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Recent Research (recent + research)
Terms modified by Recent Research Selected AbstractsStress Management for Migraine: Recent Research and CommentaryHEADACHE, Issue 9 2009Donald B. Penzien PhD First page of article [source] Improving Incentives in Unemployment Insurance: A Review of Recent ResearchJOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SURVEYS, Issue 3 2006Peter Fredriksson Abstract., This paper provides a review of the recent literature on how incentives in unemployment insurance can be improved. We are particularly concerned with three instruments, i.e. the duration of benefit payments (or more generally the time sequencing of benefits), monitoring in conjunction with sanctions, and workfare. Our reading of the theoretical literature is that the case for imposing a penalty on less active job search is fairly solid. A growing number of empirical studies, including randomized experiments, are in line with this conclusion. [source] Recent Research on Impulsivity in Individuals With Drug Use and Mental Health Disorders: Implications for AlcoholismALCOHOLISM, Issue 8 2010Robert D. Rogers Alcohol misuse and dependence, and many of its accompanying psychological problems, are associated with heightened levels of impulsivity that both accelerate the development of clinically significant illness and complicate clinical outcome. This article reviews recent developments in our understanding of impulsivity as they relate to brain circuitry that might underlie these comorbid factors, focusing upon the clinical features of substance use (and dependence), bipolar disorder, and pathological gambling. Individuals who are affected by these disorders exhibit problems in several domains of impulsive behavior including deficient response or "motor" control, and the tolerance of prolonged delays prior to larger rewards at the expense of smaller rewards ("delay-discounting"). These populations, like alcoholic dependents, also exhibit impairments in risky decision-making that may reflect dysfunction of monoamine and catecholamine pathways. However, several areas of uncertainty exist including the specificity of impairments across disorders and the relationship between impulse control problems and altered evaluation of reward outcomes underlying observed impairments in action selection. [source] The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): A Review of Recent ResearchALCOHOLISM, Issue 2 2002Duane F. Reinert Background: Efficient, inexpensive screening for early stage alcohol problems is important in health care settings. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) has been studied extensively to establish its value in this regard. Methods: A literature search that used EtOH as a database was conducted to identify studies published on the AUDIT through September 2001. Keywords used for the search were "Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test" and "AUDIT." All studies reporting psychometric properties of the measure were reviewed with particular attention being given to the period 1996 and later. A small number of additional references were located by noting their citation in other studies reviewed. Results: Although more research is needed on non-English versions to establish their psychometric properties, at least in its English edition, the AUDIT demonstrates sensitivities and specificities comparable, and typically superior, to those of other self-report screening measures. Test-retest reliability and internal consistency are also quite favorable. For males, the AUDIT-C, a shortened version of the AUDIT, appears approximately equal in validity to the full scale. Conclusions: Recent research continues to support use of the AUDIT as a means of screening for alcohol use disorders in health care settings in the United States. [source] Recent Research on the Major Prophets , Edited by Alan J. HauserRELIGIOUS STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 3 2009Brad E. Kelle No abstract is available for this article. [source] Maintaining Case-Based Reasoners: Dimensions and DirectionsCOMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, Issue 2 2001David C. Wilson Experience with the growing number of large-scale and long-term case-based reasoning (CBR) applications has led to increasing recognition of the importance of maintaining existing CBR systems. Recent research has focused on case-base maintenance (CBM), addressing such issues as maintaining consistency, preserving competence, and controlling case-base growth. A set of dimensions for case-base maintenance, proposed by Leake and Wilson, provides a framework for understanding and expanding CBM research. However, it also has been recognized that other knowledge containers can be equally important maintenance targets. Multiple researchers have addressed pieces of this more general maintenance problem, considering such issues as how to refine similarity criteria and adaptation knowledge. As with case-base maintenance, a framework of dimensions for characterizing more general maintenance activity, within and across knowledge containers, is desirable to unify and understand the state of the art, as well as to suggest new avenues of exploration by identifying points along the dimensions that have not yet been studied. This article presents such a framework by (1) refining and updating the earlier framework of dimensions for case-base maintenance, (2) applying the refined dimensions to the entire range of knowledge containers, and (3) extending the theory to include coordinated cross-container maintenance. The result is a framework for understanding the general