Depression, School Performance, and the Veridicality of Perceived Grades and Causal Attributions

An external criterion was assessed to test whether depressives have distorted perceptions of covariation information and whether their attributions are consistent with this information. Students’ actual and self-perceived grades, depression status, and attributions for failures were assessed. Furthermore, partici pants estimated average grades. Generally, self-perceived own past grades were inflated. Depressed students and those with low grades distorted their own grades (but not the average grade) more to their favor than individuals low in depression and those with high grades. Depression went along with lower actual grades and with internal, stable, and global failure attributions. Mood differences in attributions were not due to differences in previous grades. Depressed individuals drew (unrealistically) more depressogenic causal inferences when they perceived average grades to be low than when average grades were perceived to be high. However, they (realistically) attributed failure more in a depressogenic fashion than did nondepressives when their own grade history was low

Self-steepening of light pulses

Self-steepening of light pulses due to propagation in medium with intensity-dependent index of refractio

Crit II Electric, Magnetic, and Density Measurements Within an Ionizing Neutral Stream

Measurements from rocket borne sensors inside a high velocity neutral barium beam show a factor of six increasei n plasmad ensityi n a movingi onizingf ront. This region-wacso -locatedw ith intensef luctuatinge lectric fields( $E • 300m V/m) at frequenciewse llu ndert he lower hybrid frequency for a barium plasina. Large quasi-DC electric and magnetic field fluctuations were also detected with a large componento f the current and the electricf ield. parallelt o Bo. An Alfv6n wavew ith a finite electricf ield componentp arallel to the geomagneticfi eld was observed to propagatea longB o, wherei t wasd etectedb y ami nstrumented sub-payload

Two-dimensional Spectral Analysis of Mesospheric Airglow Image Data

A technique to analyze short-period (\u3c1 hour) gravity wave structure in all-sky images of the airglow emissions is described. The technique involves spatial calibration, star removal, geographic projection, regridding, and flat fielding of the data prior to the determination of the horizontal wave parameters (wavelength, velocity, and period), by use of standard two-dimensional Fourier analysis techniques. The method was developed to exploit the information that is now available with wide-field solid state imaging systems. This technique permits interactive and quantitative investigations of large, complex data sets. Such studies are important for investigating gravity wave characteristics, their interaction with the airglow emissions, and their geographic and seasonal variability. We study one event of this type here and present possible evidence of a nonlinear wave–wave interaction in the upper atmosphere

Cabozantinib in hepatocellular carcinoma: results of a phase 2 placebo-controlled randomized discontinuation study.

BackgroundCabozantinib, an orally bioavailable inhibitor of tyrosine kinases including MET, AXL, and VEGF receptors, was assessed in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as part of a phase 2 randomized discontinuation trial with nine tumor-type cohorts.Patients and methodsEligible patients had Child-Pugh A liver function and ≤1 prior systemic anticancer regimen, completed ≥4 weeks before study entry. The cabozantinib starting dose was 100 mg daily. After an initial 12-week cabozantinib treatment period, patients with stable disease (SD) per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) version 1.0 were randomized to cabozantinib or placebo. The primary endpoint of the lead-in stage was objective response rate (ORR) at week 12, and the primary endpoint of the randomized stage was progression-free survival (PFS).ResultsAmong the 41 HCC patients enrolled, the week 12 ORR was 5%, with 2 patients achieving a confirmed partial response (PR). The week 12 disease control rate (PR or SD) was 66% (Asian subgroup: 73%). Of patients with ≥1 post-baseline scan, 78% had tumor regression, with no apparent relationship to prior sorafenib therapy. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) response (>50% reduction from baseline) occurred in 9 of the 26 (35%) patients with elevated baseline AFP and ≥1 post-baseline measurement. Twenty-two patients with SD at week 12 were randomized. Median PFS after randomization was 2.5 months with cabozantinib and 1.4 months with placebo, although this difference was not statistically significant. Median PFS and overall survival from Day 1 in all patients were 5.2 and 11.5 months, respectively. The most common grade 3/4 adverse events, regardless of attribution, were diarrhea (20%), hand-foot syndrome (15%), and thrombocytopenia (15%). Dose reductions were utilized in 59% of patients.ConclusionsCabozantinib has clinical activity in HCC patients, including objective tumor responses, disease stabilization, and reductions in AFP. Adverse events were managed with dose reductions.Trial registration numberNCT00940225

