The Communication Patterns Questionnaire-Short Form: A Review and Assessment

The Communication Patterns Questionnaire-Short Form (CPQ-SF) is an 11-item self-assessment of spouses’ perceptions of marital interactions. A cited reference review of the CPQ-SF literature revealed no formal assessment of its psychometric properties and that researchers are imprecise in their use, reporting, and referencing of the assessment. Toward improving the use of the CPQ-SF in research and practice, the factor structure and psychometric properties of this scale were examined with data collected from a diverse sample of married individuals. Three latent constructs were identified: criticize/defend, discuss/avoid, and positive interaction patterns. Support for the original two-factor structure, demand/withdrawal and positive interaction, was also found. Suggestions for a more precise use of the CPQ-SF in research and practice conclude the paper

Fact sheet: The impacts of the woody biomass utilization program in Eastern Arizona

Utilizing woody biomass - small-diameter material and low-valued trees removed from forest restoration activities - on public lands may help reduce agency costs, enhance community wildfire protection, and create employment and economic activity. Yet small businesses adjacent to public land often lack the capacity to harvest and utilize biomass. Businesses face challenges such as limited access to capital and markets, technical assistance, and inconsistent material supply. From 2005-2010, the USDA Forest Service's Woody Biomass Utilization Grant (Woody BUG) program provided resources to address these barriers. We evaluated and compared the impacts of this program in eastern Oregon and in eastern Arizona. Here we summarize the findings from eastern Arizona

Transcatheter interatrial shunt device for the treatment of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (REDUCE LAP-HF I [Reduce Elevated Left Atrial Pressure in Patients With Heart Failure]): A phase 2, randomized, sham-controlled trial

Background -In non-randomized, open-label studies, a transcatheter interatrial shunt device (IASD, Corvia Medical) was associated with lower pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP), less symptoms, and greater quality of life and exercise capacity in patients with heart failure (HF) and mid-range or preserved ejection fraction (EF ≥ 40%). We conducted the first randomized, sham-controlled trial to evaluate the IASD in HF with EF ≥ 40%. Methods -REDUCE LAP-HF I was a phase 2, randomized, parallel-group, blinded multicenter trial in patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III or ambulatory class IV HF, EF ≥ 40%, exercise PCWP ≥ 25 mmHg, and PCWP-right atrial pressure gradient ≥ 5 mmHg. Participants were randomized (1:1) to the IASD vs. a sham procedure (femoral venous access with intracardiac echocardiography but no IASD placement). The participants and investigators assessing the participants during follow-up were blinded to treatment assignment. The primary effectiveness endpoint was exercise PCWP at 1 month. The primary safety endpoint was major adverse cardiac, cerebrovascular, and renal events (MACCRE) at 1 month. PCWP during exercise was compared between treatment groups using a mixed effects repeated measures model analysis of covariance that included data from all available stages of exercise. Results -A total of 94 patients were enrolled, of which n=44 met inclusion/exclusion criteria and were randomized to the IASD (n=22) and control (n=22) groups. Mean age was 70±9 years and 50% were female. At 1 month, the IASD resulted in a greater reduction in PCWP compared to sham-control (P=0.028 accounting for all stages of exercise). Peak PCWP decreased by 3.5±6.4 mmHg in the treatment group vs. 0.5±5.0 mmHg in the control group (P=0.14). There were no peri-procedural or 1-month MACCRE in the IASD group and 1 event (worsening renal function) in the control group (P=1.0). Conclusions -In patients with HF and EF ≥ 40%, IASD treatment reduces PCWP during exercise. Whether this mechanistic effect will translate into sustained improvements in symptoms and outcomes requires further evaluation. Clinical Trial Registration -URL: http://clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT02600234

Black Hole Evaporation in the Presence of a Short Distance Cutoff

A derivation of the Hawking effect is given which avoids reference to field modes above some cutoff frequency $\omega_c\gg M^{-1}$ in the free-fall frame of the black hole. To avoid reference to arbitrarily high frequencies, it is necessary to impose a boundary condition on the quantum field in a timelike region near the horizon, rather than on a (spacelike) Cauchy surface either outside the horizon or at early times before the horizon forms. Due to the nature of the horizon as an infinite redshift surface, the correct boundary condition at late times outside the horizon cannot be deduced, within the confines of a theory that applies only below the cutoff, from initial conditions prior to the formation of the hole. A boundary condition is formulated which leads to the Hawking effect in a cutoff theory. It is argued that it is possible the boundary condition is {\it not} satisfied, so that the spectrum of black hole radiation may be significantly different from that predicted by Hawking, even without the back-reaction near the horizon becoming of order unity relative to the curvature.Comment: 35 pages, plain LaTeX, UMDGR93-32, NSF-ITP-93-2

