Bizarre thoughts, magical ideations, and voices from the unconscious: Exploring issues of anomalous experience

This project was initially concerned with the clinical interpretations of ‘bizarre’ or ‘magical’ ideations (i.e., statements considered to have little or no validity in our predominant western culture). The first study explored clinical assessment issues of who determines the validity of expressed beliefs and what kinds of criteria such decisions are based on in the mental health field. The present study examined a particular type of magical ideation, an auditory phenomenon involving claims that forward spoken conversation contains hidden backwards speech embedded in the vocal sounds. Thirty-two participants were invited to listen to various audio samples of the alleged phenomenon and provide interpretations of what was heard. Participants were assigned to four groups, each differing in the level of pre-emptive information. A comparative measure revealed that priming and suggestion could not be dismissed as alternative explanations of the reported effects. Clinical and social implications will be discussed

Soybean insects in Missouri

New 10/87/5M--Cover.Title from JPEG cover page (University of Missouri Digital Library, viewed Mar. 24, 2010)

Synoptic-scale to mesoscale atmospheric circulation connects fluvial and coastal gravel conveyors and directional deposition of coastal landforms in the Dead Sea basin

Streams convey coarse-clastic sediments towards coasts, where interactions with deltaic and coastal processes determine their resultant sedimentology and geomorphology. Extracting hydroclimatic signals from such environments is a desired goal, and therefore studies commonly rely on interpreting available paleoclimatic proxy data, but the direct linking of depositional and geomorphic processes with the hydroclimate remains obscure. This is a consequence of the challenge of linking processes that are often studied separately and span across large spatial and temporal scales, including synoptic-scale hydroclimatic forcing, streamflows, water body hydrodynamics, fluvial and coastal sediment transport, and sedimentation. Here, we explore this chain of connected processes in the unique setting of the Dead Sea basin, where present-day hydroclimatology is closely tied with geomorphic evolution and sediment transport of streams and coasts that rapidly respond to lake-level fall. We use a 5-year (2018–2022) rich dataset of (i) high-resolution synoptic-scale circulation patterns, (ii) continuous wind-wave and rain–flood records, and (iii) storm-scale fluvial and coastal sediment transport of “smart” and marked boulders. We show the significance of Mediterranean cyclones in the concurrent activation of fluvial (floods) and coastal (wind waves) sediment conveyors. These synoptic-scale patterns drive the westerlies necessary for (i) delivering the moisture across the Judean desert, which is transformed into floods, and at the same time, (ii) the coeval, topographically funneled winds that turn into surface southerlies (&gt;10 m s−1) along the Dead Sea rift valley. During winter, these mesoscale southerlies generate 10–30 high-amplitude, northward-propagating storm waves, with &lt;4 m wave heights. Such waves transport cobbles for hundreds of meters alongshore, northward and away from the supplying channel mouths. Four to nine times per winter the rainfall generated by these atmospheric patterns is capable of generating floods that reach the stream mouths, delivering poorly sorted, coarse gravel. This usually occurs during the decay of the associated storm waves. This gravel is dispersed alongshore by waves during subsequent storms. As storm waves dominate and are &gt;5 times more frequent than flash floods, coarse-clastic beach berms and fan deltas are deposited preferentially north of the delivering channel mouths. This asymmetric depositional architecture, controlled by the regional hydroclimatology, is identified for both the modern and late Pleistocene coast and delta environments, implying that the dominance of present-day Mediterranean cyclones also persisted in the region during the late Pleistocene when Lake Lisan occupied the basin.</p

Determining Bathymetry of Shallow and Ephemeral Desert Lakes Using Satellite Imagery and Altimetry

©2020. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Water volume estimates of shallow desert lakes are the basis for water balance calculations, important both for water resource management and paleohydrology/climatology. Water volumes are typically inferred from bathymetry mapping; however, being shallow, ephemeral, and remote, bathymetric surveys are scarce in such lakes. We propose a new, remote-sensing-based, method to derive the bathymetry of such lakes using the relation between water occurrence, during \u3e30 year of optical satellite data, and accurate elevation measurements from the new Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2). We demonstrate our method at three locations where we map bathymetries with ~0.3 m error. This method complements other remotely sensed, bathymetry-mapping methods as it can be applied to: (a) complex lake systems with subbasins, (b) remote lakes with no in-situ records, and (c) flooded lakes. The proposed method can be easily implemented in other shallow lakes as it builds on publically accessible global data sets

