Biological and statistical study of the development of the fleece of the Scottish mountain blackfaced breed of sheep from birth to maturity

The fleece of the Scottish Mountain Blackfaced sheep consists of an admixture of fibres which differ amongst themselves in respect of physical characterisation. The concensus of opinion amongst producers ani users of Blackfaced wool is that the fleece should consist of hair -like fibres, grouped into long, tapering staples which fall to either side of the body with a "part" along the dorsal line, forming a long, smooth, outer coat, whilst beneath this there should be an abundant growth of fine, shorter fibres called, in contradistinction to the fibres of the outer coat, wool. Ideally, each staple should taper to a tip not less than the size of an ordinary lead pencil. "Tithin the breed there is a great variation in fleece quality and quantity. Usually it is long and coarse and contains considerable numbers of white, opaque, pointed, hair -like fibres which will not take up dyes at all readily, which differ in their structure from the other constituents of the fleece, and which are known as kemp. In many animals a proportion of pigmented fibres can be found. Lying entangled amidst the growing fibres are to be found kemp fibres that have been shed.A detailed account of each of the types of fibre constituting the Blackface fleece follows. (see pages 45 -60) .It is reasonable to assume that the outer coat of this fleece mainly serves to protect the inner coat and skin from wet and injury, whilst the inner coat, in virtue of its physical properties, conserves bodily heat. Thus, the ideal type of fleece from the point of view of the breeder is one which provides adequate protection for the sheep in that it protects the body from cold, wind, rain and injury

Predictors of Comorbid Eating Disorders and Association with Other Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders in Trichotillomania

Trichotillomania (TTM) and eating disorders (ED) share many phenomenological similarities, including ritualized compulsive behaviors. Given this, and that comorbid EDs may represent additional functional burden to hair pullers, we sought to identify factors that predict diagnosis of an ED in a TTM population. Subjects included 555 adult females (age range 18–65) with DSM-IV-TR TTM or chronic hair pullers recruited from multiple sites. 7.2% (N = 40) of our TTM subjects met criteria for an ED in their lifetime. In univariable regression analysis, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) worst-ever compulsion and total scores, certain obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders, anxiety disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and substance disorder all met the pre-specified criteria for inclusion in the multivariable analysis. In the final multivariable model, diagnosis of OCD (OR: 5.68, 95% CI: 2.2–15.0) and diagnosis of an additional body-focused repetitive behavior disorder (BFRB) (OR: 2.69, 95% CI: 1.1–6.8) were both associated with increased risk of ED in TTM. Overall, our results provide further support of the relatedness between ED and TTM. This finding highlights the importance of assessing for comorbid OCD and additional BFRBs in those with TTM. Future research is needed to identify additional predictors of comorbid disorders and to better understand the complex relationships between BFRBs, OCD and EDs

Equality of opportunity and educational achievement in Portugal

Portugal has one of the highest levels of income inequality in Europe, and low wages and unemployment are concentrated among low skill individuals. Education is an important determinant of inequality. However, there are large differences in the educational attainment of different individuals in the population, and the sources of these differences emerge early in the life-cycle when families play a central role in individual development. We estimate that most of the variance of school achievement at age 15 is explained by family characteristics. Observed school inputs explain very little of adolescent performance. Children from highly educated parents benefit of rich cultural environments in the home and become highly educated adults. Education policy needs to be innovative: (1) it needs to explicitly recognize the fundamental long run role of families on child development; (2) it needs to acknowledge the failure of traditional input based policies

Olfactory reference syndrome in DSM-V

LetterThe original publication is available at http://www.samj.org.zaTo the Editor: We read with interest Dr A Lawrence’s recent SAMJ case report of a young man who presented with persistent preoccupation with personal body odour in the absence of any physical abnormalitiesPublishers’ Versio

Discovery of a new Transient X-ray Pulsar in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud have revealed a previously unknown transient X-ray pulsar with a pulse period of 95s. Provisionally designated XTE SMC95, the pulsar was detected in three Proportional Counter Array observations during an outburst spanning 4 weeks in March/April 1999. The pulse profile is double peaked reaching a pulse fraction \~0.8. The source is proposed as a Be/neutron star system on the basis of its pulsations, transient nature and characteristically hard X-ray spectrum. The 2-10 keV X-ray luminosity implied by our observations is > 2x10^37 erg/s which is consistent with that of normal outbursts seen in Galactic systems. This discovery adds to the emerging picture of the SMC as containing an extremely dense population of transient high mass X-ray binaries.Comment: Accepted by A&A. 7 pages, 6 figure

Quality Function Deployment and operational design decisions – A healthcare infrastructure development case study

