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Effects of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention on Distress, Weight Gain, and Glucose Control for Pregnant Low-Income Women: A Quasi-Experimental Trial Using the ORBIT Model.
BackgroundStress can lead to excessive weight gain. Mindfulness-based stress reduction that incorporates mindful eating shows promise for reducing stress, overeating, and improving glucose control. No interventions have tested mindfulness training with a focus on healthy eating and weight gain during pregnancy, a period of common excessive weight gain. Here, we test the effectiveness of such an intervention, the Mindful Moms Training (MMT), on perceived stress, eating behaviors, and gestational weight gain in a high-risk sample of low income women with overweight/obesity.MethodWe conducted a quasi-experimental study assigning 115 pregnant women to MMT for 8 weeks and comparing them to 105 sociodemographically and weight equivalent pregnant women receiving treatment as usual. Our main outcomes included weight gain (primary outcome), perceived stress, and depression.ResultsWomen in MMT showed significant reductions in perceived stress (β = - 0.16) and depressive symptoms (β = - 0.21) compared to the treatment as usual (TAU) control group. Consistent with national norms, the majority of women (68%) gained excessive weight according to Institute of Medicine weight-gain categories, regardless of group. Slightly more women in the MMT group gained below the recommendation. Among secondary outcomes, women in MMT reported increased physical activity (β = 0.26) and had lower glucose post-oral glucose tolerance test (β = - 0.23), being 66% less likely to have impaired glucose tolerance, compared to the TAU group.ConclusionA short-term intervention led to significant improvements in stress, and showed promise for preventing glucose intolerance. However, the majority of women gained excessive weight. A longer more intensive intervention may be needed for this high-risk population. Clinical Trials.gov #NCT01307683
Cosmic Topology of Polyhedral Double-Action Manifolds
A special class of non-trivial topologies of the spherical space S^3 is
investigated with respect to their cosmic microwave background (CMB)
anisotropies. The observed correlations of the anisotropies on the CMB sky
possess on large separation angles surprising low amplitudes which might be
naturally be explained by models of the Universe having a multiconnected
spatial space. We analysed in CQG 29(2012)215005 the CMB properties of prism
double-action manifolds that are generated by a binary dihedral group D^*_p and
a cyclic group Z_n up to a group order of 180. Here we extend the CMB analysis
to polyhedral double-action manifolds which are generated by the three binary
polyhedral groups (T^*, O^*, I^*) and a cyclic group Z_n up to a group order of
1000. There are 20 such polyhedral double-action manifolds. Some of them turn
out to have even lower CMB correlations on large angles than the Poincare
dodecahedron
How well-proportioned are lens and prism spaces?
The CMB anisotropies in spherical 3-spaces with a non-trivial topology are
analysed with a focus on lens and prism shaped fundamental cells. The
conjecture is tested that well proportioned spaces lead to a suppression of
large-scale anisotropies according to the observed cosmic microwave background
(CMB). The focus is put on lens spaces L(p,q) which are supposed to be oddly
proportioned. However, there are inhomogeneous lens spaces whose shape of the
Voronoi domain depends on the position of the observer within the manifold.
Such manifolds possess no fixed measure of well-proportioned and allow a
predestined test of the well-proportioned conjecture. Topologies having the
same Voronoi domain are shown to possess distinct CMB statistics which thus
provide a counter-example to the well-proportioned conjecture. The CMB
properties are analysed in terms of cyclic subgroups Z_p, and new point of view
for the superior behaviour of the Poincar\'e dodecahedron is found
Structural Synthesis for GXW Specifications
We define the GXW fragment of linear temporal logic (LTL) as the basis for
synthesizing embedded control software for safety-critical applications. Since
GXW includes the use of a weak-until operator we are able to specify a number
of diverse programmable logic control (PLC) problems, which we have compiled
from industrial training sets. For GXW controller specifications, we develop a
novel approach for synthesizing a set of synchronously communicating
actor-based controllers. This synthesis algorithm proceeds by means of
recursing over the structure of GXW specifications, and generates a set of
dedicated and synchronously communicating sub-controllers according to the
formula structure. In a subsequent step, 2QBF constraint solving identifies and
tries to resolve potential conflicts between individual GXW specifications.
