Clock drawing performance in cognitively normal elderly

The Clock Drawing Test (CDT) is a common neuropsychological measure sensitive to cognitive changes and functional skills (e.g., driving test performance) among older adults. However, normative data have not been adequately developed. We report the distribution of CDT scores using three common scoring systems [Mendez, M. F., Ala, T., & Underwood, K. L. (1992). Development of scoring criteria for the Clock Drawing Task in Alzheimer's Disease. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 40, 1095-1099; Cahn, D. A., Salmon, D. P., Monsch, A. U., Butters, N., Wiederholt, W. C., & Corey-Bloom, J. (1996). Screening for dementia of the Alzheimer type in the community: The utility of the Clock Drawing Test. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 11(6), 529-539], among 207 cognitively normal elderly. The systems were well correlated, took little time to use, and had high inter-rater reliability. We found statistically significant differences in CDT scores based on age and WRAT-3 Reading score, a marker of education quality. We present means, standard deviations, and t- and z-scores based on these subgroups. We found that "normal" CDT performance includes a wider distribution of scores than previously reported. Our results may serve as useful comparisons for clinicians wishing to know whether their patients perform in the general range of cognitively normal elderly. © 2007 National Academy of Neuropsychology

One-Liners

One liners from: N.M. Martinez-Rossi, C. Andrade-Monteiro and S.R.C. Pombeiro; M. Orbach ; H. Liu and TJ. Schmidhauser; P.A. Hubbard and C.H. Wilso

Methane Flux in Cropland and Adjacent Riparian Buff ers with Different Vegetation Covers

While water quality functions of conservation buffers established adjacent to cropped fields have been widely documented, the relative contribution of these re-established perennial plant systems to greenhouse gases has not been completely documented. In the case of methane (CH(4)), these systems have the potential to serve as sinks of CH(4) or may provide favorable conditions for CH(4) production. This study quantifies CH(4) flux from soils of riparian buffer systems comprised of three vegetation types and compares these fluxes with those of adjacent crop fields. We measured soil properties and diel and seasonal variations of CH(4) flux in 7 to 17 yr-old re-established riparian forest buffers, warm-season and cool-season grass filters, and an adjacent crop field located in the Bear Creek watershed in central Iowa. Forest buffer and grass filter soils had significantly lower bulk density (P \u3c 0.01); and higher pH (P \u3c 0.01), total carbon (TC) (P \u3c 0.01), and total nitrogen (TN) (P \u3c 0.01) than crop field soils. There was no significant relationship between CH(4) flux and soil moisture or soil temperature among sites within the range of conditions observed. Cumulative CH(4) flux was -0.80 kg CH(4)-C ha(-1) yr(-1) in the cropped field, -0.46 kg CH(4)-C ha(-1) yr(-1) within the forest buffers, and 0.04 kg CH(4)-C ha(-1) yr(-1) within grass filters, but difference among vegetation covers was not significant. Results suggest that CH(4) flux was not changed after establishment of perennial vegetation on cropped soils, despite significant changes in soil properties

Horizontal Branch Stars: The Interplay between Observations and Theory, and Insights into the Formation of the Galaxy

We review HB stars in a broad astrophysical context, including both variable and non-variable stars. A reassessment of the Oosterhoff dichotomy is presented, which provides unprecedented detail regarding its origin and systematics. We show that the Oosterhoff dichotomy and the distribution of globular clusters (GCs) in the HB morphology-metallicity plane both exclude, with high statistical significance, the possibility that the Galactic halo may have formed from the accretion of dwarf galaxies resembling present-day Milky Way satellites such as Fornax, Sagittarius, and the LMC. A rediscussion of the second-parameter problem is presented. A technique is proposed to estimate the HB types of extragalactic GCs on the basis of integrated far-UV photometry. The relationship between the absolute V magnitude of the HB at the RR Lyrae level and metallicity, as obtained on the basis of trigonometric parallax measurements for the star RR Lyrae, is also revisited, giving a distance modulus to the LMC of (m-M)_0 = 18.44+/-0.11. RR Lyrae period change rates are studied. Finally, the conductive opacities used in evolutionary calculations of low-mass stars are investigated. [ABRIDGED]Comment: 56 pages, 22 figures. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and Space Scienc

