Psychology

The Internet explosion and broad interest in collaborative technology have driven increased interest in the field of computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW). Historically, behavioral research on CSCW applications has reflected a strong influence from ethnomethodology. This article argues that the CSCW community should adopt a stronger orientation to other social science disciplines, particularly psychology. Greater attention to the psychological literature provides three benefits. First, psychologists offer well-validated principles about human behavior in group and organizational contexts that are relevant to CSCW research. Second, psychologists offer reliable and proven measures of human behavior that, if adopted by CSCW researchers, can provide a uniform basis for comparison across studies. Finally, psychologists offer data collection and analysis methods that identify salient and generalizable features of human behavior, which may lead to the development of universal principles of CSCW design.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68835/2/10.1177_089443939801600106.pd

Unimodular bimode gravity and the coherent scalar-graviton field as galaxy dark matter

The explicit violation of the general gauge invariance/relativity is adopted as the origin of dark matter and dark energy of the gravitational nature. The violation of the local scale invariance alone, with the residual unimodular one, is considered. Besides the four-volume preserving deformation mode -- the transverse-tensor graviton -- the metric comprises a compression mode -- the scalar graviton, or the systolon. A unimodular invariant and general covariant metric theory of the bimode/scalar-tensor gravity is consistently worked out. To reduce the primordial ambiguity of the theory a dynamical global symmetry is imposed, with its subsequent spontaneous breaking revealed. The static spherically symmetric case in the empty, but possibly for the origin, space is studied. A three-parameter solution describing a new static space structure -- the dark lacuna -- is constructed. It enjoys the property of gravitational confinement, with the logarithmic potential of gravitational attraction at the periphery, and results in the asymptotically flat rotation curves. Comprising a super-massive dark fracture (a scalar-modified black hole) at the origin surrounded by a cored dark halo, the dark lacunas are proposed as a prototype model of galaxies, implying an ultimate account for the distributed non-gravitational matter and a putative asphericity or rotation.Comment: 38 pages, 10 figures; exposition improved, remarks added, accepted for publicatio

Harmonising and linking biomedical and clinical data across disparate data archives to enable integrative cross-biobank research

A wealth of biospecimen samples are stored in modern globally distributed biobanks. Biomedical researchers worldwide need to be able to combine the available resources to improve the power of large-scale studies. A prerequisite for this effort is to be able to search and access phenotypic, clinical and other information about samples that are currently stored at biobanks in an integrated manner. However, privacy issues together with heterogeneous information systems and the lack of agreed-upon vocabularies have made specimen searching across multiple biobanks extremely challenging. We describe three case studies where we have linked samples and sample descriptions in order to facilitate global searching of available samples for research. The use cases include the ENGAGE (European Network for Genetic and Genomic Epidemiology) consortium comprising at least 39 cohorts, the SUMMIT (surrogate markers for micro- and macro-vascular hard endpoints for innovative diabetes tools) consortium and a pilot for data integration between a Swedish clinical health registry and a biobank. We used the Sample avAILability (SAIL) method for data linking: first, created harmonised variables and then annotated and made searchable information on the number of specimens available in individual biobanks for various phenotypic categories. By operating on this categorised availability data we sidestep many obstacles related to privacy that arise when handling real values and show that harmonised and annotated records about data availability across disparate biomedical archives provide a key methodological advance in pre-analysis exchange of information between biobanks, that is, during the project planning phase

Measuring decisional certainty among women seeking abortion

ObjectiveEvaluating decisional certainty is an important component of medical care, including preabortion care. However, minimal research has examined how to measure certainty with reliability and validity among women seeking abortion. We examine whether the Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS), a measure widely used in other health specialties and considered the gold standard for measuring this construct, and the Taft-Baker Scale (TBS), a measure developed by abortion counselors, are valid and reliable for use with women seeking abortion and predict the decision to continue the pregnancy.MethodsEligible women at four family planning facilities in Utah completed baseline demographic surveys and scales before their abortion information visit and follow-up interviews 3 weeks later. For each scale, we calculated mean scores and explored factors associated with high uncertainty. We evaluated internal reliability using Cronbach's alpha and assessed predictive validity by examining whether higher scale scores, indicative of decisional uncertainty or conflict, were associated with still being pregnant at follow-up.ResultsFive hundred women completed baseline surveys; two-thirds (63%) completed follow-up, at which time 11% were still pregnant. Mean scores on the DCS (15.5/100) and TBS (12.4/100) indicated low uncertainty, with acceptable reliability (α=.93 and .72, respectively). Higher scores on each scale were significantly and positively associated with still being pregnant at follow-up in both unadjusted and adjusted analyses.ConclusionThe DCS and TBS demonstrate acceptable reliability and validity among women seeking abortion care. Comparing scores on the DCS in this population to other studies of decision making suggests that the level of uncertainty in abortion decision making is comparable to or lower than other health decisions.ImplicationsThe high levels of decisional certainty found in this study challenge the narrative that abortion decision making is exceptional compared to other healthcare decisions and requires additional protection such as laws mandating waiting periods, counseling and ultrasound viewing

