The 1996 research assessment exercise : the library and information management panel

Reports on the 1996 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), the fourth such exercise aimed at providing funding councils of UK universities (including former polytechnics) with the necessary data to rate the quality of UK academic research for predetermined units of assessment in order to fund research selectively. Previous RAEs were conducted in 1986, 1989, and 1992 (for a report of the 1992 RAE see JOLIS 26 (3) Sep 94, 141-7 (LISA ref. 9409765)). Reports generally on the work of the Library and Information Management Panel in agreeing criteria specific to their assessment task, particularly the five principal modes of publication: research monographs; articles in scholarly periodicals; refereed conference papers; published research reports; and book chapters. Discusses the methodology used by the Panel, research submissions received and the overall results

A Self-Reference False Memory Effect in the DRM Paradigm: Evidence from Eastern and Western Samples

It is well established that processing information in relation to oneself (i.e., selfreferencing) leads to better memory for that information than processing that same information in relation to others (i.e., other-referencing). However, it is unknown whether self-referencing also leads to more false memories than other-referencing. In the current two experiments with European and East Asian samples, we presented participants the Deese-Roediger/McDermott (DRM) lists together with their own name or other people’s name (i.e., “Trump” in Experiment 1 and “Li Ming” in Experiment 2). We found consistent results across the two experiments; that is, in the self-reference condition, participants had higher true and false memory rates compared to those in the other-reference condition. Moreover, we found that selfreferencing did not exhibit superior mnemonic advantage in terms of net accuracy compared to other-referencing and neutral conditions. These findings are discussed in terms of theoretical frameworks such as spreading activation theories and the fuzzytrace theory. We propose that our results reflect the adaptive nature of memory in the sense that cognitive processes that increase mnemonic efficiency may also increase susceptibility to associative false memories

Interoception, Contemplative Practice, and Health

AcceptedArticleCopyright: © 2015 Farb, Daubenmier, Price, Gard, Kerr, Dunn, KLein, Paulus and Mehling.This Document is Protected by copyright and was first published by Frontiers. All rights reserved. it is reproduced with permission.Interoception can be broadly defined as the sense of signals originating within the body. As such, interoception is critical for our sense of embodiment, motivation and well-being. And yet, despite its importance, interoception remains poorly understood within modern science. This paper reviews interdisciplinary perspectives on interoception, with the goal of presenting a unified perspective from diverse fields such as neuroscience, clinical practice, and contemplative studies. It is hoped that this integrative effort will advance our understanding of how interoception determines well-being, and identify the central challenges to such understanding. To this end, we introduce an expanded taxonomy of interoceptive processes, arguing that many of these processes can be understood through an emerging predictive coding model for mind-body integration. The model, which describes the tension between expected and felt body sensation, parallels contemplative theories, and implicates interoception in a variety of affective and psychosomatic disorders. We conclude that maladaptive construal of bodily sensations may lie at the heart of many contemporary maladies, and that contemplative practices may attenuate these interpretative biases, restoring a person’s sense of presence and agency in the world

Patients with severe acute‐on‐chronic liver failure are disadvantaged by model for end‐stage liver disease‐based organ allocation policy

Background: Mortality for patients with acute‐on‐chronic liver failure (ACLF) may be underestimated by the model for end‐stage liver disease‐sodium (MELD‐Na) score. / Aim: To assess waitlist outcomes across varying grades of ACLF among a cohort of patients listed with a MELD‐Na score ≥35, and therefore having similar priority for liver transplantation. / Methods: We analysed the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database, years 2010‐2017. Waitlist outcomes were evaluated using Fine and Gray's competing risks regression. / Results: We identified 6342 candidates at listing with a MELD‐Na score ≥35, of whom 3122 had ACLF‐3. Extra‐hepatic organ failures were present primarily in patients with four to six organ failures. Competing risks regression revealed that candidates listed with ACLF‐3 had a significantly higher risk for 90‐day waitlist mortality (Sub‐hazard ratio (SHR) = 1.41; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.12‐1.78) relative to patients with lower ACLF grades. Subgroup analysis of ACLF‐3 revealed that both the presence of three organ failures (SHR = 1.40, 95% CI 1.20‐1.63) or four to six organ failures at listing (SHR = 3.01; 95% CI 2.54‐3.58) was associated with increased waitlist death. Candidates with four to six organ failures also had the lowest likelihood of receiving liver transplantation (SHR = 0.61, 95% CI 0.54‐0.68). The Share 35 rule was associated with reduced 90‐day waitlist mortality among the full cohort of patients listed with ACLF‐3 and MELD‐Na score ≥35 (SHR = 0.59; 95% CI 0.49‐0.70). However, Share 35 rule implementation was not associated with reduced waitlist mortality among patients with four to six organ failures (SHR = 0.76; 95% CI 0.58‐1.02). / Conclusion: The MELD‐Na score disadvantages patients with ACLF‐3, both with and without extra‐hepatic organ failures. Incorporation of organ failures into allocation policy warrants further exploration

