Neighbouring residue effects on the ^(15)N chemical shifts of some aliphatic dipeptides

The ^(15)N chemical shifts of a number of simple aliphatic dipeptides have been determined in a aqueous solution and while the amine nitrogen shift is independent of the nature of the neighbouring residue, the peptide nitrogen shift shows a marked dependence upon the nature of the adjacent amino-acid

Removing opportunities to calculate improves students' performance on subsequent word problems.

BackgroundIn two studies we investigated whether removing opportunities to calculate could improve students' subsequent ability to solve similar word problems. Students were first asked to write explanations for three word-problems that they thought would help another student understand the problems. Half of the participants explained typical word problems (i.e., problems with enough information to make calculating an answer possible), while the other half explained the same problems with numbers removed, making calculating an answer impossible. We hypothesized that removing opportunities to calculate would induce students to think relationally about the word problems, which would result in higher levels of performance on subsequent transfer problems.ResultsIn both studies, participants who explained the non-calculable problems performed significantly better on the transfer test than participants who explained the typical (i.e., calculable) problems. This was so in spite of the manipulation not fully suppressing students' desire to calculate. Many students in the non-calculable group explicitly stated that they needed numbers in order to answer the question or made up numbers with which to calculate. There was a significant, positive relationship between the frequency with which students made up numbers and their self-reported mathematics anxiety.ConclusionsWe hypothesized that the mechanism at play was a reduction in instrumental thinking (and an increase in relational thinking). Interventions designed to help students remediate prior mathematical failure should perhaps focus less on the specific skills students are lacking, and more on the dispositions they bring to the task of "doing mathematics.

Measurement of Linear Stark Interference in 199Hg

We present measurements of Stark interference in the 6$^1S_0$ $\rightarrow$ 6$^3P_1$ transition in $^{199}$Hg, a process whereby a static electric field $E$ mixes magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole couplings into an electric dipole transition, leading to $E$-linear energy shifts similar to those produced by a permanent atomic electric dipole moment (EDM). The measured interference amplitude, $a_{SI}$ = $(a_{M1} + a_{E2})$ = (5.8 $\pm$ 1.5)$\times 10^{-9}$ (kV/cm)$^{-1}$, agrees with relativistic, many-body predictions and confirms that earlier central-field estimates are a factor of 10 too large. More importantly, this study validates the capability of the $^{199}$Hg EDM search apparatus to resolve non-trivial, controlled, and sub-nHz Larmor frequency shifts with EDM-like characteristics.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 table; revised in response to reviewer comment

Collective excitations in a fermion-fermion mixture with different Fermi surfaces

In this paper, collective excitations in a homogeneous fermion-fermion mixture with different Fermi surfaces are studied. In the Fermi liquid phase, the zero-sound velocity is found to be larger than the largest Fermi velocity. With attractive interactions, the superfluid phase appears below a critical temperature, and the phase mode is the low-energy collective excitation. The velocity of the phase mode is proportional to the geometric mean of the two Fermi velocities. The difference between the two velocities may serve as a tool to detect the superfluid phase.Comment: 4 pages. To be published in Phys. Rev.

Improved limit on the permanent electric dipole moment of 199Hg

We report the results of a new experimental search for a permanent electric dipole moment of 199Hg utilizing a stack of four vapor cells. We find d(199Hg) = (0.49 \pm 1.29_stat \pm 0.76_syst) x 10^{-29} e cm, and interpret this as a new upper bound, |d(199Hg)| < 3.1 x 10^{-29} e cm (95% C.L.). This result improves our previous 199Hg limit by a factor of 7, and can be used to set new constraints on CP violation in physics beyond the standard model.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. additional reference, minor edits in response to reviewer comment

Improving the measurement of QALYs in dementia: Developing patient- and carer-reported health state classification systems using Rasch analysis

Objectives: Cost-utility analysis is increasingly used to inform resource allocation. This requires a means of valuing health states before and after intervention. Although generic measures are typically used to generate values, these do not perform well with people with dementia. We report the development of a health state classification system amenable to valuation for use in studies of dementia, derived from the DEMQOL system, a measure of health-related quality of life in dementia by patient self-report (DEMQOL) and carer proxy-report (DEMQOL-Proxy). Methods: Factor analysis was used to determine the dimensional structure of DEMQOL and DEMQOL-Proxy. Rasch analysis was subsequently used to investigate item performance across factors in terms of item-level ordering, functioning across subgroups, model fit and severity-range coverage. This enabled the selection of one item from each factor for the classification system. A sample of people with a diagnosis of mild/moderate dementia (n=644) and a sample of carers of those with mild/moderate dementia (n=683) were used. Results: Factor analysis found different 5-factor solutions for DEMQOL and DEMQOL-Proxy. Following item reduction and selection using Rasch analysis, a 5-dimension classification for DEMQOL and a 4-dimension classification for DEMQOL-Proxy were developed. Each item contained 4 health state levels. Conclusion: Combining Rasch and classical psychometric analysis is a valid method of selecting items for dementia health state classifications from both the patient and carer perspectives. The next stage is to obtain preference weights so that the measure can be used in the economic evaluation of treatment, care and support arrangements for dementia

