728 research outputs found
An historical survey of Pilgrim world missions
https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/2293/thumbnail.jp
Derivation of subset product lines in FeatureIDE
The development and configuration of software product lines can be challenging tasks. During development, engineers often need to focus on a particular subset of features that is relevant for them. In such cases, it would be beneficial to hide other features and their implementation. During product configuration, requirements of potentially multiple stakeholders need to be considered. Therefore, configuration often happens in stages, in which different people contribute configuration decisions for different features. Moreover, in some cases, stakeholders want to share a set of products rather than a specific one. In all these cases, the necessary operation is the same: some features from the product line are assigned a value (e.g., via a partial configuration) while other features remain configurable. In this work, we propose a subset operation that takes a product line and a partial configuration to derive a subset product line comprising only the desired subset of features and implementation artifacts. Furthermore, we present, evaluate, and publish our implementation of the proposed subset operation within the FeatureIDE framework
Allostatic load is associated with positive symptoms in schizophrenia and first-episode psychosis and decreases with antipsychotic therapy
Background: Current pathophysiological models of schizophrenia suggest that stress contributes to the etiology and trajectory of the disorder. We investigated whether cumulative exposure to stress, quantified by allostatic load (AL), an integrative index of immune, metabolic, and neuroendocrine dysregulation, is elevated in patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) and first-episode psychosis (FEP) and related to psychotic symptoms and social and occupational functioning and assessed the temporal dynamics of AL in response to treatment with second-generation antipsychotics.
Methods: We assessed AL in a naturalistic study of unmedicated patients with SCZ (n = 28), FEP (n = 28), and healthy controls matched for age and gender (n = 53) at baseline and 6 and 12 weeks after commencement of antipsychotic therapy. Biomarkers for the AL index were selected based on (1) representation of several physiological systems including the cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, immune, and metabolic systems; (2) use in previous AL research; and (3) associations with disease risk. We adopted a scaled AL algorithm whereby each marker proportionally contributes to the overall AL index. Unadjusted and adjusted differences between patients with SCZ, FEP, and controls in AL were tested with ANCOVA, and partial correlations were used to test associations of AL with psychometric variables.
Results: AL was higher in patients with SCZ compared to controls (4.91 ± 1.89 vs. 2.87 ± 1.62, P < .001), patients with FEP compared to controls (3.80 ± 1.66 vs. 2.87 ± 1.62, P = .020) but not different between patients with SCZ and patients with FEP (P = .302). Adjusting for age and smoking, we found that positive symptoms were positively correlated with AL across all patients with a psychotic disorder (adjusted R = .520, P < .001) and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scores were negatively correlated with AL at trend level (adjusted R = −.251, P = .070). No significant associations were found for negative symptoms (P = .582). AL decreased after treatment with olanzapine, risperidone, or quetiapine was commenced in patients with SCZ and FEP between the baseline assessment and the 6- and 12-week follow-up.
Conclusion: Our data provide evidence for cumulative physiological dysregulation in patients with SCZ and FEP that is linked to the experience of current positive psychotic symptoms. AL could be a useful model that takes stress, long-term adaptation, and its failures into account to further understand the pathophysiology of schizophrenia
Toddle
Illustration of man and woman dancinghttps://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/cht-sheet-music/5569/thumbnail.jp
Hubble Space Telescope Imaging of the Circumstellar Nebulosity of T Tauri
Short-exposure Planetary Camera images of T Tauri have been obtained using broadband filters spanning the wavelength range 0.55-0.80 μm. The optically visible star lies very close to an arc of reflection nebulosity. The arc's northern arm extends approximately 5" from the star, while its southwestern arm appears brighter and extends only 2". The arc shows an approximate symmetry along an axis toward the west-northwest, the direction of Hind's Nebula and the blueshifted molecular outflow. The morphology of the reflected light is similar to models of scattered light within an illuminated, axisymmetric outflow cavity in a circumbinary envelope, viewed ≈ 45° from the outflow axis. However, our model images do not successfully account for the amount of limb brightening that is seen. No optical counterpart to the infrared companion is seen to a limiting magnitude of V = 19.6, which suggests A_V > 7 mag toward this source. There is no evidence for an optical tertiary, to a limiting ΔV = 5.1 mag fainter than the primary, at the position where such an object has been previously reported