problem of case-based reasoner maintenance (CBRM). Taking the new framework as a starting point, the article explores key issues for future CBRM research. [source] Network-aware selective job checkpoint and migration to enhance co-allocation in multi-cluster systems,CONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 13 2009William M. Jones Abstract Multi-site parallel job schedulers can improve average job turn-around time by making use of fragmented node resources available throughout the grid. By mapping jobs across potentially many clusters, jobs that would otherwise wait in the queue for local resources can begin execution much earlier; thereby improving system utilization and reducing average queue waiting time. Recent research in this area of scheduling leverages user-provided estimates of job communication characteristics to more effectively partition the job across system resources. In this paper, we address the impact of inaccuracies in these estimates on system performance and show that multi-site scheduling techniques benefit from these estimates, even in the presence of considerable inaccuracy. While these results are encouraging, there are instances where these errors result in poor job scheduling decisions that cause network over-subscription. This situation can lead to significantly degraded application performance and turnaround time. Consequently, we explore the use of job checkpointing, termination, migration, and restart (CTMR) to selectively stop offending jobs to alleviate network congestion and subsequently restart them when (and where) sufficient network resources are available. We then characterize the conditions and the extent to which the process of CTMR improves overall performance. We demonstrate that this technique is beneficial even when the overhead of doing so is costly. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] LOCAL POLITICS AND VIOLENT CRIME IN U.S. CITIES,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 4 2003THOMAS D. STUCKYArticle first published online: 7 MAR 200 Recent research has begun to examine the effects of politics on crime. However, few studies have considered how local political variation is likely to affect crime. Using insights from urban politics research, this paper develops and tests hypotheses regarding direct and conditional effects of local politics on violent crime in 958 cities in 1991. Results from negative binomial regression analyses show that violent crime rates vary by local political structures and the race of the mayor. In addition, the effects of structural factors such as poverty, unemployment, and female-headed households on violent crime depend on local form of government and the number of unreformed local governmental structures. Implications for systemic social disorganization and institutional anomie theories are discussed. [source] Writing as Inquiry: Storying the Teaching Self in Writing WorkshopsCURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 4 2002Freema Elbaz, Luwisch Recent research demonstrates that the process of telling and writing personal stories is a powerful means of fostering teachers' professional growth (Connelly & Clandinin, 1995; Conle, 1996; Diamond, 1994; Heikkinen, 1998; Kelchtermans, 1993). This article aims to further understanding of writing in the development of teachers' narratives of practice, and to critically examine the potential of the writing workshop as a space where diverse voices can find expression. I take up a narrative perspective, seeing the practice of teaching as constructed when teachers tell and live out particular stories. I examine the autobiographic writing of teachers who participated in a graduate course on autobiography and professional development, drawing on phenomenological (Van Manen, 1990) and narrative methods (Mishler, 1986) and attending to issues of voice (Raymond, Butt, & Townsend, 1992, Brown & Gilligan, 1992) and "restorying" (Clandinin & Connelly, 1996, 1998). The main questions addressed are how do teachers narratively construct their own development and how does the university context, usually construed as a locus of knowledge transmission, function as a framework for the processes of storytelling, reflection, and restorying of experience and for the elaboration by teachers of an internally persuasive discourse (Bakhtin, 1981)? The article describes the experience of the course and the various uses to which participants put autobiographic writing; the range of voices used in the writing is indicated. Three "moments" in the writing process are discussed: describing, storying, and questioning, moments that, taken together, are seen to make up the restorying process. The conclusions point to limitations and possibilities of writing in the academic setting, in particular the place of theory in helping to draw out teachers' voices. [source] Comparison of forces transmitted through different EVA mouthguardsDENTAL TRAUMATOLOGY, Issue 4 2006Craig F. Duhaime Abstract,,, Athletic mouthguards have been recommended for decades with varying levels of athlete acceptance. Issues related to compliance center around the ability to breath and speak while wearing the mouthguards. Fabrication techniques have changed over time to a two-layer ethylene vinyl acetate mouthguard fabricated on a high-pressure machine. The reported ideal thickness of these mouthguards has been somewhat variable depending on the sport and anticipated level of risk. Recent research however, has identified 4 mm as the optimal thickness of EVA. In this study an acrylic dental cast was fabricated and mounted to a drop impact fixture. Mouthguards of varying ply, thickness and palatal