Sad mood and response inhibition

Theories contradict each other by predicting either facilitative or detrimental effects of sad mood on cognitive outcomes. For instance, affect-as-information models hold that sad mood encourages detailed and analytical processing styles, thereby improving cognitive abilities; and resource allocation models predict that sad mood harms cognitive abilities due to sad thoughts that tax limited resources such as attention and working memory. The present study explores these questions by exploring sad mood and one type of cognitive ability—response inhibition (RI). The few studies examining the link between RI and sad mood are mixed in outcome. Understanding whether and how sad mood affects RI will help determine the veracity of theories that predict different cognitive performance outcomes during sad mood, contribute to understanding psychological problems that involve deficits in RI, and inform our ability to measure cognitive constructs such as RI accurately. Further, the strength of a person’s ability to regulate their own emotions affects the degree to which emotional states affect their behavior. Thus if sad mood affects RI, emotion regulation may moderate the strength of this effect. This study examines how sad mood and emotion regulation affected RI in a sample of 273 undergraduate psychology students. About half of participants went through a neutral induction where they wrote about a typical day, and the others went through a sad mood induction where they wrote about a sad event they experienced. Emotion regulation was measured with a questionnaire, and an RI composite score of three computerized tasks (Stroop color-word, Stop Signal Task, and Go/No-go) was calculated using Principal Components Analysis. The first hypothesis predicted that sad mood would either increase or decrease RI. The second hypothesis predicted an interaction: that poor emotion regulation would increase this association in the direction of the main effect (or in either direction if there is no mood main effect). These a priori hypotheses were not supported, but results from post hoc analyses showed that though self-ratings of sad mood did not affect RI, writing about sad events (the experimental condition) seems to worsen RI—perhaps due to participants being distracted by sad thoughts. This result is consistent with cognitive load theories and literature suggesting that cognitive loads, rumination, and mind-wandering are detrimental to cognitive functioning. Further, it extends these findings from well-established areas such as working memory to the less-established area of response inhibition

Winter energetics of young-of-the-year bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) : effects of ration and cohort of origin on survival

The bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) population along the East Coast of the United States has experienced declines in both recruitment and adult abundance since the mid 1980s. At the end of their first growing season young-of-the-year (YOY) bluefish exhibit a bimodal length/frequency distribution consisting of larger, spring-spawned individuals (SP cohort) and smaller, summer-spawned individuals (SU cohort). While both SP and SU cohorts have been observed in the adult population in the past, recent studies have suggested that few SU-spawned individuals currently recruit to the adult stock. I investigated the hypothesis that the apparent recruitment failure of SU-spawned bluefish reflects negative size-selective overwinter mortality due to starvation. Due to mass allometries in energy storage and energy depletion, I predicted that larger, SP bluefish would 1) have greater energy stores prior to winter than smaller, SU bluefish, and 2) deplete their energy reserves at a slower rate than SU bluefish. Thus, I predicted that SP bluefish would exhibit greater overwinter survival (and therefore higher recruitment potential) than SU bluefish under starvation conditions. Overwinter mesocosm experiments performed at ambient temperatures were conducted to examine the effects of cohort of origin (SP versus SU) and feeding level (fed versus unfed) on the overwinter survival of YOY bluefish. Energetic condition (non-polar lipid and ash content) and survival duration of bluefish subjects were monitored over the 192-day experiment. SP-spawned bluefish possessed greater total lipid stores prior to winter than SUspawned individuals, and both cohorts relied on multiple tissue depots (liver, viscera, white muscle, red muscle and skin) for the storage and mobilization of lipids. When starved, SP and SU bluefish depleted their non-polar lipid reserves at similar rates over the first 31 days of the experiment. When food was present, both cohorts stored lipid at similar rates over the first 31 days of the experiment but depleted lipid reserves thereafter. This seasonal depletion pattern, despite the presence of food, indicates that lipid reserves are important for fueling routine metabolic requirements during winter and that bluefish may shift their energy allocation strategy from storage to mobilization/growth as winter progresses. When fed, both cohorts survived winter. When starved, SU bluefish began to exhibit starvation mortality six weeks prior to SP individuals. Although SU bluefish were more susceptible to overwinter starvation mortality than SP bluefish, their starvation endurance appears more than sufficient to permit overwinter survival under poor feeding conditions (>90% survival probability after 120 days without food and >60% after 150 days). Interestingly, SP bluefish suffered a brief mortality event during January when tank temperatures dropped below 6oC, suggesting that SP individuals may be less cold tolerant than smaller, SU individuals. Wild YOY bluefish sampled from inner continental shelf waters off North Carolina during winter did not approach critical energy levels as determined from starved laboratory bluefish. Given the high starvation endurance of SU-spawned YOY bluefish, I conducted a second winter experiment to assess the influence of forced activity and reduced prewinter lipid storage on their overwintering ability. It was hypothesized that high activity level and reduced pre-winter lipid storage would increase the vulnerability of SU individuals to winter starvation. The experimental design was a fully-crossed 2X2 factorial design with activity level (high versus low) and pre-winter lipid storage (high versus low) as factors. The high activity/low storage and low activity/high storage treatments were also tested in the presence and absence of winter food. Although the experiment was ended prematurely due to a system failure, lipid levels of bluefish at the time of death were quantified to examine whether the 2.5-month treatment exposures had measurable effects on bluefish energetics. Experimental results indicated that SU bluefish have a remarkable ability to store energy rapidly prior to winter. During a 30- day acclimation period SU bluefish were able to store more energy than was required to survive 2.5 months without food and at high (~0.8 body lengths sec-1) activity levels. Also, pre-winter lipid storage had a greater effect on bluefish energy reserves than activity level. Furthermore, SU-spawned YOY bluefish appeared capable of assimilating food in the winter, if available, allowing them to compensate for reduced pre-winter lipid storage. These observations are consistent with the defended energy level hypothesis. In conclusion, the remarkable starvation endurance ability of SU-spawned YOY bluefish, coupled with their capacity for rapid energy storage, and their ability to assimilate food during winter, indicates that SU bluefish are physiologically wellequipped to survive their first winter of life. These findings are consistent with recent energetics data reported for wild bluefish and do not support the overwinter starvation hypothesis as an explanation for the apparent recruitment failure of SU-spawned YOY bluefish

