255 research outputs found
Male depression risk, psychological distress, and psychotherapy uptake: Validation of the German version of the male depression risk scale
Background
Screening for depressive disorders in men may be complicated by traditional male role norms. The Male Depression Risk Scale (MDRS) was developed to aid screening for depression in men adhering to traditional male role norms and to facilitate identification of depression in men in general and to promote treatment uptake.
Aims
Validation of a German version of the MDRS and examination of its potential to predict clinical characteristics.
Methods
In an anonymous online survey comprising of 1605 participants (male: N = 671; 42%), information was obtained on psychological distress, diagnosed psychological disorders, psychotherapy and psychopharmacological treatment. Additional measures included a German version of the MDRS as further mental-health-related constructs.
Results
The German version of the MDRS showed good validity and reliability. The previously identified 6-factor structure could be replicated for the German version. Compared to the Patient Health Questionnaire 9, the MDRS showed similar detection performance in identifying men who self-reported psychological distress, psychological disorders, depression, psychotherapy usage, or usage of psychopharmacological therapy.
Conclusions
The German version of the MDRS shows good psychometric validity and represents a valid screening instrument for the identification of psychological distress specifically in men
Maximal -regularity for stochastic evolution equations
We prove maximal -regularity for the stochastic evolution equation
\{{aligned} dU(t) + A U(t)\, dt& = F(t,U(t))\,dt + B(t,U(t))\,dW_H(t),
\qquad t\in [0,T],
U(0) & = u_0, {aligned}. under the assumption that is a sectorial
operator with a bounded -calculus of angle less than on
a space . The driving process is a cylindrical
Brownian motion in an abstract Hilbert space . For and
and initial conditions in the real interpolation space
\XAp we prove existence of unique strong solution with trajectories in
L^p(0,T;\Dom(A))\cap C([0,T];\XAp), provided the non-linearities
F:[0,T]\times \Dom(A)\to L^q(\mathcal{O},\mu) and B:[0,T]\times \Dom(A) \to
\g(H,\Dom(A^{\frac12})) are of linear growth and Lipschitz continuous in their
second variables with small enough Lipschitz constants. Extensions to the case
where is an adapted operator-valued process are considered as well.
Various applications to stochastic partial differential equations are worked
out in detail. These include higher-order and time-dependent parabolic
equations and the Navier-Stokes equation on a smooth bounded domain
\OO\subseteq \R^d with . For the latter, the existence of a unique
strong local solution with values in (H^{1,q}(\OO))^d is shown.Comment: Accepted for publication in SIAM Journal on Mathematical Analysi
Non-autonomous stochastic evolution equations and applications to stochastic partial differential equations
In this paper we study the following non-autonomous stochastic evolution
equation on a UMD Banach space with type 2,
{equation}\label{eq:SEab}\tag{SE} {{aligned} dU(t) & = (A(t)U(t) + F(t,U(t)))
dt + B(t,U(t)) dW_H(t), \quad t\in [0,T],
U(0) & = u_0. {aligned}. {equation}
Here are unbounded operators with domains
which may be time dependent. We assume that
satisfies the conditions of Acquistapace and Terreni. The
functions and are nonlinear functions defined on certain interpolation
spaces and is the initial value. is a cylindrical Brownian
motion on a separable Hilbert space .
Under Lipschitz and linear growth conditions we show that there exists a
unique mild solution of \eqref{eq:SEab}. Under assumptions on the interpolation
spaces we extend the factorization method of Da Prato, Kwapie\'n, and Zabczyk,
to obtain space-time regularity results for the solution of
\eqref{eq:SEab}. For Hilbert spaces we obtain a maximal regularity result.
The results improve several previous results from the literature.