coverage were fabricated and tested in the fixture. Strain gauges and load cells were used to evaluate the effect of ply, thickness, and palatal coverage on the ability of these mouthguards to minimize transmitted forces. The purpose of this study was to identify those variables of mouthguard construction that will minimize the overall transmitted force of impact to the anterior dentition. [source] Negative appraisals and cognitive avoidance of intrusive memories in depression: a replication and extensionDEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, Issue 7 2008Alishia D. Williams B.A. (Hons.) Abstract Recent research has demonstrated that intrusive negative autobiographical memories represent a shared phenomenological feature of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. A preliminary investigation (Starr and Moulds, 2006) successfully applied a cognitive appraisal model of PTSD to the maintenance of intrusive memories in depression. The current investigation sought to replicate and extend these findings. Two hundred and fifty first-year undergraduate students were interviewed to assess for the presence of a negative autobiographical memory that had spontaneously intruded in the past week. Participants completed self-report inventories assessing trait and situational employment of cognitive avoidance mechanisms in response to these memories. Consistent with Starr and Moulds, intrusion-related distress correlated with dysphoria, irrespective of intrusion frequency. Assigning negative appraisals to one's intrusive memory and attempts to control the memory were positively associated with intrusion-related distress, level of depression, and cognitive avoidance mechanisms. Additionally, negative appraisals and control influenced the employment rumination as an avoidant response to a greater degree than the corresponding trait tendency. Finally, negative appraisals and the use of cognitive mechanisms were predictive of depression concurrently. The results support the validity of borrowing from PTSD models to elucidate the cognitive mechanisms that maintain intrusive memories in depressed samples. Depression and Anxiety 0:1,8, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] The effect of sertindole on QTD and TPTEACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 5 2010J. Nielsen Nielsen J, Andersen MP, Graff C, Kanters JK, Hardahl T, Dybbro J, Struijk JJ, Meyer JM, Toft E. The effect of sertindole on QTD and TPTE. Objective:, Recent research suggests that other surrogate markers than QTc, including QTc dispersion and Tpeak-Tend, may better correlate with cardiac arrhythmia risk. While sertindole significantly prolongs the QTc interval, the effects on other markers of arrhythmia risk, such as QTc dispersion and Tpeak-Tend are unknown. Method:, Digital 12-lead ECG was recorded at baseline and at steady-state in 37 patients switched to sertindole. ECG was analysed for Fridericia-corrected QT duration (QTcF), QT dispersion and Tpeak-Tend. Results:, From a baseline QTcF of 407 ± 22 ms, mean QTcF prolongation during sertindole treatment was 20 ± 23 ms, P < 0.01. No effect on QTc dispersion was found (,1 ± 11 ms; P = 0.41). No increased duration of the Tpeak-Tend interval from baseline was found (+7 ± 21 ms; P = 0.05). Conclusion:, These findings might be related to the absence of confirmed Torsade de Pointes (TdP) cases related to sertindole exposure, despite sertindole's QTc prolonging effects. [source] Representational momentum and children's sensori-motor representations of objectsDEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 3 2008Lynn K. Perry Recent research has shown that 2-year-olds fail at a task that ostensibly only requires the ability to understand that solid objects cannot pass through other solid objects. Two experiments were conducted in which 2- and 3-year-olds judged the stopping point of an object as it moved at varying speeds along a path and behind an occluder, stopping at a barrier visible above the occluder. Three-year-olds were able to take into account the barrier when searching for the object, while 2-year-olds were not. However, both groups judged faster moving objects to travel farther as indicated by their incorrect reaches. Thus, the results show that young children's sensori-motor representations exhibit a form of representational momentum. This unifies the perceptually based representations of early childhood with adults' dynamic representations that incorporate physical regularities but that are also available to conscious reasoning. [source] The intersensory origins of word-comprehension: an ecological,dynamic systems viewDEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2001Lakshmi J. Gogate How do infants begin to understand spoken words? Recent research suggests that word comprehension develops from the early detection of intersensory relations between conventionally paired auditory speech patterns (words) and visible objects or actions. More importantly, in keeping with dynamic systems principles, the findings suggest that word comprehension develops from a dynamic and complementary relationship between the organism (the infant) and the environment (language addressed to the infant). In addition, parallel findings from speech and non-speech studies of intersensory perception provide evidence for domain general processes in the development of word comprehension. These research findings contrast with the view that a lexical acquisition device with specific lexical principles and innate constraints is required for early word comprehension. Furthermore, they suggest that learning of word,object relations is not merely an associative