Structural insight into MR1-mediated recognition of the mucosal associated invariant T cell receptor

Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells express a semiinvariant αβ T cell receptor (TCR) that binds MHC class I-like molecule (MR1). However, the molecular basis for MAIT TCR recognition by MR1 is unknown. In this study, we present the crystal structure of a human Vα7.2Jα33-Vβ2 MAIT TCR. Mutagenesis revealed highly conserved requirements for the MAIT TCR-MR1 interaction across different human MAIT TCRs stimulated by distinct microbial sources. Individual residues within the MAIT TCR β chain were dispensable for the interaction with MR1, whereas the invariant MAIT TCR α chain controlled specificity through a small number of residues, which are conserved across species and located within the Vα-Jα regions. Mutagenesis of MR1 showed that only two residues, which were centrally positioned and on opposing sides of the antigen-binding cleft of MR1, were essential for MAIT cell activation. The mutagenesis data are consistent with a centrally located MAIT TCR-MR1 docking that was dominated by the α chain of the MAIT TCR. This candidate docking mode contrasts with that of the NKT TCR-CD1d-antigen interaction, in which both the α and β chain of the NKT TCR is required for ligation above the F\u27-pocket of CD1d

Lorentz violation at high energy: concepts, phenomena and astrophysical constraints

We consider here the possibility of quantum gravity induced violation of Lorentz symmetry (LV). Even if suppressed by the inverse Planck mass such LV can be tested by current experiments and astrophysical observations. We review the effective field theory approach to describing LV, the issue of naturalness, and many phenomena characteristic of LV. We discuss some of the current observational bounds on LV, focusing mostly on those from high energy astrophysics in the QED sector at order E/M_Planck. In this context we present a number of new results which include the explicit computation of rates of the most relevant LV processes, the derivation of a new photon decay constraint, and modification of previous constraints taking proper account of the helicity dependence of the LV parameters implied by effective field theory.Comment: v.1 56 pages, 3 figures, Invited article for Annals of Physics; v.2: 60 pages, 3 figures. Typos fixed, references added, minor editing for clarity and accuracy; discussion of fermion pair emission added. To appear in January 2006 special issue of Annals of Physic

On the Origin of the Outgoing Black Hole Modes

The question of how to account for the outgoing black hole modes without drawing upon a transplanckian reservoir at the horizon is addressed. It is argued that the outgoing modes must arise via conversion from ingoing modes. It is further argued that the back-reaction must be included to avoid the conclusion that particle creation cannot occur in a strictly stationary background. The process of ``mode conversion" is known in plasma physics by this name and in condensed matter physics as ``Andreev reflection" or ``branch conversion". It is illustrated here in a linear Lorentz non-invariant model introduced by Unruh. The role of interactions and a physical short distance cutoff is then examined in the sonic black hole formed with Helium-II.Comment: 12 pages, plain latex, 2 figures included using psfig; Analogy to ``Andreev reflection" in superfluid systems noted, references and acknowledgment added, format changed to shorten tex

Musculoskeletal pain and work absence – a 10 year follow-up study of Norwegian young adult twins

