Probing Density Fluctuations using the FIRST Radio Survey

We use results of angular clustering measurements in 3000 sq. deg's of the FIRST radio survey to infer information on spatial clustering. Measurements are compared with CDM-model predictions. Clustering of FIRST sources with optical ID's in the APM catalog are also investigated. Finally, we outline a preliminary search for a weak lensing signal in the survey.Comment: 6 pages latex, 2 figures, to appear in Cosmology with the New Radio Surveys (Kluwer

A Suborbital Payload for Soft X-ray Spectroscopy of Extended Sources

We present a suborbital rocket payload capable of performing soft X-ray spectroscopy on extended sources. The payload can reach resolutions of ~100(lambda/dlambda) over sources as large as 3.25 degrees in diameter in the 17-107 angstrom bandpass. This permits analysis of the overall energy balance of nearby supernova remnants and the detailed nature of the diffuse soft X-ray background. The main components of the instrument are: wire grid collimators, off-plane grating arrays and gaseous electron multiplier detectors. This payload is adaptable to longer duration orbital rockets given its comparatively simple pointing and telemetry requirements and an abundance of potential science targets.Comment: Accepted to Experimental Astronomy, 12 pages plus 1 table and 17 figure

Lightweight Interactions for Reciprocal Cooperation in a Social Network Game

The construction of reciprocal relationships requires cooperative interactions during the initial meetings. However, cooperative behavior with strangers is risky because the strangers may be exploiters. In this study, we show that people increase the likelihood of cooperativeness of strangers by using lightweight non-risky interactions in risky situations based on the analysis of a social network game (SNG). They can construct reciprocal relationships in this manner. The interactions involve low-cost signaling because they are not generated at any cost to the senders and recipients. Theoretical studies show that low-cost signals are not guaranteed to be reliable because the low-cost signals from senders can lie at any time. However, people used low-cost signals to construct reciprocal relationships in an SNG, which suggests the existence of mechanisms for generating reliable, low-cost signals in human evolution.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure

The risk of oesophago-gastric cancer in symptomatic patients in primary care: A large case-control study using electronic records

BACKGROUND: Over 15 000 new oesophago-gastric cancers are diagnosed annually in the United Kingdom, with most being advanced disease. We identified and quantified features of this cancer in primary care. METHODS: Case-control study using electronic primary-care records of the UK patients aged ≥40 years was performed. Cases with primary oesophago-gastric cancer were matched to controls on age, sex and practice. Putative features of cancer were identified in the year before diagnosis. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated for these features using conditional logistic regression, and positive predictive values (PPVs) were calculated. RESULTS: A total of 7471 cases and 32 877 controls were studied. Sixteen features were independently associated with oesophago-gastric cancer (all P5% in patients ≥55 years was for dysphagia. In patients <55 years, all PPVs were <1%. CONCLUSION: Symptoms of oesophago-gastric cancer reported in secondary care were also important in primary care. The results should inform guidance and commissioning policy for upper GI endoscopy

Eight grand challenges in socio-environmental systems modeling

Modeling is essential to characterize and explore complex societal and environmental issues in systematic and collaborative ways. Socio-environmental systems (SES) modeling integrates knowledge and perspectives into conceptual and computational tools that explicitly recognize how human decisions affect the environment. Depending on the modeling purpose, many SES modelers also realize that involvement of stakeholders and experts is fundamental to support social learning and decision-making processes for achieving improved environmental and social outcomes. The contribution of this paper lies in identifying and formulating grand challenges that need to be overcome to accelerate the development and adaptation of SES modeling. Eight challenges are delineated: bridging epistemologies across disciplines; multi-dimensional uncertainty assessment and management; scales and scaling issues; combining qualitative and quantitative methods and data; furthering the adoption and impacts of SES modeling on policy; capturing structural changes; representing human dimensions in SES; and leveraging new data types and sources. These challenges limit our ability to effectively use SES modeling to provide the knowledge and information essential for supporting decision making. Whereas some of these challenges are not unique to SES modeling and may be pervasive in other scientific fields, they still act as barriers as well as research opportunities for the SES modeling community. For each challenge, we outline basic steps that can be taken to surmount the underpinning barriers. Thus, the paper identifies priority research areas in SES modeling, chiefly related to progressing modeling products, processes and practices.</jats:p

Oligodendroglia Are Particularly Vulnerable to Oxidative Damage After Neurotrauma In Vivo.

