Loved Ones Near and Far: Feinberg's Personal Significance Theory

This paper examines Todd Feinberg's theory of the misidentification syndromes

Corticotrophin-Releasing Hormone Type 1 Receptor Gene (CRHR1) Variants Predict Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Onset and Course in Pediatric Injury Patients

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common and disabling anxiety disorder that may occur in the aftermath of exposure to potentially traumatic life events. PTSD is moderately heritable, but few specific molecular variants accounting for this heritability have been identified. Genes regulating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, such as corticotrophin-releasing hormone type 1 receptor gene (CRHR1), have been implicated in traumatic-stress related phenotypes but have yet to be studied in relation to PTSD. The present study sought to examine the relation between 9 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the CRHR1 gene and posttraumatic stress symptoms in a prospective study of pediatric injury patients (n = 103) who were first assessed in the acute aftermath of their injury at the hospital. Results indicated that multiple SNPs were associated with acute symptoms at a univariate level, and after correction for multiple testing, rs12944712 was significantly related to acute PTSD symptoms. Longitudinal latent growth curve analyses suggest that rs12944712 is also related to both acute symptom level and trajectory of symptoms over time. The present study adds support for the role of CRHR1 in the stress response following potentially traumatic event exposure in youth. It should be noted that the sample size in this study was small, and therefore statistical power was low; following, results from this study should be considered preliminary. Although results are not definitive, the findings from this study warrant future replication studies on how variation in this gene relates to response to traumatic event exposure in youth

Corticotrophin-Releasing Hormone Type 1 Receptor Gene (CRHR1) Variants Predict Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Onset and Course in Pediatric Injury Patients

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common and disabling anxiety disorder that may occur in the aftermath of exposure to potentially traumatic life events. PTSD is moderately heritable, but few specific molecular variants accounting for this heritability have been identified. Genes regulating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, such as corticotrophin-releasing hormone type 1 receptor gene (CRHR1), have been implicated in traumatic-stress related phenotypes but have yet to be studied in relation to PTSD. The present study sought to examine the relation between 9 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the CRHR1 gene and posttraumatic stress symptoms in a prospective study of pediatric injury patients (n = 103) who were first assessed in the acute aftermath of their injury at the hospital. Results indicated that multiple SNPs were associated with acute symptoms at a univariate level, and after correction for multiple testing, rs12944712 was significantly related to acute PTSD symptoms. Longitudinal latent growth curve analyses suggest that rs12944712 is also related to both acute symptom level and trajectory of symptoms over time. The present study adds support for the role of CRHR1 in the stress response following potentially traumatic event exposure in youth. It should be noted that the sample size in this study was small, and therefore statistical power was low; following, results from this study should be considered preliminary. Although results are not definitive, the findings from this study warrant future replication studies on how variation in this gene relates to response to traumatic event exposure in youth

Controlling the accuracy of the density matrix renormalization group method: The Dynamical Block State Selection approach

We have applied the momentum space version of the Density Matrix Renormalization Group method ($k$-DMRG) in quantum chemistry in order to study the accuracy of the algorithm in the new context. We have shown numerically that it is possible to determine the desired accuracy of the method in advance of the calculations by dynamically controlling the truncation error and the number of block states using a novel protocol which we dubbed Dynamical Block State Selection (DBSS). The relationship between the real error and truncation error has been studied as a function of the number of orbitals and the fraction of filled orbitals. We have calculated the ground state of the molecules CH$_2$, H$_2$O, and F$_2$ as well as the first excited state of CH$_2$. Our largest calculations were carried out with 57 orbitals, the largest number of block states was 1500--2000, and the largest dimensions of the Hilbert space of the superblock configuration was 800.000--1.200.000.Comment: 12 page

Parent and child agreement for acute stress disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychopathology in a prospective study of children and adolescents exposed to single-event trauma

Examining parent-child agreement for Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in children and adolescents is essential for informing the assessment of trauma-exposed children, yet no studies have examined this relationship using appropriate statistical techniques. Parent-child agreement for these disorders was examined by structured interview in a prospective study of assault and motor vehicle accident (MVA) child survivors, assessed at 2-4 weeks and 6 months post-trauma. Children were significantly more likely to meet criteria for ASD, as well as other ASD and PTSD symptom clusters, based on their own report than on their parent's report. Parent-child agreement for ASD was poor (Cohen's κ = -.04), but fair for PTSD (Cohen's κ = .21). Agreement ranged widely for other emotional disorders (Cohen's κ = -.07-.64), with generalised anxiety disorder found to have superior parent-child agreement (when assessed by phi coefficients) relative to ASD and PTSD. The findings support the need to directly interview children and adolescents, particularly for the early screening of posttraumatic stress, and suggest that other anxiety disorders may have a clearer presentation post-trauma

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Catalog IV. Fifth Data Release