process. The data support an alternative view of the developmental process that emphasizes the dynamic and reciprocal interactions between general intersensory perception, selective attention and learning in infants, and the specific characteristics of maternal communication. [source] Modelling increased soil cohesion due to roots with EUROSEMEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 13 2008S. De Baets Abstract As organic root exudates cause soil particles to adhere firmly to root surfaces, roots significantly increase soil strength and therefore also increase the resistance of the topsoil to erosion by concentrated flow. This paper aims at contributing to a better prediction of the root effects on soil erosion rates in the EUROSEM model, as the input values accounting for roots, presented in the user manual, do not account for differences in root density or root architecture. Recent research indicates that small changes in root density or differences in root architecture considerably influence soil erosion rates during concentrated flow. The approach for incorporating the root effects into this model is based on a comparison of measured soil detachment rates for bare and for root-permeated topsoil samples with predicted erosion rates under the same flow conditions using the erosion equation of EUROSEM. Through backwards calculation, transport capacity efficiencies and corresponding soil cohesion values can be assessed for bare and root-permeated topsoils respectively. The results are promising and present soil cohesion values that are in accordance with reported values in the literature for the same soil type (silt loam). The results show that grass roots provide a larger increase in soil cohesion as compared with tap-rooted species and that the increase in soil cohesion is not significantly different under wet and dry soil conditions, either for fibrous root systems or for tap root systems. Power and exponential relationships are established between measured root density values and the corresponding calculated soil cohesion values, reflecting the effects of roots on the resistance of the topsoil to concentrated flow incision. These relationships enable one to incorporate the root effect into the soil erosion model EUROSEM, through adapting the soil cohesion input value. A scenario analysis shows that the contribution of roots to soil cohesion is very important for preventing soil loss and reducing runoff volume. The increase in soil shear strength due to the binding effect of roots on soil particles is two orders of magnitude lower as compared with soil reinforcement achieved when roots mobilize their tensile strength during soil shearing and root breakage. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Feeding by Hessian fly [Mayetiola destructor (Say)] larvae does not induce plant indirect defencesECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 2 2007JOHN F. TOOKER Abstract 1.,Recent research has addressed the function of herbivore-induced plant volatiles in attracting natural enemies of feeding herbivores. While many types of insect herbivory appear to elicit volatile responses, those triggered by gall insects have received little attention. Previous work indicates that at least one gall insect species induces changes in host-plant volatiles, but no other studies appear to have addressed whether gall insects trigger plant indirect defences. 2.,The volatile responses of wheat to feeding by larvae of the Hessian fly Mayetiola destructor (Say) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) were studied to further explore indirect responses of plants to feeding by gall insects. This specialist gall midge species did not elicit a detectable volatile response from wheat plants, whereas a generalist caterpillar triggered volatile release. Moreover, Hessian fly feeding altered volatile responses to subsequent caterpillar herbivory. 3.,These results suggest that Hessian fly larvae exert a degree of control over the defensive responses of their host plants and offer insight into plant-gall insect interactions. Also, the failure of Hessian fly larvae to elicit an indirect defensive response from their host plants may help explain why natural enemies, which often rely on induced volatile cues, fail to inflict significant mortality on M. destructor populations in the field. [source] Plant genetics shapes inquiline community structure across spatial scalesECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 4 2009Gregory M. Crutsinger Abstract Recent research in community genetics has examined the effects of intraspecific genetic variation on species diversity in local communities. However, communities can be structured by a combination of both local and regional processes and to date, few community genetics studies have examined whether the effects of instraspecific genetic variation are consistent across levels of diversity. In this study, we ask whether host-plant genetic variation structures communities of arthropod inquilines within distinct habitat patches , rosette leaf galls on tall goldenrod (Solidago altissima). We found that genetic variation determined inquiline diversity at both local and regional spatial scales, but that trophic-level responses varied independently of one another. This result suggests that herbivores and predators likely respond to heritable plant traits at different spatial scales. Together, our results show that incorporating spatial scale is essential for predicting the effects of genetically variable traits on different trophic levels and levels of diversity within the communities that depend on host plants. [source] The ecology of restoration: