Driving forces in free visual search : An ethology

Peer reviewedPostprin

Genetic Medical Clinic in Kentucky: A Needs Assessment of Anabaptist Households

The purposes of this study are to (a) describe the process of collecting survey data related to un/diagnosed genetic disorders in Anabaptist households, and (b) determine the need for a genetic medical clinic in Kentucky. A six-page adapted survey questionnaire was utilized to collect family status, un/diagnosed genetic conditions, reproductive history, history of deceased children, and demographics. The questionnaire was mailed to over 2,000 households; addresses were collected from Anabaptist directories. Data suggest that more than one-third of households include a family member with an un/diagnosed genetic condition. Collectively, 120 diagnosed conditions and 90 undiagnosed conditions were reported. Half of all households reported a miscarriage, while less than five percent reported a stillbirth. Information obtained from this survey helped Anabaptist leaders proceed with establishing a genetic medical clinic

Establishing and Maintaining Organizational Trust in the 21st Century

Recent corporate and academic scandals have led to decreasing levels of trust and confidence in many organizations. Whether the organization is a college or university, a government agency, a private company or a public corporation, the establishment and maintenance of trust is essential to both short-term success and long-term efficacy. This article deals with how managers and leaders can work to establish trust in their organizations via such strategies as fostering behavioural consistency, behavioural integrity, sharing of control, effective communication and demonstration of concern for employees. Also included are strategies of maintaining and enhancing trust, how the level of trust in an organization affects the individual as well as the entire enterprise, and the consequences of losing organizational trust

Sexual signaling and immune function in the black field cricket Teleogryllus commodus

The immunocompetence handicap hypothesis predicts that male sexual trait expression should be positively correlated with immunocompetence. Here we investigate if immune function in the cricket, Teleogryllus commodus, is related to specific individual components of male sexual signals, as well as to certain multivariate combinations of these components that females most strongly prefer. Male T. commodus produce both advertisement and courtship calls prior to mating. We measured fine-scale structural parameters of both call types and also recorded nightly advertisement calling effort. We then measured two standard indices of immune function: lysozyme-like activity of the haemolymph and haemocyte counts. We found a weak, positive relationship between advertisement calling effort and lysozyme-like activity. There was, however, little evidence that individual structural call components or the net multivariate attractiveness of either call type signalled immune function. The relationships between immunity and sexual signaling did not differ between inbred and outbred males. Our data suggest that it is unlikely that females assess overall male immune function using male calls.This work was supported by the Australian Research Council (DP0555943 to M.D.J.). J.H. was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and a Royal Society Fellowship. J.M.D. was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award

Fit for LIFE:the development and optimization of an intervention delivered through prison gymnasia to support incarcerated men in making positive lifestyle changes

Background: Despite prison settings presenting opportunities for healthy eating and regular exercise, many incarcerated men supplement prison food with unhealthy snacks and drinks, and are less likely to achieve recommended physical activity guidelines than non-incarcerated men. This paper describes the co-development with prison staff of a healthy lifestyle intervention for delivery to incarcerated men, and feasibility testing of its delivery through prison physical education departments. Methods: The starting point for intervention development was Football Fans in Training (FFIT), an evidence-based intervention successful in engaging men and supporting them to lose weight, make positive lifestyle changes and maintain these long term. We iteratively tested and adapted FFIT for delivery in prison gym facilities through a four Phase pilot and optimisation study. Methods used to evaluate each phase included: observations of session deliveries; semi-structured interviews with participants; and a focus group/semi-structured interviews with prison Physical Education Instructors (PEIs) who delivered the programme. Data were analysed thematically using the Framework approach. Findings from each phase informed development of the optimised programme. Results: We iteratively co-developed a healthy lifestyle intervention (known as Fit for LIFE) tailored to the needs of incarcerated men and prison operational constraints. Fit for LIFE comprises elements specifically designed to address common barriers to a healthy lifestyle within prison, including: discussion of healthiest available food choices; trying out different physical activity options in the prison gym; and strategies (such as in-cell workouts) for dealing with prolonged time in cells at evenings/weekends. Weight loss was not always the most valued outcome. Instead, participants cited a wide range of behavioural, physical and mental health improvements as important to them, and were more motivated if they could focus on identifying and achieving personally relevant objectives. Conclusions: Fit for LIFE is a 10-week, group-based healthy lifestyle programme tailored for delivery to incarcerated men in prison gymnasia. Weekly 90-min sessions include informative and interactive ‘classroom’ activities followed by a practical physical activity training session, often with group activities. Fit for LIFE aims to help incarcerated men to: increase physical activity; reduce sedentary time; eat more healthily; and start and maintain using prison gym facilities with confidence

