The position of authenticity within extant models of personality.

The aim of the current study was to explore where authenticity, derived from the humanistic tradition of psychology, was positioned within a number of extant models of personality. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis of data from four samples (total N = 1286) suggested that authenticity can be considered as loading on the Honesty–Humility factor of personality. These findings are discussed in terms of the wider theoretical overlaps between Honesty–Humility and psychological functioning as emphasised by the humanistic tradition of psychology

German Lexical Personality Factors: Relations with the HEXACO Model

We correlated the scales of the HEXACO Personality Inventory (HEXACO-PI) with adjective scale markers of factors previously obtained in indigenous lexical studies of personality structure in the German language. Self-ratings obtained from a sample of 323 German participants showed a pattern of strong convergent and weak discriminant correlations, supporting the content-based interpretation of the German lexical factors in terms of the HEXACO dimensions. Notably, convergent correlations were strong for both the broader and the narrower variants of the Honesty-Humility factor as observed in German lexical studies. Also, convergent correlations for HEXACO Openness to Experience were, as expected, stronger for German adjectives describing a creative and intellectual orientation than for German adjectives describing intellectual ability. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Coherence and linewidth of a continuously pumped atom laser at finite temperature

A continuous-wave atom laser formed by the outcoupling of atoms from a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) potentially has a range of metrological applications. However, in order for the device to be truly continuous, a mechanism to replenish the atoms in the BEC is required. Here we calculate the temporal coherence properties of a continuously pumped atom laser beam outcoupled from a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate that is replenished from a reservoir at finite temperature. We find that the thermal fluctuations of the condensate can significantly decrease the temporal coherence of the output beam due to atomic interactions between the trapped BEC and the beam, and this can impact the metrological usefulness of the device. We demonstrate that a Raman outcoupling scheme imparting a sufficient momentum kick to the atom laser beam can lead to a significantly reduced linewidth

'I just want a job' : what do we really know about young people in jobs without training?

Over recent years, a central concern of policy has been to drive up post-16 participation rates in full-time education and address the needs of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET). As a result, young people who enter work which is classified as 'without training' at 16/17 have largely been ignored. However, the decision to Raise the Participation Age (RPA) for continuing in learning for all 17-year olds from 2013 and for all 18-year olds from 2015 in England, together with a growing unease about the impact of the current recession on youth unemployment rates, have revived interest in the 'jobs without training' (JWT) group. This paper draws on the findings from two studies: first, a qualitative study in two contrasting local labour markets, of young people in JWT, together with their employers and parents; and second, an evaluation of the Learning Agreement Pilots (LAP), which was the first policy initiative in England targeted at the JWT group. Both studies reveal a dearth of understanding about early labour market entrants and a lack of policy intervention and infrastructure to support the needs of the JWT group throughout the UK. From this, it is concluded that questionable assumptions have been made about the composition and the aspirations of young people in JWT, and their employers, on the basis of little or no evidence. As a consequence, a policy 'quick fix' to satisfy the RPA agenda will not easily be achieved. If the decision to raise the participation age is adopted also by the Welsh and Scottish parliaments, similar challenges may have to be faced

Are Surgical Trials with Negative Results Being Interpreted Correctly?

BACKGROUND: Many published accounts of clinical trials report no differences between the treatment arms, while being underpowered to find differences. This study determined how the authors of these reports interpreted their findings. STUDY DESIGN: We examined 54 reports of surgical trials chosen randomly from a database of 110 influential trials conducted in 2008. Seven that reported having adequate statistical power (b 0.9) were excluded from further analysis, as were the 32 that reported significant differences between the treatment arms. We examined the remaining 15 to see whether the authors interpreted their negative findings appropriately. Appropriate interpretations discussed the lack of power and/or called for larger studies. RESULTS: Three of the 7 trials that did not report an a priori power calculation offered inappropriate interpretations, as did 3 of the 8 trials that reported an a priori power < 0.90. However, we examined only a modest number of trial reports from 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: Negative findings in underpowered trials were often interpreted as showing the equivalence of the treatment arms with no discussion of the issue of being underpowered. This may lead clinicians to accept new treatments that have not been validated

The muscle proteome reflects changes in mitochondrial function, cellular stress and proteolysis after 14 days of unilateral lower limb immobilization in active young men

Skeletal muscle unloading due to joint immobilization induces muscle atrophy, which has primarily been attributed to reductions in protein synthesis in humans. However, no study has evaluated the skeletal muscle proteome response to limb immobilization using SWATH proteomic methods. This study characterized the shifts in individual muscle protein abundance and corresponding gene sets after 3 and 14 d of unilateral lower limb immobilization in otherwise healthy young men. Eighteen male participants (25.4 ±5.5 y, 81.2 ±11.6 kg) underwent 14 d of unilateral knee-brace immobilization with dietary provision and following four-weeks of training to standardise acute training history. Participant phenotype was characterized before and after 14 days of immobilization, and muscle biopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis at baseline (pre-immobilization) and at 3 and 14 d of immobilization for analysis by SWATH-MS and subsequent gene-set enrichment analysis (GSEA). Immobilization reduced vastus group cross sectional area (-9.6 ±4.6%, P <0.0001), immobilized leg lean mass (-3.3 ±3.9%, P = 0.002), unilateral 3-repetition maximum leg press (-15.6 ±9.2%, P <0.0001), and maximal oxygen uptake (-2.9 ±5.2%, P = 0.044). SWATH analyses consistently identified 2281 proteins. Compared to baseline, two and 99 proteins were differentially expressed (FDR <0.05) after 3 and 14 d of immobilization, respectively. After 14 d of immobilization, 322 biological processes were different to baseline (FDR <0.05, P <0.001). Most (77%) biological processes were positively enriched and characterized by cellular stress, targeted proteolysis, and protein-DNA complex modifications. In contrast, mitochondrial organization and energy metabolism were negatively enriched processes. This study is the first to use data independent proteomics and GSEA to show that unilateral lower limb immobilization evokes mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular stress, and proteolysis. Through GSEA and network mapping, we identify 27 hub proteins as potential protein/gene candidates for further exploration

