Emotion recognition in schizophrenia: Further investigation of generalized versus specific deficit models.

In this study, the authors examined the nature of emotion perception in schizophrenia. Two samples of people with schizophrenia, one receiving acute care for a recent exacerbation of symptoms and the other receiving extended care, were compared with a nonclinical control group on emotion perception and general perception measures. The nonclinical control group obtained the highest scores on all of the study measures, and the acutely ill group obtained the lowest scores. Furthermore, the acutely ill sample had a specific deficit in emotion perception that remained present after controlling for performance on the general perception tasks. Conversely, the deficits in emotion discrimination in the extended-care sample reflected generalized poor performance. Differences in performance on the emotion identification task between the 2 clinical groups were reduced when controlling for active symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Detection of pathogenic bacteria using a homogeneous immunoassay based on shear alignment of virus particles and linear dichroism

Biomolecular detection has for a long time depended on a relatively small number of established methodologies. Many of these depend on the detection of a ligand-antibody complex using some kind of optical technique, e.g., chemiluminescence. Before this measurement can be made, the ligand-antibody complex generally has to be separated from bulk contaminants. This process involves the implementation of a heterogeneous assay format involving immobilization of the antibody onto a solid support to enable washing of the unbound ligand. This approach has a number of inherent issues including being slow and complex and requiring the use of expensive reagents. In this paper, we demonstrate how we have harnessed a biologically inspired nanoparticle to provide the basis for a homogeneous assay which requires no immobilization. The method relies on using fluid shear flow to align a fiber-like nanoparticle formed from a filamentous virus, M13, combined with a ligand-specific antibody. This renders the particle visible to linear dichroic spectroscopy, which provides an easily interpretable signal. The addition of the target ligand (in this case Escherichia coli O157) leads to the formation of a nanoparticle-ligand particle that is unable to align, leading to the perturbation of the linear dichroism signal.     

My neighbourhood: Studying perceptions of urban space and neighbourhood with moblogging

We describe a novel methodology that examines perceptions of urban space, and present a study using this methodology that explores people’s perceptions of their neighbourhood. Previous studies of spatial cues have involved a variety of tasks such as pointing and sketching to externalise participants’ internal spatial maps. Our methodology extends these approaches by introducing mobile technologies alongside traditional materials and tasks. Participants use mobile phones to carry out self-guided neighbourhood tours. We collected rich qualitative data from 15 participants during two workshops and a self-directed neighbourhood tour. Our study highlights the use of public and private landmarks, differences in spatial maps of rural versus urban dwellers, and individual variance in orientation strategies. These themes suggest guidelines for the design of technologies with personalised spatial profiles.     

Environmental light and heredity are associated with adaptive changes in retinal DHA levels that affect retinal function

Retinas of rats and mice react to environmental and genetic stimuli by altering the level of DHA in their rod outer segment membranes. We propose that this adaptation is a neuroprotective response to control the number of photons captured by rhodopsin and the efficiency of visual transduction, under conditions where excessive activation of the transduction cascade could lead to cell death.     

Developing a systemwide approach to patient safety: the first year

BACKGROUND: Health care organizations face an imperative to ensure that care is provided to patients in the safest manner possible. In 2000 INTEGRIS Health, an Oklahoma City-based health system including ten acute care organizations, developed a patient safety framework that was built on the foundation of a culture of patient safety and began implementation in January 2001. IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP IN PATIENT SAFETY: The first step in establishing a culture of safety was to ensure that leadership and the entire organization understand the rationale for a focus on patient safety. The traditional blaming approach will not prevent human error; staff need to speak freely, to talk about errors that happen and those that almost happen, and to identify where mistakes are likely and where systems allow mistakes to get through. Systems and processes should make it difficult for staff to make mistakes and easy for them to do things correctly. EXPERIENCE TO DATE: Since our efforts began, staff have helped identify multiple accidents waiting to happen. For example, an anesthesiologist, the service chief at one of our large hospitals, prepared a list of safety issues immediately after hearing a presentation to the Medical Executive Committee. Many system flaws have been identified as a result of our discussions; some of the solutions are easy and some much more complex. CHALLENGES: Challenges include keeping patient safety highly visible and demonstrating progress in our implementation, developing effective mechanisms for communicating safety solutions and ensuring that they are implemented in all the facilities, and figuring out how to measure success in a meaningful way.     

