The Diffusion of Politically Expert Opinion Within and Among Groups

This paper employs a small group experiment to study the process of political influence within social networks. Each experimental session involves seven individuals, where privately obtained information is costly but communication within the group is free. Hence, individuals form prior judgments regarding candidates based on public and private information before updating their priors through a process of social communication. In general, individuals select expert informants with political preferences similar to their own, and we consider the dynamic implications for individual and group preferences. In particular, we address the diffusion of information based on a DeGroot model which provides a dynamic formulation of the influence process. We are particularly interested in the implications that arise due to varying levels of information among participants for (1) the construction of communication networks, (2) the relative influence of better informed individuals; (3) relative levels of reliance on priors and communicated messages; (4) the consequences of memory decay for the influence of experts; and (5) the diffusion of information and patterns of persuasion

Networks of Mobilization: Student Involvement in a Municipal Election

An enduring issue in the study of political participation is the extent to which political awareness and engagement are socially or individually motivated. We address these issues in the context of a municipal election which generated a high level of political engagement on the part of college students for whom the election was relevant. An effort was made to interview all these students using an on-line survey, and the students were asked to provide information on their friendship networks. The paper demonstrates that awareness and engagement are not simply a consequence of individually defined interests and awareness, but rather that individuals are informed and engaged based on their locations within structured networks of social interaction

Motion analysis of match-play in elite U12 to U16 age-group soccer players

The aim of this study was to quantify the motion demands of match-play in elite U12 to U16 age-group soccer players. Altogether, 112 players from two professional soccer clubs at five age-group levels (U12–U16) were monitored during competitive matches (n=14) using a 5 Hz non-differential global positioning system (NdGPS). Velocity thresholds were normalized for each age-group using the mean squad times for a flying 10 m sprint test as a reference point. Match performance was reported as total distance, high-intensity distance, very high-intensity distance, and sprint distance. Data were reported both in absolute (m) and relative (m min-1) terms due to a rolling substitute policy. The U15 (1.35±0.09 s) and U16 (1.31±0.06 s) players were significantly quicker than the U12 (1.58±0.10 s), U13 (1.52±0.07 s), and U14 (1.51±0.08 s) players in the flying 10 m sprint test (P U12, U13, U14), high-intensity distance (U16 > U12, U13, U14, U15), very high-intensity distance (U16 4 U12, U13), and sprint distance (U16 > U12, U13) than their younger counterparts (P<0.05). When the data are considered relative to match exposure, few differences are apparent. Training prescription for youth soccer players should consider the specific demands of competitive match-play in each age-group

Novel mutations expand the clinical spectrum of DYNC1H1-associated spinal muscular atrophy

OBJECTIVE To expand the clinical phenotype of autosomal dominant congenital spinal muscular atrophy with lower extremity predominance (SMA-LED) due to mutations in the dynein, cytoplasmic 1, heavy chain 1 (DYNC1H1) gene. METHODS Patients with a phenotype suggestive of a motor, non-length-dependent neuronopathy predominantly affecting the lower limbs were identified at participating neuromuscular centers and referred for targeted sequencing of DYNC1H1. RESULTS We report a cohort of 30 cases of SMA-LED from 16 families, carrying mutations in the tail and motor domains of DYNC1H1, including 10 novel mutations. These patients are characterized by congenital or childhood-onset lower limb wasting and weakness frequently associated with cognitive impairment. The clinical severity is variable, ranging from generalized arthrogryposis and inability to ambulate to exclusive and mild lower limb weakness. In many individuals with cognitive impairment (9/30 had cognitive impairment) who underwent brain MRI, there was an underlying structural malformation resulting in polymicrogyric appearance. The lower limb muscle MRI shows a distinctive pattern suggestive of denervation characterized by sparing and relative hypertrophy of the adductor longus and semitendinosus muscles at the thigh level, and diffuse involvement with relative sparing of the anterior-medial muscles at the calf level. Proximal muscle histopathology did not always show classic neurogenic features. CONCLUSION Our report expands the clinical spectrum of DYNC1H1-related SMA-LED to include generalized arthrogryposis. In addition, we report that the neurogenic peripheral pathology and the CNS neuronal migration defects are often associated, reinforcing the importance of DYNC1H1 in both central and peripheral neuronal functions

Successful integration of an automated patient-reported outcome measure within a hospital electronic patient record

Abstract Objectives The objective of this evaluation was to assess the feasibility of implementing a fully integrated, automated, electronic patient-reported outcome measures (ePROM) system into a hospital electronic patient record (EPR; hospital-based clinical record). Additional objectives included evaluating the effect of the system on patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) completion rates and investigating the acceptability of the ePROM. Methods The evaluation was conducted in a rheumatology clinic in a specialist children’s hospital in the UK. Paper-based childhood HAQ PROMs were already used in the clinic, and an EPR was the main hospital information system. The technical feasibility of introducing the ePROM technology was assessed using a case study approach; the effect of the system on PROM completion rates was investigated using a before–after design; and acceptability was assessed using semi-structured questionnaires and a focus group. Results An automated and integrated ePROM system was implemented successfully in April 2021. After implementation, ∼500 automated SMS text messaging invitations to complete ePROMs were sent to care-givers each month. PROM completion rates increased from 33 of 100 (33%) to 47 of 65 (72%) after the introduction of the ePROM system (χ2 = 11.51; P &amp;lt; 0.05). The ePROM system was highly acceptable to patients and clinical staff. Some clinical staff expressed a concern that an electronic system might represent a barrier to care for families with more limited resources. Conclusion High levels of automation and integration with existing technology systems seemed to be key contextual factors associated with the successful implementation and adoption of the ePROM intervention in a paediatric rheumatology clinic. </jats:sec

