How many emotional intelligence abilities are there? An examination of four measures of emotional intelligence

The ability model of emotional intelligence (EI) specifies that four related abilities are involved: perceiving emotions, facilitating thought using emotions, understanding emotions, and managing them. Several performance-based assessments have been developed to measure those four abilities. Although some researchers find empirical support for the four abilities, others have argued that emotional intelligence divides into three abilities, two or even a single, unitary ability (Legree et al., 2014; Palmer, Gignac, Manocha, & Stough, 2005). We reanalyzed archival data from four ability tests of emotional intelligence, Ns = 503, 5000, 1000, and 2000, conducting item-level exploratory factor models of all four assessments for the first time. Based on those analyses, we suggest possible revisions of the 4-factor model to guide future research and assessment

Modelling the hepatitis B vaccination programme in prisons

A vaccination programme offering hepatitis B (HBV) vaccine at reception into prison has been introduced into selected prisons in England and Wales. Over the coming years it is anticipated this vaccination programme will be extended. A model has been developed to assess the potential impact of the programme on the vaccination coverage of prisoners, ex-prisoners, and injecting drug users (IDUs). Under a range of coverage scenarios, the model predicts the change over time in the vaccination status of new entrants to prison, current prisoners and IDUs in the community. The model predicts that at baseline in 2012 57% of the IDU population will be vaccinated with up to 72% being vaccinated depending on the vaccination scenario implemented. These results are sensitive to the size of the IDU population in England and Wales and the average time served by an IDU during each prison visit. IDUs that do not receive HBV vaccine in the community are at increased risk from HBV infection. The HBV vaccination programme in prisons is an effective way of vaccinating this hard-to-reach population although vaccination coverage on prison reception must be increased to achieve this

The adrenal cortex and the kidney

The adrenal cortex regulates renal function in a number of important ways; indeed, normal renal function cannot be understood without recognition of such regulation. Well-recognized examples of such regulation are the control of body fluid tonicity through regulation of urinary solute concentration-a function controlled “primarily” by vasopressin, but secondarily and importantly by the adrenal cortex-and control of body sodium-a function controlled primarily by renal tubular sodium reabsorption but regulated by sodium-retaining steroids.The kidney can regulate adrenal function by changing reabsorption of sodium and secretion of potassium, and also by release of renin. The primary target of such regulation is the secretion of aldosterone, which may be influenced by body fluid volume, potassium ion and angiotensin II.Because of these interrelationships, the pathophysiology of certain disease states may be described as aberrations in feedback loops between adrenal cortex and kidney. In this paper we will consider this “system” in some detail, and attempt to explain four disorders as examples of errors in control.In the form of “primary” aldosteronism resulting from hyperplasia of all adrenal cortical tissue, overproduction of aldosterone persists in the absence of all known stimulatory factors. In renovascular hypertension, angiotensin and aldosterone production may persist despite systemic hypertension. In the non-salt-losing form of the adrenogenital syndrome of congenital adrenal hyperplasia without treatment, failure of feedback inhibition by Cortisol may result in overproduction of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) which, in turn, may lead to overproduction of progesterone. Progesterone may cause sodium loss and overproduction of renin and aldosterone while blocking their effects. In the syndrome of juxtaglomerular hyperplasia with normal blood pressure, overproduction of renin may result from unresponsiveness of blood vessels leading to a lack of feedback inhibition by pressure rise. Under certain circumstances sodium loss can potentiate both the overproduction and the unresponsiveness. Excessive renin leads to aldosteronism and potassium loss

A Hybrid Sequencing Approach Completes the Genome Sequence of Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus JW 200

Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus JW 200 has been identified as a potential sustainable biofuel producer due to its ability to readily ferment carbohydrates to ethanol. A hybrid sequencing approach, combining Oxford Nanopore and Illumina DNA sequence reads, was applied to produce a single contiguous genome sequence of 2,911,280 bp

Prospective relationships between body weight and physical activity: an observational analysis from the NAVIGATOR study

Objectives: While bidirectional relationships exist between body weight and physical activity, direction of causality remains uncertain and previous studies have been limited by self-reported activity or weight and small sample size. We investigated the prospective relationships between weight and physical activity. Design: Observational analysis of data from the Nateglinide And Valsartan in Impaired Glucose Tolerance Outcomes Research (NAVIGATOR) study, a double-blinded randomised clinical trial of nateglinide and valsartan, respectively. Setting Multinational study of 9306 participants. Participants: Participants with biochemically confirmed impaired glucose tolerance had annual measurements of both weight and step count using research grade pedometers, worn for 7 days consecutively. Along with randomisation to valsartan or placebo plus nateglinide or placebo, participants took part in a lifestyle modification programme. Outcome measures: Longitudinal regression using weight as response value and physical activity as predictor value was conducted, adjusted for baseline covariates. Analysis was then repeated with physical activity as response value and weight as predictor value. Only participants with a response value preceded by at least three annual response values were included. Results: Adequate data were available for 2811 (30%) of NAVIGATOR participants. Previous weight (χ2=16.8; p<0.0001), but not change in weight (χ2=0.1; p=0.71) was inversely associated with subsequent step count, indicating lower subsequent levels of physical activity in heavier individuals. Change in step count (χ2=5.9; p=0.02) but not previous step count (χ2=0.9; p=0.34) was inversely associated with subsequent weight. However, in the context of trajectories already established for weight (χ2 for previous weight measurements 747.3; p<0.0001) and physical activity (χ2 for previous step count 432.6; p<0.0001), these effects were of limited clinical importance. Conclusions: While a prospective bidirectional relationship was observed between weight and physical activity, the magnitude of any effect was very small in the context of natural trajectories already established for these variables

