Magnetic Field Mapping with a Squid Device

An ability to experimentally determine the magnetic field in the region close to the face of an eddy current coil, the normal location of the work piece, is very desirable. It allows confirmation of the theoretical design of complex coils, offers a potential method for rapid characterization of commercial coils, and may well provide a uniquely direct method of looking at coil/flaw interactions. However, the small size of typical eddy current probes presents some extreme problems in this regard. For the past year we have been attempting to determine the best method to use for measuring the field configuration in the near-field regio

Long term life dissatisfaction and subsequent major depressive disorder and poor mental health

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Poor mental health, especially due to depression, is one of the main public health problems. Early indicators of poor mental health in general population are needed. This study examined the relationship between long-term life dissatisfaction and subsequent mental health, including major depressive disorder.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>Health questionnaires were sent to a randomly selected population-based sample in 1998 and repeated in 1999 and 2001. In 2005, a clinically studied sub-sample (n = 330) was composed of subjects with (n = 161) or without (n = 169) repeatedly reported adverse mental symptoms at all three previous data collection times. Clinical symptom assessments were performed with several psychometric scales: life satisfaction (<b>LS</b>), depression (<b>HDRS, BDI</b>), hopelessness (<b>HS</b>), mental distress (<b>GHQ</b>), dissociative experiences (<b>DES</b>), and alexithymia (<b>TAS</b>). The long-term life dissatisfaction burden was calculated by summing these life satisfaction scores in 1998, 1999, 2001 and dividing the sum into tertiles. Psychiatric diagnoses were confirmed by SCID-I for DSM-IV in 2005. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the studied relationship.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The previous life dissatisfaction burden associated with adverse socio-demographic, life style and clinical factors. In adjusted logistic regression analyses, it was independently and strongly associated with subsequent major depressive disorder in 2005, even when the concurrent LS score in 2005 was included in the model. Excluding those with reported major depressive disorder in 1999 did not alter this finding.</p> <p>Limitations</p> <p>MDD in 1999 was based on self-reports and not on structured interview and LS data in 2001-2005 was not available.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The life satisfaction burden is significantly related to major depressive disorder and poor mental health, both in cross-sectional and longitudinal settings.</p

Voluntary exercise can strengthen the circadian system in aged mice

Consistent daily rhythms are important to healthy aging according to studies linking disrupted circadian rhythms with negative health impacts. We studied the effects of age and exercise on baseline circadian rhythms and on the circadian system's ability to respond to the perturbation induced by an 8 h advance of the light:dark (LD) cycle as a test of the system's robustness. Mice (male, mPer2luc/C57BL/6) were studied at one of two ages: 3.5 months (n = 39) and &gt;18 months (n = 72). We examined activity records of these mice under entrained and shifted conditions as well as mPER2::LUC measures ex vivo to assess circadian function in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) and important target organs. Age was associated with reduced running wheel use, fragmentation of activity, and slowed resetting in both behavioral and molecular measures. Furthermore, we observed that for aged mice, the presence of a running wheel altered the amplitude of the spontaneous firing rate rhythm in the SCN in vitro. Following a shift of the LD cycle, both young and aged mice showed a change in rhythmicity properties of the mPER2::LUC oscillation of the SCN in vitro, and aged mice exhibited longer lasting internal desynchrony. Access to a running wheel alleviated some age-related changes in the circadian system. In an additional experiment, we replicated the effect of the running wheel, comparing behavioral and in vitro results from aged mice housed with or without a running wheel (&gt;21 months, n = 8 per group, all examined 4 days after the shift). The impact of voluntary exercise on circadian rhythm properties in an aged animal is a novel finding and has implications for the health of older people living with environmentally induced circadian disruption

Constitutively decreased TGFBR1 allelic expression is a common finding in colorectal cancer and is associated with three TGFBR1 SNPs

