161 research outputs found
Screening for affective dysregulation in school-aged children: relationship with comprehensive measures of affective dysregulation and related mental disorders
Affective dysregulation (AD) is characterized by irritability, severe temper outbursts, anger, and unpredictable mood swings, and is typically classified as a transdiagnostic entity. A reliable and valid measure is needed to adequately identify children at risk of AD. This study sought to validate a parent-rated screening questionnaire, which is part of the comprehensive Diagnostic Tool for Affective Dysregulation in Children (DADYS-Screen), by analyzing relationships with comprehensive measures of AD and related mental disorders in a community sample of children with and without AD. The sample comprised 1114 children aged 8–12 years and their parents. We used clinical, parent, and child ratings for our analyses. Across all raters, the DADYS-Screen showed large correlations with comprehensive measures of AD. As expected, correlations were stronger for measures of externalizing symptoms than for measures of internalizing symptoms. Moreover, we found negative associations with emotion regulation strategies and health-related quality of life. In receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses, the DADYS-Screen adequately identified children with AD and provided an optimal cut-off. We conclude that the DADYS-Screen appears to be a reliable and valid measure to identify school-aged children at risk of AD
Impact of cumulative body mass index and cardiometabolic diseases on survival among patients with colorectal and breast cancer: a multi-centre cohort study
BACKGROUND: Body mass index (BMI) and cardiometabolic comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes have been studied as negative prognostic factors in cancer survival, but possible dependencies in the mechanisms underlying these associations remain largely unexplored. We analysed these associations in colorectal and breast cancer patients. METHODS: Based on repeated BMI assessments of cancer-free participants from four European countries in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and nutrition (EPIC) study, individual BMI-trajectories reflecting predicted mean BMI between ages 20 to 50 years were estimated using a growth curve model. Participants with incident colorectal or breast cancer after the age of 50 years were included in the survival analysis to study the prognostic effect of mean BMI and cardiometabolic diseases (CMD) prior to cancer. CMD were defined as one or more chronic conditions among stroke, myocardial infarction, and type 2 diabetes. Hazard ratios (HRs) and confidence intervals (CIs) of mean BMI and CMD were derived using multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazard regression for mean BMI and CMD separately and both exposures combined, in subgroups of localised and advanced disease. RESULTS: In the total cohort of 159,045 participants, there were 1,045 and 1,620 eligible patients of colorectal and breast cancer. In colorectal cancer patients, a higher BMI (by 1 kg/m2) was associated with a 6% increase in risk of death (95% CI of HR: 1.02-1.10). The HR for CMD was 1.25 (95% CI: 0.97-1.61). The associations for both exposures were stronger in patients with localised colorectal cancer. In breast cancer patients, a higher BMI was associated with a 4% increase in risk of death (95% CI: 1.00-1.08). CMDs were associated with a 46% increase in risk of death (95% CI: 1.01-2.09). The estimates and CIs for BMI remained similar after adjustment for CMD and vice versa. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that cumulative exposure to higher BMI during early to mid-adulthood was associated with poorer survival in patients with breast and colorectal cancer, independent of CMD prior to cancer diagnosis. The association between a CMD diagnosis prior to cancer and survival in patients with breast and colorectal cancer was independent of BMI
Measurement of global polarization of {\Lambda} hyperons in few-GeV heavy-ion collisions
The global polarization of {\Lambda} hyperons along the total orbital angular
momentum of a relativistic heavy-ion collision is presented based on the high
statistics data samples collected in Au+Au collisions at \sqrt{s_{NN}} = 2.4
GeV and Ag+Ag at 2.55 GeV with the High-Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer
(HADES) at GSI, Darmstadt. This is the first measurement below the strangeness
production threshold in nucleon-nucleon collisions. Results are reported as a
function of the collision centrality as well as a function of the hyperon
transverse momentum (p_T) and rapidity (y_{CM}) for the range of centrality
0--40%. We observe a strong centrality dependence of the polarization with an
increasing signal towards peripheral collisions. For mid-central (20--40%)
collisions the polarization magnitudes are (%) = 6.0 \pm 1.3
(stat.) \pm 2.0 (syst.) for Au+Au and (%) = 4.6 \pm 0.4 (stat.)
