Mental rotation and sexual orientation

Mental rotation, a type of visuo-spatial ability, is the ability to imagine a figure rotating in space without verbal mediation. Gender differences in the performance of mental rotation tasks are well documented but the relationship between sexual orientation and mental rotation is uncertain. This study investigates the relationship between gender, sexual orientation and scores of 584 university students on the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test. A 2 x 2 ANOVA reveals a main effect for gender, a main effect for sexual orientation, and significant interaction between gender and sexual orientation. Mental rotation scores differentiate heterosexual male students from gay male, lesbian, and heterosexual female students. Results are discussed from a cognitive-strategic perspective

The Effect of Two Weight Reduction Maintenance Strategies for Moderately/Mildly Retarded Adults

Thirteen retarded adult subjects were first exposed to a 12-week behavior therapy weight reduction program followed by a ten-month weekly weigh-in. Then the subjects were randomly assigned to an experimental maintenance booster session group (n=7) or a control post-treatment maintenance group (n=6) for 12 months. The results indicated that when weight control or maintenance procedures were in effect, the subjects lost weight. However, a 12-month follow-up check revealed that the long-term success of the treatment and maintenance procedures was not well maintaned

Allergic Conjunctivitis at Sheikh Zayed Regional Eye Care Center, Gambia

Purpose: To assess the prevalence of allergic conjunctivitis in Gambia and to determine its epidemiologic features, seasonal variations and associated ocular and systemic conditions. Methods: Records of patients clinically diagnosed with allergic conjunctivitis between April 2007 and March 2008 were reviewed. Variables including age, sex, date of presentation, and systemic and ocular findings were recorded. Results: A total of 7,912 patients were visited within the study period, out of which 624 (7.9%) were diagnosed with allergic conjunctivitis. The disease was equally distributed in male and female subjects, with high preponderance in children (54.5%). Most patients (60.7%) presented during the dry season as compared to the rainy season. Refractive error was the most common ocular condition associated with the condition present in 7.4% of patients while the most common systemic association was asthma, reported in 1.4% of cases. Conclusion: Allergic conjunctivitis in Gambia is more common in children than in adults and has seasonal variation with more patients presenting during dry seasons. Refractive errors are the most common ocular problem associated with the disease and asthma is a systemic association

Prevalence and risk factors for diabetic retinopathy in north-central Nigeria

Background: To determine the prevalence, pattern and risk factors of Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) among patients with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) in a tertiary hospital in north-central Nigeria.Settings and Design: This was a hospital-based cross-sectional study conducted in Jos, north-central Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Consecutive adult patients with DM attending the endocrinology clinic who consented to the study were examined over a six-month period. Demographic data, duration of diabetes and history of any systemic disorder were obtained for each patient. A detailed ocular examination and fundus photography were performed and results of blood investigations such as Fasting Blood Glucose (FBG), Glycosylated Haemoglobin (HbA1c) and serum lipid profile were analysed. Data analysis was done with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 software.Results: Three hundred and fifty-six patients were examined comprising of 120 (33.7%) males and 236 (66.3%) females giving a male to female ratio of 1:2. The mean age of the study population was 56.6 ± 12.3 years. Diabetic retinopathy and macular oedema were present in 66 (18.5%) and 51 (14.3%) patients respectively. Diabetes diagnosis of 10 years and above, FBG and HbA1c all had a statistically significant association with DR with p values <0.001.Conclusion: The prevalence of DR was 18.5% in a hospital cohort of diabetic patients in north-central Nigeria with long duration of diabetes and poor glycaemic control being the major risk factors for retinopathy. These findings highlight the need for regular eye screening and good glycaemic control in individuals with diabetes in our environment.  Funding: None declared Keywords: Diabetic retinopathy, diabetes mellitus, macular oedema, prevalence, blindnes

Pattern and outcome of conjunctival surgeries in Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Nigeria

