Cardiac Depression Scale: Mokken scaling in heart failure patients

Background: There is a high prevalence of depression in patients with heart failure (HF) that is associated with worsening prognosis. The value of using a reliable and valid instrument to measure depression in this population is therefore essential. We validated the Cardiac Depression Scale (CDS) in heart failure patients using a model of ordinal unidimensional measurement known as Mokken scaling. Findings: We administered in face-to-face interviews the CDS to 603 patients with HF. Data were analysed using Mokken scale analysis. Items of the CDS formed a statistically significant unidimensional Mokken scale of low strength (H<0.40) and high reliability (Rho>0.8). Conclusions: The CDS has a hierarchy of items which can be interpreted in terms of the increasingly serious effects of depression occurring as a result of HF. Identifying an appropriate instrument to measure depression in patients with HF allows for early identification and better medical management. Keywords: Cardiac Depression Scale, Heart failure, Depression, Mokken scalin

EVALUATING OPTIMAL PRODUCT MIX USING DYNAMIC SIMULATION: A TOMATO PROCESSING CASE

Technology-driven change is everywhere and value-capture from new technology is challenging for business managers. Also rival firms may use technology as part of major success strategies. This situation leads managers to be keenly interested in evaluation of alternative technologies prior to making a sunk investment in physical facilities. In contemplating new or added-capacity processing facilities, managers and investors must evaluate return on investment (ROI). Evaluation of ROI is complex because it varies by alternative technology and the resultant potential product mix alternatives associated with that technology at the time the investment capital is committed to build the processing plant. This research examines optimal alternative product mix from a processing plant technology that is fixed at the time of commitment to building or adding capacity. Evaluating the optimal product mix is of vital concern in any start-up processing environment. In this research the optimal product mix is evaluated by using a sophisticated evaluative tool known as PowerSim. This economic simulation software is used to model a start-up tomato processing plant in Ohio. The model evaluates the effects of various output, or tomato product mix, on plant profitability measured by ROI. Results indicate that an increase in plant profitability is expected when the tomato product mix consists of products that have a lower soluble solids concentration. The lower the soluble solids concentration of a tomato product, the less the processor will benefit from tomato varieties with high soluble solids. The processing operation achieves a RIO of 26.5 percent when the plant'Â’s product mix is 50 percent tomato paste (31 degrees brix) and 50 percent diced tomatoes. This product mix optimizes processor net income and realizes a plant return on equity of 50.6 percent.Agribusiness,

A ship-based methodology for high precision atmospheric oxygen measurements and its application in the Southern Ocean region

A method for achieving continuous high precision measurements of atmospheric O-2 is presented based on a commercially available fuel-cell instrument, (Sable Systems, Oxzilla FC-II) with a precision of 7 per meg (approximately equivalent to 1.2 ppm) for a 6-min measurement. The Oxzilla was deployed on two voyages in the Western Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean, in February 2003 and in April 2004, making these the second set of continuous O-2 measurements ever made from a ship. The results show significant temporal variation in O-2, in the order of +/- 10 per meg over 6-hourly time intervals, and substantial spatial variation. Data from both voyages show an O-2 maximum centred on 50 degrees S, which is most likely to be the result of biologically driven O-2 outgassing in the region of subtropical convergence around New Zealand, and a decreasing O-2 trend towards Antarctica. O-2 from the ship-based measurements is elevated compared with measurements from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography flask-sampling network, and the O-2 maximum is also not captured in the network observations. This preliminary study shows that ship-based continuous measurements are a valuable addition to current fixed site sampling programmes for the understanding of ocean-atmosphere O-2 exchange processes. [References: 39

At-risk mental state for psychosis : identification and current treatment approaches

© The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2016. The concept of an ‘at-risk mental state’ for psychosis arose from previous work attempting to identify a putative psychosis prodrome. In this article we summarise the current criteria used to identify ‘at-risk’ individuals, such as the ultra-highrisk (UHR) criteria, and the further identification of important clinical risk factors or biomarkers to improve prediction of who might develop a psychotic disorder. We also discuss important ethical issues in classifying and treating at-risk individuals, current treatment trials in this area and what treatment current services can offer

The Effectiveness of Two Methods of Prescribing Load on Maximal Strength Development: A Systematic Review

Background: Optimal prescription of resistance exercise load (kg) is essential for the development of maximal strength. Two methods are commonly used in practice with no clear consensus on the most effective approach for the improvement of maximal strength. Objective: The primary aim of this review was to compare the effectiveness of percentage 1RM (% 1RM) and repetition maximum targets (RM) as load prescription methods for the development of maximal strength. Methods: Electronic database searches of MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus, Scopus, and CINAHL Complete were conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Studies were eligible for inclusion if a direct measure of maximal strength was used, a non-training control group was a comparator, the training intervention was > 4 weeks in duration and was replicable, and participants were defined as healthy and between the ages of 18–40. Methodological quality of the studies was evaluated using a modified Downs and Black checklist. Percentage change (%) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for all strength-based training groups were calculated. Statistical significance (p < 0.05) was reported from each study. Results: Twenty-two studies comprising a total of 761 participants (585 males and 176 females) were found to meet the inclusion criteria. 12 studies were returned for % 1RM, with 10 for RM. All studies showed statistically significant improvements in maximal strength in the training groups (31.3 ± 21.9%; 95% CI 33.1–29.5%). The mean quality rating for all studies was 17.7 ± 2.3. Four studies achieved a good methodological rating, with the remainder classified as moderate. Conclusions: Both % 1RM and RM are effective tools for improving maximal strength. % 1RM appears to be a better prescriptive method than RM potentially due to a more sophisticated management of residual fatigue. However, large heterogeneity was present within this data. Lower body and multi-joint exercises appear to be more appropriate for developing maximal strength. Greater consensus is required in defining optimal training prescriptions, physiological adaptations, and training status

