The Distance to NGC 5128 (Centaurus A)

In this paper we review the various high precision methods that are now available to determine the distance to NGC 5128. These methods include: Cepheids, TRGB (tip of the red giant branch), PNLF (planetary nebula luminosity function), SBF (surface brightness fluctuations) and Long Period Variable (LPV) Mira stars. From an evaluation of these methods and their uncertainties, we derive a best-estimate distance of 3.8 +- 0.1 Mpc to NGC 5128 and find that this mean is now well supported by the current data. We also discuss the role of NGC 5128 more generally for the extragalactic distance scale as a testbed for the most direct possible comparison among these key methods.Comment: in press PASA; minor text change

Examination of the Relationship Between Sport-Specific Thoughts and Emotions and Anxiety and Depression in College Athletes

Depression and anxiety are prevalent mental health difficulties affecting student athletes, who notoriously reject mental health interventions that are not sport-relevant. This study will assist in understanding the extent to which sport-relevant thoughts and emotions impact depression and anxiety in collegiate athletes. Two-hundred and twenty-five NCAA athletes competing at the Division, I, II, or III level were administered the Sport Interference Checklist (SIC), Test of Performance Strategies (TOPS), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Results of correlational analyses revealed a significant relationship between SIC Dysfunctional Thinking (in training and competition) and anxiety (GAD-7) and depressive (PHQ-9) symptoms, and a significant relationship between TOPS Emotional Control (in competition only) and anxiety and depressive symptoms. Regression analyses indicated that SIC Dysfunctional Thoughts and Stress in training and competition significantly predicted anxiety and depressive symptoms; TOPS Emotional Control and TOPS Self-talk did not. A mediational model tested the hypothesis that SIC Dysfunctional Thoughts and Stress in competition mediated the relationship between TOPS Emotional Control and anxiety/depressive symptoms. This hypothesis was supported in the mediational models. Both sport-relevant emotions and thoughts impact depressive and anxiety symptoms in student- athletes, but dysfunctional thinking accounts for the majority of this relationship. These findings suggest targeting dysfunctional thoughts and emotions pertinent to sport may have far reaching positive effects in overall mental health, and future intervention studies should test this hypothesis. It is recommended that future studies be conducted to examine whether other sport- relevant constructs, such as environmental or relationship factors, impact the general mental health of student-athletes

Preschoolers in Belarus and Turkey accept an adult’s counter-intuitive claim and do not spontaneously seek evidence to test that claim

When presented with a claim that contradicts their intuitions, do children seize opportunities to empirically verify such claims or do they simply acquiesce to what they have been told? To answer this question, we conducted a replication of Ronfard, Chen, and Harris (2018, conducted in the People’s Republic of China) in two countries with distinct religious and political histories (Study 1: Belarus, N = 74; Study 2: Turkey, N = 79). Preschool children were presented with five, different-sized Russian dolls and asked to indicate the heaviest doll. All children selected the biggest doll. Half of the children then heard a (false) claim (i.e., that the smallest doll was the heaviest), contradicting their initial intuition. The remaining children heard a (true) claim (i.e., that the biggest doll was the heaviest), confirming their initial intuition. Belarusian and Turkish preschoolers typically endorsed the experimenter’s claim no matter whether it had contradicted or confirmed their initial intuition. Next, the experimenter left the room, giving children an opportunity to check the experimenter’s claim by picking up the relevant dolls. Belarusian and Turkish preschoolers rarely explored the dolls, regardless of the type of testimony they received and continued to endorse the counter-intuitive testimony they received. Furthermore, in Study 2, Turkish preschoolers continued to endorse smallest = heaviest even when doing so could have cost them a large reward. In sum, across two different cultural contexts, preschool children endorsed a counter-intuitive claim and did not spontaneously seek evidence to test it. These results confirm and extend those of Ronfard et al. (2018)

Effectiveness of Surgery for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis : A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Learning a 3-D Visual Light Field: Effects of Exploration on Lightness Constancy

The pattern of light across a scene is determined by the lighting, the material properties of objects in the scene, and the three- dimensional (3-D) scene structure. The problem of determining the material properties of an object is therefore a complex one. To do this correctly the relationship between 3-D scene structure and lighting must be understood by the viewer. In this paper we describe experiments which evaluate how exploration of the lightfield [1] within the scene aids the estimation of surface lightness (albedo). We find that the experience of viewing a block moving throughout the 3D scene - illustrating the variations in lightfield – results in lightness constancy, i.e. viewers are able to estimate surface albedo under varying illumination. Exploration of the lightfield facilitated albedo recovery as opposed to simple brightness matching. This record was migrated from the OpenDepot repository service in June, 2017 before shutting down

Carbon nanotube-based substrates for modulation of human pluripotent stem cell fate

We investigated the biological response of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) cultured on a carbon nanotube (CNT) array-based substrate with the long term goal to direct hPSC germ layer specification for a wide variety of tissue engineering applications. CNT arrays were fabricated using a chemical vapor deposition system allowing for control over surface roughness and mechanical stiffness. Our results demonstrated that hPSCs readily attach to hydrophilized and extracellular matrix coated CNT arrays. hPSCs cultured as colonies in conditions supporting self-renewal demonstrated the morphology and marker expression of undifferentiated hPSCs. Conditions inducing spontaneous differentiation lead to hPSC commitment to all three embryonic germ layers as assessed by immunostaining and RT-PCR analysis. Strikingly, the physical characteristics of CNT arrays favored mesodermal specification of hPSCs. This is contradictory to the behavior of hPSCs on traditional tissue culture plastic which promotes the development of ectoderm. Altogether, these results demonstrate the potential of CNT arrays to be used in the generation of new platforms that allow for precise control of hPSC differentiation by tuning the characteristics of their physical microenvironment

Improving Medication Reconciliation within 24 Hours of Admission to a Comprehensive Cancer Center

Lijo Saji and Carla Patel pictured.https://openworks.mdanderson.org/aprn-week-23/1005/thumbnail.jp