2,565 research outputs found
Social Skills Training: Effects on Social Competence and Behavior In Children
The effects that fifteen sessions combining cognitive behavioral techniques and social skills training had on increasing socially positive behavior was investigated with male and female, fifth and sixth grade students. Within a control, experimental and placebo group, behavior rating surveys were administered to parents, teachers and students to identify changes in perceptions of subject behavior. Survey instruments included the Walker Problem Behavior Identification Checklist (1983 rev.) and the Elementary Behavior Questionnaire. Changes in interpersonal behavior, acting out behavior and disturbed peer relations were assessed. Results indicated there was no statistically significant increase in prosocial behavior or decrease in antisocial behavior with any of the three groups involved in the study. Implications for further research design and application are discussed
The use of telemedicine to assess a paediatric patient with arrhythmia presenting to a remote community coronavirus assessment centre
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Non-invasive estimation of left atrial dominant frequency in atrial fibrillation from different electrode sites: Insight from body surface potential mapping
© 2014, CardioFront LLC. All rights reserved. The dominant driving sources of atrial fibrillation are often found in the left atrium, but the expression of left atrial activation on the body surface is poorly understood. Using body surface potential mapping and simultaneous invasive measurements of left atrial activation our aim was to describe the expression of the left atrial dominant fibrillation frequency across the body surface. 20 patients in atrial fibrillation were studied. The spatial distributions of the dominant atrial fibrillation frequency across anterior and posterior sites on the body surface were quantified. Their relationship with invasive left atrial dominant fibrillation frequency was assessed by linear regression analysis, and the coefficient of determination was calculated for each body surface site. The correlation between intracardiac and body surface dominant frequency was significantly higher with posterior compared with anterior sites (coefficient of determination 67±8% vs 48±2%,
VLBA Polarization Observations of Markarian 421 After a Gamma-Ray High State
We present four high dynamic range, dual-circular polarization, Very Long
Baseline Array (VLBA) observations at 22 GHz of Markarian 421, taken throughout
the year following the source's unprecedented gamma-ray high state in early
2001. These four new VLBA observations are combined with data from our earlier
1999 paper and archival VLBA data-sets that have become available since 1999 to
produce a combined 28 epoch VLBA data-set on Mrk 421 spanning the years 1994 to
2002. No new component associated with the 2001 flares was seen on the total
intensity images, but the combined data-set allowed precise measurements of the
apparent speeds of the existing components. The peak measured apparent speed
was for component C5, which has an apparent speed of 0.1 +/- 0.02 c (H_0=71 km
s^{-1} Mpc^{-1}, Omega_m=0.27, and Omega_Lambda=0.73). No counterjet is seen
with a limit on the jet to counterjet brightness ratio J >~ 100. These observed
VLBI properties of Markarian 421 are consistent with a jet with a bulk Lorentz
factor of about 2 and an angle to the line-of-sight of about 1 degree,
suggesting a jet that decelerates between the gamma-ray producing region and
the parsec scale. The VLBI core and inner jet (component C7) have fractional
polarizations of about 5%, and an electric vector position angle (EVPA) aligned
with the jet axis. Component C5 (at 1.5 mas from the core) has a higher
fractional polarization of about 15%, and an EVPA nearly orthogonal to the jet
axis. Significant variability is detected in the EVPA of component C6, which at
two of the four epochs shows an EVPA aligned with the jet axis, possibly a sign
of propagating disturbances that are only visible on the polarization images.