\pm 0.5 (syst.) for Ag+Ag, which are the largest values observed so far. This
observation thus provides a continuation of the increasing trend previously
observed by STAR and contrasts expectations from recent theoretical
calculations predicting a maximum in the region of collision energies about 3
GeV. The observed polarization is of a similar magnitude as predicted by 3D
fluid dynamics and the UrQMD plus thermal vorticity model and significantly
above results from the AMPT model.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Inclusive ee production in collisions of pions with protons and nuclei in the second resonance region of baryons
Inclusive ee production has been studied with HADES in + p,
+ C and reactions, using the GSI pion beam at
= 1.49 GeV. Invariant mass and transverse momentum
distributions have been measured and reveal contributions from Dalitz decays of
, mesons and baryon resonances. The transverse momentum
distributions are very sensitive to the underlying kinematics of the various
processes. The baryon contribution exhibits a deviation up to a factor seven
from the QED reference expected for the dielectron decay of a hypothetical
point-like baryon with the production cross section constrained from the
inverse n p reaction. The enhancement is attributed
to a strong four-momentum squared dependence of the time-like electromagnetic
transition form factors as suggested by Vector Meson Dominance (VMD). Two
versions of the VMD, that differ in the photon-baryon coupling, have been
applied in simulations and compared to data. VMD1 (or two-component VMD)
assumes a coupling via the meson and a direct coupling of the photon,
while in VMD2 (or strict VMD) the coupling is only mediated via the
meson. The VMD2 model, frequently used in transport calculations for dilepton
decays, is found to overestimate the measured dielectron yields, while a good
description of the data can be obtained with the VMD1 model assuming no phase
difference between the two amplitudes. Similar descriptions have also been
obtained using a time-like baryon transition form factor model where the pion
cloud plays the major role.Comment: (HADES collaboration
Tibialis posterior in health and disease: a review of structure and function with specific reference to electromyographic studies
Tibialis posterior has a vital role during gait as the primary dynamic stabiliser of the medial longitudinal arch; however, the muscle and tendon are prone to dysfunction with several conditions. We present an overview of tibialis posterior muscle and tendon anatomy with images from cadaveric work on fresh frozen limbs and a review of current evidence that define normal and abnormal tibialis posterior muscle activation during gait. A video is available that demonstrates ultrasound guided intra-muscular insertion techniques for tibialis posterior electromyography
Can Motivation Normalize Working Memory and Task Persistence in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder? The Effects of Money and Computer-Gaming
Visual-spatial Working Memory (WM) is the most impaired executive function in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Some suggest that deficits in executive functioning are caused by motivational deficits. However, there are no studies that investigate the effects of motivation on the visual-spatial WM of children with- and without ADHD. Studies examining this in executive functions other than WM, show inconsistent results. These inconsistencies may be related to differences in the reinforcement used. The effects of different reinforcers on WM performance were investigated in 30 children with ADHD and 31 non-ADHD controls. A visual-spatial WM task was administered in four reinforcement conditions: Feedback-only, 1 euro, 10 euros, and a computer-game version of the task. In the Feedback-only condition, children with ADHD performed worse on the WM measure than controls. Although incentives significantly improved the WM performance of children with ADHD, even the strongest incentives (10 euros and Gaming) were unable to normalize their performance. Feedback-only provided sufficient reinforcement for controls to reach optimal performance, while children with ADHD required extra reinforcement. Only children with ADHD showed a decrease in performance over time. Importantly, the strongest incentives (10 euros and Gaming) normalized persistence of performance in these children, whereas 1 euro had no such effect. Both executive and motivational deficits give rise to visual-spatial WM deficits in ADHD. Problems with task-persistence in ADHD result from motivational deficits. In ADHD-reinforcement studies and clinical practice (e.g., assessment), reinforcement intensity can be a confounding factor and should be taken into account. Gaming can be a cost-effective way to maximize performance in ADHD