Spatially valid proprioceptive cues improve the detection of a visual stimulus

Vision and proprioception are the main sensory modalities that convey hand location and direction of movement. Fusion of these sensory signals into a single robust percept is now well documented. However, it is not known whether these modalities also interact in the spatial allocation of attention, which has been demonstrated for other modality pairings. The aim of this study was to test whether proprioceptive signals can spatially cue a visual target to improve its detection. Participants were instructed to use a planar manipulandum in a forward reaching action and determine during this movement whether a near-threshold visual target appeared at either of two lateral positions. The target presentation was followed by a masking stimulus, which made its possible location unambiguous, but not its presence. Proprioceptive cues were given by applying a brief lateral force to the participant’s arm, either in the same direction (validly cued) or in the opposite direction (invalidly cued) to the on-screen location of the mask. The d′ detection rate of the target increased when the direction of proprioceptive stimulus was compatible with the location of the visual target compared to when it was incompatible. These results suggest that proprioception influences the allocation of attention in visual spac

Spatial cost-benefit analysis of blue restoration and factors driving net benefits globally.

This is the final version. Available from Wiley via the DOI in this record. Marine coastal ecosystems, commonly referred to as blue ecosystems, provide valuable services to society but are under increasing threat worldwide due to a variety of drivers, including eutrophication, development, land-use change, land reclamation, and climate change. Ecological restoration is sometimes necessary to facilitate recovery in coastal ecosystems. Blue restoration (i.e., in marine coastal systems) is a developing field, and projects to date have been small scale and expensive, leading to the perception that restoration may not be economically viable. We conducted a global cost-benefit analysis to determine the net benefits of restoring coral reef, mangrove, saltmarsh, and seagrass ecosystems, where the benefit is defined as the monetary value of ecosystem services. We estimated costs from published restoration case studies and used an adjusted-value-transfer method to assign benefit values to these case studies. Benefit values were estimated as the monetary value provided by ecosystem services of the restored habitats. Benefits outweighed costs (i.e., there were positive net benefits) for restoration of all blue ecosystems. Mean benefit:cost ratios for ecosystem restoration were eight to 10 times higher than prior studies of coral reef and seagrass restoration, most likely due to the more recent lower cost estimates we used. Among ecosystems, saltmarsh had the greatest net benefits followed by mangrove; coral reef and seagrass ecosystems had lower net benefits. In general, restoration in nations with middle incomes had higher (eight times higher in coral reefs and 40 times higher in mangroves) net benefits than those with high incomes. Within an ecosystem type, net benefit varied with restoration technique (coral reef and saltmarsh), ecosystem service produced (mangrove and saltmarsh), and project duration (seagrass). These results challenge the perceptions of the low economic viability of blue restoration and should encourage further targeted investment in this field

Disturbed functional brain networks and neurocognitive function in low-grade glioma patients: a graph theoretical analysis of resting-state MEG

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Prebiotic Organic Microstructures

Micro- and sub-micrometer spheres, tubules and fiber-filament soft structures have been synthesized in our experiments conducted with 3 MeV proton irradiations of a mixture of simple inorganic constituents, CO, N2 and H2O. We analysed the irradiation products, with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). These laboratory organic structures produced wide variety of proteinous and non-proteinous amino acids after HCl hydrolysis. The enantiomer analysis for D-, L- alanine confirmed that the amino acids were abiotically synthesized during the laboratory experiment. Considering hydrothermal activity, the presence of CO2 and H2, of a ferromagnesian silicate mineral environment, of an Earth magnetic field which was much less intense during Archean times than nowadays and consequently of a proton excitation source which was much more abundant, we propose that our laboratory organic microstructures might be synthesized during Archean times. We show similarities in morphology and in formation with some terrestrial Archean microstructures and we suggest that some of the observed Archean carbon spherical and filamentous microstructures might be composed of abiogenic organic molecules. We further propose a search for such prebiotic organic signatures on Mars. This article has been posted on Nature precedings on 21 July 2010 [1]. Extinct radionuclides as source of excitation have been replaced by cosmic radiations which were much more intense 3.5 Ga ago because of a much less intense Earth magnetic field. The new version of the article has been presented at the ORIGINS conference in Montpellier in july 2011 [2] and has since been published in Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres 42 (4) 307-316, 2012. 
DOI: 10.1007/s11084-012-9290-5 

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