Predicting response to holistic breathlessness services: a pooled analysis of trial data

Background: Holistic breathlessness services have been developed for people with advanced disease and chronic breathlessness, leading to improved psychological aspects of breathlessness and health. The extent to which patient characteristics influence outcomes is unclear. Aim: To identify patient characteristics predicting outcomes of mastery and distress around breathlessness following holistic breathlessness services. Design: Secondary analysis of pooled individual patient data from three clinical trials. Our primary analysis assessed predictors of clinically important improvements in Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire mastery scores (+0.5 point), and our secondary analysis predictors of improvements in Numerical Rating Scale distress due to breathlessness (-1 point). Variables significantly related to improvement in univariate models were considered in separate backwards stepwise logistic regression models. Participants: The dataset comprised 259 participants (118 female; mean (standard deviation) age 69.2(10.6) years) with primary diagnoses of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (49.8%), cancer (34.7%) and interstitial lung disease (10.4%).Results: Controlling for age, sex, and trial, baseline mastery remained the only significant independent predictor of improvement in mastery (odds ratio 0.57, 95% confidence intervals 0.43 to 0.74; p <0001), and baseline distress remained the only significant predictor of improvement in distress (odds ratio 1.64; 95% confidence intervals 1.35 to 2.03; p<001). Baseline lung function, breathlessness severity, health status, mild anxiety and depression, and diagnosis did not predict outcomes. Conclusions: Outcomes of mastery and distress following holistic breathlessness services are influenced by baseline scores for these variables, and not by diagnosis, lung function, or health status. Stratifying patients by levels of mastery and/or distress appears appropriate for clinical trials and services

Upper limits on the strength of periodic gravitational waves from PSR J1939+2134

The first science run of the LIGO and GEO gravitational wave detectors presented the opportunity to test methods of searching for gravitational waves from known pulsars. Here we present new direct upper limits on the strength of waves from the pulsar PSR J1939+2134 using two independent analysis methods, one in the frequency domain using frequentist statistics and one in the time domain using Bayesian inference. Both methods show that the strain amplitude at Earth from this pulsar is less than a few times $10^{-22}$.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the Proceedings of the 5th Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves, Tirrenia, Pisa, Italy, 6-11 July 200

Improving the sensitivity to gravitational-wave sources by modifying the input-output optics of advanced interferometers

We study frequency dependent (FD) input-output schemes for signal-recycling interferometers, the baseline design of Advanced LIGO and the current configuration of GEO 600. Complementary to a recent proposal by Harms et al. to use FD input squeezing and ordinary homodyne detection, we explore a scheme which uses ordinary squeezed vacuum, but FD readout. Both schemes, which are sub-optimal among all possible input-output schemes, provide a global noise suppression by the power squeeze factor, while being realizable by using detuned Fabry-Perot cavities as input/output filters. At high frequencies, the two schemes are shown to be equivalent, while at low frequencies our scheme gives better performance than that of Harms et al., and is nearly fully optimal. We then study the sensitivity improvement achievable by these schemes in Advanced LIGO era (with 30-m filter cavities and current estimates of filter-mirror losses and thermal noise), for neutron star binary inspirals, and for narrowband GW sources such as low-mass X-ray binaries and known radio pulsars. Optical losses are shown to be a major obstacle for the actual implementation of these techniques in Advanced LIGO. On time scales of third-generation interferometers, like EURO/LIGO-III (~2012), with kilometer-scale filter cavities, a signal-recycling interferometer with the FD readout scheme explored in this paper can have performances comparable to existing proposals. [abridged]Comment: Figs. 9 and 12 corrected; Appendix added for narrowband data analysi

Regionally consistent Western North America paleomagnetic directions from 15 to 35 ka: Assessing chronology and uncertainty with paleosecular variation (PSV) stratigraphy

New Paleomagnetic Secular Variation (PSV) data from Fish Lake, Utah, USA, along with previously published regional records, allow us to build an independently dated Western North America PSV stack (WNAM17) from about 35 to 15 ka that quantifies dating and paleomagnetic uncertainties. In February 2014, we recovered a composite 11-m-long sediment record from Fish Lake, Utah that retrieved glacially influenced and post-glacial sediments. Computed tomography (CT) scans and magnetic susceptibility were used to build a precise depth scale, while radiocarbon dating of terrestrial macrofossils and tephrostratigraphy provide tight age-control. Glacially influenced sediments have well-defined characteristic remanent magnetizations with all maximum angular deviation values < 5 degrees, resolving a record of Late Pleistocene PSV. Comparison to the PSV records at Bear Lake, Utah/Idaho, USA and Bessette Creak, British Columbia, Canada, which also contain terrestrial material radiocarbon age-control points, allow us to develop the WNAM17 PSV stack which considers both dating and magnetic acquisition uncertainties. We utilize a regional PSV chronostratigraphic modeling approach to assign chronology and uncertainty to the PSV signal and to evaluate the fidelity of age-control points at the site level that are difficult to objectively evaluate otherwise. The greatest strength of our age-depth model is that by approaching chronostratigraphy from a regional perspective, assuming a common geomagnetic signal, we can address sources of geologic uncertainty that would be difficult to quantify using only one site. We illustrate the potential stratigraphic opportunities using the WNAM17 PSV template through assessing the timing of paleoenvironmental and paleomagnetic events in Western North America, including the timing of glaciations in the Fish Lake and Bear Lake catchments and the stratigraphic context for the Late Pleistocene geomagnetic excursion recorded at Mono Lake. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved