Probing High Parton Densities at Low-xx in d+Au Collisions at PHENIX Using the New Forward and Backward Muon Piston Calorimeters

The new forward Muon Piston Calorimeters allow PHENIX to explore low-$x$ parton distributions in d+Au collisions with hopes of observing gluon saturation. We present a two-particle azimuthal $\Delta \phi$ correlation measurement made between a mid-rapidity particle ($|\eta_1| < 0.35$) and a forward $\pi^0$ ($3.1 < \eta_2 < 3.9$) wherein we compare correlation widths in d+Au to p+p and compute $I_{dA}$.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures - To appear in the conference proceedings for Quark Matter 2009, March 30 - April 4, Knoxville, Tennesse

The Utilization of Health Services and Self-Care by Older Women With Sleeping Problems: Results From a Nationally Representative Sample of 9,110 Women.

OBJECTIVE: This research aims to investigate the health service use-including complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)-and self-care by women aged 62 to 67 with sleeping problems. METHOD: In total, 9,110 participants (99.6%) responded to questions about sleeping problems, health service utilization and self-care (e.g., herbal medicines and vitamins), demographics, and chronic illnesses. RESULTS: In all, 48.2% ( n = 4,394) women indicated that they had a sleeping problem. Women with sleeping problems consulted a general practitioner (GP) more frequently (odds ratio [OR] = 1.72; 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.36, 2.17]; p < .005) and were more likely to be using herbal medicines (OR = 1.24; 95% CI = [1.13, 1.36]; p < .005) than women without sleeping problems. DISCUSSION: Health professionals, particularly GPs, may need to actively inquire with older patients in their care with sleeping problems about the use of herbal medicines, to ensure their sleeping problems are being directly and effectively treated, particularly in light of increased risks associated with sleeping problems for this age cohort

Crime as Communication: A Review Examining Problem-Solving Competency in Youth Offenders

This literature review on juvenile delinquency addresses problem-solving competency in youth offenders. Psychological and socioenvironmental theories have different perspectives on the characterological aspects of juvenile delinquency in regards to whether or not delinquent acts are indicative of psychopathology. The literature distinguishes adolescent-limited offenders from lifetime offenders, particularly in that delinquency is more normative in adolescence and can largely depend on the social. environment. Delinquency can, for example, be a way of responding to the pressures of adolescence. It is reinforcing for adolescents to assess their autonomy and win peer approval. The research lacks information on covariates to problem-solving competency such as coping, communication strategies and interpersonal negotiation that can influence problematic behaviors. Therefore, the unique contribution of this review is its comprehensive focus on these covariates of problem-solving competency to better understand decision making of youth offenders. The research additionally lacks effective interventions for increasing problem-solving skills prior to adolescence, and interventions with gangs

Sleep in the Social World of College Students: Bridging Interpersonal Stress and Fear of Missing Out with Mental Health

Introduction: The college years are characterized by psychosocial and biological phenomena that may impact mental health, such as heightened sensitivity to social stressors and compromises in sleep quantity and quality. The current study uses a biopsychosocial approach to examine the associations among interpersonal stress, Fear of Missing Out (FoMO), insomnia, and mental health. Methods: Survey data were collected from 283 undergraduate students (90% female) with a mean age of 21.4 years. A path analysis was utilized to test a mediational model linking interpersonal stress and FoMO with mental health through a mediator of insomnia. We hypothesized that higher levels of interpersonal stress and FoMO would be associated with higher levels of insomnia symptoms, which would in turn be associated with poorer mental health. Results: As predicted, insomnia partially mediated significant associations of interpersonal stress and FoMO with mental health. The association of interpersonal stress with insomnia and mental health was more robust than the association of FoMO with these variables. Conclusions: The pathway from interpersonal stress and/or FoMO, through insomnia, to compromises in mental health may be modifiable through behavioral interventions focusing on coping skills, sleep hygiene, and even technology-related habit changes. Recommendations to help disrupt this pathway, particularly among college students, are discussed

Nighttime notifications and compulsivity illuminate the link between emerging adults’ cellphone use and sleep-related problems

