Effect of Noise on Excursions To and Back From Infinity

The effect of additive white noise on a model for bursting behavior in large aspect-ratio binary fluid convection is considered. Such bursts are present in systems with nearly square symmetry and are the result of heteroclinic cycles involving infinite amplitude states created when the square symmetry is broken. A combination of numerical results and analytical arguments show how even a very small amount of noise can have a very large effect on the amplitudes of successive bursts. Large enough noise can also affect the physical manifestations of the bursts. Finally, it is shown that related bursts may occur when white noise is added to the normal form equations for the Hopf bifurcation with exact square symmetry.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figure

Do Achievement Goals Mediate Stereotype Threat? An Investigation on Females' Soccer Performance

International audienceThis research investigated stereotype threat effects on women's performance in sports and examined the mediation of this effect by achievement goals. The influence of two stereotypes – relative to the poor athletic ability and the poor technical soccer ability of women – were studied. Fifty-one female soccer players were randomly assigned to one of three conditions, introducing the task as diagnostic of athletic ability, technical soccer ability, or sports psychology. Next, they filled out a questionnaire measuring achievement goals and performed a soccer-dribbling task. Results showed that compared to the control condition, females' performance significantly decreased in the athletic ability condition and tended to decrease in the technical soccer ability condition. Moreover, participants endorsed a performance-avoidance (relative to performance-approach) goal when the stereotypes were activated. However, this goal endorsement was not related to performance. The implications of these results for understanding the role of stereotypes in gender inequalities in sports are discussed

Investigating Physiological and Self-Reported Mediators of Stereotype Lift Effects on a Motor Task

International audienceAchievement gaps between social groups may result from stereotype threat effects but also from stereotype lift effects – the performance boost caused by the awareness that an outgroup is negatively stereotyped. We examined stereotype lift and threat effects in the motor domain and investigated their mediation by task involvement and self-confidence. Physiological (heart rate reactivity) and self-reported indices were used to examine these questions. Males and females performed a balance task about which negative stereotypes about either males or females were given. No gender information was given in a third (control) condition. Results showed no stereotype threat but a stereotype lift effect, participants performing significantly better after negative outgroup stereotypes were explicitly linked to performance on the balance task compared to the other conditions. Concerning males, this effect was mediated by higher self-confidence and task involvement. The implications of these results for understanding the gender inequalities in sports and physical activities are discussed

VAC14 Gene‐Related Parkinsonism‐Dystonia With Response to Deep Brain Stimulation

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150504/1/mdc312797-sup-0001-TableS1.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150504/2/mdc312797.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150504/3/mdc312797_am.pd

Documenting Nursing and Medical Students’ Stereotypes about Hispanic and American Indian Patients

Objective: Hispanic Americans and American Indians face significant health disparities compared with White Americans. Research suggests that stereotyping of minority patients by members of the medical community is an important antecedent of race and ethnicity-based health disparities. This work has primarily focused on physicians’ perceptions, however, and little research has examined the stereotypes healthcare personnel associate with Hispanic and American Indian patients. The present study assesses: 1) the health-related stereotypes both nursing and medical students hold about Hispanic and American Indian patients, and 2) nursing and medical students’ motivation to treat Hispanic and American Indian patients in an unbiased manner. Design: Participants completed a questionnaire assessing their awareness of stereotypes that healthcare professionals associate with Hispanic and American Indian patients then completed measures of their motivation to treat Hispanics and American Indians in an unbiased manner. Results: Despite being highly motivated to treat Hispanic and American Indian individuals fairly, the majority of participants reported awareness of stereotypes associating these patient groups with noncompliance, risky health behavior, and difficulty understanding and/or communicating health-related information. Conclusion: This research provides direct evidence for negative health-related stereotypes associated with two understudied minority patient groups—Hispanics and American Indians—among both nursing and medical personnel

Get your nitrogen-rich strips out early

Plant and Soil Science

A Trial of Wound Irrigation in the Initial Management of Open Fracture Wounds

Copyright © 2015 Massachusetts Medical Society. BACKGROUND The management of open fractures requires wound irrigation and dridement to remove contaminants, but the effectiveness of various pressures and solutions for irrigation remains controversial. We investigated the effects of castile soap versus normal saline irrigation delivered by means of high, low, or very low irrigation pressure. METHODS In this study with a 2-by-3 factorial design, conducted at 41 clinical centers, we randomly assigned patients who had an open fracture of an extremity to undergo irrigation with one of three irrigation pressures (high pressure [\u3e20 psi], low pressure [5 to 10 psi], or very low pressure [1 to 2 psi]) and one of two irrigation solutions (castile soap or normal saline). The primary end point was reoperation within 12 months after the index surgery for promotion of wound or bone healing or treatment of a wound infection. RESULTS A total of 2551 patients underwent randomization, of whom 2447 were deemed eligible and included in the final analyses. Reoperation occurred in 109 of 826 patients (13.2%) in the high-pressure group, 103 of 809 (12.7%) in the low-pressure group, and 111 of 812 (13.7%) in the very-low-pressure group. Hazard ratios for the three pairwise comparisons were as follows: for low versus high pressure, 0.92 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.70 to 1.20; P = 0.53), for high versus very low pressure, 1.02 (95% CI, 0.78 to 1.33; P = 0.89), and for low versus very low pressure, 0.93 (95% CI, 0.71 to 1.23; P = 0.62). Reoperation occurred in 182 of 1229 patients (14.8%) in the soap group and in 141 of 1218 (11.6%) in the saline group (hazard ratio, 1.32, 95% CI, 1.06 to 1.66; P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS The rates of reoperation were similar regardless of irrigation pressure, a finding that indicates that very low pressure is an acceptable, low-cost alternative for the irrigation of open fractures. The reoperation rate was higher in the soap group than in the saline group. (Funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and others; FLOW ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00788398

Protecting an ecosystem service: approaches to understanding and mitigating threats to wild insect pollinators

Insect pollination constitutes an ecosystem service of global importance, providing significant economic and aesthetic benefits as well as cultural value to human society, alongside vital ecological processes in terrestrial ecosystems. It is therefore important to understand how insect pollinator populations and communities respond to rapidly changing environments if we are to maintain healthy and effective pollinator services. This paper considers the importance of conserving pollinator diversity to maintain a suite of functional traits to provide a diverse set of pollinator services. We explore how we can better understand and mitigate the factors that threaten insect pollinator richness, placing our discussion within the context of populations in predominantly agricultural landscapes in addition to urban environments. We highlight a selection of important evidence gaps, with a number of complementary research steps that can be taken to better understand: i) the stability of pollinator communities in different landscapes in order to provide diverse pollinator services; ii) how we can study the drivers of population change to mitigate the effects and support stable sources of pollinator services; and, iii) how we can manage habitats in complex landscapes to support insect pollinators and provide sustainable pollinator services for the future. We advocate a collaborative effort to gain higher quality abundance data to understand the stability of pollinator populations and predict future trends. In addition, for effective mitigation strategies to be adopted, researchers need to conduct rigorous field-testing of outcomes under different landscape settings, acknowledge the needs of end-users when developing research proposals and consider effective methods of knowledge transfer to ensure effective uptake of actions