Observation of Physiological Changes During Transcendental Meditation

Techniques of yoga have been associated with alterations in physiology, but until recently there has been only haphazard and uncontrolled research . Since 1970, information has been gathered which suggests that the practice of Transcendental Meditation (TM), a derivative of yoga, significantly affects changes in several physiological areas. This study observed changes in breath rate and peripheral circulation before, during, and after the practice of TM. Results showed a significant decrease in breath rate and changes in circulation patterns in the hand and forehead of subjects

Electron-Phonon Coupling in Boron-Doped Diamond Superconductor

The electronic structure, lattice dynamics, and electron-phonon coupling of the boron-doped diamond are investigated using the density functional supercell method. Our results indicate the boron-doped diamond is a phonon mediated superconductor, con rming previous theoretical conclusions deduced from the calculations employing the virtual crystal approximation. We show that the optical phonon modes involving B vibrations play an important role in the electron-phonon coupling. Di erent from previous theoretical results, our calculated electron-phonon coupling constant is 0.39 and the estimated superconducting transition temperature Tc is 4.4 K for the boron doped diamond with 2.78% boron content using the Coulomb pseudopotential \mu*= 0.10, in excellent agreement with the experimental result.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, Accepted by PR

The kinase MSK1 is required for induction of c-fos by lysophosphatidic acid in mouse embryonic stem cells

BACKGROUND: The regulation of the immediate-early gene c-fos serves as a paradigm for signal-activated gene induction. Lysophosphatidic acid is a potent serum-borne mitogen able to induce c-fos. RESULTS: Analysing the signalling events following stimulation of mouse embryonic stem cells with serum and lysophosphatidic acid, we show that the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway is involved in mediating c-fos induction. We demonstrate that the ERK-activated kinase MSK1 is required for full c-fos promoter activation, as well as for the phosphorylation of cAMP-responsive element (CRE) binding proteins. We propose that MSK1 contributes to ERK-mediated c-fos promoter activation by targeting CRE binding proteins. CONCLUSION: These results show that MSK1 is an important ERK-activated mediator of mitogen-stimulated c-fos induction. In addition, they indicate that MSK1 could act through CRE binding proteins to achieve c-fos promoter activation. Thus, they further our understanding of the complex regulation of the model immediate-early gene c-fos

Surface composition and properties of Ganymede: Updates from ground-based observations with the near-infrared imaging spectrometer SINFONI/VLT/ESO

Ganymede's surface exhibits great geological diversity, with old dark terrains, expressed through the surface composition, which is known to be dominated by two constituents: H2O-ice and an unidentified darkening agent. In this paper, new investigations of the composition of Ganymede's surface at global scale are presented. The analyses are derived from the linear spectral modeling of a high spectral resolution dataset, acquired with the near-infrared (1.40–2.50 μm) ground-based integral field spectrometer SINFONI (SINgle Faint Object Near-IR Investigation) of the Very Large Telescope (VLT hereafter) located in Chile. We show that, unlike the neighboring moon Europa, photometric corrections cannot be performed using a simple Lambertian model. However, we find that the Oren-Nayar (1994) model, generalizing the Lambert's law for rough surfaces, produces excellent results. Spectral modeling confirms that Ganymede's surface composition is dominated by H2O-ice, which is predominantly crystalline, as well as a darkening agent, but it also clearly highlights the necessity of secondary species to better fit the measurements: sulfuric acid hydrate and salts, likely sulfates and chlorinated. A latitudinal gradient and a hemispherical dichotomy are the strongest spatial patterns observed for the darkening agent, the H2O-ice, and the sulfuric acid: the darkening agent is by far the major compound at the equator and mid-latitudes (≤ ± 35°N), especially on the trailing hemisphere, while the H2O-ice and the sulfuric acid are mostly located at high latitudes and on the leading hemisphere. This anti-correlation is likely a consequence of the bombardment of the constituents in the Jovian magnetosphere which are much more intense at latitudes higher than ±35°N. Furthermore, the modeling confirms that polar caps are enriched in small, fresh, H2O-ice grains (i.e. ≤50 μm) while equatorial regions are mostly composed of larger grains (i.e. ≥200 μm, up to 1 mm). Finally, the spatial distribution of the salts is neither related to the Jovian magnetospheric bombardment nor the craters. These species are mostly detected on bright grooved terrains surrounding darker areas. Endogenous processes, such as freezing of upwelling fluids going through the ice shell, may explain this distribution. In addition, a small spectral residue that might be related to brines and/or hydrated silica-bearing minerals are located in the same areas