This structural approach to GXW synthesis supports traceability between
requirements and the generated control code as mandated by certification
regimes for safety-critical software. Synthesis for GXW specifications is in
PSPACE compared to 2EXPTIME-completeness of full-fledged LTL synthesis. Indeed
our experimental results suggest that GXW synthesis scales well to
industrial-sized control synthesis problems with 20 input and output ports and
beyond.Comment: The long (including appendix) version being reviewed by CAV'16
program committee. Compared to the submitted version, one author (out of her
wish) is moved to the Acknowledgement. (v2) Corrected typos. (v3) Add an
additional remark over environment assumption and easy corner case
Boron Stress Activates the General Amino Acid Control Mechanism and Inhibits Protein Synthesis
Boron is an essential micronutrient for plants, and it is beneficial for animals. However, at high concentrations boron is toxic to cells although the mechanism of this toxicity is not known. Atr1 has recently been identified as a boron efflux pump whose expression is upregulated in response to boron treatment. Here, we found that the expression of ATR1 is associated with expression of genes involved in amino acid biosynthesis. These mechanisms are strictly controlled by the transcription factor Gcn4 in response to boron treatment. Further analyses have shown that boron impaired protein synthesis by promoting phosphorylation of eIF2α in a Gcn2 kinase dependent manner. The uncharged tRNA binding domain (HisRS) of Gcn2 is necessary for the phosphorylation of eIF2α in the presence of boron. We postulate that boron exerts its toxic effect through activation of the general amino acid control system and inhibition of protein synthesis. Since the general amino acid control pathway is conserved among eukaryotes, this mechanism of boron toxicity may be of general importance
Cosmic microwave anisotropies in an inhomogeneous compact flat universe
The anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are computed for
the half-turn space E_2 which represents a compact flat model of the Universe,
i.e. one with finite volume. This model is inhomogeneous in the sense that the
statistical properties of the CMB depend on the position of the observer within
the fundamental cell. It is shown that the half-turn space describes the
observed CMB anisotropies on large scales better than the concordance model
with infinite volume. For most observer positions it matches the temperature
correlation function even slightly better than the well studied 3-torus
topology
The nonlinear time-dependent response of isotactic polypropylene
Tensile creep tests, tensile relaxation tests and a tensile test with a
constant rate of strain are performed on injection-molded isotactic
polypropylene at room temperature in the vicinity of the yield point. A
constitutive model is derived for the time-dependent behavior of
semi-crystalline polymers. A polymer is treated as an equivalent network of
chains bridged by permanent junctions. The network is modelled as an ensemble
of passive meso-regions (with affine nodes) and active meso-domains (where
junctions slip with respect to their positions in the bulk medium with various
rates). The distribution of activation energies for sliding in active
meso-regions is described by a random energy model. Adjustable parameters in
the stress--strain relations are found by fitting experimental data. It is
demonstrated that the concentration of active meso-domains monotonically grows
with strain, whereas the average potential energy for sliding of junctions and
the standard deviation of activation energies suffer substantial drops at the
yield point. With reference to the concept of dual population of crystalline
lamellae, these changes in material parameters are attributed to transition
from breakage of subsidiary (thin) lamellae in the sub-yield region to
fragmentation of primary (thick) lamellae in the post-yield region of
deformation.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figure
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Hyperfine Structure
Contains reports on three research projects
Changes in Economic Inequality in Europe and Latin America in the First Decades of the Twenty-First Century
This open access volume identifies the common and specific aspects of social mechanisms that generate inequalities, through comparative analyses of different dimensions in which inequalities are expressed. It includes studies on social inequalities in 5 European and 5 Latin American countries, along 11 thematic axes: inequalities in the labour market and labour trajectories; asymmetries in the relationship between training and employment; inequalities in work and family life; educational inequalities; geographical and social inequalities: ethnicity and language; social inequalities, migration and space; uncertainty, strategies, resources and capabilities; inequality of opportunity: intergenerational social mobility; social policies; gender inequalities; and research methodology. This volume is the result of a large collaborative project on social inequality funded by the European Commission: the International Network for Comparative Analysis of Social Inequalities. Taking into account diverse perspectives and approximations, the collaborators have created a general analytical framework as a model of analysis of social inequalities. The various contributions in this volume help readers gain a global outlook and help reflect on social inequalities in a comparative perspective. This volume addresses social science graduate and postgraduate students, researchers, social policy makers, as well as a broader academic audience interested in social inequality.Fil: Salvia, Hector Agustin. Universidad Catolica Argentina; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas; Argentin
Fourier Magnetic Imaging with Nanoscale Resolution and Compressed Sensing Speed-up using Electronic Spins in Diamond
Optically-detected magnetic resonance using Nitrogen Vacancy (NV) color
centres in diamond is a leading modality for nanoscale magnetic field imaging,
as it provides single electron spin sensitivity, three-dimensional resolution
better than 1 nm, and applicability to a wide range of physical and biological
samples under ambient conditions. To date, however, NV-diamond magnetic imaging
has been performed using real space techniques, which are either limited by
optical diffraction to 250 nm resolution or require slow, point-by-point
scanning for nanoscale resolution, e.g., using an atomic force microscope,
magnetic tip, or super-resolution optical imaging. Here we introduce an
alternative technique of Fourier magnetic imaging using NV-diamond. In analogy
with conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we employ pulsed magnetic
field gradients to phase-encode spatial information on NV electronic spins in
wavenumber or k-space followed by a fast Fourier transform to yield real-space
images with nanoscale resolution, wide field-of-view (FOV), and compressed
sensing speed-up.Comment: 31 pages, 10 figure
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