Age at first birth in women is genetically associated with increased risk of schizophrenia

Prof. Paunio on PGC:n jäsenPrevious studies have shown an increased risk for mental health problems in children born to both younger and older parents compared to children of average-aged parents. We previously used a novel design to reveal a latent mechanism of genetic association between schizophrenia and age at first birth in women (AFB). Here, we use independent data from the UK Biobank (N = 38,892) to replicate the finding of an association between predicted genetic risk of schizophrenia and AFB in women, and to estimate the genetic correlation between schizophrenia and AFB in women stratified into younger and older groups. We find evidence for an association between predicted genetic risk of schizophrenia and AFB in women (P-value = 1.12E-05), and we show genetic heterogeneity between younger and older AFB groups (P-value = 3.45E-03). The genetic correlation between schizophrenia and AFB in the younger AFB group is -0.16 (SE = 0.04) while that between schizophrenia and AFB in the older AFB group is 0.14 (SE = 0.08). Our results suggest that early, and perhaps also late, age at first birth in women is associated with increased genetic risk for schizophrenia in the UK Biobank sample. These findings contribute new insights into factors contributing to the complex bio-social risk architecture underpinning the association between parental age and offspring mental health.Peer reviewe

Tracing the ecophysiology of ungulates and predator–prey relationships in an early Pleistocene large mammal community

Research into the reconstruction of ancient communities in terms of dietary regimes, habitat preferences and ecological interactions of species has focused predominantly on biogeochemistry or ecomorphology alone and not in combination. The Venta Micena site (Orce, Guadix–Baza basin, SE Spain) has an early Pleistocene vertebrate assemblage with exceptional biomolecular preservation. Collagen was successfully extracted from 77 bone samples of 18 species of large mammals, which allowed analyses of carbon- and nitrogen-isotopes. δ13C, δ15N and δ18O ratios combined with ecomorphological indexes provide interesting clues on the autecology and palaeophysiology of extinct species, which help in deciphering aspects of community trophic structure and predator–prey interactions. Specifically, morphometric ratios (e.g., hypsodonty index and relative length of the lower premolar tooth row; [Palmqvist, P., Gröcke, D.R., Arribas, A., Fariña, R. 2003. Paleoecological reconstruction of a lower Pleistocene large mammals community using biogeochemical (δ13C, δ15N, δ18O, Sr:Zn) and ecomorphological approaches. Paleobiology 29, 204–228.]) allow classifying the ungulates among grazers (Equus altidens, Bison sp., Praeovibos sp., Hemitragus albus, Hippopotamus antiquus, and Mammuthus meridionalis), mized-feeders (Soergelia minor and Pseudodama sp.) and browsers (Stephanorhinus sp. and Praemegaceros cf. verticornis). However, δ13C values reveal that these ungulates consumed exclusively C3 plants and significant differences in isotopic values between perissodactyls (monogastric, hindgut fermenters) and ruminants (foregut fermenters) must reflect physiological differences related to their rates of methane production and digestive efficiency. δ18O ratios allow the interpretation of the dietary water source of these species, suggesting that fallow deer Pseudodama sp., goat H. albus and ovibovine S. minor obtained a significant fraction of their metabolic water from the vegetation consumed. Carnivore species have higher δ15N values than herbivores, which records the isotopic enrichment expected with an increase in trophic level. However, the unexpectedly high δ15N values of hippo H. antiquus and muskoxen Praeovibos sp. suggest that these ungulates predominantly consumed aquatic plants and lichens, respectively. Inferences on predator–prey relationships within this ancient community, derived from the dual linear mixing model, indicate resource partitioning among sympatric predators, suggesting that sabre-tooth Megantereon whitei and jaguar Panthera cf. gombaszoegensis were ambushers of forest environments while sabre-tooth Homotherium latidens and wild dog Lycaon lycaonoides were coursing predators in open habitat. The giant, short-faced hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris scavenged the prey of these hypercarnivores