Fluctuation-dissipation relations in plaquette spin systems with multi-stage relaxation

We study aging dynamics in two non-disordered spin models with multi-spin interactions, following a sudden quench to low temperature. The models are relevant to the physics of supercooled liquids. Their low temperature dynamics resemble those of kinetically constrained models, and obey dynamical scaling, controlled by zero-temperature critical points. Dynamics in both models are thermally activated, resulting in multi-stage relaxation towards equilibrium. We study several two-time correlation and response functions. We find that equilibrium fluctuation-dissipation relations are generically not satisfied during the aging regime, but deviations from them are well described by fluctuation-dissipation ratios, as found numerically in supercooled liquids. These ratios are purely dynamic objects, containing information about the nature of relaxation in the models. They are non-universal, and can even be negative as a result of activated dynamics. Thus, effective temperatures are not well-defined in these models.Comment: 29 pages, 10 fig

Internet of things

Manual of Digital Earth / Editors: Huadong Guo, Michael F. Goodchild, Alessandro Annoni .- Springer, 2020 .- ISBN: 978-981-32-9915-3Digital Earth was born with the aim of replicating the real world within the digital world. Many efforts have been made to observe and sense the Earth, both from space (remote sensing) and by using in situ sensors. Focusing on the latter, advances in Digital Earth have established vital bridges to exploit these sensors and their networks by taking location as a key element. The current era of connectivity envisions that everything is connected to everything. The concept of the Internet of Things(IoT)emergedasaholisticproposaltoenableanecosystemofvaried,heterogeneous networked objects and devices to speak to and interact with each other. To make the IoT ecosystem a reality, it is necessary to understand the electronic components, communication protocols, real-time analysis techniques, and the location of the objects and devices. The IoT ecosystem and the Digital Earth (DE) jointly form interrelated infrastructures for addressing today’s pressing issues and complex challenges. In this chapter, we explore the synergies and frictions in establishing an efficient and permanent collaboration between the two infrastructures, in order to adequately address multidisciplinary and increasingly complex real-world problems. Although there are still some pending issues, the identified synergies generate optimism for a true collaboration between the Internet of Things and the Digital Earth

Brain microenvironment-driven resistance to immune and targeted therapies in acral melanoma.

BACKGROUND: Combination treatments targeting the MEK-ERK pathway and checkpoint inhibitors have improved overall survival in melanoma. Resistance to treatment especially in the brain remains challenging, and rare disease subtypes such as acral melanoma are not typically included in trials. Here we present analyses from longitudinal sampling of a patient with metastatic acral melanoma that became resistant to successive immune and targeted therapies. METHODS: We performed whole-exome sequencing and RNA sequencing on an acral melanoma that progressed on successive immune (nivolumab) and targeted (dabrafenib) therapy in the brain to identify resistance mechanisms. In addition, we performed growth inhibition assays, reverse phase protein arrays and immunoblotting on patient-derived cell lines using dabrafenib in the presence or absence of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in vitro. Patient-derived xenografts were also developed to analyse response to dabrafenib. RESULTS: Immune escape following checkpoint blockade was not due to loss of tumour cell recognition by the immune system or low neoantigen burden, but was associated with distinct changes in the microenvironment. Similarly, resistance to targeted therapy was not associated with acquired mutations but upregulation of the AKT/phospho-inositide 3-kinase pathway in the presence of CSF. CONCLUSION: Heterogeneous tumour interactions within the brain microenvironment enable progression on immune and targeted therapies and should be targeted in salvage treatments

Local industrial strategy and skills policy in England: Assessing the linkages and limitations – a case study of the Sheffield City Deal

This paper examines changes in local economic development policy which occurred between 2010 and 2015, with a focus on the relationship between industrial strategy and skills policy. Under the Coalition Government, Local Enterprise Partnerships were established and tasked with facilitating local growth, and to do so many identified a set of (potential) growth sectors for industrial strategy to support. These sectors tended to be drawn from a relatively narrow range of industries which therefore often excluded a large proportion of the local economy. An important focus of the support for growth sectors for many has been through an ambition to influence the local skills system. Skills policy more broadly has been an important dimension of devolution, and a number of City Deals have included elements of skills policy. Echoing previous national policy however, the focus of local concerns with skills under devolution has been framed largely with reference to skills gaps and shortages. While specific skills gaps and shortages can be identified, this paper questions whether this default position is reflected widely, and as such, if a narrow focus on skills supply is a sufficient approach. It is argued that to support local growth across a broad base, greater attention needs to be paid to stimulating employer demand for skills through better integrating industrial and innovation policy with skills policymaking across a wider section of the local economy. To support these arguments we present a case study of the Sheffield City Deal