A Systematic Review and Aggregated Analysis on the Impact of Amyloid PET Brain Imaging on the Diagnosis, Diagnostic Confidence, and Management of Patients being Evaluated for Alzheimer's Disease.

BACKGROUND: Amyloid PET (aPET) imaging could improve patient outcomes in clinical practice, but the extent of impact needs quantification. OBJECTIVE: To provide an aggregated quantitative analysis of the value added by aPET in cognitively impaired subjects. METHODS: Systematic literature searches were performed in Embase and Medline until January 2017. 1,531 cases over 12 studies were included (1,142 cases over seven studies in the primary analysis where aPET was the key biomarker; the remaining cases included as defined groups in the secondary analysis). Data was abstracted by consensus among two observers and assessed for bias. Clinical utility was measured by diagnostic change, diagnostic confidence, and patient management before and after aPET. Three groups were further analyzed: control patients for whom feedback of aPET scan results was delayed; aPET Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC+) cases; and patients undergoing additional FDG/CSF testing. RESULTS: For 1,142 cases with only aPET, 31.3% of diagnoses were revised, whereas 3.2% of diagnoses changed in the delayed aPET control group (p < 0.0001). Increased diagnostic confidence following aPET was found for 62.1% of 870 patients. Management changes with aPET were found in 72.2% of 740 cases and in 55.5% of 299 cases in the control group (p < 0.0001). The diagnostic value of aPET in AUC+ patients or when FDG/CSF were additionally available did not substantially differ from the value of aPET alone in the wider population. CONCLUSIONS: Amyloid PET contributed to diagnostic revision in almost a third of cases and demonstrated value in increasing diagnostic confidence and refining management plans

Ownership in the Integrated Water Resources Management Planning Process: A Cross Country Validation of Methods

The recognition of the importance of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) is largely in response to addressing the ever-increasing limited water quality and quantity problems that the world faces. Whereas officially, the United Nations through the Global Water Partnership (GWP) has endorsed IWRM as the best means to water resources management, lessons learnt from implementation to date, suggest the need to highlight the planning process more than the plan itself. The purpose of my research is to explore improved ways of engaging stakeholders in the IWRM planning processes that can serve as a framework to advance IWRM GWP agenda. The methodological synthesis of the study incorporates ideas from broad theoretical areas covering ecological, economics, community and change management settings to inform the design of what is described as the appreciative systems planning (ASP) methodology used in this study. ... The major contribution of this study is the design of a framework to overcome the dilemma of facilitating stakeholder involvement in IWRM planning processes. Of particular importance is the explicit focus on the connection between social, economic and environmental dimensions in decision-making that the water resources issues represent

A single H/ACA small nucleolar RNA mediates tumor suppression downstream of oncogenic RAS.

Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) are a diverse group of non-coding RNAs that direct chemical modifications at specific residues on other RNA molecules, primarily on ribosomal RNA (rRNA). SnoRNAs are altered in several cancers; however, their role in cell homeostasis as well as in cellular transformation remains poorly explored. Here, we show that specific subsets of snoRNAs are differentially regulated during the earliest cellular response to oncogenic RASG12V expression. We describe a novel function for one H/ACA snoRNA, SNORA24, which guides two pseudouridine modifications within the small ribosomal subunit, in RAS-induced senescence in vivo. We find that in mouse models, loss of Snora24 cooperates with RASG12V to promote the development of liver cancer that closely resembles human steatohepatitic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). From a clinical perspective, we further show that human HCCs with low SNORA24 expression display increased lipid content and are associated with poor patient survival. We next asked whether ribosomes lacking SNORA24-guided pseudouridine modifications on 18S rRNA have alterations in their biophysical properties. Single-molecule Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) analyses revealed that these ribosomes exhibit perturbations in aminoacyl-transfer RNA (aa-tRNA) selection and altered pre-translocation ribosome complex dynamics. Furthermore, we find that HCC cells lacking SNORA24-guided pseudouridine modifications have increased translational miscoding and stop codon readthrough frequencies. These findings highlight a role for specific snoRNAs in safeguarding against oncogenic insult and demonstrate a functional link between H/ACA snoRNAs regulated by RAS and the biophysical properties of ribosomes in cancer