Growth and kinetic Monte Carlo simulation of InAs quantum wires on vicinal substrates

AbstractSelf-assembled quantum structures have been successfully grown for some time now but control over their uniformity has proven difficult due to the stochastic nature of surface diffusion. We have investigated the effect of vicinal InP(001) substrates on the uniformity of InAs quantum wires grown on InGaAlAs lattice-matched to InP using molecular beam epitaxy. Dense quantum wires were grown on both nominally flat and vicinal substrates off-cut by 0.9° toward the [110] direction for comparison. The off-cut angle was chosen to provide terraces which match the orientation and spacing of wires grown on nominally flat substrates. A modest but statistically significant improvement in the size distribution of the wires was observed on vicinal substrates through the analysis of ultrahigh resolution scanning electron micrographs. The interface between the wires and the off-cut substrate was studied using cross-sectional high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy. In addition, a kinetic Monte Carlo model of epitaxial growth including full strain calculations was developed to further investigate the nucleation process. Using an anisotropic bond model to account for the surface energy of different crystallographic facets, our simulations produced wires similar to those observed experimentally while demonstrating the importance of anisotropic bonding compared to anisotropic diffusion. Growth on vicinal substrates is also simulated here and indicates that off-cut substrates should indeed improve the size distribution of quantum wires under proper growth conditions

Extreme asteroids in the Pan-STARRS 1 Survey

Using the first 18 months of the Pan-STARRS 1 survey we have identified 33 candidate high-amplitude objects for follow-up observations and carried out observations of 22 asteroids. 4 of the observed objects were found to have observed amplitude $A_{obs}\geq 1.0$ mag. We find that these high amplitude objects are most simply explained by single rubble pile objects with some density-dependent internal strength, allowing them to resist mass shedding even at their highly elongated shapes. 3 further objects although below the cut-off for 'high-amplitude' had a combination of elongation and rotation period which also may require internal cohesive strength, depending on the density of the body. We find that none of the 'high-amplitude asteroids' identified here require any unusual cohesive strengths to resist rotational fission. 3 asteroids were sufficiently observed to allow for shape and spin pole models to be determined through light curve inversion. 45864 was determined to have retrograde rotation with spin pole axes $\lambda=218\pm 10^{\circ}, \beta=-82\pm 5^{\circ}$ and asteroid 206167 was found to have best fit spin pole axes $\lambda= 57 \pm 5^{\circ}$, $\beta=-67 \pm 5^{\circ}$. An additional object not initially measured with $A_{obs}>1.0$ mag, 49257, was determined to have a shape model which does suggest a high-amplitude object. Its spin pole axes were best fit for values $\lambda=112\pm 6^{\circ}, \beta=6\pm 5^{\circ}$. In the course of this project to date no large super-fast rotators ($P_{rot} < 2.2$ h) have been identified.Comment: 31 pages; accepted by A

The rotation and Galactic kinematics of mid M dwarfs in the Solar Neighborhood

Rotation is a directly-observable stellar property, and drives magnetic field generation and activity through a magnetic dynamo. Main sequence stars with masses below approximately 0.35Msun (mid-to-late M dwarfs) are fully-convective, and are expected to have a different type of dynamo mechanism than solar-type stars. Measurements of their rotation rates provide insights into these mechanisms, but few rotation periods are available for these stars at field ages. Using photometry from the MEarth transit survey, we measure rotation periods for 387 nearby, mid-to-late M dwarfs in the Northern hemisphere, finding periods from 0.1 to 140 days. The typical detected rotator has stable, sinusoidal photometric modulations at a semi-amplitude of 0.5 to 1%. We find no period-amplitude relation for stars below 0.25Msun and an anti-correlation between period and amplitude for higher-mass M dwarfs. We highlight the existence of older, slowly-rotating stars without H{\alpha} emission that nevertheless have strong photometric variability. The Galactic kinematics of our sample is consistent with the local population of G and K dwarfs, and rotators have metallicities characteristic of the Solar Neighborhood. We use the W space velocities and established age-velocity relations to estimate that stars with P<10 days are on average <2 Gyrs, and that those with P>70 days are about 5 Gyrs. The period distribution is mass dependent: as the mass decreases, the slowest rotators at a given mass have longer periods, and the fastest rotators have shorter periods. We find a lack of stars with intermediate rotation periods. [Abridged]Comment: Accepted to ApJ. Machine readable tables and additional figures are available in the published article or on reques

A response to teaching dry subjects without tears

Examining the challenges of teaching'dry' subjects such as land law