495 research outputs found
The Association between Treatment Components and Mental Health Outcomes Among Young Children Exposed to Violence
Background: When treating violence-exposed children, clinicians often modify psychotherapy protocols or use only a subset of treatment components (e.g., a clinical technique, strategy). However, there is little evidence of the effectiveness of individual treatment components. Our study aimed to determine: i) the best fitting factor structure of individual treatment components; ii) the association of child characteristics (i.e., demographics, treatment dosage, environmental risk factors) with mental health outcomes (i.e., post-treatment internalizing and externalizing symptoms); and iii) the association of individual treatment factors (i.e., sets of treatment components) with mental health outcomes. Methods: A sample of 459 violence-exposed children aged 1.5–5 years was examined. Principal component analyses were conducted to factor-analyze 22 child treatment components and 18 caregiver treatment components, respectively. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to determine the relationship between child and caregiver treatment factors and outcomes. Results: Children who received grief work showed significant improvement in externalizing symptoms. Children of caregivers who received parent training, attachment skills building, psychoeducation about domestic violence, safety planning, and anger management training showed significantly less externalizing symptom improvement. Gender, race/ethnicity, and treatment dosage were also associated with outcomes. Conclusion: This is the first study to examine treatment components in a sample of young children exposed to violence with a standardized quantitative measure. Our findings suggest that acknowledging children’s loss and sorrow expressed through externalizing behavior and helping them process bereavement may help alleviate their symptoms. Clinical recommendations are discussed
Regulatory crosstalk by protein kinases on CFTR trafficking and activity
Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) is a member of the ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter superfamily that functions as a cAMP-activated chloride ion channel in fluid-transporting epithelia. There is abundant evidence that CFTR activity (i.e., channel opening and closing) is regulated by protein kinases and phosphatases via phosphorylation and dephosphorylation. Here, we review recent evidence for the role of protein kinases in regulation of CFTR delivery to and retention in the plasma membrane. We review this information in a broader context of regulation of other transporters by protein kinases because the overall functional output of transporters involves the integrated control of both their number at the plasma membrane and their specific activity. While many details of the regulation of intracellular distribution of CFTR and other transporters remain to be elucidated, we hope that this review will motivate research providing new insights into how protein kinases control membrane transport to impact health and disease.Work supported by the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência
e Tecnologia (fellowship grant SFRH/BSAB/105741/2014—to
CF, grant PTDC/SAU-ORG/119782/2010—to PJ, and centre
grant UID/MULTI/04046/2013—to BioISI); Gilead Génese
PGG/039/2014 and ERS Romain Pauwels 2012 (to CF); CFF
SWIATE14P0 (to AS); NIH NIDDK P30 072506 Basic and
Translational Studies of Cystic Fibrosis (P&F to AS)
A Computational Approach for Designing Tiger Corridors in India
Wildlife corridors are components of landscapes, which facilitate the
movement of organisms and processes between intact habitat areas, and thus
provide connectivity between the habitats within the landscapes. Corridors are
thus regions within a given landscape that connect fragmented habitat patches
within the landscape. The major concern of designing corridors as a
conservation strategy is primarily to counter, and to the extent possible,
mitigate the effects of habitat fragmentation and loss on the biodiversity of
the landscape, as well as support continuance of land use for essential local
and global economic activities in the region of reference. In this paper, we
use game theory, graph theory, membership functions and chain code algorithm to
model and design a set of wildlife corridors with tiger (Panthera tigris
tigris) as the focal species. We identify the parameters which would affect the
tiger population in a landscape complex and using the presence of these
identified parameters construct a graph using the habitat patches supporting
tiger presence in the landscape complex as vertices and the possible paths
between them as edges. The passage of tigers through the possible paths have
been modelled as an Assurance game, with tigers as an individual player. The
game is played recursively as the tiger passes through each grid considered for
the model. The iteration causes the tiger to choose the most suitable path
signifying the emergence of adaptability. As a formal explanation of the game,
we model this interaction of tiger with the parameters as deterministic finite
automata, whose transition function is obtained by the game payoff.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, 6 tables, NGCT conference 201
Local critical behaviour at aperiodic surface extended perturbation in the Ising quantum chain
The surface critical behaviour of the semi--infinite one--dimensional quantum
Ising model in a transverse field is studied in the presence of an aperiodic
surface extended modulation. The perturbed couplings are distributed according
to a generalized Fredholm sequence, leading to a marginal perturbation and
varying surface exponents. The surface magnetic exponents are calculated