Although higher levels of cellphone use have been correlated with sleep problems, few studies have investigated specific qualities of cellphone use that may account for this relationship. Recently, significant associations among nighttime cellphone use, compulsive orientation toward cellphone use, and multiple characteristics of compromised sleep were found in a sample of undergraduate students enrolled at a small liberal arts college (Murdock, Horissian, & Crichlow-Ball, 2016). The current study expands upon these findings. Data were collected from 2 samples of undergraduates: 273 students enrolled at a midsized state university and 152 self-identified students recruited through Mechanical Turk. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses that nighttime cellphone notifications and qualities of compulsive cellphone use would predict sleep problems and daytime sleepiness, even after taking into account the overall frequency of cellphone use. Full support for hypotheses was found for both domains of sleep-related functioning in both samples. Findings suggest that contextual aspects of cellphone use, such as its timing and compulsivity, may be more important to emerging adults’ sleep than aspects of cellphone use such as the number of texts or time spent on calls. Sleep promotion programs for emerging adults should target specific cellphone use qualities—that is, the when, where, and how of cellphone use—to promote behavior change and improved sleep

Leading twist shadowing, black disk regime and forward hadron production

We review theory of the leading twist nuclear shadowing, and describe phenomenon of post-selection suppression of leading parton spectrum (effective fractional energy losses) in the proximity of the black disk regime. We argue that $2 \to 2$ mechanism dominates in the inclusive leading pion production in d-Au collisions and explain that the post-selection naturally explains both the magnitude of the suppression of the forward pion production in d-Au collisions and the pattern of the forward - central correlations. At the same time this pattern of correlations rules out $2\to 1$ mechanism as the main source of the inclusive leading pion yield. It is demonstrated that the mechanism of the double parton interactions gives an important contribution to the production of two leading pions in $pp$ scattering opening a new way to study correlations of leading quarks in the nucleon. The same mechanism is enhanced in $dAu \to \pi^0\pi^0 +X$ collisions and explains the dominance of $\Delta\phi$ independent component and suppression of the away side peak.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, Invited talk at the Workshop "Saturation, the Color Glass Condensate and Glasma: What Have we Learned from RHIC?", BNL, May 10-12, 2010, to be published in proceeding

A critical review of self-care for sleep disturbances: prevalence, profile, motivation, perceived effectiveness and medical provider communication

Objective This study aims to undertake the first critical review of self-care use among adults with sleep disturbances by focusing on the prevalence of self-care—the self-determined and self-administered use of products or practices—by adults with sleep disturbances. Methods A comprehensive search of 2006–2016 international literature in CINAHL, AMED, Medline and EMBASE databases was conducted. The search was confined to empirical research findings regarding sleep disturbances - as indicated by a validated sleep scale/index or clinician diagnosis. Results Of the 21 articles included in this review, only three reported on sleep disturbances other than insomnia disorder (ID) or insomnia symptoms (IS). Overall, a high prevalence of self-care use is reported among adults with sleep disturbances, particularly for ID and IS. Self-care products and practices are more likely to be used by adults with sleep disturbances, than those without sleep disturbances. Commonly used self-care products and practices include OTC hypnotics, antihistamines, diphenhydramine products, diet, exercise, painkillers, herbal medicines, vitamins, minerals and dietary supplements, yoga, tai chi, Qigong, meditation, exercise and relaxation. Conclusions Many adults with sleep disturbances–particularly ID or IS–frequently use self-care products and practices. Self-care products are also used concomitantly with conventional prescription medications without disclosure to medical professionals. The current literature is of varied methodological caliber, frequently relies on small sample sizes and low-quality data collection therefore further rigorous health services research is required. There is an especial paucity of data regarding self-care for sleep disturbances such as restless legs syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea. Healthcare providers may find it beneficial to actively ask patients about their use of self-care for sleep disturbances to help avoid harmful drug-drug or drug-herb interactions

A Performance Versus Cost Analysis of Prepreg Carbon Fibre Epoxy Energy Absorption Structures

