Alexithymia Mediates the Relationship Between Insecure Attachment and Eating Disorder Symptoms

Insecure attachment and alexithymia have traditionally been associated with eating disorders. However, research has recently started to examine the specific mechanisms by which attachment insecurity affect disordered eating. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the hypothesis that alexithymia mediates the relationships between insecure attachment patterns and eating disorders (EDs) and to test the relative contribution of each component of alexithymia. 323 female university students and 38 anorexic patients completed questionnaires on attachment, alexithymia and ED symptoms within a structural equation modeling approach. Insecure attachment was related to alexithymia, specifically difficulty identifying feelings (DIF) and difficulty describing feelings (DDF) subscales of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Furthermore, alexithymia scores were associated with eating disorder symptoms. However, only DIF mediated the relationship between attachment insecurity and ED symptoms. Despite the limitations of the cross-section design, attachment and alexithymia seem to be an important focus when preventing and treating EDs

Coupling curvature-dependent and shear stress-stimulated neotissue growth in dynamic bioreactor cultures: a 3D computational model of a complete scaffold.

The main challenge in tissue engineering consists in understanding and controlling the growth process of in vitro cultured neotissues toward obtaining functional tissues. Computational models can provide crucial information on appropriate bioreactor and scaffold design but also on the bioprocess environment and culture conditions. In this study, the development of a 3D model using the level set method to capture the growth of a microporous neotissue domain in a dynamic culture environment (perfusion bioreactor) was pursued. In our model, neotissue growth velocity was influenced by scaffold geometry as well as by flow- induced shear stresses. The neotissue was modeled as a homogenous porous medium with a given permeability, and the Brinkman equation was used to calculate the flow profile in both neotissue and void space. Neotissue growth was modeled until the scaffold void volume was filled, thus capturing already established experimental observations, in particular the differences between scaffold filling under different flow regimes. This tool is envisaged as a scaffold shape and bioprocess optimization tool with predictive capacities. It will allow controlling fluid flow during long-term culture, whereby neotissue growth alters flow patterns, in order to provide shear stress profiles and magnitudes across the whole scaffold volume influencing, in turn, the neotissue growth

Meeting the Cool Neighbours, VI: A search for nearby ultracool dwarfs in the Galactic Plane

Surveys for nearby low-luminosity dwarfs tend to avoid the crowded regions of the Galactic Plane. We have devised near-infrared colour-magnitude and colour-colour selection criteria designed to identify late-type M and early-type L dwarfs within 12 parsecs of the Sun. We use those criteria to search for candidates within the regions of the Galactic Plane (|b| < 10^o) covered by the Second Incremental Release of data from the Two-Micron All Sky Survey. Detailed inspection of the available photographic images of the resulting 1299 candidates confirms only two as ultracool dwarfs. Both are known proper motion stars, identified in the recent survey by Lepine et al (2002). Despite the low numbers, the inferred surface density is consistent with comparable surveys at higher latitudes. We discuss the implications for the luminosity function, and consider means of improving the efficiency and scope of photometric surveys in the Plane.Comment: accepted by Astr. J., 36 pages, 9 figure

The LuckyCam Survey for Very Low Mass Binaries II: 13 new M4.5-M6.0 Binaries

We present results from a high-angular-resolution survey of 78 very low mass (VLM) binary systems with 6.0 = 0.15 arcsec/yr. 21 VLM binaries were detected, 13 of them new discoveries. The new binary systems range in separation between 0.18 arcsec and 1.3 arcsec. The distance-corrected binary fraction is 13.5% (+6.5%/-4%), in agreement with previous results. 9 of the new binary systems have orbital radii > 10 AU, including a new wide VLM binary with 27 AU projected orbital separation. One of the new systems forms two components of a 2300 AU separation triple system. We find that the orbital radius distribution of the binaries with V-K < 6.5 in this survey appears to be different from that of redder (lower-mass) objects, suggesting a possible rapid change in the orbital radius distribution at around the M5 spectral type. The target sample was also selected to investigate X-ray activity among VLM binaries. There is no detectable correlation between excess X-Ray emission and the frequency and binary properties of the VLM systems.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures. Submitted to MNRA