493 research outputs found
Good and Bad in the Hands of Politicians: Spontaneous Gestures during Positive and Negative Speech
According to the body-specificity hypothesis, people with different bodily characteristics should form correspondingly different mental representations, even in highly abstract conceptual domains. In a previous test of this proposal, right- and left-handers were found to associate positive ideas like intelligence, attractiveness, and honesty with their dominant side and negative ideas with their non-dominant side. The goal of the present study was to determine whether âbody-specificâ associations of space and valence can be observed beyond the laboratory in spontaneous behavior, and whether these implicit associations have visible consequences
Corporate Governance, Measurement of
The increased focus on good governance and the development of best practice guidelines, often supported by legislation, has been in response to corporate scandals, such as Enron and Worldcom in the early 2000s, and the 2008 banking crisis. Good governance is increasingly recognised as a process where the âbest practices\u27 of yesterday become the standard practices of today. This increased focus has also coincided with a worldwide movement for corporate reporting on sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues and a growing demand within the investment industry for investment products that are socially responsible (Benn and Dunphy 2013). Sustainable development is now part of the best practice model of corporate governance. There is a more equal recognition of stakeholdersâ interests and the role of not only economic, but also social and environmental issues in laying the foundations for a new long-term model of economic growth. This is in contrast to the historic governing model that focused on the creation of shareholder value. However, despite increased attention and interest by policymakers and academics alike, a challenge that has not been unanimously resolved is the definition and measurement of âgood corporate governanceâ. This chapter evaluates the main approaches to the measurement of corporate governance
The use of 4D-CTA in the diagnostic work-up of brain arteriovenous malformations
Neuro Imaging Researc
Grip Force Reveals the Context Sensitivity of Language-Induced Motor Activity during âAction Words
Studies demonstrating the involvement of motor brain structures in language processing typically focus on \ud
time windows beyond the latencies of lexical-semantic access. Consequently, such studies remain inconclusive regarding whether motor brain structures are recruited directly in language processing or through post-linguistic conceptual imagery. In the present study, we introduce a grip-force sensor that allows online measurements of language-induced motor activity during sentence listening. We use this tool to investigate whether language-induced motor activity remains constant or is modulated in negative, as opposed to affirmative, linguistic contexts. Our findings demonstrate that this simple experimental paradigm can be used to study the online crosstalk between language and the motor systems in an ecological and economical manner. Our data further confirm that the motor brain structures that can be called upon during action word processing are not mandatorily involved; the crosstalk is asymmetrically\ud
governed by the linguistic context and not vice versa
Driven coherent oscillations of a single electron spin in a quantum dot
The ability to control the quantum state of a single electron spin in a
quantum dot is at the heart of recent developments towards a scalable
spin-based quantum computer. In combination with the recently demonstrated
exchange gate between two neighbouring spins, driven coherent single spin
rotations would permit universal quantum operations. Here, we report the
experimental realization of single electron spin rotations in a double quantum
dot. First, we apply a continuous-wave oscillating magnetic field, generated
on-chip, and observe electron spin resonance in spin-dependent transport
measurements through the two dots. Next, we coherently control the quantum
state of the electron spin by applying short bursts of the oscillating magnetic
field and observe about eight oscillations of the spin state (so-called Rabi
oscillations) during a microsecond burst. These results demonstrate the
feasibility of operating single-electron spins in a quantum dot as quantum
bits.Comment: Total 25 pages. 11 pages main text, 5 figures, 9 pages supplementary
materia
Language Comprehension in the Balance: The Robustness of the Action-Compatibility Effect (ACE)
How does language comprehension interact with motor activity? We investigated the conditions under which comprehending an action sentence affects people's balance. We performed two experiments to assess whether sentences describing forward or backward movement modulate the lateral movements made by subjects who made sensibility judgments about the sentences. In one experiment subjects were standing on a balance board and in the other they were seated on a balance board that was mounted on a chair. This allowed us to investigate whether the action compatibility effect (ACE) is robust and persists in the face of salient incompatibilities between sentence content and subject movement. Growth-curve analysis of the movement trajectories produced by the subjects in response to the sentences suggests that the ACE is indeed robust. Sentence content influenced movement trajectory despite salient inconsistencies between implied and actual movement. These results are interpreted in the context of the current discussion of embodied, or grounded, language comprehension and meaning representation
Itraconazole associated quadriparesis and edema: a case report