Magnetic Catalysis: A Review

We give an overview of the magnetic catalysis phenomenon. In the framework of quantum field theory, magnetic catalysis is broadly defined as an enhancement of dynamical symmetry breaking by an external magnetic field. We start from a brief discussion of spontaneous symmetry breaking and the role of a magnetic field in its a dynamics. This is followed by a detailed presentation of the essential features of the phenomenon. In particular, we emphasize that the dimensional reduction plays a profound role in the pairing dynamics in a magnetic field. Using the general nature of underlying physics and its robustness with respect to interaction types and model content, we argue that magnetic catalysis is a universal and model-independent phenomenon. In support of this claim, we show how magnetic catalysis is realized in various models with short-range and long-range interactions. We argue that the general nature of the phenomenon implies a wide range of potential applications: from certain types of solid state systems to models in cosmology, particle and nuclear physics. We finish the review with general remarks about magnetic catalysis and an outlook for future research.Comment: 37 pages, to appear in Lect. Notes Phys. "Strongly interacting matter in magnetic fields" (Springer), edited by D. Kharzeev, K. Landsteiner, A. Schmitt, H.-U. Yee. Version 2: references adde

Comprehensive lung injury pathology induced by mTOR inhibitors

Molecular Targets in Oncology[Abstract] Interstitial lung disease is a rare side effect of temsirolimus treatment in renal cancer patients. Pulmonary fibrosis is characterised by the accumulation of extracellular matrix collagen, fibroblast proliferation and migration, and loss of alveolar gas exchange units. Previous studies of pulmonary fibrosis have mainly focused on the fibro-proliferative process in the lungs. However, the molecular mechanism by which sirolimus promotes lung fibrosis remains elusive. Here, we propose an overall cascade hypothesis of interstitial lung diseases that represents a common, partly underlying synergism among them as well as the lung pathogenesis side effects of mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors

Eine Bilanzierung der Verschiebungen der Lebensverlauf-Beschäftigungsprofile von verheirateten Frauen der Jahrgänge zwischen 1940 und 1960

Life-cycle employment profiles of married women born between 1940 and 1960 shifted upwards and became flatter. We calibrate a dynamic life-cycle model of employment decisions of married women to assess the quantitative importance of three competing explanations of the change in employment profiles: the decrease and delay in fertility, the increase in relative wages of women to men, and the decline in child-care costs. We find that the decrease and delay in fertility and the decline in child-care cost affect employment very early in life, while increases in relative wages affect employment increasingly with age. Changes in relative wages, in particular returns to experience, account for the bulk (67 percent) of changes in life-cycle employment of married women

Bose-Einstein correlations in charged current muon-neutrino interactions in the NOMAD experiment at CERN

Bose-Einstein correlations in one and two dimensions have been studied, with high statistics, in charged current muon-neutrino interaction events collected with the NOMAD detector at CERN. In one dimension the Bose-Einstein effect has been analyzed with the Goldhaber and the Kopylov-Podgoretskii phenomenological parametrizations. The Goldhaber parametrization gives the radius of the pion emission region R-G = 1.01 +/- 0.05(stat)(-0.06)(+0,09)(sys) fm and for the chaoticity parameter the value lambda = 0.40 +/- 0.03(stat)(-0.06)(+0.01) (sys). Using the Kopylov-Podgoretskii parametrization yields R-KP = 2.07 +/- 0.04(stat)(-0.14)(+0.01) (sys) fm and lambda(KP) = 0.29 +/- 0.06(stat)(-0.04)(+0,01) (sys) Different parametrizations of the long-range correlations have been also studied. The two-dimensional shape of the source has been investigated in the longitudinal comoving frame. A significant difference between the transverse and the longitudinal dimensions is observed. The high statistics of the collected sample allowed the study of the Bose-Einstein correlations as a function of rapidity, charged particle multiplicity and hadronic energy. A weak dependence of both radius and chaoticity on multiplicity and hadronic energy is found

