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Petrology and geochemistry of nakhlite MIL 03346: A new Martian meteorite from Antarctica
MIL 03346 is the first nakhlite in the US Antarctic collection. We have performed detailed mineralogical and bulk-geochemical investigations to compare petrogenesis of this Martian meteorite with other nakhlites
Measurement properties of the UK-English version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventoryâ„¢ 4.0 (PedsQLâ„¢) generic core scales
Background
Health related quality of life (HRQL) has been recognised as an important paediatric outcome measurement. One of the more promising measures to emerge in recent years is the Pediatric Quality Of Life Inventory (PedsQLâ„¢), developed in the US. Advantages of the PedsQLâ„¢ include brevity, availability of age appropriate versions and parallel forms for child and parent. This study developed a UK-English version of PedsQLâ„¢ generic module and assessed its performance in a group of UK children and their parents.
Methods
PedsQLâ„¢ was translated to UK-English. The psychometric properties of the UK version were then tested following administration to 1399 children and 970 of their parents. The sample included healthy children, children diagnosed with asthma, diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease and children in remission from cancer.
Results
Psychometric properties were similar to those reported for the original PedsQLâ„¢. Internal reliability exceeded 0.70 for all proxy and self-report sub-scales. Discriminant validity was established for proxy and self-report with higher HRQL being reported for healthy children than those with health problems. Sex differences were noted on the emotional functioning subscale, with females reporting lower HRQL than males. Proxy and self-report correlation was higher for children with health problems than for healthy children.
Conclusion
The UK-English version of PedsQLâ„¢ performed as well as the original PedsQLâ„¢ and is recommended for assessment of paediatric HRQL in the UK
Small crater populations on Vesta
The NASA Dawn mission has extensively examined the surface of asteroid Vesta,
the second most massive body in the main belt. The high quality of the gathered
data provides us with an unique opportunity to determine the surface and
internal properties of one of the most important and intriguing main belt
asteroids (MBAs). In this paper, we focus on the size frequency distributions
(SFDs) of sub-kilometer impact craters observed at high spatial resolution on
several selected young terrains on Vesta. These small crater populations offer
an excellent opportunity to determine the nature of their asteroidal precursors
(namely MBAs) at sizes that are not directly observable from ground-based
telescopes (i.e., below ~100 m diameter). Moreover, unlike many other MBA
surfaces observed by spacecraft thus far, the young terrains examined had
crater spatial densities that were far from empirical saturation. Overall, we
find that the cumulative power-law index (slope) of small crater SFDs on Vesta
is fairly consistent with predictions derived from current collisional and
dynamical models down to a projectile size of ~10 m diameter (Bottke et al.,
2005a,b). The shape of the impactor SFD for small projectile sizes does not
appear to have changed over the last several billions of years, and an argument
can be made that the absolute number of small MBAs has remained roughly
constant (within a factor of 2) over the same time period. The apparent steady
state nature of the main belt population potentially provides us with a set of
intriguing constraints that can be used to glean insights into the physical
evolution of individual MBAs as well as the main belt as an ensemble.Comment: Accepted by PSS, to appear on Vesta cratering special issu
Dynamical two electron states in a Hubbard-Davydov model
We study a model in which a Hubbard Hamiltonian is coupled to the dispersive
phonons in a classical nonlinear lattice. Our calculations are restricted to
the case where we have only two quasi-particles of opposite spins, and we
investigate the dynamics when the second quasi-particle is added to a state
corresponding to a minimal energy single quasi-particle state. Depending on the
parameter values, we find a number of interesting regimes. In many of these,
discrete breathers (DBs) play a prominent role with a localized lattice mode
coupled to the quasiparticles. Simulations with a purely harmonic lattice show
much weaker localization effects. Our results support the possibility that DBs
are important in HTSC.Comment: 14 pages, 12 fig
Improving the Stability of the EC1 Domain of E-cadherin by Thiol Alkylation of the Cysteine Residue
The objective of this work was to improve chemical and physical stability of the EC1 protein derived from the extracellular domain of E-cadherin. In solution, the EC1 protein has been shown to form a covalent dimer via a disulfide bond formation followed by physical aggregation and precipitation. To improve solution stability of the EC1 protein, the thiol group of the Cys13 residue in EC1 was alkylated with iodoacetate, iodoacetamide, and maleimide-PEG-5000 to produce thioether derivatives called EC1-IA, EC1-IN, and EC1-PEG. The physical and chemical stabilities of the EC1 derivatives and the parent EC1 were evaluated at various pHs (3.0, 7.0, and 9.0) and temperatures (0, 3, 70 °C). The structural characteristics of each molecule were analyzed by circular dichroism (CD) and fluorescence spectroscopy and the derivatives have similar secondary structure as the parent EC1 protein at pH 7.0. Both EC1-IN and EC1-PEG derivatives showed better chemical and physical stability profiles than did the parent EC1 at pH 7.0. EC1-PEG had the best stability profile compared to EC1-IN and EC1 in solution under various conditions
The Inter-Rater Consistency of Clinician Ratings of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Therapy Content.
