an emotional theory

The paper is concerned with the measurement of emotions and the study of the role of emotions in consumer choice. Contemporary neurological findings suggest that emotions may play a role in its own right, quite different from the way in which they have been considered in traditional consumer choice behaviour theory. A large-scale study including 800 respondents, covering 64 brands, provide findings on emotional response tendencies for the brands, and relate these to involvement, type of need gratification, purchasing behaviour, etc

Composite Luminosity Functions Based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey "Cut & Enhance" Galaxy Cluster Catalog

We present here results on the composite luminosity functions of galaxies in the clusters of galaxies selected from the SDSS Cut and Enhance cluster catalog (CE; Goto et al. 2001). We construct the composite luminosity function in the five SDSS bands, u,g,r,i and z, using 204 CE clusters ranging from z=0.02 to z=0.25. We use photometric redshifts to construct composite luminosity functions. The robustness of the weighting scheme was tested using Monte Carlo simulation. We find the slope of composite LFs become flatter toward redder color band. Comparing with field LFs of SDSS (Blanton et al. 2001), cluster LFs have brighter characteristic magnitude and flatter slopes in g, r, i and z bands. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the cluster LF has two distinct underlying populations i.e. the bright end of the LF is dominated by bright early types that follow a gaussian--like luminosity distribution, while the faint--end of the cluster LF is a steep power--law like function dominated by star--forming (bluer) galaxies. We also study the composite luminosity functions for early--type and late--type galaxies using profile fits, a concentration parameter and u-r color to classify galaxy morphology. The strong dependence of LF on galaxy morphology is found.The faint end slope of the LF is always flatter for early--type galaxies than late--type regardless of passband and methodology. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the cluster region are dominated by bright elliptical galaxies.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, PASJ, 54, 515, miner typos fixe

The Morphological Butcher-Oemler effect in the SDSS Cut&Enhance Galaxy Cluster Catalog

We investigate the evolution of the fractions of late type cluster galaxies as a function of redshift, using one of the largest, most uniform cluster samples available. The sample consists of 514 clusters of galaxies in the range 0.02<z<0.3 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Cut & Enhance galaxy cluster catalog. This catalog was created using a single automated cluster finding algorithm on uniform data from a single telescope, with accurate CCD photometry, thus, minimizing selection biases. We use four independent methods to analyze the evolution of the late type galaxy fraction. Specifically, we select late type galaxies based on: restframe g-r color, u-r color, galaxy profile fitting and concentration index. The first criterion corresponds to the one used in the classical Butcher-Oemler analyses. The last three criteria are more sensitive to the morphological type of the galaxies. In all four cases, we find an increase in the fraction of late type galaxies with increasing redshift, significant at the 99.9% level. The results confirm that cluster galaxies do change colors with redshift (the Butcher-Oemler effect) and, in addition, they change their morphology to later-type toward higher redshift -- indicating a morphological equivalent of the Butcher-Oemler effect. We also find a tendency of richer clusters to have lower fractions of late type galaxies. The trend is consistent with a ram pressure stripping model, where richer clusters have more effective ram pressure due to their higher temperature.Comment: 44 pages, 15 figures, accepted for PAS

Macaque models of human infectious disease.

Macaques have served as models for more than 70 human infectious diseases of diverse etiologies, including a multitude of agents-bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, prions. The remarkable diversity of human infectious diseases that have been modeled in the macaque includes global, childhood, and tropical diseases as well as newly emergent, sexually transmitted, oncogenic, degenerative neurologic, potential bioterrorism, and miscellaneous other diseases. Historically, macaques played a major role in establishing the etiology of yellow fever, polio, and prion diseases. With rare exceptions (Chagas disease, bartonellosis), all of the infectious diseases in this review are of Old World origin. Perhaps most surprising is the large number of tropical (16), newly emergent (7), and bioterrorism diseases (9) that have been modeled in macaques. Many of these human diseases (e.g., AIDS, hepatitis E, bartonellosis) are a consequence of zoonotic infection. However, infectious agents of certain diseases, including measles and tuberculosis, can sometimes go both ways, and thus several human pathogens are threats to nonhuman primates including macaques. Through experimental studies in macaques, researchers have gained insight into pathogenic mechanisms and novel treatment and vaccine approaches for many human infectious diseases, most notably acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), which is caused by infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Other infectious agents for which macaques have been a uniquely valuable resource for biomedical research, and particularly vaccinology, include influenza virus, paramyxoviruses, flaviviruses, arenaviruses, hepatitis E virus, papillomavirus, smallpox virus, Mycobacteria, Bacillus anthracis, Helicobacter pylori, Yersinia pestis, and Plasmodium species. This review summarizes the extensive past and present research on macaque models of human infectious disease

Parental smoking and childhood cancer: results from the United Kingdom Childhood Cancer Study

There are strong a priori reasons for considering parental smoking behaviour as a risk factor for childhood cancer but case – control studies have found relative risks of mostly only just above one. To investigate this further, self-reported smoking habits in parents of 3838 children with cancer and 7629 control children included in the United Kingdom Childhood Cancer Study (UKCCS) were analysed. Separate analyses were performed for four major groups (leukaemia, lymphoma, central nervous system tumours and other solid tumours) and more detailed diagnostic subgroups by logistic regression. In the four major groups, after adjustment for parental age and deprivation there were nonsignificant trends of increasing risk with number of cigarettes smoked for paternal preconception smoking and nonsignificant trends of decreasing risk for maternal preconception smoking (all P-values for trend >0.05). Among the diagnostic subgroups, a statistically significant increased risk of developing hepatoblastoma was found in children whose mothers smoked preconceptionally (OR=2.68, P=0.02) and strongest (relative to neither parent smoking) for both parents smoking (OR=4.74, P=0.003). This could be a chance result arising from multiple subgroup analysis. Statistically significant negative trends were found for maternal smoking during pregnancy for all diagnoses together (P<0.001) and for most individual groups, but there was evidence of under-reporting of smoking by case mothers. In conclusion, the UKCCS does not provide significant evidence that parental smoking is a risk factor for any of the major groups of childhood cancers