The theory is applied to a second order stochastic partial differential
equation which has been studied by Sanz-Sol\'e and Vuillermot. This leads to
several improvements of their result.Comment: Accepted for publication in Journal of Evolution Equation
Inertial Mass of a Vortex in Cuprate Superconductors
We present here a calculation of the inertial mass of a moving vortex in
cuprate superconductors. This is a poorly known basic quantity of obvious
interest in vortex dynamics. The motion of a vortex causes a dipolar density
distortion and an associated electric field which is screened. The energy cost
of the density distortion as well as the related screened electric field
contribute to the vortex mass, which is small because of efficient screening.
As a preliminary, we present a discussion and calculation of the vortex mass
using a microscopically derivable phase-only action functional for the far
region which shows that the contribution from the far region is negligible, and
that most of it arises from the (small) core region of the vortex. A
calculation based on a phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau functional is performed
in the core region. Unfortunately such a calculation is unreliable, the reasons
for it are discussed. A credible calculation of the vortex mass thus requires a
fully microscopic, non-coarse grained theory. This is developed, and results
are presented for a s-wave BCS like gap, with parameters appropriate to the
cuprates. The mass, about 0.5 per layer, for magnetic field along the
axis, arises from deformation of quasiparticle states bound in the core, and
screening effects mentioned above. We discuss earlier results, possible
extensions to d-wave symmetry, and observability of effects dependent on the
inertial mass.Comment: 27 pages, Latex, 3 figures available on request, to appear in
Physical Review
Prime beef cuts : culinary images for thinking 'men'
The paper contributes to scholarship theorising the sociality of the brand in terms of subject positions it makes possible through drawing upon the generative context of circulating discourses, in this case of masculinity, cuisine and celebrity. Specifically, it discusses masculinity as a socially constructed gender practice (Bristor and Fischer, 1993), examining materialisations of such practice in the form of visualisations of social relations as resources for 'thinking gender' or 'doing gender'. The transformative potential of the visualisations is illuminated by exploring the narrative content choreographed within a series of photographic images positioning the market appeal of a celebrity chef through the medium of a contemporary lifestyle cookery book. We consider how images of men 'doing masculinity'are not only channelled into reproducing existing gender hierarchy and compulsory heterosexuality in the service of commercial ends, but also into disrupting such enduring stereotyping through subtle reframing. We acknowledge that masculinity is already inscribed within conventionalised representations of culinary culture. In this case we consider how traces of masculinity are exploited and reinscribed through contemporary images that generate resources for rethinking masculine roles and identities, especially when viewed through the lens of stereotypically feminised pursuits such as shopping, food preparation, cooking, and the communal intimacy of food sharing. We identify unsettling tensions within the compositions, arguing that they relate to discursive spaces between the gendered positions written into the images and the popular imagination they feed off. Set against landscapes of culinary culture, we argue that the images invoke a brand of naively roughish "laddishness" or "blokishness", rendering it in domesticated form not only as benign and containable, but fashionable, pliable and, importantly, desirable. We conclude that although the images draw on stereotypical premeditated notions of a feral, boisterous and untamed heterosexual masculinity, they also set in motion gender-blending narratives
Resistance and Resistance Fluctuations in Random Resistor Networks Under Biased Percolation
We consider a two-dimensional random resistor network (RRN) in the presence
of two competing biased percolations consisting of the breaking and recovering
of elementary resistors. These two processes are driven by the joint effects of
an electrical bias and of the heat exchange with a thermal bath. The electrical
bias is set up by applying a constant voltage or, alternatively, a constant
current. Monte Carlo simulations are performed to analyze the network evolution
in the full range of bias values. Depending on the bias strength, electrical
failure or steady state are achieved. Here we investigate the steady-state of
the RRN focusing on the properties of the non-Ohmic regime. In constant voltage
conditions, a scaling relation is found between and , where
is the average network resistance, the linear regime resistance