Spatial heterogeneity of habitat suitability for Rift Valley fever occurrence in Tanzania: an ecological niche modelling approach

Despite the long history of Rift Valley fever (RVF) in Tanzania, extent of its suitable habitat in the country remains unclear. In this study we investigated potential effects of temperature, precipitation, elevation, soil type, livestock density, rainfall pattern, proximity to wild animals, protected areas and forest on the habitat suitability for RVF occurrence in Tanzania. Presence-only records of 193 RVF outbreak locations from 1930 to 2007 together with potential predictor variables were used to model and map the suitable habitats for RVF occurrence using ecological niche modelling. Ground-truthing of the model outputs was conducted by comparing the levels of RVF virus specific antibodies in cattle, sheep and goats sampled from locations in Tanzania that presented different predicted habitat suitability values. Habitat suitability values for RVF occurrence were higher in the northern and central-eastern regions of Tanzania than the rest of the regions in the country. Soil type and precipitation of the wettest quarter contributed equally to habitat suitability (32.4% each), followed by livestock density (25.9%) and rainfall pattern (9.3%). Ground-truthing of model outputs revealed that the odds of an animal being seropositive for RVFV when sampled from areas predicted to be most suitable for RVF occurrence were twice the odds of an animal sampled from areas least suitable for RVF occurrence (95% CI: 1.43, 2.76, p < 0.001). The regions in the northern and central-eastern Tanzania were more suitable for RVF occurrence than the rest of the regions in the country. The modelled suitable habitat is characterised by impermeable soils, moderate precipitation in the wettest quarter, high livestock density and a bimodal rainfall pattern. The findings of this study should provide guidance for the design of appropriate RVF surveillance, prevention and control strategies which target areas with these characteristics

Nutrition Strategies for Triathlon

Contemporary sports nutrition guidelines recommend that each athlete develop a personalised, periodised and practical approach to eating that allows him or her to train hard, recover and adapt optimally, stay free of illness and injury and compete at their best at peak races. Competitive triathletes undertake a heavy training programme to prepare for three different sports while undertaking races varying in duration from 20 min to 10 h. The everyday diet should be adequate in energy availability, provide CHO in varying amounts and timing around workouts according to the benefits of training with low or high CHO availability and spread high-quality protein over the day to maximise the adaptive response to each session. Race nutrition requires a targeted and well-practised plan that maintains fuel and hydration goals over the duration of the specific event, according to the opportunities provided by the race and other challenges, such as a hot environment. Supplements and sports foods can make a small contribution to a sports nutrition plan, when medical supplements are used under supervision to prevent/treat nutrient deficiencies (e.g. iron or vitamin D) or when sports foods provide a convenient source of nutrients when it is impractical to eat whole foods. Finally, a few evidence-based performance supplements may contribute to optimal race performance when used according to best practice protocols to suit the triathlete’s goals and individual responsiveness