Emerging New Crop Pests: Ecological Modelling and Analysis of the South American Potato Psyllid Russelliana solanicola (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) and Its Wild Relatives

© 2017 Syfert et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Current state of fine mineral tailings treatment: A critical review on theory and practice

The mining industry produces fluid fine mineral tailings on the order of millions of tonnes each year, with billions of tonnes already stored globally. This trend is expected to escalate as demand for mineral products continues to grow with increasingly lower grade ores being more commonly exploited by hydrometallurgy. Ubiquitous presence and enrichment of fine solids such as silt and clays in fluid fine mineral tailings prevent efficient solid-liquid separation and timely re-use of valuable process water. Long-term storage of such fluid waste materials not only incurs a huge operating cost, but also creates substantial environmental liabilities of tailings ponds for mining operators. This review broadly examines current theoretical understandings and prevalent industrial practices on treating fine mineral tailings for greater water recovery and reduced environmental footprint of mining operations

Pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain: an update

A large number of scientists from a wide range of medical and surgical disciplines have reported on the existence and characteristics of the clinical syndrome of pelvic girdle pain during or after pregnancy. This syndrome refers to a musculoskeletal type of persistent pain localised at the anterior and/or posterior aspect of the pelvic ring. The pain may radiate across the hip joint and the thigh bones. The symptoms may begin either during the first trimester of pregnancy, at labour or even during the postpartum period. The physiological processes characterising this clinical entity remain obscure. In this review, the definition and epidemiology, as well as a proposed diagnostic algorithm and treatment options, are presented. Ongoing research is desirable to establish clear management strategies that are based on the pathophysiologic mechanisms responsible for the escalation of the syndrome's symptoms to a fraction of the population of pregnant women

Systematic Review of Potential Health Risks Posed by Pharmaceutical, Occupational and Consumer Exposures to Metallic and Nanoscale Aluminum, Aluminum Oxides, Aluminum Hydroxide and Its Soluble Salts

Aluminum (Al) is a ubiquitous substance encountered both naturally (as the third most abundant element) and intentionally (used in water, foods, pharmaceuticals, and vaccines); it is also present in ambient and occupational airborne particulates. Existing data underscore the importance of Al physical and chemical forms in relation to its uptake, accumulation, and systemic bioavailability. The present review represents a systematic examination of the peer-reviewed literature on the adverse health effects of Al materials published since a previous critical evaluation compiled by Krewski et al. (2007). Challenges encountered in carrying out the present review reflected the experimental use of different physical and chemical Al forms, different routes of administration, and different target organs in relation to the magnitude, frequency, and duration of exposure. Wide variations in diet can result in Al intakes that are often higher than the World Health Organization provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI), which is based on studies with Al citrate. Comparing daily dietary Al exposures on the basis of “total Al”assumes that gastrointestinal bioavailability for all dietary Al forms is equivalent to that for Al citrate, an approach that requires validation. Current occupational exposure limits (OELs) for identical Al substances vary as much as 15-fold. The toxicity of different Al forms depends in large measure on their physical behavior and relative solubility in water. The toxicity of soluble Al forms depends upon the delivered dose of Al+ 3 to target tissues. Trivalent Al reacts with water to produce bidentate superoxide coordination spheres [Al(O2)(H2O4)+ 2 and Al(H2O)6 + 3] that after complexation with O2•−, generate Al superoxides [Al(O2•)](H2O5)]+ 2. Semireduced AlO2• radicals deplete mitochondrial Fe and promote generation of H2O2, O2 • − and OH•. Thus, it is the Al+ 3-induced formation of oxygen radicals that accounts for the oxidative damage that leads to intrinsic apoptosis. In contrast, the toxicity of the insoluble Al oxides depends primarily on their behavior as particulates. Aluminum has been held responsible for human morbidity and mortality, but there is no consistent and convincing evidence to associate the Al found in food and drinking water at the doses and chemical forms presently consumed by people living in North America and Western Europe with increased risk for Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD). Neither is there clear evidence to show use of Al-containing underarm antiperspirants or cosmetics increases the risk of AD or breast cancer. Metallic Al, its oxides, and common Al salts have not been shown to be either genotoxic or carcinogenic. Aluminum exposures during neonatal and pediatric parenteral nutrition (PN) can impair bone mineralization and delay neurological development. Adverse effects to vaccines with Al adjuvants have occurred; however, recent controlled trials found that the immunologic response to certain vaccines with Al adjuvants was no greater, and in some cases less than, that after identical vaccination without Al adjuvants. The scientific literature on the adverse health effects of Al is extensive. Health risk assessments for Al must take into account individual co-factors (e.g., age, renal function, diet, gastric pH). Conclusions from the current review point to the need for refinement of the PTWI, reduction of Al contamination in PN solutions, justification for routine addition of Al to vaccines, and harmonization of OELs for Al substances