Carbon fibre epoxy composites are sought after for their excellent specific energy absorption (SEA) but are costly. A range of prepreg carbon fibre epoxy layups were subjected to a 10 m/s impact with 4 kJ of energy. Fibre volume fraction and voidage were determined for each sample and the fracture analysed in detail. SEA ranged from 35.27 J/g to 60.25 J/g with the highest performance from 8 plies of 200gsm 2x2 twill all laid at 0 degrees. Vacuum assisted oven cure resulted in higher voidage than autoclave cure (2.52% versus 0.17%) but did not affect SEA. According to a ratio of performance to cost the highest rated samples were an 8 ply oven cure and a 3 ply autoclave cure specimen and there was little difference between them. This work has highlighted that there is enormous potential for cost reduction of prepreg carbon fibre epoxy energy absorption structures through the use of heavier areal weight fabrics and fewer plies as well as through the use of oven cured prepreg

Proteoliposomes as energy transferring nanomaterials: enhancing the spectral range of light-harvesting proteins using lipid-linked chromophores

Bio-hybrid nanomaterials have great potential for combining the most desirable aspects of biomolecules and the contemporary concepts of nanotechnology to create highly efficient light-harvesting materials. Light-harvesting proteins are optimized to absorb and transfer solar energy with remarkable efficiency but have a spectral range that is limited by their natural pigment complement. Herein, we present the development of model membranes (“proteoliposomes”) in which the absorption range of the membrane protein Light-Harvesting Complex II (LHCII) is effectively enhanced by the addition of lipid-tethered Texas Red (TR) chromophores. Energy transfer from TR to LHCII is observed with up to 94% efficiency and increased LHCII fluorescence of up to three-fold when excited in the region of lowest natural absorption. The new self-assembly procedure offers the modularity to control the concentrations incorporated of TR and LHCII, allowing energy transfer and fluorescence to be tuned. Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy provides single-proteoliposome-level quantification of energy transfer efficiency and confirms that functionality is retained on surfaces. Designer proteoliposomes could act as a controllable light-harvesting nanomaterial and are a promising step in the development of bio-hybrid light-harvesting systems

The productivity effects of macroalgal biochar from Ulva (Linnaeus) bloom species on Arabidopsis thaliana (Linnaeus) seedlings

Intensive agricultural practices and poor management of organic waste have adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems, where excessive macroalgal proliferation can occur to form ‘green tides’, with negative environmental, ecological and socioeconomic impacts. One novel method for converting a problematic material into a valuable resource is to use excess algal biomass as a feedstock for biochar production. With a high elemental composition, such a resource might be suitable to redress soil deficiencies and to ameliorate soil fertility. Green macroalgae from the Ulva genus, in bladed (predominantly U. rigida), tubular (predominantly U. prolifera) and mixed morphological (U. rigida and U. prolifera) phenotypes, were used to produce biochars. A pot trial within a controlled-environment chamber was carried out to determine the effects of amending high- and low-fertilizer compost with algal biochars (applied at 0, 0.5, 1, 2 and 5% w/w) on the growth rate of Arabidopsis thaliana. A commercial wood-based biochar was used under similar treatments as a control. Weekly imaging and final harvest weights provided additional growth data; composition data including ultimate and proximate analyses, pH, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area and hydropyrolysis of the dried macroalgae and algal biochars were also conducted. Significant enhanced growth in seedlings grown with biochar amendment were not observed in high- or low-fertilizer compost, and the addition of algal biochars at 5% w/w to high-fertilizer soil significantly reduced plant growth. Elemental analysis revealed that the algal biochars contained high quantities of alkaline elements including sodium. It was hypothesised that salinity was the primary factor affecting plant growth at higher biochar application rates, despite the algae being sourced from an estuarine environment. Biochar provenance and composition is highly significant: using the catch-all term ‘biochar’ ignores both the range of materials and composition that could be used to create it and its subsequent impact within the soil. HIGHLIGHTS First plant trial using biochar predominantly from Ulva species. Negative impact seen with 5% algal biochar on plant growth. High sodium concentrations putatively identified as reduced plant growth cause