Preserving ovarian function in patients receiving cyclophosphamide

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68327/2/10.1191_096120399678847335.pd

Predicting the Current and Future Potential Distributions of Lymphatic Filariasis in Africa Using Maximum Entropy Ecological Niche Modelling

Modelling the spatial distributions of human parasite species is crucial to understanding the environmental determinants of infection as well as for guiding the planning of control programmes. Here, we use ecological niche modelling to map the current potential distribution of the macroparasitic disease, lymphatic filariasis (LF), in Africa, and to estimate how future changes in climate and population could affect its spread and burden across the continent. We used 508 community-specific infection presence data collated from the published literature in conjunction with five predictive environmental/climatic and demographic variables, and a maximum entropy niche modelling method to construct the first ecological niche maps describing potential distribution and burden of LF in Africa. We also ran the best-fit model against climate projections made by the HADCM3 and CCCMA models for 2050 under A2a and B2a scenarios to simulate the likely distribution of LF under future climate and population changes. We predict a broad geographic distribution of LF in Africa extending from the west to the east across the middle region of the continent, with high probabilities of occurrence in the Western Africa compared to large areas of medium probability interspersed with smaller areas of high probability in Central and Eastern Africa and in Madagascar. We uncovered complex relationships between predictor ecological niche variables and the probability of LF occurrence. We show for the first time that predicted climate change and population growth will expand both the range and risk of LF infection (and ultimately disease) in an endemic region. We estimate that populations at risk to LF may range from 543 and 804 million currently, and that this could rise to between 1.65 to 1.86 billion in the future depending on the climate scenario used and thresholds applied to signify infection presence

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Search for pair-produced long-lived neutral particles decaying to jets in the ATLAS hadronic calorimeter in ppcollisions at √s=8TeV

The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN is used to search for the decay of a scalar boson to a pair of long-lived particles, neutral under the Standard Model gauge group, in 20.3fb−1of data collected in proton–proton collisions at √s=8TeV. This search is sensitive to long-lived particles that decay to Standard Model particles producing jets at the outer edge of the ATLAS electromagnetic calorimeter or inside the hadronic calorimeter. No significant excess of events is observed. Limits are reported on the product of the scalar boson production cross section times branching ratio into long-lived neutral particles as a function of the proper lifetime of the particles. Limits are reported for boson masses from 100 GeVto 900 GeV, and a long-lived neutral particle mass from 10 GeVto 150 GeV

Measurement of the cross-section of high transverse momentum vector bosons reconstructed as single jets and studies of jet substructure in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a measurement of the cross-section for high transverse momentum W and Z bosons produced in pp collisions and decaying to all-hadronic final states. The data used in the analysis were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7 TeV;{\rm Te}{\rm V}$and correspond to an integrated luminosity of$4.6\;{\rm f}{{{\rm b}}^{-1}}$. The measurement is performed by reconstructing the boosted W or Z bosons in single jets. The reconstructed jet mass is used to identify the W and Z bosons, and a jet substructure method based on energy cluster information in the jet centre-of-mass frame is used to suppress the large multi-jet background. The cross-section for events with a hadronically decaying W or Z boson, with transverse momentum${{p}_{{\rm T}}}\gt 320\;{\rm Ge}{\rm V}$and pseudorapidity$|\eta |\lt 1.9$, is measured to be${{\sigma }_{W+Z}}=8.5\pm 1.7$ pb and is compared to next-to-leading-order calculations. The selected events are further used to study jet grooming techniques

Search for R-parity-violating supersymmetry in events with four or more leptons in sqrt(s) =7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for new phenomena in final states with four or more leptons (electrons or muons) is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of $\sqrt{s}=7\;\mathrm{TeV}$ proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in two signal regions: one that requires moderate values of missing transverse momentum and another that requires large effective mass. The results are interpreted in a simplified model of R-parity-violating supersymmetry in which a 95% CL exclusion region is set for charged wino masses up to 540 GeV. In an R-parity-violating MSUGRA/CMSSM model, values of m 1/2 up to 820 GeV are excluded for 10 < tan β < 40