historical links, emerging issues and unexplored realmsECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 6 2005T. P. Young Abstract Restoration ecology is a young academic field, but one with enough history to judge it against past and current expectations of the science's potential. The practice of ecological restoration has been identified as providing ideal experimental settings for tests of ecological theory; restoration was to be the ,acid test' of our ecological understanding. Over the past decade, restoration science has gained a strong academic foothold, addressing problems faced by restoration practitioners, bringing new focus to existing ecological theory and fostering a handful of novel ecological ideas. In particular, recent advances in plant community ecology have been strongly linked with issues in ecological restoration. Evolving models of succession, assembly and state-transition are at the heart of both community ecology and ecological restoration. Recent research on seed and recruitment limitation, soil processes, and diversity,function relationships also share strong links to restoration. Further opportunities may lie ahead in the ecology of plant ontogeny, and on the effects of contingency, such as year effects and priority effects. Ecology may inform current restoration practice, but there is considerable room for greater integration between academic scientists and restoration practitioners. [source] Taxation, warfare, and the early fourteenth century ,crisis' in the north: Cumberland lay subsidies, 1332,13481ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW, Issue 4 2005CHRIS BRIGGS Recent research into the impact of Anglo-Scottish conflict on northern England's economy has become increasingly sophisticated, using local estate accounts to enhance understanding of the role of war in the 'crisis' of the early fourteenth century. Yet taxation data also remains an important source on these issues, not least because of its wide geographical coverage. Using a rich series of lay subsidy documents for Cumberland, this article concludes that the direct impact of Scottish raids was only one of several determinants of economic fortunes. More significantly, reconstructing the process of taxation shows that non-violent resistance to state levies was as responsible as war damage for a decline in revenue from the county. [source] Private Investment and Political InstitutionsECONOMICS & POLITICS, Issue 1 2002David Stasavage Recent research has demonstrated a negative link between macroeconomic and political uncertainty and levels of private investment across countries. This raises the question whether certain types of government institutions might help reduce this uncertainty. North and Weingast (1989) propose that political institutions characterized by checks and balances can have beneficial effects on investment by allowing governments to credibly commit not to engage in ex post opportunism with respect to investors. In this paper I develop and test a modified version of their hypothesis, suggesting that checks and balances, on average, improve possibilities for commitment, but that they are not a necessary condition for doing so. Results of heteroskedastic regression and quantile regression estimates strongly support this proposition. [source] An immunity network with provision for diverse recognition in T-cell receptorsELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATIONS IN JAPAN, Issue 10 2009Takayuki Yamaguchi Abstract Recently, biological superior information processing ability has been researched to be able to be useful for a computer system. In particular, neural networks for the brain and nervous system have been researched. Immunity network models based on the biological immune response network also have been studied, but most of the researchers consider only a basic part of the interaction between B cells and T cells. Recent research has reported that the function of T cell receptors (TCR) is important in the practical immune response network. Therefore, we propose a new immunity network model which, unlike the traditional immunity networks, has the same function as that of a TCR. We applied the proposed immunity network model and the traditional immunity network model to the pattern recognition system. And we compared the performance of the proposed immunity network model with the traditional immunity network model, and showed the usability of the proposed immunity network model. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn, 92(10): 41,48, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecj.10040 [source] Learning, Literacy and ICT: What's the Connection?ENGLISH IN EDUCATION, Issue 3 2000Richard Andrews Abstract This article takes the form of a keynote address to delegates at the ,Raising Standards through Literacy and ICT across the Curriculum at Key Stages 3 and 4 conference', held at Middlesex University, London in July 2000. It sets out by defining the terms ,learning', ,literacy' and ,ICT' and then proceeds to make connections between the areas they denote. The main connections are seen to be the increased reciprocity of reading and writing, the contiguity of the verbal and visual in contemporary communication and the re-establishment of composition at the heart of the literacy curriculum. Central to all of these is the importance of transformation in learning, not only in theory but also in the day-to-day practices of classrooms. Recent research into ICT and literacy is reviewed, practical possibilities for cross-curricular collaboration are offered, and implications for the future are considered. [source] The antimicrobial triclocarban stimulates