Development of a 1.5-tonne niobium gravitational radiational antenna

Copyright @ American Institute of PhysicsA 1.5‐tonne Nb gravitational radiation antenna is described. Problems associated with a noncontacting magnetically levitated parametric upconverter transducer are discussed, and a system using a bonded microwave reentrant cavity and bonded mechanical impedance transformer is described and analyzed in detail. It is shown that such an antenna can be expected to achieve a noise temperature of ∼1 mK. An ultralow phase noise tunable microwave source for the transducer pump signal is described, as well as precision bonding techniques which yield a mechanical positioning accuracy of 10−6 m, and a reproducibility of 10−8 m.The research was supported by the Australian Research Grants Scheme and the Australian Telecommunications and Electronics Research Board

A prickly problem: developing a volunteer-friendly tool for monitoring populations of a terrestrial urban mammal, the West European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)

Across Europe, hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) appear to be in decline in both urban and rural landscapes. Current methods used to monitor urban populations are, however, associated with several potential limitations. In this study, we conducted hedgehog footprint-tunnel surveys in 219 residential gardens across Reading, UK between May–September in 2013 and/or 2014; gardens were surveyed for five continuous days. Single-species occupancy models were used to investigate factors influencing hedgehog occupancy and two-species occupancy models were used to estimate a species interaction factor (SIF) between hedgehogs and (a) badgers (Meles meles), (b) foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and (c) dogs (Canis familiaris). The five-day survey protocol was associated with a false-absence error rate of 0.1–0.4%, indicating that it was a reliable method for determining hedgehog presence; conversely, 34.7% of householders were not able to correctly predict hedgehog presence or absence. Hedgehogs were widely distributed across Reading, but detected in only 32–40% of gardens. None of the within-garden or outside-garden factors investigated significantly affected hedgehog occupancy in the single-species models, but the two-species models indicated that badgers (SIF = 0.471 ± 0.188), but not foxes (SIF = 0.954 ± 0.048) or dogs (SIF = 0.780 ± 0.228), negatively affected the presence of hedgehogs in gardens, although not significantly. Overall, footprint-tunnels represent a viable field method for monitoring urban hedgehog populations, however, other approaches are required to identify factors that make gardens "hedgehog friendly"

Avulsion fracture of the anterior superior iliac spine: misdiagnosis of a bone tumour

Avulsion fractures of the anterior superior iliac spine are rare. This injury is usually seen in adolescents, as an avulsion fracture of the apophyses, a result of sudden vigorous contraction or repetitive contraction of the sartorius and tensor fasciae latae muscles. Treatment for this injury is usually conservative; however, surgical management has been reported in those with significant displacement. We present a 14 year old male patient who was referred to our unit for biopsy of a possible pathological fracture of his right ilium. The authors feel it is essential to understand the importance of ruling out a bone tumour, if the possibility has been raised, before managing a suspected fracture. If there is any doubt, the case should be referred to an appropriate sarcoma unit for review prior to any intervention

A genetically-encoded crosslinker screen identifies SERBP1 as a PKCε substrate influencing translation and cell division

The PKCε-regulated genome protective pathway provides transformed cells a failsafe to successfully complete mitosis. Despite the necessary role for Aurora B in this programme, it is unclear whether its requirement is sufficient or if other PKCε cell cycle targets are involved. To address this, we developed a trapping strategy using UV-photocrosslinkable amino acids encoded in the PKCε kinase domain. The validation of the mRNA binding protein SERBP1 as a PKCε substrate revealed a series of mitotic events controlled by the catalytic form of PKCε. PKCε represses protein translation, altering SERBP1 binding to the 40 S ribosomal subunit and promoting the assembly of ribonucleoprotein granules containing SERBP1, termed M-bodies. Independent of Aurora B, SERBP1 is shown to be necessary for chromosome segregation and successful cell division, correlating with M-body formation. This requirement for SERBP1 demonstrates that Aurora B acts in concert with translational regulation in the PKCε-controlled pathway exerting genome protection

Biphasic activation of complement and fibrinolysis during the human nasal allergic response

Complement, coagulation and fibrinolysis contribute to the pathology of many respiratory diseases. Here we detail the biphasic activation of these pathways following nasal allergen challenge. Understanding these mechanisms may lead to therapeutic insight in common respiratory diseases

Mutations in NNT encoding nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase cause familial glucocorticoid deficiency

This work has been supported by the Medical Research Council UK (New Investigator Research Grant G0801265 to L.A.M., Clinical Research Training Fellowship Grant G0901980 to C.R.H. and Project Grant G0700767 to P.J.K.)