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Itraconazole is an anti-fungal agent widely used to treat various forms of mycosis. It is particularly useful in allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis and severe asthma with fungal sensitization. Side effects are uncommon and usually mild. Mild neuropathy is noted to occur very rarely. We present an unusual and, to the best of our knowledge, as yet unreported case of severe neuropathy and peripheral edema due to itraconazole in the absence of a concomitant risk factor.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 72-year-old Caucasian man was started on itraconazole following diagnosis of severe asthma with fungal sensitization. One month later he presented with severe bilateral ankle edema with an elevated serum itraconazole level. The itraconazole dose was reduced but his ankle edema persisted and he developed weakness of all four limbs. Itraconazole was completely stopped leading to improvement in his leg edema but he became bed bound due to weakness. He gradually improved with supportive care and neurorehabilitation. On review at six months, our patient was able to mobilize with the aid of two elbow crutches and power had returned to 5/5 in distal extremities and 4+/5 in proximal extremities. The diagnosis was established based on the classical presentation of drug-induced neuropathy and negative investigatory findings for any alternative diagnoses.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We report the case of a patient presenting with an unusual complication of severe neuropathy and peripheral edema due to itraconazole. Clinicians should be alert to this association when encountered with neuropathy and/or edema in an itraconazole therapy recipient.</p
Effects of bromopride on the healing of left colon anastomoses of rats
Objetivo: Avaliar os efeitos da bromoprida sobre a formação de aderĂȘncias e a cicatrização de anastomoses de cĂłlon esquerdo de
ratos. MĂ©todos: Foram incluĂdos 40 ratos, divididos em dois grupos contendo 20 animais, para administração de bromoprida (grupo
de estudo- E) ou solução fisiológica (grupo controle- C). Cada grupo foi dividido em subgrupos contendo 10 animais cada, para
eutanåsia no terceiro (E3 e C3) ou no sétimo dia (E7 e C7) de pós-operatório. Os ratos foram submetidos à secção do cólon esquerdo
e anastomose tĂ©rmino-terminal. No dia da relaparotomia, foi avaliada a quantidade total de aderĂȘncias e removido um segmento
colÎnico contendo a anastomose para anålise histopatológica, da força de ruptura e da concentração de hidroxiprolina. Resultados:
NĂŁo houve diferença entre os grupos em relação Ă evolução clĂnica. Dois animais do grupo de estudo apresentaram deiscĂȘncia
de anastomose bloqueada. Os animais que receberam bromoprida apresentaram nĂșmero de aderĂȘncias intracavitĂĄrias e aderĂȘncias
Ă anastomose semelhantes ao grupo controle. As anastomoses dos animais do grupo E3 apresentaram menor resistĂȘncia de ruptura
do que as do grupo C3 (p=0,04). Este efeito não ocorreu no sétimo dia de pós-operatório (p=0,37). Não houve diferença significativa
entre os grupos em relação à histopatologia ou concentração de hidroxiprolina das anastomoses. Conclusão: O uso da bromoprida
estĂĄ associado Ă diminuição da resistĂȘncia tĂȘnsil de anastomoses do cĂłlon esquerdo de ratos no terceiro dia de pĂłs-operatĂłrio.Objective: To evaluate the effects of bromopride on the formation of adhesions and anastomotic healing in the left colon of rats.
Methods: We divided 40 rats into two groups of 20 animals, administration of bromopride (study group-E) or saline (control group-
C). Each group was divided into subgroups containing 10 animals each for euthanasia in the third (C3 and E3) or the seventh (E7 and
C7) postoperative days. The rats were submitted to section of the left colon and end-to-end anastomosis. On the day of reoperation,
we evaluated the total amount of adhesions and removed a colonic segment containing the anastomosis for histopathological
analysis, assessment of rupture strength and hydroxyproline concentration. Results: There was no difference between groups in
relation to clinical outcome. Two animals in the study group had blocked anastomotic leakage. The animals that received bromopride
had the number of intracavitary adhesions and adhesions to the anastomosis similar to the control group. The anastomoses from the
group E3 animals showed lower resistance to rupture the one from the C3 group (p = 0.04). This effect did not occur on the seventh
postoperative day (p = 0.37). There was no significant difference between groups in relation to histopathology and hydroxyproline
concentration in the anastomoses. Conclusion: The use of bromopride was associated with decreased tensile strength of left colon
anastomosis in rats in the third postoperative day
Accurate masses and radii of normal stars: modern results and applications
This paper presents and discusses a critical compilation of accurate,
fundamental determinations of stellar masses and radii. We have identified 95
detached binary systems containing 190 stars (94 eclipsing systems, and alpha
Centauri) that satisfy our criterion that the mass and radius of both stars be
known to 3% or better. To these we add interstellar reddening, effective
temperature, metal abundance, rotational velocity and apsidal motion
determinations when available, and we compute a number of other physical
parameters, notably luminosity and distance. We discuss the use of this
information for testing models of stellar evolution. The amount and quality of
the data also allow us to analyse the tidal evolution of the systems in
considerable depth, testing prescriptions of rotational synchronisation and
orbital circularisation in greater detail than possible before. The new data
also enable us to derive empirical calibrations of M and R for single (post-)
main-sequence stars above 0.6 M(Sun). Simple, polynomial functions of T(eff),
log g and [Fe/H] yield M and R with errors of 6% and 3%, respectively.
Excellent agreement is found with independent determinations for host stars of
transiting extrasolar planets, and good agreement with determinations of M and
R from stellar models as constrained by trigonometric parallaxes and
spectroscopic values of T(eff) and [Fe/H]. Finally, we list a set of 23
interferometric binaries with masses known to better than 3%, but without
fundamental radius determinations (except alpha Aur). We discuss the prospects
for improving these and other stellar parameters in the near future.Comment: 56 pages including figures and tables. To appear in The Astronomy and
Astrophysics Review. Ascii versions of the tables will appear in the online
version of the articl
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