Manganese-56 coincidence-counting facility precisely measures neutron-source strength

Precise measurement of neutron-source strength is provided by a manganese 56 coincidence-counting facility using the manganese-bath technique. This facility combines nuclear instrumentation with coincidence-counting techniques to handle a wide variety of radioisotope-counting requirements

Funnel-web spider bite: a systematic review of recorded clinical cases

The document attached has been archived with permission from the editor of the Medical Journal of Australia (09 January 2008). An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.Objective: To investigate species-specific envenoming rates and spectrum of severity of funnel-web spider bites, and the efficacy and adverse effects of funnel-web spider antivenom. Data sources: Cases were identified from a prospective study of spider bite presenting to four major hospitals and three state poisons information centres (1999–2003); museum records of spider specimens since 1926; NSW Poisons Information Centre database; MEDLINE and EMBASE search; clinical toxinology textbooks; the media; and the manufacturer’s reports of antivenom use. Data extraction: Patient age and sex, geographical location, month, expert identification of the spider, clinical effects and management; envenoming was classified as severe, mild–moderate or minor/local effects. Data synthesis: 198 potential funnel-web spider bites were identified: 138 were definite (spider expertly identified to species or genus), and 77 produced severe envenoming. All species-identified severe cases were attributed to one of six species restricted to NSW and southern Queensland. Rates of severe envenoming were: Hadronyche cerberea (75%), H. formidabilis (63%), Atrax robustus (17%), Hadronyche sp. 14 (17%), H. infensa (14%) and H. versuta (11%). Antivenom was used in 75 patients, including 22 children (median dose, 3 ampoules; range, 1–17), with a complete response in 97% of expertly identified cases. Three adverse reactions were reported, all in adults: two early allergic reactions (one mild and one with severe systemic effects requiring adrenaline), and one case of serum sickness. Conclusions: Severe funnel-web spider envenoming is confined to NSW and southern Queensland; tree-dwelling funnel webs (H. cerberea and H. formidabilis) have the highest envenoming rates. Funnel-web spider antivenom appears effective and safe; severe allergic reactions are uncommon.Geoffrey K Isbister, Michael R Gray, Corrine R Balit, Robert J Raven, Barrie J Stokes, Kate Porges, Alan S Tankel, Elizabeth Turner, Julian White and Malcolm McD Fishe

Facial expressions depicting compassionate and critical emotions: the development and validation of a new emotional face stimulus set

Attachment with altruistic others requires the ability to appropriately process affiliative and kind facial cues. Yet there is no stimulus set available to investigate such processes. Here, we developed a stimulus set depicting compassionate and critical facial expressions, and validated its effectiveness using well-established visual-probe methodology. In Study 1, 62 participants rated photographs of actors displaying compassionate/kind and critical faces on strength of emotion type. This produced a new stimulus set based on N = 31 actors, whose facial expressions were reliably distinguished as compassionate, critical and neutral. In Study 2, 70 participants completed a visual-probe task measuring attentional orientation to critical and compassionate/kind faces. This revealed that participants lower in self-criticism demonstrated enhanced attention to compassionate/kind faces whereas those higher in self-criticism showed no bias. To sum, the new stimulus set produced interpretable findings using visual-probe methodology and is the first to include higher order, complex positive affect displays

Attachment Theory: Developments, Debates and Recent Applications in Social Work, Social Care and Education

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Social Work Practice on 16/12/2019, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/02650533.2019.1700493.Attachment theory may be considered controversial given that some of its foundational principles are contested. Not only this, it is currently being developed by insights from neuroscience, another perspective that academics have subjected to critique. Nevertheless, at the beginning of the twenty-first century in England and the United Kingdom in general, there has been a renewed interest in its explanation of child development, as well as its application in schools, social care settings and the practice of professionals such as social workers and teachers. This paper outlines the core principles of attachment theory, acknowledges some of the criticisms, then traces the ways in which the theory has been developed over time. The theory is then illustrated with a description of the ways in which it is being applied in the training of foster carers, the provision of support to adoptive parents and in the school environment

Functional Anatomy of the Female Pelvic Floor

The anatomic structures in the female that prevent incontinence and genital organ prolapse on increases in abdominal pressure during daily activities include sphincteric and supportive systems. In the urethra, the action of the vesical neck and urethral sphincteric mechanisms maintains urethral closure pressure above bladder pressure. Decreases in the number of striated muscle fibers of the sphincter occur with age and parity. A supportive hammock under the urethra and vesical neck provides a firm backstop against which the urethra is compressed during increases in abdominal pressure to maintain urethral closure pressures above the rapidly increasing bladder pressure. This supporting layer consists of the anterior vaginal wall and the connective tissue that attaches it to the pelvic bones through the pubovaginal portion of the levator ani muscle, and the uterosacral and cardinal ligaments comprising the tendinous arch of the pelvic fascia. At rest the levator ani maintains closure of the urogenital hiatus. They are additionally recruited to maintain hiatal closure in the face of inertial loads related to visceral accelerations as well as abdominal pressurization in daily activities involving recruitment of the abdominal wall musculature and diaphragm. Vaginal birth is associated with an increased risk of levator ani defects, as well as genital organ prolapse and urinary incontinence. Computer models indicate that vaginal birth places the levator ani under tissue stretch ratios of up to 3.3 and the pudendal nerve under strains of up to 33%, respectively. Research is needed to better identify the pathomechanics of these conditions.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72597/1/annals.1389.034.pd