A neo-institutional perspective on ethical decision-making
Drawing on neo-institutional theory, this study aims to discern the poorly understood ethical challenges confronted by senior executives in Indian multinational corporations and identify the strategies that they utilize to overcome them. We conducted in-depth interviews with 40 senior executives in Indian multinational corporations to illustrate these challenges and strategies. By embedding our research in contextually relevant characteristics that embody the Indian environment, we identify several institutional- and managerial-level challenges faced by executives. The institutional-level challenges are interpreted as regulative, normative and cognitive shortcomings. We recommend a concerted effort at the institutional and managerial levels by identifying relevant strategies for ethical decision-making. Moreover, we proffer a multi-level model of ethical decision-making and discuss our theoretical contributions and practical implications
Modeling of Intermediate Structures and Chain Conformation in Silica-Latex Nanocomposites Observed by SANS During Annealing
The evolution of the polymer structure during nanocomposite formation and
annealing of silica-latex nanocomposites is studied using contrast-variation
small angle neutron scattering. The experimental system is made of silica
nanoparticles (Rsi \approx 8 nm) and a mixture of purpose-synthesized
hydrogenated and deuterated nanolatex (Rlatex \approx 12.5 nm). The progressive
disappearance of the latex beads by chain interdiffusion and release in the
nanocomposites is analyzed quantitatively with a model for the scattered
intensity of hairy latex beads and an RPA description of the free chains. In
silica-free matrices and nanocomposites of low silica content (7%v), the
annealing procedure over weeks at up to Tg + 85 K results in a molecular
dispersion of chains, the radius of gyration of which is reported. At higher
silica content (20%v), chain interdiffusion seems to be slowed down on
time-scales of weeks, reaching a molecular dispersion only at the strongest
annealing. Chain radii of gyration are found to be unaffected by the presence
of the silica filler
Impact of the Coulomb field on charged-pion spectra in few-GeV heavy-ion collisions
In nuclear collisions the incident protons generate a Coulomb field which acts on produced charged particles. The impact of these interactions on charged-pion transverse-mass and rapidity spectra, as well as on pion–pion momentum correlations is investigated in Au + Au collisions at = 2.4 GeV. We show that the low-m region (m < 0.2 GeV / c) can be well described with a Coulomb-modified Boltzmann distribution that also takes changes of the Coulomb field during the expansion of the fireball into account. The observed centrality dependence of the fitted mean Coulomb potential energy deviates strongly from a scaling, indicating that, next to the fireball, the non-interacting charged spectators have to be taken into account. For the most central collisions, the Coulomb modifications of the HBT source radii are found to be consistent with the potential extracted from the single-pion transverse-mass distributions. This finding suggests that the region of homogeneity obtained from two-pion correlations coincides with the region in which the pions freeze-out. Using the inferred mean-square radius of the charge distribution at freeze-out, we have deduced a baryon density, in fair agreement with values obtained from statistical hadronization model fits to the particle yields
Optimization of insect cell based protein production processes - online monitoring, expression systems, scale-up
Due to the increasing use of insect cell based expression systems in research and industrial recombinant protein production, the development of efficient and reproducible production processes remains a challenging task. In this context, the application of online monitoring techniques is intended to ensure high and reproducible product qualities already during the early phases of process development. In the following chapter, the most common transient and stable insect cell based expression systems are briefly introduced. Novel applications of insect cell based expression systems for the production of insect derived antimicrobial peptides/proteins (AMPs) are discussed using the example of G. mellonella derived gloverin. Suitable in situ sensor techniques for insect cell culture monitoring in disposable and common bioreactor systems are outlined with respect to optical and capacitive sensor concepts. Since scale-up of production processes is one of the most critical steps in process development, a conclusive overview is given about scale up aspects for industrial insect cell culture processes
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