Improving the measurement of QALYs in dementia: developing patient- and carer-reported health state classification systems using Rasch analysis

Objectives: Cost-utility analysis is increasingly used to inform resource allocation. This requires a means of valuing health states before and after intervention. Although generic measures are typically used to generate values, these do not perform well with people with dementia. We report the development of a health state classification system amenable to valuation for use in studies of dementia, derived from the DEMQOL system, a measure of health-related quality of life in dementia by patient self-report (DEMQOL) and carer proxy-report (DEMQOL-Proxy). Methods: Factor analysis was used to determine the dimensional structure of DEMQOL and DEMQOL-Proxy. Rasch analysis was subsequently used to investigate item performance across factors in terms of item-level ordering, functioning across subgroups, model fit and severity-range coverage. This enabled the selection of one item from each factor for the classification system. A sample of people with a diagnosis of mild/moderate dementia (n=644) and a sample of carers of those with mild/moderate dementia (n=683) were used. Results: Factor analysis found different 5-factor solutions for DEMQOL and DEMQOL-Proxy. Following item reduction and selection using Rasch analysis, a 5-dimension classification for DEMQOL and a 4-dimension classification for DEMQOL-Proxy were developed. Each item contained 4 health state levels. Conclusion: Combining Rasch and classical psychometric analysis is a valid method of selecting items for dementia health state classifications from both the patient and carer perspectives. The next stage is to obtain preference weights so that the measure can be used in the economic evaluation of treatment, care and support arrangements for dementia.quality adjusted life years; health related quality of life; Rasch analysis; preference-based measures of health; health states; dementia

Inequality, poverty and the privatization of essential services: A "systems of provision" study of water, energy and local buses in the UK

This paper is concerned with the distributional effects of the deregulation and privatization of essential services in Britain since the 1980s, based on a cross-sector study of water, energy and local bus transport. Our approach locates end users within the structures and processes, and prevailing narratives that underpin both production and consumption. This framework highlights the ways that the provisioning of these vital services is contested, contradictory and underpinned by power relations. We show that, at one end, investors in these sectors have made generous returns on their investments but their methods of profit maximization are often not in the public interest. Meanwhile these profits are financed by end users’ payments of bills and fares. Many lower-income households face challenges in terms of affording, and even accessing, these essential services. Regulation has failed to provide adequate social protection. We argue that adverse social outcomes emerge from systemic factors embedded in these modes of provision. A narrative of politically-neutral, technocratic solutions belies the underlying contested nature of privatized monopolistic shared essential services. Moreover, a policy preoccupation with markets and competition obscures the inequality embedded in the underlying structures and processes and undermines more collective and equitable forms of provisioning

On Quartet Superfluidity of Fermionic Atomic Gas

Possibility of a quartet superfluidity in fermionic systems is studied as a new aspect of atomic gas at ultra low temperatures. The four-fold degeneracy of hyperfine state and moderate coupling is indispensable for the quartet superfluidity to occur. Possible superconductivity with quartet condensation in electron systems is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure. J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. vol.74 (2005) No.7, in press; Note added for related previous works; some typographic errors revise

Language and memory for object location

In three experiments, we investigated the influence of two types of language on memory for object location: demonstratives (this, that) and possessives (my, your). Participants first read instructions containing demonstratives/possessives to place objects at different locations, and then had to recall those object locations (following object removal). Experiments 1 and 2 tested contrasting predictions of two possible accounts of language on object location memory: the Expectation Model (Coventry, Griffiths, & Hamilton, 2014) and the congruence account (Bonfiglioli, Finocchiaro, Gesierich, Rositani, & Vescovi, 2009). In Experiment 3, the role of attention allocation as a possible mechanism was investigated. Results across all three experiments show striking effects of language on object location memory, with the pattern of data supporting the Expectation Model. In this model, the expected location cued by language and the actual location are concatenated leading to (mis)memory for object location, consistent with models of predictive coding (Bar, 2009; Friston, 2003)