Purpose: Constitutively decreased TGFBR1 allelic expression is emerging as a potent modifier of colorectal cancer risk in mice and humans. This phenotype was first observed in mice, then in lymphoblastoid cell lines from patients with microsatellite stable colorectal tumors. Patients and Methods: We assessed the frequency of constitutively decreased TGFBR1 allelic expression and association with SNPs covering the TGFBR1 locus using RNA and DNA extracted from the peripheral blood lymphocytes of 118 consecutive patients with biopsy-proven adenocarcinoma of the colon or the rectum. Results: We found that 11(9.3%) of 118 patients exhibited decreased TGFBR1 allelic expression (TGFBR1 ASE). TGFBR1 ASE was strongly associated with three SNPs in linkage disequilibrium with each other: rs7034462 (p = 7.2 × 10-4), TGFBR1*6A (p = 1.6 × 10-4) and rs11568785 (p = 1.4 × 10-4). Conclusion: These results confirm the high prevalence of constitutively decreased TGFBR1 allelic expression among patients with colorectal cancer. The association of this phenotype with TGFBR1*6A, rs7034462 and rs1156875 suggests an association between TGFBR1 SNPs and colorectal cancer, which warrants additional studies

Effects of Crystalline Anisotropy and Indenter Size on Nanoindentation by Multiscale Simulation

Nanoindentation processes in single crystal Ag thin film under different crystallographic orientations and various indenter widths are simulated by the quasicontinuum method. The nanoindentation deformation processes under influences of crystalline anisotropy and indenter size are investigated about hardness, load distribution, critical load for first dislocation emission and strain energy under the indenter. The simulation results are compared with previous experimental results and Rice-Thomson (R-T) dislocation model solution. It is shown that entirely different dislocation activities are presented under the effect of crystalline anisotropy during nanoindentation. The sharp load drops in the load–displacement curves are caused by the different dislocation activities. Both crystalline anisotropy and indenter size are found to have distinct effect on hardness, contact stress distribution, critical load for first dislocation emission and strain energy under the indenter. The above quantities are decreased at the indenter into Ag thin film along the crystal orientation with more favorable slip directions that easy trigger slip systems; whereas those will increase at the indenter into Ag thin film along the crystal orientation with less or without favorable slip directions that hard trigger slip systems. The results are shown to be in good agreement with experimental results and R-T dislocation model solution

Indistinguishability Obfuscation: From Approximate to Exact

We show general transformations from subexponentially-secure approximate indistinguishability obfuscation (IO) where the obfuscated circuit agrees with the original circuit on a 1/2+ϵ fraction of inputs on a certain samplable distribution, into exact indistinguishability obfuscation where the obfuscated circuit and the original circuit agree on all inputs. As a step towards our results, which is of independent interest, we also obtain an approximate-to-exact transformation for functional encryption. At the core of our techniques is a method for “fooling” the obfuscator into giving us the correct answer, while preserving the indistinguishability-based security. This is achieved based on various types of secure computation protocols that can be obtained from different standard assumptions. Put together with the recent results of Canetti, Kalai and Paneth (TCC 2015), Pass and Shelat (TCC 2016), and Mahmoody, Mohammed and Nemathaji (TCC 2016), we show how to convert indistinguishability obfuscation schemes in various ideal models into exact obfuscation schemes in the plain model.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CNS-1350619)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CNS-1414119

The effect of gold kiwifruit consumed with an iron fortified breakfast cereal meal on iron status in women with low iron stores: A 16 week randomised controlled intervention study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dietary treatment is often recommended as the first line of treatment for women with mild iron deficiency. Although it is well established that ascorbic acid enhances iron absorption, it is less clear whether the consumption of ascorbic acid rich foods (such as kiwifruit) with meals fortified with iron improves iron status. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the consumption of ZESPRI^®GOLD kiwifruit (a fruit high in ascorbic acid and carotenoids) with an iron fortified breakfast cereal meal increases iron status in women with low iron stores.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>Eighty nine healthy women aged 18-44 years with low iron stores (serum ferritin (SF) ≤ 25 μg/L, haemoglobin (Hb) ≥ 115 g/L) living in Auckland, New Zealand were randomised to receive an iron fortified breakfast cereal (16 mg iron per serve) and either two ZESPRI^®GOLD kiwifruit or a banana (low ascorbic acid and carotenoid content) to eat at breakfast time every day for 16 weeks. Iron status (SF, Hb, C-reactive protein (CRP) and soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR)), ascorbic acid and carotenoid status were measured at baseline and after 16 weeks. Anthropometric measures, dietary intake, physical activity and blood loss were measured before and after the 16 week intervention.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This randomised controlled intervention study will be the first study to investigate the effect of a dietary based intervention of an iron fortified breakfast cereal meal combined with an ascorbic acid and carotenoid rich fruit on improving iron status in women with low iron stores.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>ACTRN12608000360314</p