Analysis of Boltzmann-Langevin Dynamics in Nuclear Matter

The Boltzmann-Langevin dynamics of harmonic modes in nuclear matter is analyzed within linear-response theory, both with an elementary treatment and by using the frequency-dependent response function. It is shown how the source terms agitating the modes can be obtained from the basic BL correlation kernel by a simple projection onto the associated dual basis states, which are proportional to the RPA amplitudes and can be expressed explicitly. The source terms for the correlated agitation of any two such modes can then be extracted directly, without consideration of the other modes. This facilitates the analysis of collective modes in unstable matter and makes it possible to asses the accuracy of an approximate projection technique employed previously.Comment: 13 latex pages, 4 PS figure

Førstelinjeledelse i store kommunale omstillings - og endringsprosesser En studie av førstelinjelederes situasjon og om endringsledelse i kommunesammenslåingen av Fet, Sørum og Skedsmo kommuner til Lillestrøm kommune 01.01.2020

Lillestrøm kommune ble etablert 01.01.2020 etter en sammenslåing av tidligere Fet, Sørum og Skedsmo kommuner. Omorganisering av den nye kommunen var å forstå som en radikal organisatorisk endring. Lillestrøm kommune er blitt landets 9. største kommune og per 2. kvartal 2022 har kommunen 90.313 innbyggere og over 9.500 ansatte (Lillestrøm kommune; 2022). Masteroppgaven har til hensikt å søke kunnskap om hvordan lederne som var nærmest tjenestene og således også innbyggerne, og de ansatte, forvaltet og mestret det å lede tjenester og ansatte i den omfattende endringsprosessen det var å danne en ny kommune. Prosessen omfattet både å lage nye tjenester, harmonisere kulturen og ivareta nye medarbeidere, samtidig som driften skulle sikres og daværende medarbeidere støttes, i de tre eksisterende kommunene fram til 31.12.2019. Vår informantgruppe er førstelinjeledere i Lillestrøm kommune. Det er en bred gruppe mellomledere, som er organisatorisk plassert på ulike nivåer. De er imidlertid kjennetegnet av at de er nærmest de ansatte, driften og tjenestene, det vil si ikke ledere for ledere, men ledere som har den direkte kontakten til medarbeidere, fag og tjenester. Det innebærer at de hadde ansvaret for både daglig drift og operativ endringsledelse i den omfattende endrings -og omstillingsprosessen til Lillestrøm kommune. I masteroppgaven søker vi å forstå mer av hvordan førstelinjelederne opplevde og håndterte prosessen, og deres mestringsstrategier, i omstillingen mot Lillestrøm kommune. For å søke empirisk kunnskap om førstelinjelederes erfaringer og støtte til mestring, forankres det metodologiske rammeverket i et kvalitativt og caseteoretisk bakteppe. Intervjuene med informantene er gjennomført på en semistrukturert måte. Masteroppgaven bygger på Karps organisasjonsteoretiske modell (Karp, 2014). Karp deler organisasjon primært i det han betegner som en uformell og en formell del. Oppgaven har valgt å betegne Karps uformelle del som kultur, og den formelle som struktur, da kultur og struktur er begreper som går igjen i annen organisasjonsteoretisk litteratur (Christensen et al 2015, Jacobsen og Thorsvik 2019). Dette innebærer at kulturbegrepet i lys av Karps modell, er noe annet enn begrepet organisasjonskultur (Bang 2013). Masteroppgaven finner at førstelinjeledernes situasjon i endrings og omstillingsprosessen mot Lillestrøm kommune var preget av sammensatte og komplekse oppgaver, og et betydelig arbeidspress. Det var kulturelle komponenter som representerte størst grad av støtte for førstelinjelederne i prosessen, og ledernes relasjonelle kapasitet var den faktor som flesteparten av informantene i særlig grad trakk frem som støtte til mestring. På samme tid indikerer funnene at støtte gjennom strukturelle forhold som planer, prosedyrer og rutiner var begrenset.Lillestrøm municipality was established 01.01.2020 after a merger of the former Fet, Sørum and Skedsmo municipalities. The reorganization of the new municipality was to be understood as a radical organizational change. Lillestrøm municipality has become the country's 9th largest municipality and as of 2. In the fourth quarter of 2022, the municipality has 90,313 inhabitants and over 9,500 employees (Lillestrøm municipality; 2022). The master's thesis aims to seek knowledge about how the leaders, who were closest to the services and thus also the citizens, and the employees, managed and mastered managing services and employees in the extensive change process of forming a new municipality. The process included both creating new services, harmonizing the culture and attend new employees, while at the same time ensuring operations and supporting employees, in the three existing municipalities until 31.12.2019. Our informant group are first-line managers in Lillestrøm municipality. There is a broad group of middle managers, who are organizationally located at different levels. However, they are characterized by the fact that they are closest to the employees, operations and services, i.e. not managers of managers, but managers who have the direct contact with employees, disciplines and services. This means that they were responsible for both daily operations and operational change management in the extensive change and restructuring process of Lillestrøm municipality. In the master's thesis, we seek to understand more about how the first-line managers experienced and handled the process, and their coping strategies, in the transition towards Lillestrøm municipality. In order to seek empirical knowledge about first-line managers' experiences and support for coping, the methodological framework is anchored in a qualitative and case-theoretic backdrop. The interviews with the informants were conducted in a semi-structured manner. The master's thesis is based on Karps organizational theoretical model (Karp, 2014). Karp divides organization primarily into what he describes as an informal and a formal part. The thesis has chosen to describe Karp's informal part as culture, and the formal as structure, as culture and structure are concepts that are common in other organizational theoretical literature (Christensen et al. 2015, Jacobsen and Thorsvik 2019). This means that the concept of culture, in light of Karp's model, is different from the concept of organisational culture (Bang 2013). The master's thesis finds that the situation of first-line managers in the change and restructuring process towards Lillestrøm municipality was characterised by complex and complex tasks, and considerable work pressure. Cultural components represented the greatest degree of support for first-line managers in the process, and the managers' relational capacity was the factor that most of the informants particularly highlighted as support for coping. At the same time, the findings indicate that support through structural factors such as plans, procedures and routines was limited