Fossil Java Sea corals record Laurentide ice sheet disappearance
The Laurentide ice sheet was the largest late Pleistocene ice mass and the largest contributor to Holocene pre-industrial sea-level rise. While glaciological dates suggest final ice sheet melting between 8 and 6 ka, inversion of sea-level data indicates deglaciation at ca. 7 ka. Here, we present new chronostratigraphic constraints on Laurentide ice sheet disappearance based on Holocene relative sea-level observations from the tectonically stable north coast of Java, Indonesia. Age-elevation data from the flat upper surfaces of 13 fossil intertidal corals (i.e., microatolls) indicate that the Java Sea experienced a relative sea level of 1.3 ± 0.7 m above present between 6.9 and 5.3 ka. To determine uncaptured relative sea-level trends within the observational uncertainties of this apparently constant highstand, we analyzed the internal structure of three sliced microatolls from the same site to produce a high-resolution data set. These data were used to statistically model relative sea-level rates and trends. Employing the data with the model provided evidence for a short-lived rise of relative sea level from 1.0 ± 0.3 m above present at 6.7 ± 0.1 ka to 1.9 ± 0.3 m above present at 6.4 ± 0.1 ka. The end of this rise likely represents the last input of meltwater from the vast Laurentide ice sheet, which, consequently, collapsed at least 400 yr later than assumed by some widely used models of glacial isostatic adjustment. Incorporating these new results into such predictive models will help to better understand the geographical variability of future sea-level rise as a result of global warming
Stellar Populations at the Center of IC 1613
We have observed the center of the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy IC 1613
with WFPC2 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope in the F439W, F555W, and F814W
filters. We find a dominant old stellar population (aged ~7 Gyr), identifiable
by the strong red giant branch (RGB) and red clump populations. From the (V-I)
color of the RGB, we estimate a mean metallicity of the intermediate-age
stellar population [Fe/H] = -1.38 +/- 0.31. We confirm a distance of 715 +/- 40
kpc using the I-magnitude of the RGB tip. The main-sequence luminosity function
down to I ~25 provides evidence for a roughly constant SFR of approximately
0.00035 solar masses per year across the WFPC2 field of view (0.22 square kpc)
during the past 250-350 Myr. Structure in the blue loop luminosity function
implies that the SFR was ~50% higher 400-900 Myr ago than today. The mean heavy
element abundance of these young stars is 1/10th solar. The best explanation
for a red spur on the main-sequence at I = 24.7 is the blue horizontal branch
component of a very old stellar population at the center of IC 1613. We have
also imaged a broader area of IC 1613 using the 3.5-meter WIYN telescope under
excellent seeing conditions. The AGB-star luminosity function is consistent
with a period of continuous star formation over at least the age range 2-10
Gyr. We present an approximate age-metallicity relation for IC 1613, which
appears similar to that of the Small Magellanic Cloud. We compare the Hess
diagram of IC 1613 to similar data for three other Local Group dwarf galaxies,
and find that it most closely resembles the nearby, transition-type dwarf
galaxy Pegasus (DDO 216).Comment: To appear in the September 1999 Astronomical Journal. LaTeX, uses
AASTeX v4.0, emulateapj style file, 19 pages, 12 postscript figures, 2
tables. 5 of the figures available separately via the WW
Hubble Space Telescope Observations of the Draco Dwarf Spheroidal
We present an F606W-F814W color-magnitude diagram for the Draco dwarf
spheroidal galaxy based on Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 images. The luminosity
function is well-sampled to 3 magnitudes below the turn-off. We see no evidence
for multiple turnoffs and conclude that, at least over the field of the view of
the WFPC2, star formation was primarily single-epoch. If the observed number of
blue stragglers is due to extended star formation, then roughly 6% (upper
limit) of the stars could be half as old as the bulk of the galaxy. The color
difference between the red giant branch and the turnoff is consistent with an
old population and is very similar to that observed in the old, metal-poor
Galactic globular clusters M68 and M92. Despite its red horizontal branch,
Draco appears to be older than M68 and M92 by 1.6 +/- 2.5 Gyrs, lending support
to the argument that the ``second parameter'' which governs horizontal branch
morphology must be something other than age. Draco's observed luminosity
function is very similar to that of M68, and the derived initial mass function
is consistent with that of the solar neighborhood.Comment: 16 pages, AASTeX, 9 postscript figures, figures 1 and 2 available at
ftp://bb3.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/draco/. Accepted for publication in the
Astronomical Journa
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