Vision-related symptoms as a clinical feature of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis? Evidence from the DePaul Symptom Questionnaire

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) is a debilitating disorder, affecting at least 250,000 people in the UK. Marked by debilitating fatigue, its aetiology is poorly understood and diagnosis controversial. A number of symptoms overlap with other illnesses with the result that CFS/ME is commonly misdiagnosed. It is important therefore that significant clinical features are investigated. People diagnosed with CFS/ME consistently report that they experience vision-related symptoms associated with their illness1-3 with some of these reports being verified experimentally. Although vision-related symptoms may represent a significant clinical feature of CFS/ME that could be useful in its diagnosis, they have yet to be included in clinical guidelines

Tackling unemployment, supporting business and developing careers

The issue of unemployment remains high on the political agenda. However, there is evidence that employers can be wary of employing people who are out of work. Employer practice is key, both in terms of providing employment opportunities to job seekers, and in providing space for low-skilled people to develop their skills and cement their attachment to the labour market. This report discusses the role of career guidance in mediating between job seekers and employers to allow both to achieve their objectives.The issue of unemployment remains high on the political agenda. However, there is evidence that employers can be wary of employing people who are out of work. Employer practice is key, both in terms of providing employment opportunities to job seekers, and in providing space for low-skilled people to develop their skills and cement their attachment to the labour market. This report discusses the role of career guidance in mediating between job seekers and employers to allow both to achieve their objectives

The extinct, giant giraffid Sivatherium giganteum: skeletal reconstruction and body mass estimation

Sivatherium giganteum is an extinct giraffid from the Plio–Pleistocene boundary of the Himalayan foothills. To date, there has been no rigorous skeletal reconstruction of this unusual mammal. Historical and contemporary accounts anecdotally state that Sivatherium rivalled the African elephant in terms of its body mass, but this statement has never been tested. Here, we present a three-dimensional composite skeletal reconstruction and calculate a representative body mass estimate for this species using a volumetric method. We find that the estimated adult body mass of 1246 kg (857—1812 kg range) does not approach that of an African elephant, but confirms that Sivatherium was certainly a large giraffid, and may have been the largest ruminant mammal that has ever existed. We contrast this volumetric estimate with a bivariate scaling estimate derived from Sivatherium's humeral circumference and find that there is a discrepancy between the two. The difference implies that the humeral circumference of Sivatherium is greater than expected for an animal of this size, and we speculate this may be linked to a cranial shift in centre of mass

The Influence of Transient Thermal Gradients and Substrate Constraint on Delamination of Thermal Barrier Coatings

A systematic study of factors affecting the delamination energy release rate and mode mix of a thermal barrier coating attached to a substrate is presented accounting for the influence of thermal gradients combined with rapid hot surface cooling. Transient thermal gradients induce stress gradients through the coating and substrate, which produce overall bending if the substrate is not very thick and if it is not constrained. Due to their influences on the coating stresses, substrate thickness and constraint are important aspects of the mechanics of delamination of coating-substrate systems, which must be considered when laboratory tests are designed and for lifetime assessment under in-service conditions. Temperature gradients in the hot state combined with rapid cooling give rise to a maximum energy release rate for delamination that occurs in the early stage of cooling and that can be considerably larger than the driving force for delamination in the cold state. The rates of cooling that give rise to a large early stage energy release rate are identified.Engineering and Applied Science

In vivo and ex vivo range of motion in the fire salamander Salamandra salamandra

Joint range of motion (RoM) analyses are fundamental to our understanding of how an animal moves throughout its ecosystem. Recent technological advances allow for more detailed quantification of this RoM (e.g. including interaction of degrees of freedom) both in ex vivo joints and in vivo experiments. Both types of data have been used to draw comparisons with fossils to reconstruct locomotion. Salamanders are often used as analogues for early tetrapod locomotion; testing such hypotheses requires an in-depth analysis of salamander joint RoM. Here, we provide a detailed dataset of the ex vivo ligamentous rotational joint RoM in the hindlimb of the fire salamander Salamandra salamandra, using a new method for collecting and visualising joint RoM. We also characterise in vivo joint RoM used during walking, via scientific rotoscoping and compare the in vivo and ex vivo data. In summary, we provide (1) a new method for joint RoM data experiments and (2) a detailed analysis of both in vivo and ex vivo data of salamander hindlimbs, which can be used for comparative studies

Spherical frame projections for visualising joint range of motion, and a complementary method to capture mobility data