A selective eradication of human nonhereditary breast cancer cells by phenanthridine-derived polyADP-ribose polymerase inhibitors

INTRODUCTION: PARP-1 (polyADP-ribose polymerase-1) is known to be activated in response to DNA damage, and activated PARP-1 promotes DNA repair. However, a recently disclosed alternative mechanism of PARP-1 activation by phosphorylated externally regulated kinase (ERK) implicates PARP-1 in a vast number of signal-transduction networks in the cell. Here, PARP-1 activation was examined for its possible effects on cell proliferation in both normal and malignant cells. METHODS: In vitro (cell cultures) and in vivo (xenotransplants) experiments were performed. RESULTS: Phenanthridine-derived PARP inhibitors interfered with cell proliferation by causing G2/M arrest in both normal (human epithelial cells MCF10A and mouse embryonic fibroblasts) and human breast cancer cells MCF-7 and MDA231. However, whereas the normal cells were only transiently arrested, G2/M arrest in the malignant breast cancer cells was permanent and was accompanied by a massive cell death. In accordance, treatment with a phenanthridine-derived PARP inhibitor prevented the development of MCF-7 and MDA231 xenotransplants in female nude mice. Quiescent cells (neurons and cardiomyocytes) are not impaired by these PARP inhibitors. CONCLUSIONS: These results outline a new therapeutic approach for a selective eradication of abundant nonhereditary human breast cancers

Limited sensitivity and specificity of the ACR/EULAR-2019 classification criteria for SLE in JSLE?—observations from the UK JSLE Cohort Study

Objectives: This study aimed to test the performance of the new ACR and EULAR criteria, that include ANA positivity as entry criterion, in JSLE. / Methods: Performance of the ACR/EULAR-2019 criteria were compared with Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC-2012), using data from children and young people (CYP) in the UK JSLE Cohort Study (n = 482), with the ACR-1997 criteria used as reference standard. An unselected cohort of CYP positive for ANA (n = 129) was used to calculate positive/negative predictive values of the criteria. / Results: At both first and last visits, the number of patients fulfilling the different classification criteria varied significantly (P < 0.001). The sensitivity of the SLICC-2012 criteria was higher when compared with that of the ACR/EULAR-2019 criteria at first and last visits (98% vs 94% for first visit, and 98% vs 96% for last visit; P < 0.001), when all available CYP were considered. The ACR/EULAR-2019 criteria were more specific when compared with the SLICC-2012 criteria (77% vs 67% for first visit, and 81% vs 71% for last visit; P < 0.001). Significant differences between the classification criteria were mainly caused by the variation in ANA positivity across ages. In the unselected cohort of ANA-positive CYP, the ACR/EULAR-2019 criteria produced the highest false-positive classification (6/129, 5%). / Conclusion: In CYP, the ACR/EULAR-2019 criteria are not superior to those of the SLICC-2012 or ACR-1997 criteria. If classification criteria are designed to include CYP and adult populations, paediatric rheumatologists should be included in the consensus and evaluation process, as seemingly minor changes can significantly affect outcomes

Laser Printing of Multilayered Alternately Conducting and Insulating Microstructures

Production of multilayered microstructures composed of conducting and insulating materials is of great interest as they can be utilized as microelectronic components. Current proposed fabrication methods of these microstructures include top-down and bottom-up methods, each having their own set of drawbacks. Laser-based methods were shown to pattern various materials with micron/sub-micron resolution; however, multilayered structures demonstrating conducting/insulating/conducting properties were not yet realized. Here, we demonstrate laser printing of multilayered microstructures consisting of conducting platinum and insulating silicon oxide layers by a combination of thermally driven reactions with microbubble-assisted printing. PtCl2 dissolved in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) was used as a precursor to form conducting Pt layers, while tetraethyl orthosilicate dissolved in NMP formed insulating silicon oxide layers identified by Raman spectroscopy. We demonstrate control over the height of the insulating layer between ∼50 and 250 nm by varying the laser power and number of iterations. The resistivity of the silicon oxide layer at 0.5 V was 1.5 × 1011 ωm. Other materials that we studied were found to be porous and prone to cracking, rendering them irrelevant as insulators. Finally, we show how microfluidics can enhance multilayered laser microprinting by quickly switching between precursors. The concepts presented here could provide new opportunities for simple fabrication of multilayered microelectronic devices