Constraining bedrock erosion during extreme flood events

The importance of high-magnitude, short-lived flood events in controlling the evolution of bedrock landscapes is not well understood. During such events, erosion processes can shift from one regime to another upon the passing of thresholds, resulting in abrupt landscape changes that can have a long lasting legacy on landscape morphology. Geomorphological mapping and topographic analysis document the evidence for, and impact of, extreme flood events within the Jökulsárgljúfur canyon (North-East Iceland). Surface exposure dating using cosmogenic 3He of fluvially sculpted bedrock surfaces determines the timing of the floods that eroded the canyon and helps constrain the mechanisms of bedrock erosion during these events. Once a threshold flow depth has been exceeded, the dominant erosion mechanism becomes the toppling and transportation of basalt lava columns and erosion occurs through the upstream migration of knickpoints. Surface exposure ages allow identification of three periods of rapid canyon cutting during erosive flood events about 9, 5 and 2 ka ago, when multiple active knickpoints retreated large distances (> 2 km), each leading to catastrophic landscape change within the canyon. A single flood event ~9 ka ago formed, and then abandoned, Ásbyrgi canyon, eroding 0.14 km3 of rock. Flood events ~5 and ~2 ka ago eroded the upper 5 km of the Jökulsárgljúfur canyon through the upstream migration of vertical knickpoints such as Selfoss, Dettifoss and Hafragilsfoss. Despite sustained high discharge of sediment-rich glacial meltwater (ranging from 100 to 500 m3 s-1); there is no evidence for a transition to an abrasion-dominated erosion regime since the last erosive flood: the vertical knickpoints have not diffused over time and there is no evidence of incision into the canyon floor. The erosive signature of the extreme events is maintained in this landscape due to the nature of the bedrock, the discharge of the river, large knickpoints and associated plunge pools. The influence of these controls on the dynamics of knickpoint migration and morphology are explored using an experimental study. The retreat rate of knickpoints is independent of both mean discharge, and temporal variability in the hydrograph. The dominant control on knickpoint retreat is the knickpoint form which is set by the ratio of channel flow depth to knickpoint height. Where the knickpoint height is five times greater than the flow depth, the knickpoints developed undercutting plunge pools, accelerating the removal of material from the knickpoint base and the overall retreat rate. Smaller knickpoints relative to the flow depth were more likely to diffuse from a vertical step into a steepened reach or completely as the knickpoint retreated up the channel. These experiments challenge the established assumption in models of landscape evolution that a simple relationship exists between knickpoint retreat and discharge/drainage area. In order to fully understand how bedrock channels, and thus landscapes, respond and recover to transient forcing, further detailed study of the mechanics of erosion processes at knickpoints is required

Cyber risk assessment in cloud provider environments: Current models and future needs

Traditional frameworks for risk assessment do not work well for cloud computing. While recent work has often focussed on the risks faced by firms adopting or selecting cloud services, there has been little research on how cloud providers might assess their own services. In this paper, we use an in-depth review of the extant literature to highlight the weaknesses of traditional risk assessment frameworks for this task. Using examples, we then describe a new risk assessment model (CSCCRA) and compare this against three established approaches. For each approach, we consider its goals, the risk assessment process, decisions, the scope of the assessment and the way in which risk is conceptualised. This evaluation points to the need for dynamic models specifically designed to evaluate cloud risk. Our suggestions for future research are aimed at improving the identification, assessment, and mitigation of inter-dependent cloud risks inherent in a defined supply chain