embryo production in the freshwater mudsnail Potamopyrgus antipodarum,ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 4 2010Ben D. Giudice Abstract Recent research has indicated that the antimicrobial chemical triclocarban (TCC) represents a new type of endocrine disruptor, amplifying the transcriptional activity of steroid hormones and their receptors while itself exhibiting little affinity for these receptors. The effects of TCC were studied in the freshwater mudsnail Potamopyrgus antipodarum. Specimens were exposed to concentrations ranging from 0.05 to 10.5 µg/L dissolved TCC and were removed and dissected, and embryos contained within the brood pouch were counted and classified as shelled or unshelled after two and four weeks of exposure. After four weeks, environmentally relevant TCC concentrations of 1.6 to 10.5 µg/L resulted in statistically significant increases in the number of unshelled embryos, whereas 0.2, 1.6, and 10.5 µg/L exposures significantly increased numbers of shelled embryos. The lowest observed effect concentration (LOEC) was 0.2 µg/L, the no observed effect concentration (NOEC) was 0.05 µg/L; the 10% effective concentration (EC10) and the median effective concentration (EC50) for unshelled effects were 0.5 µg/L and 2.5 µg/L, respectively. Given the widespread occurrence of TCC in the environment and the effects shown at environmentally relevant concentrations, these results indicate that TCC may be causing reproductive effects in the environment. Furthermore, the present study indicates that environmental risk from a new class of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is both qualitatively and quantitatively similar to risk from existing classes of EDCs. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2010;29:966,970. © 2009 SETAC [source] Adjusting for mortality effects in chronic toxicity testing: Mixture model approachENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 1 2000Shin Cheng David Wang Abstract Chronic toxicity tests, such as the Ceriodaphnia dubia 7-d test are typically analyzed using standard statistical methods such as analysis of variance or regression. Recent research has emphasized the use of Poisson regression or more generalized regression for the analysis of the fecundity data from these studies. A possible problem in using standard statistical techniques is that mortality may occur from toxicant effects as well as reduced fecundity. A mixture model that accounts for fecundity and mortality is proposed for the analysis of data arising from these studies. Inferences about key parameters in the model are discussed. A joint estimate of the inhibition concentration is proposed based on the model. Confidence interval estimation via the bootstrap method is discussed. An example is given for a study involving copper and mercury. [source] Effect of a Dummy Audience on Male,Male Interactions in Siamese Fighting Fish, Betta splendensETHOLOGY, Issue 2 2006Teresa L. Dzieweczynski Recent research on Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens, and other taxa has demonstrated that an audience can cause males to alter their behavior in aggressive interactions. One factor not taken into account in these studies is how exactly the audience influences these interactions. It is possible that a live audience may interact with the subjects, creating an active communication network rather than a signaler,receiver dyad with a passive audience. Here, we used a dummy audience to control for information exchange between the audience and the interactants that might cause them to modify their behavior. Audience treatments included dummies of male and female B. splendens, a dummy cichlid, and a control condition with no audience present. The presence of a dummy audience did not influence male,male interactions. However, males spent the most time near the audience tank when the audience was a dummy of a B. splendens. This suggests that some factor other than the physical presence of the audience is responsible for the modification of behavior found in previous audience effect studies in Siamese fighting fish. However, we cannot rule out definitively that our dummy audience is viewed as unimportant by the opponents and, thus, ignored. Further research is necessary to determine which component of the audience is important for producing audience effects. [source] Acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura as the presenting symptom of systemic lupus erythematosus.EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF HAEMATOLOGY, Issue 5 2005Successful treatment with plasma exchange, immunosuppression, report of two cases Abstract:, Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a rare but life-threatening syndrome characterized by platelet aggregation causing occlusive microangiopathy. It has been described as a complication in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Recent research indicated that genetic or autoantibody-induced deficiency of the metalloprotease ADAMTS13 plays a key role in the pathogenesis of TTP. Here we report two uncommon cases of TTP as the first presenting symptom of SLE. Both patients were treated with combined plasma exchange and immunosuppressive therapy, and recovered completely. Although TTP and SLE have several clinical findings in common, and both disorders may coexist more frequently than we currently assume, features of one disease should not mislead to reject the alternative disorder. [source] Speech- and sound-segmentation in dyslexia: evidence for a multiple-level cortical impairmentEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 8 2006T. Kujala Abstract Developmental dyslexia