Disorientating, fun or meaningful? Disadvantaged families' experiences of a science museum visit

It is widely agreed that there is a need to increase and widen science partici- pation. Informal science learning environments (ISLEs), such as science museums, may provide valuable spaces within which to engage visitors—yet the visitor profile of science museums remains narrow. This paper seeks to understand the experiences of socially disadvantaged families within such spaces. Using a Bourdieusian analytic lens, we analyse qualitative data from a small study conducted with ten parents and ten children from an urban school who visited a large science museum. Data includes pre- and post-interviews, audio recordings and visit fieldnotes. We characterised families’ experiences as falling into three discourses, as ‘disorientating’, ‘fun’ or ‘meaningful’ visits. Analysis identifies how the families’ experiences, and the likelihood of deriving science learning from the visit, were shaped through interactions of habitus and capital. Implications for improving equity and inclusion within ISLEs are discussed

An Analysis of the Myocardial Transcriptome in a Mouse Model of Cardiac Dysfunction with Decreased Cholinergic Neurotransmission

Autonomic dysfunction is observed in many cardiovascular diseases and contributes to cardiac remodeling and heart disease. We previously reported that a decrease in the expression levels of the vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) in genetically-modified homozygous mice (VAChT KDHOM) leads to decreased cholinergic tone, autonomic imbalance and a phenotype resembling cardiac dysfunction. In order to further understand the molecular changes resulting from chronic long-term decrease in parasympathetic tone, we undertook a transcriptome-based, microarray-driven approach to analyze gene expression changes in ventricular tissue from VAChT KDHOM mice. We demonstrate that a decrease in cholinergic tone is associated with alterations in gene expression in mutant hearts, which might contribute to increased ROS levels observed in these cardiomyocytes. In contrast, in another model of cardiac remodeling and autonomic imbalance, induced through chronic isoproterenol treatment to increase sympathetic drive, these genes did not appear to be altered in a pattern similar to that observed in VAChT KDHOM hearts. These data suggest the importance of maintaining a fine balance between the two branches of the autonomic nervous system and the significance of absolute levels of cholinergic tone in proper cardiac function

Learning to Use Illumination Gradients as an Unambiguous Cue to Three Dimensional Shape

The luminance and colour gradients across an image are the result of complex interactions between object shape, material and illumination. Using such variations to infer object shape or surface colour is therefore a difficult problem for the visual system. We know that changes to the shape of an object can affect its perceived colour, and that shading gradients confer a sense of shape. Here we investigate if the visual system is able to effectively utilise these gradients as a cue to shape perception, even when additional cues are not available. We tested shape perception of a folded card object that contained illumination gradients in the form of shading and more subtle effects such as inter-reflections. Our results suggest that observers are able to use the gradients to make consistent shape judgements. In order to do this, observers must be given the opportunity to learn suitable assumptions about the lighting and scene. Using a variety of different training conditions, we demonstrate that learning can occur quickly and requires only coarse information. We also establish that learning does not deliver a trivial mapping between gradient and shape; rather learning leads to the acquisition of assumptions about lighting and scene parameters that subsequently allow for gradients to be used as a shape cue. The perceived shape is shown to be consistent for convex and concave versions of the object that exhibit very different shading, and also similar to that delivered by outline, a largely unrelated cue to shape. Overall our results indicate that, although gradients are less reliable than some other cues, the relationship between gradients and shape can be quickly assessed and the gradients therefore used effectively as a visual shape cue