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how Quality Function Deployment (QFD) can enhance a healthcare organisation’s strategic operational alignment, by synchronising the infrastructure design with the service intention. In this empirical paper, a case study of a £15 million infrastructure development has been used as the unique context to assess and test the experimental findings. QFD was utilised in order to capture and transform the requirements of decision-makers, providers, patients and local communities’ into both service and building design for Project K, a healthcare infrastructure, in the UK. QFD was implemented after the public consultation. The large amount of qualitative data collected from the public consultation was analysed using thematic analysis, which was used as the main QFD inputs. A series of eight facilitated workshops enabled a cross-functional team of 10 high-ranking managers to optimise the future infrastructure features. Two full iterations of the QFD results are presented. Using QFD generated effectiveness and efficiency by creating an information exchange platform and providing the stakeholders with a framework to optimise the decision-making. This paper makes a practical contribution by empirically testing the QFD modelling and providing evidence of its implementation within the complex, dynamic and evolving nature of the healthcare built environment sector. Moreover, from an academic perspective, this study makes a contribution by responding to the call inviting scholars to grow and advance the embryonic and undeveloped research of QFD application in the construction industry (Cudney and Gillis, 2016; Dikmen et al., 2005 and John et al., 2014)

Problematic internet use (PIU): Associations with the impulsive-compulsive spectrum. An application of machine learning in psychiatry.

Problematic internet use is common, functionally impairing, and in need of further study. Its relationship with obsessive-compulsive and impulsive disorders is unclear. Our objective was to evaluate whether problematic internet use can be predicted from recognised forms of impulsive and compulsive traits and symptomatology. We recruited volunteers aged 18 and older using media advertisements at two sites (Chicago USA, and Stellenbosch, South Africa) to complete an extensive online survey. State-of-the-art out-of-sample evaluation of machine learning predictive models was used, which included Logistic Regression, Random Forests and Naïve Bayes. Problematic internet use was identified using the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). 2006 complete cases were analysed, of whom 181 (9.0%) had moderate/severe problematic internet use. Using Logistic Regression and Naïve Bayes we produced a classification prediction with a receiver operating characteristic area under the curve (ROC-AUC) of 0.83 (SD 0.03) whereas using a Random Forests algorithm the prediction ROC-AUC was 0.84 (SD 0.03) [all three models superior to baseline models p < 0.0001]. The models showed robust transfer between the study sites in all validation sets [p < 0.0001]. Prediction of problematic internet use was possible using specific measures of impulsivity and compulsivity in a population of volunteers. Moreover, this study offers proof-of-concept in support of using machine learning in psychiatry to demonstrate replicability of results across geographically and culturally distinct settings.This research received internal departmental funds of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Chicago.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2016.08.010

Interactive Authoring of Terrain using Diffusion Models

Generating heightfield terrains is a necessary precursor to the depiction of computer-generated natural scenes in a variety of applications. Authoring such terrains is made challenging by the need for interactive feedback, effective user control, and perceptually realistic output encompassing a range of landforms. We address these challenges by developing a terrain-authoring framework underpinned by an adaptation of diffusion models for conditional image synthesis, trained on real-world elevation data. This framework supports automated cleaning of the training set; authoring control through style selection and feature sketches; the ability to import and freely edit pre-existing terrains, and resolution amplification up to the limits of the source data. Our framework improves on previous machine-learning approaches by: expanding landform variety beyond mountainous terrain to encompass cliffs, canyons, and plains; providing a better balance between terseness and specificity in user control, and improving the fidelity of global terrain structure and perceptual realism. This is demonstrated through drainage simulations and a user study testing the perceived realism for different classes of terrain. The full source code, blender add-on, and pre- trained models are available

X-ray spectral state evolution in IGR J17091-3624 and comparison of its heartbeat oscillation properties with those of GRS 1915+105

In this work, we study the X-ray timing and spectral evolution of the transient low mass X-ray binary IGR J17091-3624 during first 66 days of its 2011 outburst. We present results obtained from observations with two instruments, Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE)/Proportional Counter Array (PCA) and SWIFT/X-ray telescope (XRT), between 09 February, 2011 and 15 April, 2011. Using quasi-periodic oscillation classifications, power density spectrum characteristics, time-lag behavior and energy spectral properties, we determine source states and their transitions at different times of the outburst. During the first part of the evolution, the source followed trends usually observed from transient black hole X-ray binaries (BHXBs). Interestingly, a gradual transition is observed in IGR J17091-3624 from the low-variability SIMS, commonly seen in BHXBs, to a high-variability state with regular, repetitive and structured pulsations, seen only from GRS 1915+105 (also known as 'rho' class variability/'heartbeat' oscillations). We study the time evolution of characteristic time-scale, quality factor and rms amplitude of heartbeat oscillations in IGR J17091-3624. We also present a detailed comparison of the timing and spectral properties of heartbeat oscillations and their evolution in IGR J17091-3624 and GRS 1915+105.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in the Ap