The Comparability of Men Who Have Sex With Men Recruited From Venue-Time-Space Sampling and Facebook: A Cohort Study

Background: Recruiting valid samples of men who have sex with men (MSM) is a key component of the US human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) surveillance and of research studies seeking to improve HIV prevention for MSM. Social media, such as Facebook, may present an opportunity to reach broad samples of MSM, but the extent to which those samples are comparable with men recruited from venue-based, time-space sampling (VBTS) is unknown. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the comparability of MSM recruited via VBTS and Facebook. Methods: HIV-negative and HIV-positive black and white MSM were recruited from June 2010 to December 2012 using VBTS and Facebook in Atlanta, GA. We compared the self-reported venue attendance, demographic characteristics, sexual and risk behaviors, history of HIV-testing, and HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevalence between Facebook- and VTBS-recruited MSM overall and by race. Multivariate logistic and negative binomial models estimated age/race adjusted ratios. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to assess 24-month retention. Results: We recruited 803 MSM, of whom 110 (34/110, 30.9% black MSM, 76/110, 69.1% white MSM) were recruited via Facebook and 693 (420/693, 60.6% black MSM, 273/693, 39.4% white MSM) were recruited through VTBS. Facebook recruits had high rates of venue attendance in the previous month (26/34, 77% among black and 71/76, 93% among white MSM; between-race P=.01). MSM recruited on Facebook were generally older, with significant age differences among black MSM (P=.02), but not white MSM (P=.14). … See full text for complete abstract

Collisional damping rates for plasma waves

The distinction between the plasma dynamics dominated by collisional transport versus collective processes has never been rigorously addressed until recently. A recent paper [Yoon et al., Phys. Rev. E 93, 033203 (2016)] formulates for the first time, a unified kinetic theory in which collective processes and collisional dynamics are systematically incorporated from first principles. One of the outcomes of such a formalism is the rigorous derivation of collisional damping rates for Langmuir and ion-acoustic waves, which can be contrasted to the heuristic customary approach. However, the results are given only in formal mathematical expressions. The present Brief Communication numerically evaluates the rigorous collisional damping rates by considering the case of plasma particles with Maxwellian velocity distribution function so as to assess the consequence of the rigorous formalism in a quantitative manner. Comparison with the heuristic ("Spitzer") formula shows that the accurate damping rates are much lower in magnitude than the conventional expression, which implies that the traditional approach over-estimates the importance of attenuation of plasma waves by collisional relaxation process. Such a finding may have a wide applicability ranging from laboratory to space and astrophysical plasmas.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; Published in Physics of Plasmas, volume/Issue 23/6. Publisher: AIP Publishing LLC. Date: Jun 1, 2016. URL: http://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.4953802 Rights managed by AIP Publishing LL

Vegetation plays an important role in mediating future water resources

Future environmental change is expected to modify the global hydrological cycle, with consequences for the regional distribution of freshwater supplies. Regional precipitation projections, however, differ largely between models, making future water resource projections highly uncertain. Using two representative concentration pathways and nine climate models, we estimate 21st century water resources across Australia, employing both a process-based dynamic vegetation model and a simple hydrological framework commonly used in water resource studies to separate the effects of climate and vegetation on water resources. We show surprisingly robust, pathway-independent regional patterns of change in water resources despite large uncertainties in precipitation projections. Increasing plant water use efficiency (due to the changing atmospheric CO2) and reduced green vegetation cover (due to the changing climate) relieve pressure on water resources for the highly populated, humid coastal regions of eastern Australia. By contrast, in semi-arid regions across Australia, runoff declines are amplified by CO2-induced greening, which leads to increased vegetation water use. These findings highlight the importance of including vegetation dynamics in future water resource projections