Factor structure of the Gotland Scale of male depression in two samples of men with prostate cancer:Implications for treating male depression

Up to a quarter of all prostate cancer (PCa) patients suffer from clinically significant depression but treatments are inconsistent and short-lived in their efficacy. One possible reason could be that 'male depression' is not adequately diagnosed by the criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) used in many clinical settings.In response to this limitation, the Gotland Scale of Male Depression (GSMD) was developed to identify the extra symptoms of MDD in men. Although the factor structure of the GSMD has been reported in non-PCa samples, it has not been determined for this group of men. Two samples of PCa patients were recruited, 191 from Australia and 138 from the United Kingdom and all patients received the GSMD individually, plus a background questionnaire. Two-factor solutions were identified for each of the two samples. The Australian sample was characterized by changes in emotional and somatic function, followed by depressed mood. The U.K. sample exhibited the same two-factor solution but in reverse order of weighting. Targeted treatments for depression in PCa patients may benefit from identification of the loadings that individual patients have on these two GSMD factors so that specific clinical profiles and treatment needs may be based on this information about their depression

Gas micro-well track imaging detectors for gamma-ray astronomy

We describe our program to develop gas micro-well detectors (MWDs) as three-dimensional charged particle trackers for use in advanced gamma-ray telescope concepts. A micro-well detector consists of an array of individual micro-patterned gas proportional counters opposite a planar drift electrode. The well anodes and cathodes may be connected in X and Y strips, respectively, to provide two-dimensional imaging. When combined with transient digitizer electronics, which record the time signature of the charge collected in the wells of each strip, full three-dimensional reconstruction of charged-particle tracks in large gas volumes is possible. Such detectors hold great promise for advanced Compton telescope (ACT) and advanced pair telescope (APT) concepts due to the very precise measurement of charged particle momenta that is possible (Compton recoil electrons and electron-positron pairs, respectively). We present preliminary lab results, including detector fabrication, prototype electronics, and initial detector testing. We also discuss applications to the ACT and APT mission concepts, based on GEANT3 and GEANT4 simulations

A synergistic and extensible framework for multi-agent system verification

Recently there has been a proliferation of tools and languages for modeling multi-agent systems (MAS). Verification tools, correspondingly, have been developed to check properties of these systems. Most MAS verification tools, however, have their own input language and often specialize in one verification technology, or only support checking a specific type of property. In this work we present an extensible framework that leverages mainstream verification tools to successfully reason about various types of properties. We describe the verification of models specified in the Brahms agent modeling language to demonstrate the feasibility of our approach. We chose Brahms because it is used to model real instances of interactions between pilots, air-traffic controllers, and automated systems at NASA. Our framework takes as input a Brahms model along with a Java implementation of its semantics. We then use Java PathFinder to explore all possible behaviors of the model and, also, produce a generalized intermediate representation that encodes these behaviors. The intermediate representation is automatically transformed to the input language of mainstream model checkers, including PRISM, SPIN, and NuSMV allowing us to check different types of properties. We validate our approach on a model that contains key elements from the Air France Flight 447 acciden

New light on the ‘Drummer of Tedworth’: conflicting narratives of witchcraft in Restoration England

This paper presents a definitive text of hitherto little-known early documents concerning ‘The Drummer of Tedworth’, a poltergeist case that occurred in 1662-3 and became famous not least due to its promotion by Joseph Glanvill in his demonological work, Saducismus Triumphatus. On the basis of these and other sources, it is shown how responses to the events at Tedworth evolved from anxious piety on the part of their victim, John Mompesson, to confident apologetic by Glanvill, before they were further affected by the emergence of articulate scepticism about the case

Laser velocimetry technique applied to the Langley 0.3 meter transonic cryogenic tunnel

A low power laser velocimeter operating in the forward scatter mode was used to measure free stream mean velocities in the Langley 0.3 Meter Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel. Velocity ranging from 51 to 235 m/s was measured. Measurements were obtained for a variety of nominal tunnel conditions: Mach numbers from 0.20 to 0.77, total temperatures from 100 to 250 K, and pressures from 101 to 152 kPa. Particles were not injected to augment the existing Mie scattering materials. Liquid nitrogen droplets were the existing liqht scattering material. Tunnel vibrations and thermal effects had no detrimental effects on the optical system