Constraints on a potential aerial biosphere on Venus: II. Ultraviolet radiation

Despite the harsh conditions in the atmosphere of Venus, the possibility for an aerial habitable zone exists. A thermal habitable zone is predicted to exist at an altitude range of 62 to 48 km, above which temperatures drop below the lower thermal limit of cell growth and below which temperatures exceed the evaporation temperature. Many biocidal factors must be considered for the complete definition of an aerial habitable zone; in this study we consider the constraint specifically from the perspective of biocidal solar ultraviolet (UV) intensity in the atmosphere. We simulated the penetration of solar ultraviolet and visible light through the atmosphere using a radiative transfer model, to determine the spectral environment (and thus the UV biocidal effect) as a function of altitude in the atmosphere of Venus. At the top of the thermal aerial habitable zone (62 km) the incoming solar irradiance creates a severely challenging UV environment, with extremophiles such as Deinococcus radiodurans expected to be able to endure these UV conditions for approximately 80 s. At an altitude of around 59 km the biologically-weighted UV irradiance drops below that calculated for the Archean Earth, and continues to fall with decreasing altitude until at 54 km it is less than that found currently at the surface of Earth. Crucially, longer wavelength photosynthetically active light continues to penetrate to these altitudes and below, resulting in a solar radiation environment in the venusian atmosphere below around 54 km that screens biologically-damaging UV radiation yet permits the process of photosynthesis. Whilst not claiming to suggest the existence of an aerial habitable zone in general, by considering thermal conditions, ionising radiation and the UV flux environment of the venusian cloud deck alone, we define a potential habitable zone that extends from 59 km to 48 km. This region should form the focus of future remote and in situ astrobiological investigations of Venus

Validity, reliability, and feasibility of a quality of life questionnaire for people with dementia

Public Health and primary careGeriatrics in primary car

Space-time versus particle-hole symmetry in quantum Enskog equations

The non-local scattering-in and -out integrals of the Enskog equation have reversed displacements of colliding particles reflecting that the -in and -out processes are conjugated by the space and time inversions. Generalisations of the Enskog equation to Fermi liquid systems are hindered by a request of the particle-hole symmetry which contradicts the reversed displacements. We resolve this problem with the help of the optical theorem. It is found that space-time and particle-hole symmetry can only be fulfilled simultaneously for the Bruckner-type of internal Pauli-blocking while the Feynman-Galitskii form allows only for particle-hole symmetry but not for space-time symmetry due to a stimulated emission of Bosons