The lattice stiffening transition in UO2 single crystals

The effective Debye temperatures (θDE) of the surface region of UO2 single crystals, prepared by the hydrothermal synthesis technique, were obtained from temperature-dependent x-ray photoemission in the temperature range of 300 K–623 K. A lattice stiffening transition, characterized by different regions of different effective Debye temperature, 500 ± 59 K below 475 K and 165 ± 21 K above 475 K is identified. A comparison of the temperature dependence of the effective UO2 Debye temperature, with the changes in the lattice expansion coefficient for UO2, support strong lattice-phonon interaction arising from the Jahn–Teller distortion

Skeletal muscle mitochondrial dysfunction in contemporary antiretroviral therapy: a single cell analysis

OBJECTIVE: To quantify mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle of people treated with contemporary antiretroviral therapy. DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational study. METHODS: Quantitative multiplex immunofluorescence was performed to determine mitochondrial mass and respiratory chain complex abundance in individual myofibres from tibialis anterior biopsies. Individual myofibres were captured by laser microdissection and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content and large-scale deletions were measured by real-time PCR. RESULTS: Forty five antiretroviral therapy (ART) treated people with HIV (PWH, mean age 58 years, mean duration of ART 125 months) were compared with 15 HIV negative age-matched controls. Mitochondrial complex I (CI) deficiency was observed at higher proportional levels in PWH than negative controls (P = 0.008). Myofibre mitochondrial mass did not differ by HIV status.No ART class was significantly associated with mitochondrial deficiency, including prior exposure to historical NRTIs (nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitors) associated with systemic mitochondrial toxicity.To exclude an effect of untreated HIV, we also studied skeletal muscle from 13 ART-naïve PWH (mean age 37). These showed negligible CI defects, as well as comparable myofibre mitochondrial mass to ART-treated PWH.Most CI-deficient myofibres contained mtDNA deletions. No mtDNA depletion was detected. CONCLUSION: Here, we show that PWH treated with contemporary ART have mitochondrial dysfunction in skeletal muscle, exceeding that expected due to age alone. Surprisingly, this was not mediated by prior exposure to mitochondrially toxic NRTIs, suggesting novel mechanisms of mitochondrial dysfunction in contemporary ART-treated PWH. These findings are relevant for better understanding successful ageing in PWH

New Observations of the Interstellar Medium in the Lyman Break Galaxy MS 1512-cB58

We present the results of a detailed study of the interstellar medium of MS 1512-cB58, an L* Lyman break galaxy at z = 2.7276, based on new spectral observations obtained with the Echelle Spectrograph and Imager on the Keck II telescope at 58 km/s resolution. We focus in particular on the chemical abundances and kinematics of the interstellar gas and our main findings are as follows. Even at this relatively early epoch, the ISM of this galaxy is already highly enriched in elements released by Type II supernovae; the abundances of O, Mg, Si, P, and S are all about 2/5 of their solar values. In contrast, N and the Fe-peak elements Mn, Fe, and Ni are underabundant by a factor of about 3. Based on current ideas of stellar nucleosynthesis, these results can be understood if most of the metal enrichment in cB58 has taken place within the last 300 million years, the timescale for the release of N from intermediate mass stars. cB58 appears to be an example of a galaxy in the process of converting its gas into stars on a few dynamical timescales; quite possibly we are witnessing the formation of a galactic bulge or an elliptical galaxy. The energetic star formation activity has stirred the interstellar medium to high velocities of up to 1000 km/s. The net effect is a bulk outflow of the ISM at a speed of 255 km/s and at a rate which exceeds the star formation rate. It is unclear whether this gas will be lost or retained by the galaxy. We point out that the chemical and kinematic properties of cB58 are markedly different from those of most damped Lyman alpha systems at the same redshift.Comment: 38 pages, LaTeX, 9 Postscript Figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. Sections 3.3 and 5.3 expanded, and two additional figures included, following referee's repor

Retrospective Analysis of Emergency Department Ultrasound for Acute Appendicitis

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether emergency physicians (EPs) who have skills in the other applications of ultrasound can apply these in appendicitis diagnosis. METHODS: EPs did not have focused training in bedside ultrasound for appendicitis. We identified patients receiving an ED bedside ultrasound evaluation for appendicitis from our ultrasound log. Criterion reference was radiology ultrasound (RUS), CT scan, or pathology report. RESULTS: We performed 155 ED ultrasounds for appendicitis. There were 27/155 cases where the ED ultrasound was true positive and agreed with pathology (sensitivity = 39%, 95% CI 28 – 52%). In 42/155 (27%) the ED ultrasound was non-diagnostic (false negative) with pathology positive. In 77 cases the ED ultrasound was true negative with non-visualization of the appendix in concert with non-visualization by RUS or CT scan (specificity = 90%, 95% CI 81-95%). In nine cases (6%), ED ultrasound was falsely positive, compared to CT scan with surgical consult. CONCLUSION: ED ultrasound by EPs prior to focused appendicitis ultrasound training is insufficiently accurate