When Too Much Is Not Enough: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder as a Pathology of Stopping, Rather than Starting

Background: In obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), individuals feel compelled to repeatedly perform security-related behaviors, even though these behaviours seem excessive and unwarranted to them. The present research investigated two alternative ways of explaining such behavior: (1) a dysfunction of activation—a starting problem—in which the level of excitation in response to stimuli suggesting potential danger is abnormally strong; versus (2) a dysfunction of termination— a stopping problem—in which the satiety-like process for shutting down security-related thoughts and actions is abnormally weak. Method: In two experiments, 70 patients with OCD (57 with washing compulsions, 13 with checking compulsions) and 72 controls were exposed to contamination cues—immersing a hand in wet diapers —and later allowed to wash their hands, first limited to 30 s and then for as long as desired. The intensity of activation of security motivation was measured objectively by change in respiratory sinus arrythmia. Subjective ratings (e.g., contamination) and behavioral measures (e.g., duration of hand washing) were also collected. Results: Compared to controls, OCD patients with washing compulsions did not differ significantly in their levels of initial activation to the threat of contamination; however, they were significantly less able to reduce this activation by engaging in the corrective behavior of hand-washing. Further, the deactivating effect of hand-washing in OCD patients with checkin

Big GABA II: Water-referenced edited MR spectroscopy at 25 research sites

Accurate and reliable quantification of brain metabolites measured in vivo using 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is a topic of continued interest. Aside from differences in the basic approach to quantification, the quantification of metabolite data acquired at different sites and on different platforms poses an additional methodological challenge. In this study, spectrally edited γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) MRS data were analyzed and GABA levels were quantified relative to an internal tissue water reference. Data from 284 volunteers scanned across 25 research sites were collected using GABA+ (GABA + co-edited macromolecules (MM)) and MM-suppressed GABA editing. The unsuppressed water signal from the volume of interest was acquired for concentration referencing. Whole-brain T1-weighted structural images were acquired and segmented to determine gray matter, white matter and cerebrospinal fluid voxel tissue fractions. Water-referenced GABA measurements were fully corrected for tissue-dependent signal relaxation and water visibility effects. The cohort-wide coefficient of variation was 17% for the GABA + data and 29% for the MM-suppressed GABA data. The mean within-site coefficient of variation was 10% for the GABA + data and 19% for the MM-suppressed GABA data. Vendor differences contributed 53% to the total variance in the GABA + data, while the remaining variance was attributed to site- (11%) and participant-level (36%) effects. For the MM-suppressed data, 54% of the variance was attributed to site differences, while the remaining 46% was attributed to participant differences. Results from an exploratory analysis suggested that the vendor differences were related to the unsuppressed water signal acquisition. Discounting the observed vendor-specific effects, water-referenced GABA measurements exhibit similar levels of variance to creatine-referenced GABA measurements. It is concluded that quantification using internal tissue water referencing is a viable and reliable method for the quantification of in vivo GABA levels

Hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies: types II, III, and IV

The hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies (HSAN) encompass a number of inherited disorders that are associated with sensory dysfunction (depressed reflexes, altered pain and temperature perception) and varying degrees of autonomic dysfunction (gastroesophageal reflux, postural hypotention, excessive sweating). Subsequent to the numerical classification of four distinct forms of HSAN that was proposed by Dyck and Ohta, additional entities continue to be described, so that identification and classification are ongoing. As a group, the HSAN are rare diseases that affect both sexes. HSAN III is almost exclusive to individuals of Eastern European Jewish extraction, with incidence of 1 per 3600 live births. Several hundred cases with HSAN IV have been reported. The worldwide prevalence of HSAN type II is very low. This review focuses on the description of three of the disorders, HSAN II through IV, that are characterized by autosomal recessive inheritance and onset at birth. These three forms of HSAN have been the most intensively studied, especially familial dysautonomia (Riley-Day syndrome or HSAN III), which is often used as a prototype for comparison to the other HSAN. Each HSAN disorder is likely caused by different genetic errors that affect specific aspects of small fiber neurodevelopment, which result in variable phenotypic expression. As genetic tests are routinely used for diagnostic confirmation of HSAN III only, other means of differentiating between the disorders is necessary. Diagnosis is based on the clinical features, the degree of both sensory and autonomic dysfunction, and biochemical evaluations, with pathologic examinations serving to further confirm differences. Treatments for all these disorders are supportive