We present the fourth edition of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Quasar Catalog. The catalog contains 77,429 objects; this is an increase of over 30,000 entries since the previous edition. The catalog consists of the objects in the SDSS Fifth Data Release that have luminosities larger than M_i = -22.0 (in a cosmology with H_0 = 70 km/s/Mpc, Omega_M = 0.3, and Omega_Lambda = 0.7) have at least one emission line with FWHM larger than 1000 km/s, or have interesting/complex absorption features, are fainter than i=15.0, and have highly reliable redshifts. The area covered by the catalog is 5740 sq. deg. The quasar redshifts range from 0.08 to 5.41, with a median value of 1.48; the catalog includes 891 quasars at redshifts greater than four, of which 36 are at redshifts greater than five. Approximately half of the catalog quasars have i < 19; nearly all have i < 21. For each object the catalog presents positions accurate to better than 0.2 arcsec. rms per coordinate, five-band (ugriz) CCD-based photometry with typical accuracy of 0.03 mag, and information on the morphology and selection method. The catalog also contains basic radio, near-infrared, and X-ray emission properties of the quasars, when available, from other large-area surveys. The calibrated digital spectra cover the wavelength region 3800--9200A at a spectral resolution of ~2000. The spectra can be retrieved from the public database using the information provided in the catalog. The average SDSS colors of quasars as a function of redshift, derived from the catalog entries, are presented in tabular form. Approximately 96% of the objects in the catalog were discovered by the SDSS.Comment: 37 pages, Accepted for publication in A

Mind the Gap: Investigating Toddlers’ Sensitivity to Contact Relations in Predictive Events

Toddlers readily learn predictive relations between events (e.g., that event A predicts event B). However, they intervene on A to try to cause B only in a few contexts: When a dispositional agent initiates the event or when the event is described with causal language. The current studies look at whether toddlers’ failures are due merely to the difficulty of initiating interventions or to more general constraints on the kinds of events they represent as causal. Toddlers saw a block slide towards a base, but an occluder prevented them from seeing whether the block contacted the base; after the block disappeared behind the occluder, a toy connected to the base did or did not activate. We hypothesized that if toddlers construed the events as causal, they would be sensitive to the contact relations between the participants in the predictive event. In Experiment 1, the block either moved spontaneously (no dispositional agent) or emerged already in motion (a dispositional agent was potentially present). Toddlers were sensitive to the contact relations only when a dispositional agent was potentially present. Experiment 2 confirmed that toddlers inferred a hidden agent was present when the block emerged in motion. In Experiment 3, the block moved spontaneously, but the events were described either with non-causal (“here’s my block”) or causal (“the block can make it go”) language. Toddlers were sensitive to the contact relations only when given causal language. These findings suggest that dispositional agency and causal language facilitate toddlers’ ability to represent causal relationships.John Templeton Foundation (#12667)James S. McDonnell Foundation (Causal Learning Collaborative Initiative)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Career Award (# 0744213

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Catalog I. Early Data Release

We present the first edition of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Quasar Catalog. The catalog consists of the 3814 objects (3000 discovered by the SDSS) in the initial SDSS public data release that have at least one emission line with a full width at half maximum larger than 1000 km/s, luminosities brighter than M_i^* = -23, and highly reliable redshifts. The area covered by the catalog is 494 square degrees; the majority of the objects were found in SDSS commissioning data using a multicolor selection technique. The quasar redshifts range from 0.15 to 5.03. For each object the catalog presents positions accurate to better than 0.2" rms per coordinate, five band (ugriz) CCD-based photometry with typical accuracy of 0.05 mag, radio and X-ray emission properties, and information on the morphology and selection method. Calibrated spectra of all objects in the catalog, covering the wavelength region 3800 to 9200 Angstroms at a spectral resolution of 1800-2100, are also available. Since the quasars were selected during the commissioning period, a time when the quasar selection algorithm was undergoing frequent revisions, the sample is not homogeneous and is not intended for statistical analysis.Comment: 27 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables, accepted by A

The utilisation of health research in policy-making: Concepts, examples and methods of assessment

The importance of health research utilisation in policy-making, and of understanding the mechanisms involved, is increasingly recognised. Recent reports calling for more resources to improve health in developing countries, and global pressures for accountability, draw greater attention to research-informed policy-making. Key utilisation issues have been described for at least twenty years, but the growing focus on health research systems creates additional dimensions. The utilisation of health research in policy-making should contribute to policies that may eventually lead to desired outcomes, including health gains. In this article, exploration of these issues is combined with a review of various forms of policy-making. When this is linked to analysis of different types of health research, it assists in building a comprehensive account of the diverse meanings of research utilisation. Previous studies report methods and conceptual frameworks that have been applied, if with varying degrees of success, to record utilisation in policy-making. These studies reveal various examples of research impact within a general picture of underutilisation. Factors potentially enhancing utilisation can be identified by exploration of: priority setting; activities of the health research system at the interface between research and policy-making; and the role of the recipients, or 'receptors', of health research. An interfaces and receptors model provides a framework for analysis. Recommendations about possible methods for assessing health research utilisation follow identification of the purposes of such assessments. Our conclusion is that research utilisation can be better understood, and enhanced, by developing assessment methods informed by conceptual analysis and review of previous studies