exactly whereas the expression of the surface energy density exponent is
conjectured from a finite--size scaling study. The system displays surface
order at the bulk critical point, above a critical value of the modulation
amplitude. It may be considered as a discrete realization of the Hilhorst--van
Leeuwen model.Comment: 13 pages, TeX file + 6 figures, epsf neede
Histone locus regulation by the Drosophila dosage compensation adaptor protein CLAMP
The conserved histone locus body (HLB) assembles prior to zygotic gene activation early during development and concentrates factors into a nuclear domain of coordinated histone gene regulation. Although HLBs form specifically at replication-dependent histone loci, the cis and trans factors that target HLB components to histone genes remained unknown. Here we report that conserved GA repeat cis elements within the bidirectional histone3–histone4 promoter direct HLB formation in Drosophila. In addition, the CLAMP (chromatin-linked adaptor for male-specific lethal [MSL] proteins) zinc finger protein binds these GA repeat motifs, increases chromatin accessibility, enhances histone gene transcription, and promotes HLB formation. We demonstrated previously that CLAMP also promotes the formation of another domain of coordinated gene regulation: the dosage-compensated male X chromosome. Therefore, CLAMP binding to GA repeat motifs promotes the formation of two distinct domains of coordinated gene activation located at different places in the genome
Interacting Ghost Dark Energy in Brans-Dicke Theory
We investigate the QCD ghost model of dark energy in the framework of
Brans-Dicke cosmology. First, we study the non-interacting ghost dark energy in
a flat Brans-Dicke theory. In this case we obtain the EoS and the deceleration
parameters and a differential equation governing the evolution of ghost energy
density. Interestingly enough, we find that the EoS parameter of the
non-interacting ghost dark energy can cross the phantom line ()
provided the parameters of the model are chosen suitably. Then, we generalize
the study to the interacting ghost dark energy in both flat and non-flat
Brans-Dicke framework and find out that the transition of to phantom
regime can be more easily achieved for than when resort to the Einstein field
equations is made.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
Fuel poverty from the bottom-up: Characterising household energy vulnerability through the lived experience of the fuel poor
Recent quantitative and qualitative evidence documents a dramatic reduction in average direct UK household energy consumption in the last decade. The 'fuel poverty gap' in the UK (average shortfall that fuel poor households experience in affording their energy bills) has also grown substantially in that period. Here we draw on the literature on vulnerability and on recent qualitative interviews with fuel poor households to characterise the experience of energy vulnerability in the UK. Using our qualitative data, we explore energy vulnerability from the point of view of our interviewees. In doing so we identify six challenges to energy vulnerability for the fuel poor: quality of dwelling fabric, energy costs and supply issues, stability of household income, tenancy relations, social relations within the household and outside, and ill health. In analysing these challenges we find that the energy vulnerable have limited agency to reduce their own vulnerability. Further, current UK policy relating to fuel poverty does not take full account of these challenges. Any attempt to address energy vulnerability coherently in the future must engage with structural forces (policies, markets, and recognition) in order to increase household agency for change
Gauge symmetry, chirality and parity violation in four-particle systems: Coulomb's law as a universal molecular function
Following recent work in search of a universal function (Van Hooydonk, Eur J
Inorg Chem, 1999, 1617), we test symmetric potentials for reproducing molecular
potential energy curves (PECs). For a bond, a four-particle system, charge
inversion is the key to explain this shape generically. A parity adapted
Hamiltonian reduces from ten to two terms. The analytical perturbed Coulomb
function scales attractive and repulsive branches of 13 PECs (HH, HF, LiH, KH,
AuH, LiLi, LiF, KLi, NaCs, RbRb,RbCs, CsCs and II) in a single straight line.
Turning points are reproduced with a deviation of 0.3 % (0.007 angstrom). At
the repulsive side, the deviation is 0.2 % (0.003 angstrom). The ab initio zero
molecular parameter function gives PECs of acceptable quality, just using
atomic ionisation energies. The function can be used as a model potential for
inverting energy levels. The theory may be tested with femtochemistry.
Reactions between hydrogen and anti-hydrogen, feasible in the near future, will
probably produce normal HH.Comment: 90 p., 5 tables, 35 figure
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Research Data Management Principles, Practices, and Prospects
This report examines how research institutions are responding to data management requirements of the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and other federal agencies. It also considers what role, if any, academic libraries and the library and information science profession should have in supporting researchers’ data management needs. University of North Texas (UNT) Library Director Martin Halbert opens the report with an overview of the DataRes Project, a two-year investigation of data management practices conducted at UNT with colleagues Spencer D. C. Keralis, Shannon Stark, and William E. Moen. His introduction is followed by a series of papers that were presented at the DataRes Symposium that UNT organized in December 2012
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