Background and aims: Sickness absence (SA) and disability pension (DP) are increasingly recognized as major public problems. Musculoskeletal disorders are among the most common diagnoses set by physicians granting SA and DP. Results from recent twin studies have established that SA and DP are influenced not only by environmental and social factors, but also moderately to substantially by genes. The aim of the current study was to examine to what degree musculoskeletal complaints in young adults predict SA and DP, including SA granted for other diagnoses. As the participants were twins, we were able to perform within pair analyses, to see if the associations between musculoskeletal pain and later DP or SA were confounded by unmeasured genetic and shared environmental factors. Materials and methods: The Norwegian twin registry includes a questionnaire conducted in 1998. From this, we included three measures of recurrent pain (lower back, neck/shoulders and muscular) as well as symptoms of anxiety and depression (measured by the Symptom Checklist-5 (SCL-5)). The questionnaire has been linked to highly reliable official registries on SA and DP, as well as a range of sociodemographic variables, for a ten-year follow up period. We applied logistic (DP as dependent variable) and binomial regression (SA as dependent variable) analyses to explore the relationship between musculoskeletal pain and DP and SA. In the final models, we adjusted for sociodemographic factors and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Differences between twins in a pair were explored by applying fixed effect models. All analyses were conducted using STATA version 13.1. Results: The final sample of 7,626 twins included 3,055 complete pairs (488 monozygotic (MZ) male, 349 dizygotic (DZ) male, 747 MZ female, 589 DZ female, and 882 opposite sex twin pairs) and 1,516 singletons. By the end of follow up, 181 subjects (44 men and 137 women) received DP, and 63.7% of the sample (47.4% of males and 76.0% of females) had at least one period of SA extending 16 days. Pain at any site was significantly associated with DP in both sexes. Any increase in the number of pain sites reported was associated with about a 60% increased risk for receiving DP (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.4-1.9), and the strength of the association was only marginally reduced when adjusted for symptoms of mental disorders (1.4, 1.2- 1.7). In the within pair analyses the effect was no longer significant, indicating possible confounding from genetic and shared environmental effects. As for all cause SA, musculoskeletal pain predicted SA independently of all measured confounders, and the results remained significant in the within pair analyses (Incidence Rate Ratio (IRR) 1.12, 95% CI 1.03-1.23). Conclusion: In young adults, musculoskeletal pain strongly predicted SA and DP for a 10 year follow-up period. Musculoskeletal pain was associated with higher levels of all cause SA, even within discordant MZ twin pairs. Our results indicate that interventions to prevent musculoskeletal pain in young adults can reduce levels of SA and DP

Paleogenomics. Genomic structure in Europeans dating back at least 36,200 years.

The origin of contemporary Europeans remains contentious. We obtained a genome sequence from Kostenki 14 in European Russia dating from 38,700 to 36,200 years ago, one of the oldest fossils of anatomically modern humans from Europe. We find that Kostenki 14 shares a close ancestry with the 24,000-year-old Mal'ta boy from central Siberia, European Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, some contemporary western Siberians, and many Europeans, but not eastern Asians. Additionally, the Kostenki 14 genome shows evidence of shared ancestry with a population basal to all Eurasians that also relates to later European Neolithic farmers. We find that Kostenki 14 contains more Neandertal DNA that is contained in longer tracts than present Europeans. Our findings reveal the timing of divergence of western Eurasians and East Asians to be more than 36,200 years ago and that European genomic structure today dates back to the Upper Paleolithic and derives from a metapopulation that at times stretched from Europe to central Asia.GeoGenetics members were supported by the Lundbeck Foundation and the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF94). ASM was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (PBSKP3_143529). Research on the archaeological background by PRN was supported by a MC Career Integration Grant (322261).This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Science at http://www.sciencemag.org/content/346/6213/1113.short

Chronologically dating the early assembly of the Milky Way

The standard cosmological model predicts that galaxies are built through hierarchical assembly on cosmological timescales1,2. The Milky Way, like other disk galaxies, underwent violent mergers and accretion of small satellite galaxies in its early history. Owing to Gaia Data Release 23 and spectroscopic surveys4, the stellar remnants of such mergers have been identified5,6,7. The chronological dating of such events is crucial to uncover the formation and evolution of the Galaxy at high redshift, but it has so far been challenging due to difficulties in obtaining precise ages for these oldest stars. Here we combine asteroseismology—the study of stellar oscillations—with kinematics and chemical abundances to estimate precise stellar ages (~11%) for a sample of stars observed by the Kepler space mission8. Crucially, this sample includes not only some of the oldest stars that were formed inside the Galaxy but also stars formed externally and subsequently accreted onto the Milky Way. Leveraging this resolution in age, we provide compelling evidence in favour of models in which the Galaxy had already formed a substantial population of its stars (which now reside mainly in its thick disk) before the infall of the satellite galaxy Gaia-Enceladus/Sausage5,6 around 10 billion years ago