In the paper "Oligodendroglia are particularly vulnerable to oxidative damage after neurotrauma in vivo," we determined the extent of oxidative damage to specific cellular subpopulations and structures within regions vulnerable to secondary degeneration and assessed the effect this had on oligodendroglial function. Comparative assessment of oxidative damage demonstrated selective vulnerability of oligodendroglia, specifically oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) to DNA oxidation in vivo. Immunohistochemical fate mapping along the oligodendroglial lineage showed a transient susceptibility of these cells to DNA oxidation, protein nitration, and lipid peroxidation, with mature oligodendrocytes derived immediately after injury more vulnerable to DNA oxidation than their counterparts existing at the time of injury or later derived. In situ hybridization demonstrated a reduction in myelin regulatory factor (MyRF) messenger RNA (mRNA) fluorescence in newly derived mature oligodendrocytes, suggesting a compromise in the production and maintenance of the myelin sheath in these cells. The data imply a deficit in the normal differentiation of OPCs to myelinating oligodendrocytes, associated with a transient increase in oxidative damage, which may contribute to the dysmyelinating phenotype seen at chronic time points after injury. Identifying and understanding the sources of this oxidative damage is integral for the development of therapeutic interventions for neurotrauma

Sensitivity and specificity of the Major Depression Inventory in outpatients

.001). Subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD) had a significantly higher MDI score than subjects with anxiety disorders (but no MDD), dysthymias, bipolar, psychotic, other neurotic disorders, and subjects with relational problems. In ROC analysis we found that the area under the curve was 0.68 for the MDI. A good cut-off point for the MDI seems to be 26, with a sensitivity of 0.66, and a specificity of 0.63. The indication of the presence of MDD based on the MDI had a moderate agreement with the diagnosis made by a psychiatrist (kappa: 0.26). Conclusion The MDI is an attractive, brief depression inventory, which seems to be a reliable tool for assessing depression in psychiatric outpatients

Growth dynamics and the evolution of cooperation in microbial populations

Microbes providing public goods are widespread in nature despite running the risk of being exploited by free-riders. However, the precise ecological factors supporting cooperation are still puzzling. Following recent experiments, we consider the role of population growth and the repetitive fragmentation of populations into new colonies mimicking simple microbial life-cycles. Individual-based modeling reveals that demographic fluctuations, which lead to a large variance in the composition of colonies, promote cooperation. Biased by population dynamics these fluctuations result in two qualitatively distinct regimes of robust cooperation under repetitive fragmentation into groups. First, if the level of cooperation exceeds a threshold, cooperators will take over the whole population. Second, cooperators can also emerge from a single mutant leading to a robust coexistence between cooperators and free-riders. We find frequency and size of population bottlenecks, and growth dynamics to be the major ecological factors determining the regimes and thereby the evolutionary pathway towards cooperation.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figure

Helpful Female Subordinate Cichlids Are More Likely to Reproduce

BACKGROUND: In many cooperatively breeding vertebrates, subordinates assist a dominant pair to raise the dominants' offspring. Previously, it has been suggested that subordinates may help in payment for continued residency on the territory (the 'pay-to-stay hypothesis'), but payment might also be reciprocated or might allow subordinates access to reproductive opportunities. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We measured dominant and subordinate female alloparental brood care and reproductive success in four separate experiments and show that unrelated female dominant and subordinate cichlid fish care for each other's broods (alloparental brood care), but that there is no evidence for reciprocal 'altruism' (no correlation between alloparental care received and given). Instead, subordinate females appear to pay with alloparental care for own direct reproduction. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest subordinate females pay with alloparental care to ensure access to the breeding substrate and thereby increase their opportunities to lay their own clutches. Subordinates' eggs are laid, on average, five days after the dominant female has produced her first brood. We suggest that immediate reproductive benefits need to be considered in tests of the pay-to-stay hypothesis