involves deficits in the visual and auditory domains, but is primarily characterized by an inability to translate the written linguistic code to the sound structure. Recent research has shown that auditory dysfunctions in dyslexia might originate from impairments in early pre-attentive processes, which affect behavioral discrimination. Previous studies have shown that whereas dyslexic individuals are deficient in discriminating sound distinctions involving consonants or simple pitch changes, discrimination of other sound aspects, such as tone duration, is intact. We hypothesized that such contrasts that can be discriminated by dyslexic individuals when heard in isolation are difficult to identify when occurring within words or structurally similar complex sound patterns. In the current study, we addressed how segments of pseudo-words and their non-speech counterparts are processed in dyslexia. We assessed the detection of long-duration differences in segments of these stimuli and identified the brain processes that could be associated with the behavioral results. Consistent with previous studies, we found no early cortical sound-duration discrimination deficit in dyslexia. However, differences between impaired and non-impaired readers were found in the brain processes associated with sound-change recognition as well as in the behavioral performance. This suggests that even when the early, automatic, sound discrimination processes are intact in dyslexic individuals, deficits in the later, attention-dependent processes may lead to impaired perception of speech and other complex sounds. [source] Blockade of NMDA receptors in the dorsomedial striatum prevents action,outcome learning in instrumental conditioningEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 2 2005Henry H. Yin Abstract Although there is consensus that instrumental conditioning depends on the encoding of action,outcome associations, it is not known where this learning process is localized in the brain. Recent research suggests that the posterior dorsomedial striatum (pDMS) may be the critical locus of these associations. We tested this hypothesis by examining the contribution of N -methyl- d -aspartate receptors (NMDARs) in the pDMS to action,outcome learning. Rats with bilateral cannulae in the pDMS were first trained to perform two actions (left and right lever presses), for sucrose solution. After the pre-training phase, they were given an infusion of the NMDA antagonist 2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (APV, 1 mg/mL) or artificial cerebral spinal fluid (ACSF) before a 30-min session in which pressing one lever delivered food pellets and pressing the other delivered fruit punch. Learning during this session was tested the next day by sating the animals on either the pellets or fruit punch before assessing their performance on the two levers in extinction. The ACSF group selectively reduced responding on the lever that, in training, had earned the now devalued outcome, whereas the APV group did not. Experiment 2 replicated the effect of APV during the critical training session but found no effect of APV given after acquisition and before test. Furthermore, Experiment 3 showed that the effect of APV on instrumental learning was restricted to the pDMS; infusion into the dorsolateral striatum did not prevent learning. These experiments provide the first direct evidence that, in instrumental conditioning, NMDARs in the dorsomedial striatum are involved in encoding action,outcome associations. [source] The relationship of GMA to counterproductive work behavior revisitedEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 6 2009Bernd Marcus Abstract Recent research reported that general mental ability (GMA) predicted counterproductive work behavior (CWB), whereas some previous studies failed to find such a relationship. We tested occupational homogeneity of the sample and criterion measurement as two potential explanations for these inconsistencies. Study 1 replicated major design features of one previous study, which found no GMA,CWB relation in a heterogeneous sample, with occupationally homogeneous groups. Results confirmed previous null findings, indicating no effect of sample homogeneity. In Study 2, using a controlled laboratory setting, GMA was again unrelated to self-reported CWB, but partially predicted observed CWB negatively. Combined findings suggest that GMA is consistently unrelated to CWB self-reports but may predict objectively measured CWB independently of the likelihood of being caught. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Thinking locally, acting supranationally: Niche party behaviour in the European ParliamentEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2010CHRISTIAN B. JENSEN Recent research on the European Parliament (EP) has neglected the idiosyncrasies of niche parties. Similarly, analyses of niche parties have not fully engaged the literature on the EP. This article builds on both literatures by analysing niche party behaviour in the EP as a distinct phenomenon. It is argued that niche parties will respond differently to institutional stimuli than parties more generally. To test this argument, Hix, Noury and Roland's work on EP party voting behaviour is replicated concentrating on niche parties only. It is found that participation in national government and institutional changes affect niche party legislators' voting behaviour, whereas they do not for legislators in the EP overall. These results have important implications for understanding both party behaviour in the EP and niche party behaviour more generally. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||