Quantifying joint range of motion (RoM), the reachable poses at a joint, has many applications in research and clinical care. Joint RoM measurements can be used to investigate the link between form and function in extant and extinct animals, to diagnose musculoskeletal disorders and injuries or monitor rehabilitation progress. However, it is difficult to visually demonstrate how the rotations of the joint axes interact to produce joint positions. Here, we introduce the spherical frame projection (SFP), which is a novel 3D visualisation technique, paired with a complementary data collection approach. SFP visualisations are intuitive to interpret in relation to the joint anatomy because they ‘trace’ the motion of the coordinate system of the distal bone at a joint relative to the proximal bone. Furthermore, SFP visualisations incorporate the interactions of degrees of freedom, which is imperative to capture the full joint RoM. For the collection of such joint RoM data, we designed a rig using conventional motion capture systems, including live audio-visual feedback on torques and sampled poses. Thus, we propose that our visualisation and data collection approach can be adapted for wide use in the study of joint function

Academic Resilience: A Retrospective Study of Adults With Learning Difficulties

This article reports qualitative analyses of two sets of retrospective interviews with adults with learning difficulties. The purpose of the study was to examine the high school experiences of these adults from a holistic perspective to understand possible factors that contributed to one group staying in school and the other group leaving school early. One set of interviews was conducted with adults who had returned to complete high school at an adult learning center (the late successful group). The second set of interviews was conducted with the early successful group, adults who had completed high school during adolescence. Interview questions focused on interests, friends, and general aspects of the high school experience. Analyses yielded three themes: intrapersonal support, interpersonal support, and institutional support. These data suggest that schools might act in a number of ways to counter the high rate of early leaving by adolescents with learning disabilities, including building strong teacher-student relationships, using students' interests to develop curricula and structured activities, and fostering a sense of purpose.Cet article expose deux analyses qualitatives de deux séries d'entrevues rétrospectives auprès d'adultes présentant des difficultés d'apprentissage. Le but de l'étude consistait à examiner, dans une perspective holistique, les expériences qu'avaient vécues ces adultes quand ils étaient au secondaire, pour ensuite déterminer si des facteurs avaient influencé le fait que certaines personnes étaient restées à l'école alors que d'autres avaient décroché. Une série d'entrevues a été effectuée auprès d'adultes qui avaient repris leurs études secondaires dans un institut d'apprentissage pour adultes (le groupe de diplômés tardifs). La deuxième série d'entrevues a eu lieu auprès d'adultes ayant terminé l'école secondaire alors qu'ils étaient adolescents dégroupe de diplômés précoces). Les questions d'entrevues portaient sur les intérêts, les amis et les aspects généraux de leur expérience à l'école secondaire. Trois thèmes sont ressortis des analyses: l'appui intrapersonnel, l'appui interpersonnel et l'appui institutionnel. Ces données donnent à penser que les écoles pourraient intervenir de diverses façons pour contrer le taux élevé de décrochage chez les adolescents ayant des difficultés d'apprentissage. Parmi ces stratégies notons la création de rapports solides entre les enseignants et les élèves, le développement de programmes d'études et d'activités structurées basés sur les intérêts des élèves et le fait de favoriser des buts bien précis

Refining the formation and early evolution of the Eastern North American Margin : new insights from multiscale magnetic anomaly analyses

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2017. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 122 (2017): 8724–8748, doi:10.1002/2017JB014308.To investigate the oceanic lithosphere formation and early seafloor spreading history of the North Atlantic Ocean, we examine multiscale magnetic anomaly data from the Jurassic/Early Cretaceous age Eastern North American Margin (ENAM) between 31 and 40°N. We integrate newly acquired sea surface magnetic anomaly and seismic reflection data with publicly available aeromagnetic and composite magnetic anomaly grids, satellite-derived gravity anomaly, and satellite-derived and shipboard bathymetry data. We evaluate these data sets to (1) refine magnetic anomaly correlations throughout the ENAM and assign updated ages and chron numbers to M0–M25 and eight pre-M25 anomalies; (2) identify five correlatable magnetic anomalies between the East Coast Magnetic Anomaly (ECMA) and Blake Spur Magnetic Anomaly (BSMA), which may document the earliest Atlantic seafloor spreading or synrift magmatism; (3) suggest preexisting margin structure and rifting segmentation may have influenced the seafloor spreading regimes in the Atlantic Jurassic Quiet Zone (JQZ); (4) suggest that, if the BSMA source is oceanic crust, the BSMA may be M series magnetic anomaly M42 (~168.5 Ma); (5) examine the along and across margin variation in seafloor spreading rates and spreading center orientations from the BSMA to M25, suggesting asymmetric crustal accretion accommodated the straightening of the ridge from the bend in the ECMA to the more linear M25; and (6) observe anomalously high-amplitude magnetic anomalies near the Hudson Fan, which may be related to a short-lived propagating rift segment that could have helped accommodate the crustal alignment during the early Atlantic opening.J. A. G. and M. T. thank the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Texas A&M University for their support of J. A. G.’s PhD program. M. T. and M. R. K. thank the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Michigan State University for their support during M. R. K.’s MS thesis project, included in this study.2018-05-1