If these propagating disturbances are linked to the 2001 gamma-ray high state,
then their inferred apparent speed is between 1 and 3 c.Comment: 11 pages, accepted to Ap
Principal component analysis of atrial fibrillation: Inclusion of posterior ECG leads does not improve correlation with left atrial activity
Background Lead V? is routinely analysed due to its large amplitude AF waveform. V? correlates strongly with right atrial activity but only moderately with left atrial activity. Posterior lead V? correlates strongest with left atrial activity. Aims (1) To establish whether surface dominant AF frequency (DAF) calculated using principal component analysis (PCA) of a modified 12-lead ECG (including posterior leads) has a stronger correlation with left atrial activity compared to the standard ECG. (2) To assess the contribution of individual ECG leads to the AF principal component in both ECG configurations. Methods Patients were assigned to modified or standard ECG groups. In the modified ECG, posterior leads V? and V? replaced V? and V?. AF waveform was extracted from one-minute surface ECG recordings using PCA. Surface DAF was correlated with intracardiac DAF from the high right atrium (HRA), coronary sinus (CS) and pulmonary veins (PVs). Results 96 patients were studied. Surface DAF from the modified ECG did not have a stronger correlation with left atrial activity compared to the standard ECG. Both ECG configurations correlated strongly with HRA, CS and right PVs but only moderately with left PVs. V? contributed most to the AF principal component in both ECG configurations
Effect of catheter ablation on quality of life in patients with atrial fibrillation and its correlation with arrhythmia outcome
Objective To assess the effect of catheter ablation on atrial fibrillation (AF) symptoms and quality of life (QoL). Methods Patients with AF scheduled for ablation were recruited. Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) was performed and complex fractionated atrial electrogram (CFAE)±linear ablation undertaken in patients in AF despite PVI. QoL and AF symptoms were assessed using SF-36 V2 and Atrial Fibrillation Effect on Quality-of-Life (AFEQT) questionnaires before and 3 months after ablation. Change in QoL scores after ablation was correlated with clinical parameters and the extent of ablation. Magnitude of QoL change was compared between AFEQT and SF-36 physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores and correlated with arrhythmia outcome. Results 80 patients were studied. Summative and individual health scores for both AFEQT (51.5±22.0 vs 81.3±18.2; p<0.01) and SF-36 (PCS 43.3±10.5 vs 47.9±11.3; p<0.01 and MCS 45.0±11.5 vs 51.5±9.4; p<0.01) improved significantly in patients who maintained sinus rhythm after ablation, but not in those with recurrent AF. Improvement in AFEQT (25.4±19) was significantly greater than change in PCS (6.8±6.4; p<0.01) and MCS (8.5±7.9; p<0.01) scores and correlated more closely with arrhythmia outcome (AFEQT r=0.55; PCS r=0.26; MCS r=0.30). Conclusions Patients who maintained sinus rhythm after ablation had a significant improvement in AF symptoms and QoL; however, no improvement was observed in patients with recurrent AF. QoL change after ablation did not correlate with baseline clinical parameters or ablation strategy. AF specific QoL scales are more responsive to change and correlate better with ablation outcome
Transnational Corporations and the Denationalization of the Latin American Cigarette Industry (Dialogue #17)
Sensor node localisation using a stereo camera rig
In this paper, we use stereo vision processing techniques to
detect and localise sensors used for monitoring simulated
environmental events within an experimental sensor network testbed. Our sensor nodes communicate to the camera through patterns emitted by light emitting diodes (LEDs). Ultimately, we envisage the use of very low-cost, low-power,
compact microcontroller-based sensing nodes that employ
LED communication rather than power hungry RF to transmit data that is gathered via existing CCTV infrastructure.
To facilitate our research, we have constructed a controlled
environment where nodes and cameras can be deployed and
potentially hazardous chemical or physical plumes can be
introduced to simulate environmental pollution events in a
controlled manner. In this paper we show how 3D spatial
localisation of sensors becomes a straightforward task when
a stereo camera rig is used rather than a more usual 2D
CCTV camera
VLBI detection of an Infrared-Faint Radio Source
Infrared-Faint Radio Sources represent a new and unexpected class of object
which is bright at radio wavelengths but unusually faint at infrared
wavelengths. If, like most mJy radio sources, they were either conventional
active or star-forming galaxies in the local Universe, we would expect them to
be detectable at infrared wavelengths, and so their non-detection by the
Spitzer Space Telescope is surprising. Here we report the detection of one of
these sources using Very Long Baseline Interferometry, from which we conclude
that the sources are driven by Active Galactic Nuclei. We suggest that these
sources are either normal radio-loud quasars at high redshift or abnormally
obscured radio galaxies.Comment: accepted by MNRA
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