and the threshold value for the onset of nonlinearity. A similar relation
is found in constant current conditions. The relative variance of resistance
fluctuations also exhibits a strong nonlinearity whose properties are
investigated. The power spectral density of resistance fluctuations presents a
Lorentzian spectrum and the amplitude of fluctuations shows a significant
non-Gaussian behavior in the pre-breakdown region. These results compare well
with electrical breakdown measurements in thin films of composites and of other
conducting materials.Comment: 15 figures, 23 page
Experiments in vortex avalanches
Avalanche dynamics is found in many phenomena spanning from earthquakes to
the evolution of species. It can be also found in vortex matter when a type II
superconductor is externally driven, for example, by increasing the magnetic
field. Vortex avalanches associated with thermal instabilities can be an
undesirable effect for applications, but "dynamically driven" avalanches
emerging from the competition between intervortex interactions and quenched
disorder constitute an interesting scenario to test theoretical ideas related
with non-equilibrium dynamics. However, differently from the equilibrium phases
of vortex matter in type II superconductors, the study of the corresponding
dynamical phases - in which avalanches can play a role - is still in its
infancy. In this paper we critically review relevant experiments performed in
the last decade or so, emphasizing the ability of different experimental
techniques to establish the nature and statistical properties of the observed
avalanche behavior.Comment: To be published in Reviews of Modern Physics April 2004. 17 page
Hsp90 governs dispersion and drug resistance of fungal biofilms
Fungal biofilms are a major cause of human mortality and are recalcitrant to most treatments due to intrinsic drug resistance. These complex communities of multiple cell types form on indwelling medical devices and their eradication often requires surgical removal of infected devices. Here we implicate the molecular chaperone Hsp90 as a key regulator of biofilm dispersion and drug resistance. We previously established that in the leading human fungal pathogen, Candida albicans, Hsp90 enables the emergence and maintenance of drug resistance in planktonic conditions by stabilizing the protein phosphatase calcineurin and MAPK Mkc1. Hsp90 also regulates temperature-dependent C. albicans morphogenesis through repression of cAMP-PKA signalling. Here we demonstrate that genetic depletion of Hsp90 reduced C. albicans biofilm growth and maturation in vitro and impaired dispersal of biofilm cells. Further, compromising Hsp90 function in vitro abrogated resistance of C. albicans biofilms to the most widely deployed class of antifungal drugs, the azoles. Depletion of Hsp90 led to reduction of calcineurin and Mkc1 in planktonic but not biofilm conditions, suggesting that Hsp90 regulates drug resistance through different mechanisms in these distinct cellular states. Reduction of Hsp90 levels led to a marked decrease in matrix glucan levels, providing a compelling mechanism through which Hsp90 might regulate biofilm azole resistance. Impairment of Hsp90 function genetically or pharmacologically transformed fluconazole from ineffectual to highly effective in eradicating biofilms in a rat venous catheter infection model. Finally, inhibition of Hsp90 reduced resistance of biofilms of the most lethal mould, Aspergillus fumigatus, to the newest class of antifungals to reach the clinic, the echinocandins. Thus, we establish a novel mechanism regulating biofilm drug resistance and dispersion and that targeting Hsp90 provides a much-needed strategy for improving clinical outcome in the treatment of biofilm infections
Atomic structures of TDP-43 LCD segments and insights into reversible or pathogenic aggregation.
The normally soluble TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) is found aggregated both in reversible stress granules and in irreversible pathogenic amyloid. In TDP-43, the low-complexity domain (LCD) is believed to be involved in both types of aggregation. To uncover the structural origins of these two modes of β-sheet-rich aggregation, we have determined ten structures of segments of the LCD of human TDP-43. Six of these segments form steric zippers characteristic of the spines of pathogenic amyloid fibrils; four others form LARKS, the labile amyloid-like interactions characteristic of protein hydrogels and proteins found in membraneless organelles, including stress granules. Supporting a hypothetical pathway from reversible to irreversible amyloid aggregation, we found that familial ALS variants of TDP-43 convert LARKS to irreversible aggregates. Our structures suggest how TDP-43 adopts both reversible and irreversible β-sheet aggregates and the role of mutation in the possible transition of reversible to irreversible pathogenic aggregation
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