An Analysis of Resting-State Functional Transcranial Doppler Recordings from Middle Cerebral Arteries

Functional transcrannial Doppler (fTCD) is used for monitoring the hemodynamics characteristics of major cerebral arteries. Its resting-state characteristics are known only when considering the maximal velocity corresponding to the highest Doppler shift (so called the envelope signals). Significantly more information about the resting-state fTCD can be gained when considering the raw cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) recordings. In this paper, we considered simultaneously acquired envelope and raw CBFV signals. Specifically, we collected bilateral CBFV recordings from left and right middle cerebral arteries using 20 healthy subjects (10 females). The data collection lasted for 15 minutes. The subjects were asked to remain awake, stay silent, and try to remain thought-free during the data collection. Time, frequency and time-frequency features were extracted from both the raw and the envelope CBFV signals. The effects of age, sex and body-mass index were examined on the extracted features. The results showed that the raw CBFV signals had a higher frequency content, and its temporal structures were almost uncorrelated. The information-theoretic features showed that the raw recordings from left and right middle cerebral arteries had higher content of mutual information than the envelope signals. Age and body-mass index did not have statistically significant effects on the extracted features. Sex-based differences were observed in all three domains and for both, the envelope signals and the raw CBFV signals. These findings indicate that the raw CBFV signals provide valuable information about the cerebral blood flow which can be utilized in further validation of fTCD as a clinical tool. © 2013 Sejdić et al

Development and Validation of the Behavioral Tendencies Questionnaire

At a fundamental level, taxonomy of behavior and behavioral tendencies can be described in terms of approach, avoid, or equivocate (i.e., neither approach nor avoid). While there are numerous theories of personality, temperament, and character, few seem to take advantage of parsimonious taxonomy. The present study sought to implement this taxonomy by creating a questionnaire based on a categorization of behavioral temperaments/tendencies first identified in Buddhist accounts over fifteen hundred years ago. Items were developed using historical and contemporary texts of the behavioral temperaments, described as “Greedy/Faithful”, “Aversive/Discerning”, and “Deluded/Speculative”. To both maintain this categorical typology and benefit from the advantageous properties of forced-choice response format (e.g., reduction of response biases), binary pairwise preferences for items were modeled using Latent Class Analysis (LCA). One sample (n1 = 394) was used to estimate the item parameters, and the second sample (n2 = 504) was used to classify the participants using the established parameters and cross-validate the classification against multiple other measures. The cross-validated measure exhibited good nomothetic span (construct-consistent relationships with related measures) that seemed to corroborate the ideas present in the original Buddhist source documents. The final 13-block questionnaire created from the best performing items (the Behavioral Tendencies Questionnaire or BTQ) is a psychometrically valid questionnaire that is historically consistent, based in behavioral tendencies, and promises practical and clinical utility particularly in settings that teach and study meditation practices such as Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

Secondary Prevention of Suicide

Leo Sher and colleagues discuss recent research on interventions to prevent secondary suicide and discuss the additional research that is needed

Barriers and opportunities for evidence-based health service planning: the example of developing a Decision Analytic Model to plan services for sexually transmitted infections in the UK

Decision Analytic Models (DAMs) are established means of evidence-synthesis to differentiate between health interventions. They have mainly been used to inform clinical decisions and health technology assessment at the national level, yet could also inform local health service planning. For this, a DAM must take into account the needs of the local population, but also the needs of those planning its services. Drawing on our experiences from stakeholder consultations, where we presented the potential utility of a DAM for planning local health services for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the UK, and the evidence it could use to inform decisions regarding different combinations of service provision, in terms of their costs, cost-effectiveness, and public health outcomes, we discuss the barriers perceived by stakeholders to the use of DAMs to inform service planning for local populations, including (1) a tension between individual and population perspectives; (2) reductionism; and (3) a lack of transparency regarding models, their assumptions, and the motivations of those generating models