Objective: To assess the output, pattern, and outcome of conjunctival surgeries in Jos University Teaching Hospital over a 7‑year period.Methodology: The minor ophthalmic surgical records of the hospital were retrospectively reviewed to obtain information on patients who had conjunctival surgery. These included patients’ demographics, diagnosis, indications and types of surgery, type of anesthesia, histology report, and outcome. The data were analyzed using Epi Info statistical software version 3.4, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.Results: A total of 155 patients and 187 eyes were operated upon; 73 (47.1%) males and a mean age of 39.9 years (standard deviation: 15). Pterygium excision accounting for 104 (55.6%), excisional biopsy 58 (31.0%), and conjunctival flap in 14 eyes (7.5%) were the most common procedures. There was an increase in the proportion of patients who had pterygium surgery with increasing age (X2 = 19.6, P < 0.001). Pterygium excision also remained the most common conjunctival surgery over the 7‑year period with an annual average of 55.1% (X2 = 8.4, P < 0.001). Most pterygium excision 91 (87.5%) were performed using the bare sclera technique with a 31.6% recurrence rate. The most common conjunctival neoplasia was squamous cell carcinoma 7 (58.3%) and squamous cell papilloma 3 (25%).Conclusion: Over half of conjunctival surgeries were pterygium excisions mostly performed using the bare sclera method with a significant recurrent rate; hence, the need for modifications which includes the use of antimetabolites and conjunctival autograft.Keywords: Conjunctiva, outcome, surger

Green roof seasonal variation: comparison of the hydrologic behavior of a thick and a thin extensive system in New York City

Green roofs have been utilized for urban stormwater management due to their ability to capture rainwater locally. Studies of the most common type, extensive green roofs, have demonstrated that green roofs can retain significant amounts of stormwater, but have also shown variation in seasonal performance. The purpose of this study is to determine how time of year impacts the hydrologic performance of extensive green roofs considering the covariates of antecedent dry weather period (ADWP), potential evapotranspiration (ET0) and storm event size. To do this, nearly four years of monitoring data from two full-scale extensive green roofs (with differing substrate depths of 100 mm and 31 mm) are analyzed. The annual performance is then modeled using a common empirical relationship between rainfall and green roof runoff, with the addition of Julian day in one approach, ET0 in another, and both ADWP and ET0 in a third approach. Together the monitoring and modeling results confirm that stormwater retention is highest in warmer months, the green roofs retain more rainfall with longer ADWPs, and the seasonal variations in behavior are more pronounced for the roof with the thinner media than the roof with the deeper media. Overall, the ability of seasonal accounting to improve stormwater retention modeling is demonstrated; modification of the empirical model to include ADWP, and ET0 improves the model R 2 from 0.944 to 0.975 for the thinner roof, and from 0.866 to 0.870 for the deeper roof. Furthermore, estimating the runoff with the empirical approach was shown to be more accurate then using a water balance model, with model R 2 of 0.944 and 0.866 compared to 0.975 and 0.866 for the thinner and deeper roof, respectively. This finding is attributed to the difficulty of accurately parameterizing the water balance model

Bisphenol A in Thermal Paper Receipts: Taylor et al. Respond

We agree with Schwartz and Landrigan that there is a need for change in the regulatory system for chemicals used in products in the United States. Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of thousands of chemicals of concern, but it provides a striking example of what happens when there is no requirement for premarket testing

Gravitational waves: search results, data analysis and parameter estimation

The Amaldi 10 Parallel Session C2 on gravitational wave (GW) search results, data analysis and parameter estimation included three lively sessions of lectures by 13 presenters, and 34 posters. The talks and posters covered a huge range of material, including results and analysis techniques for ground-based GW detectors, targeting anticipated signals from different astrophysical sources: compact binary inspiral, merger and ringdown; GW bursts from intermediate mass binary black hole mergers, cosmic string cusps, core-collapse supernovae, and other unmodeled sources; continuous waves from spinning neutron stars; and a stochastic GW background. There was considerable emphasis on Bayesian techniques for estimating the parameters of coalescing compact binary systems from the gravitational waveforms extracted from the data from the advanced detector network. This included methods to distinguish deviations of the signals from what is expected in the context of General Relativity

Beyond the air-conditioned boardroom: Bridging western and Fijian Indigenous knowledge in tourism research

The COVID-19 outbreak and increasing natural disasters have intensified concerns about effective water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) practices in Fiji’s tourism sector. Whilst Indigenous values and customs are recognised in tourism development, socially inclusive WASH research in the sector has inadequately addressed Indigenous cultural nuances, especially in Pacific communities. Drawing from the Fijian Vanua Research Framework (FVRF), a Pacific research methodology that incorporates Fijian values, relationship protocols, and ways of knowing, this research designed a culturally-sensitive and socially-inclusive methodology to respect traditional Fijian protocols, and examine hotel staff and host communities’ WASH practices. The research identified differential access to, and gaps in, the provision of WASH, and provided guidelines for future change. This paper presents the challenges of, and the lessons learnt from, the application of the methodology to field research. The methodology provided invaluable intellectual detail, resulting in the development of contextually appropriate recommendations and tools, and strengthening long-term working relationships