Effective communication between clinicians is essential for the success of mental health interventions in multidisciplinary contexts. This relies on a shared understanding of concepts, diagnoses and treatments. A major assumption of clinicians when discussing psychological treatments with each other is that both parties have a shared understanding of the theory, rationale and application of the respective technique. We aimed to determine to what extent there is inter-rater agreement between clinicians in describing the content of group therapy sessions. Pairs of clinicians, drawn from a large multidisciplinary team (13), were asked to provide ratings of the therapeutic content and emphasis of N = 154 group therapy sessions conducted during an intensive residential treatment program for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In most therapeutic content domains there was a moderate level of agreement between clinicians regarding session content (Cohen's Kappa 0.4 to 0.6), suggesting that clinicians have a broad shared understanding of therapeutic content, but that there are also frequent discordant understandings. The implications of these findings on multidisciplinary team communication, patient care and clinical handovers are discussed and directions for further research are outlined
Loss of the homeostatic protein BPIFA1, leads to exacerbation of otitis media severity in the Junbo mouse model
Otitis Media (OM) is characterized by epithelial abnormalities and defects in innate immunity in the middle ear (ME). Although, BPIFA1, a member of the BPI fold containing family of putative innate defence proteins is abundantly expressed by the ME epithelium and SNPs in Bpifa1 have been associated with OM susceptibility, its role in the ME is not well characterized. We investigated the role of BPIFA1 in protection of the ME and the development of OM using murine models. Loss of Bpifa1 did not lead to OM development. However, deletion of Bpifa1 in Evi1Jbo/+mice, a model of chronic OM, caused significant exacerbation of OM severity, thickening of the ME mucosa and increased collagen deposition, without a significant increase in pro-inflammatory gene expression. Our data suggests that BPIFA1 is involved in maintaining homeostasis within the ME under steady state conditions and its loss in the presence of inflammation, exacerbates epithelial remodelling leading to more severe OM
Photonic crystal fibre as an optofluidic reactor for the measurement of photochemical kinetics with sub-picomole sensitivity
A clumpy-cloud PDR model of the global far-infrared line emission of the Milky Way
The fractal structure of the interstellar medium suggests that the
interaction of UV radiation with the ISM as described in the context of
photon-dominated regions (PDR) dominates most of the physical and chemical
conditions, and hence the far-infrared and submm emission from the ISM in the
Milky Way. We investigate to what extent the Galactic FIR line emission of the
important species CO, C, C+, and O, as observed by the Cosmic Background
Explorer (COBE) satellite can be modeled in the framework of a clumpy,
UV-penetrated cloud scenario. The far-infrared line emission of the Milky Way
is modeled as the emission from an ensemble of clumps with a power law clump
mass spectrum and mass-size relation with power-law indices consistent with the
observed ISM structure. The individual clump line intensities are calculated
using the KOSMA-tau PDR-model for spherical clumps. The model parameters for
the cylindrically symmetric Galactic distribution of the mass density and
volume filling factor are determined by the observed radial distributions. A
constant FUV intensity, in which the clumps are embedded, is assumed. We show
that this scenario can explain, without any further assumptions and within a
factor of about 2, the absolute FIR-line intensities and their distribution
with Galactic longitude as observed by COBE.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, accepted by A&A at the 7th of July, 200
Personal wellbeing in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Association with PTSD symptoms during and following treatment
© 2018 The Author(s). Background: It remains unclear to what extent treatment-related gains in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms translate to improvements in broader domains of personal wellbeing, such as community connectedness, life achievement and security. We sought to determine whether: 1. personal wellbeing improves during the course of a treatment program and 2. changes in core symptom domains (PTSD, anxiety and depression) were associated with improvements in overall personal wellbeing. Methods: Participants (N=124) completed the PTSD Checklist, the Depression and Anxiety Stress Scales and the Personal Wellbeing Index at the start and end of a 4-week Trauma Focused CBT residential program, as well as 3- and 9-months post-treatment. Results: Personal wellbeing improved significantly across the 9-months of the study. Generalised estimating equations analyses indicated that (older) age and improvements in PTSD and depressive symptoms were independent predictors of personal wellbeing across time. Conclusions: Although personal wellbeing improved in tandem with PTSD symptoms, the magnitude of improvement was small. These findings highlight a need to better understand how improvements in personal wellbeing can be optimised following PTSD treatment
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