Unaerated feeding alters the fate of dissolved methane during aerobic wastewater treatment

In municipal wastewater treatment plants, some dissolved methane can enter the aerobic bioreactors. This greenhouse gas originates from sewers and return flows from anaerobic sludge treatment. In well-mixed conventional activated sludge reactors, methane emissions are largely avoided because methane oxidizing bacteria consume a large fraction, even without optimizing for this purpose. In this work, the fate of dissolved methane is studied in aerobic granular sludge reactors, as they become increasingly popular. The influence of the characteristic design and operating conditions of these reactors are studied with a mathematical model with apparent conversion kinetics and stripping: the separation of feeding and aeration in time, a higher substrate transport resistance, a high retention time of granular biomass and a taller water column. Even for a best-case scenario combining an unrealistically low intragranule substrate transport resistance, a high retention time, a tall reactor, an extremely high influent methane concentration and no oxygen limitation, the methane conversion efficiency was only 12% when feeding and aeration were separated in time, which is lower than for continuous activated sludge reactors under typical conditions. A more rigorous model was used to confirm the limited conversion, considering the multi-species and multi-substrate biofilm kinetics, anoxic methane consumers and the high substrate concentration at the bottom during upward plug flow feeding. The observed limited methane conversion is mainly due to the high concentration that accumulates during unaerated feeding phases, which favours stripping more than conversion in the subsequent aeration phase. Based on these findings, strategies were proposed to mitigate methane emissions from wastewater treatment plants with sequentially operated reactors

Modelling anaerobic, aerobic and partial nitritation-anammox granular sludge reactors - a review

Wastewater treatment processes with granular sludge are compact and are becoming increasingly popular. Interest has been accompanied by the development of mathematical models. This contribution simultaneously reviews available models in the scientific literature for anaerobic, aerobic and partial nitritation-anammox granular sludge reactors because they comprise common phenomena (e.g. liquid, gas and granule transport) and thus pose similar challenges. Many of the publications were found to have no clearly defined goal. The importance of a goal is stressed because it determines the appropriate model complexity and helps other potential users to find a suitable model in the vast amount of literature. Secondly, a wide variety was found in the model features. This review explains the chosen modelling assumptions based on the different reactor types and goals wherever possible, but some assumptions appeared to be habitual within fields of research, without clear reason. We therefore suggest further research to more clearly define the range of operational conditions and goals for which certain simplifying assumptions can be made, e.g. when intragranule solute transport can be lumped in apparent kinetics and when biofilm models are needed, which explicitly calculate substrate concentration gradients inside granules. Furthermore, research is needed to better mechanistically understand detachment, removal of influent particulate matter and changes in the mixing behaviour inside anaerobic systems, before these phenomena can be adequately incorporated in models. Finally, it is suggested to perform full-scale model validation studies for aerobic and anammox reactors. A spreadsheet in the supplementary information provides an overview of the features in the 167 reviewed models

Bite club: comparative bite force in big biting mammals and the prediction of predatory behaviour in fossil taxa

We provide the first predictions of bite force (B(S)) in a wide sample of living and fossil mammalian predators. To compare between taxa, we calculated an estimated bite force quotient (BFQ) as the residual of B(S) regressed on body mass. Estimated B(S) adjusted for body mass was higher for marsupials than placentals and the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) had the highest relative B(S) among extant taxa. The highest overall B(S) was in two extinct marsupial lions. BFQ in hyaenas were similar to those of related, non-osteophagous taxa challenging the common assumption that osteophagy necessitates extreme jaw muscle forces. High BFQ in living carnivores was associated with greater maximal prey size and hypercarnivory. For fossil taxa anatomically similar to living relatives, BFQ can be directly compared, and high values in the dire wolf (Canis dirus) and thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) suggest that they took relatively large prey. Direct inference may not be appropriate where morphologies depart widely from biomechanical models evident in living predators and must be considered together with evidence from other morphological indicators. Relatively low BFQ values in two extinct carnivores with morphologies not represented among extant species, the sabrecat, Smilodon fatalis, and marsupial sabretooth, Thylacosmilus atrox, support arguments that their killing techniques also differed from extant species and are consistent with ‘canine-shear bite’ and ‘stabbing’ models, respectively. Extremely high BFQ in the marsupial lion, Thylacoleo carnifex, indicates that it filled a large-prey hunting niche