffuse acoustic environment, is found to consistently improve the resulting open window façade insulation

125 - 211 GHz low noise MMIC amplifier design for radio astronomy

To achieve the low noise and wide bandwidth required for millimeter wavelength astronomy applications, superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixer based receiver systems have typically been used. This paper investigates the performance of high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) based low noise amplifiers (LNAs) as an alternative approach for systems operating in the 125 — 211 GHz frequency range. A four-stage, common-source, unconditionally stable monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) design is presented using the state-of-the-art 35 nm indium phosphide HEMT process from Northrop Grumman Corporation. The simulated MMIC achieves noise temperature (T_e) lower than 58 K across the operational bandwidth, with average T_e of 38.8 K (corresponding to less than 5 times the quantum limit (hf/k) at 170 GHz) and forward transmission of 20.5 ± 0.85 dB. Input and output reflection coefficients are better than -6 and -12 dB, respectively, across the desired bandwidth. To the authors knowledge, no LNA currently operates across the entirety of this frequency range. Successful fabrication and implementation of this LNA would challenge the dominance SIS mixers have on sub-THz receivers

A New Way to Measure the World's Protected Area Coverage

Protected areas are effective at stopping biodiversity loss, but their placement is constrained by the needs of people. Consequently protected areas are often biased toward areas that are unattractive for other human uses. Current reporting metrics that emphasise the total area protected do not account for this bias. To address this problem we propose that the distribution of protected areas be evaluated with an economic metric used to quantify inequality in income— the Gini coefficient. Using a modified version of this measure we discover that 73% of countries have inequitably protected their biodiversity and that common measures of protected area coverage do not adequately reveal this bias. Used in combination with total percentage protection, the Gini coefficient will improve the effectiveness of reporting on the growth of protected area coverage, paving the way for better representation of the world's biodiversity

BB rat Gimap gene expression in sorted lymphoid T and B cells

Aims: The Gimap gene family has been shown to be integral to T cell survival and development. A frameshift mutation in Gimap5, one of seven members of the Gimap family, results in lymphopenia and is a prerequisite for spontaneous type 1 diabetes (T1D) in the BioBreeding (BB) rat. While not contributing to lymphopenia, the Gimap family members proximal to Gimap5, encompassed within the Iddm39 quantitative trait locus (QTL), have been implicated in T1D. We hypothesized that expression of the Gimap family members within the Iddm39 QTL, during thymocyte development as well as in peripheral T and B cells contribute to T1D. Main methods: Cell sorted subpopulations were analyzed by quantitative real time (qRT) PCR. Key findings: Gimap4 expression was reduced in DR.(lyp/lyp) rat double negative, double positive and CD8 single positive (SP) thymocytes while expression of Gimap8, Gimap6, and Gimap7 was reduced only in CD8 SP thymocytes. Interestingly, expression of the entire Gimap gene family was reduced in DR.(lyp/lyp) rat peripheral T cells compared to non-lymphopenic, non-diabetic DR.(+/+) rats. With the exception of Gimap6. the Gimap family genes were not expressed in B cells from spleen and mesenteric lymph node (MLN). Expression of Gimap9 was only detected in hematopoietic cells of non B cell lineage such as macrophage, dendritic or NK cells. Significance: These results suggest that lack of the Gimap5 protein in the DR.(lyp/lyp) congenic rat was associated with impaired expression of the entire family of Gimap genes and may regulate T cell homeostasis in the peripheral lymphoid organs. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Sequence Variation and Expression of the Gimap Gene Family in the BB Rat

Positional cloning of lymphopenia (lyp) in the BB rat revealed a frameshift mutation in Gimap5, a member of at least seven related GTPase Immune Associated Protein genes located on rat chromosome 4q24. Our aim was to clone and sequence the cDNA of the BB diabetes prone (DP) and diabetes resistant (DR) alleles of all seven Gimap genes in the congenic DR.lyp rat line with 2 Mb of BB DP DNA introgressed onto the DR genetic background. All (100%) DR.lyp/lyp rats are lymphopenic and develop type 1 diabetes (T1D) by 84 days of age while DR.+/+ rats remain T1D and lyp resistant. Among the seven Gimap genes, the Gimap5 frameshift mutation, a mutant allele that produces no protein, had the greatest impact on lymphopenia in the DR.lyp/lyp rat. Gimap4 and Gimap1 each had one amino acid substitution of unlikely significance for lymphopenia. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed a reduction in expression of all seven Gimap genes in DR.lyp/lyp spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes when compared to DR.+/+. Only four; Gimap1, Gimap4, Gimap5, and Gimap9 were reduced in thymus. Our data substantiates the Gimap5 frameshift mutation as the primary defect with only limited contributions to lymphopenia from the remaining Gimap genes

Doses of Nearby Nature Simultaneously Associated with Multiple Health Benefits

This is the final version of the article. Available from MDPI via the DOI in this record.Exposure to nature provides a wide range of health benefits. A significant proportion of these are delivered close to home, because this offers an immediate and easily accessible opportunity for people to experience nature. However, there is limited information to guide recommendations on its management and appropriate use. We apply a nature dose-response framework to quantify how exposure to nearby nature simultaneously potentially associates with multiple health benefits. We surveyed c.1000 respondents in Southern England, UK, to determine relationships between (a) the frequency and duration (time spent in private green space), and intensity (quantity of neighbourhood vegetation cover) of nature dose, and, (b) mental, physical and social health, physical behaviour and nature orientation. We then modelled dose-response relationships between dose type and self-reported depression. We demonstrate positive relationships between nature dose and mental and social health, increased physical behaviour and nature orientation. Dose-response analysis showed that lower levels of depression were associated with minimum thresholds of weekly nature dose. Nearby nature is associated with quantifiable health benefits, with potential for lowering the human and financial costs of ill health. Dose-response analysis has potential to guide minimal and optimal recommendations on the management and use of nearby nature for preventative healthcare