Sketching space

In this paper, we present a sketch modelling system which we call Stilton. The program resembles a desktop VRML browser, allowing a user to navigate a three-dimensional model in a perspective projection, or panoramic photographs, which the program maps onto the scene as a “floor” and “walls”. We place an imaginary two-dimensional drawing plane in front of the user, and any geometric information that user sketches onto this plane may be reconstructed to form solid objects through an optimisation process. We show how the system can be used to reconstruct geometry from panoramic images, or to add new objects to an existing model. While panoramic imaging can greatly assist with some aspects of site familiarisation and qualitative assessment of a site, without the addition of some foreground geometry they offer only limited utility in a design context. Therefore, we suggest that the system may be of use in “just-in-time” CAD recovery of complex environments, such as shop floors, or construction sites, by recovering objects through sketched overlays, where other methods such as automatic line-retrieval may be impossible. The result of using the system in this manner is the “sketching of space” — sketching out a volume around the user — and once the geometry has been recovered, the designer is free to quickly sketch design ideas into the newly constructed context, or analyse the space around them. Although end-user trials have not, as yet, been undertaken we believe that this implementation may afford a user-interface that is both accessible and robust, and that the rapid growth of pen-computing devices will further stimulate activity in this area.     

Adult onset foveomacular vitelliform dystrophy: a case report

BACKGROUND: Pattern dystrophies of the retinal pigment epithelium, an arrangement of a pattern of dots, lines, or branches, are infrequent fundus abnormalities. Adult onset foveomacular vitelliform dystrophy (AOFVD) is considered a subtype of pattern dystrophy. Onset occurs during middle age, with an accumulation of yellow-gray macular deposits in the deeper retinal layers. Typically electro-oculograms are mildly subnormal or normal. Genetic studies suggest an autosomal dominant inheritance with variable penetrance. CASE REPORT: A case of a 56-year-old Hispanic women with a 1-month onset of "wavy moving vision" in both eyes is presented. Previous ocular and family history were unremarkable. Ophthalmoscopic examination revealed yellow circumscribed subretinal lesions of one-third to one-half disk diameter in the foveal centers of both eyes. Fluorescein angiography revealed a circumscribed area of mottled hyperfluorescence surrounding a central hypofluorescent spot. The patient was diagnosed with AOFVD. Examination of the patient's children revealed retinal pigment epithelial disturbances in the two oldest daughters, consistent with pattern dystrophies. CONCLUSION: Our investigation supports an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern, as seen on pedigree. The presence of different pattern dystrophies within the same family suggests a common etiologic continuum.     

Some effects of surface-controlled reactions of Kevlar 29 on the interface in epoxy composites

Surface energetics and adhesion to epoxy resin were investigated in the laboratory for Kevlar 29 fiber modified by a surface-controlled nitration reaction and by a nitration/reduction sequence. Results show that at the level of modification studied, the presence of functional groups on the fiber surface does not alter surface energy. On the other hand, interfacial adhesion is significantly increased for the modified as compared with untreated fiber.     

The first cryogenic dark matter experiment

An experimental search for dark matter particle candidates using cryogenic detectors requires a low radioactive background environment. We discuss the status of a cryogenic dark matter experiment to be performed in the Stanford Underground Facility. The detectors will be cooled in a specially designed cryostat connected to a modified side access Oxford 400 dilution refrigerator. Details of the cryostat design and its operating performance are presented. The effectiveness of the multi-level shield surrounding the cryostat, as well as the background levels we expect to achieve in the pilot experiment are discussed. Finally, we examine the limits which can be set on dark matter candidates with such an experiment.Deceased     

Exact and approximate solutions of the container ship stowage problem

This paper deals with a stowage plan for containers in a container ship. Containers on board a container ship are placed in stacks, located in many bays. Since the access to the containers is only from the top of the stack, a common situation is that contianers designated for port J must be unloaded and reloaded at port I (before J) in order to access containers below them, designated for port I. This operation is called “shifting”. A container ship calling many ports, may encounter a large number of shifting operations, some of which can be avoided by efficient stowage planning. In general, the stowage plan must also take into account stability and strength requirements, as well as several other constraints on the placement of containers. In this paper we deal with stowage planning in order to minimize the number of shiftings, without considering stability constraints. First, a 0–1 binary linear programming formulating is presented that can find the optimal solution for stowage in a single rectangular bay of a vessel calling a given number of ports, assuming that the number of constainers to ship is known in advance. This model was successfully implemented using the GAMS software system. It was found, however, that finding the optimal solution using this model is quite limited, because of the large number of binary variables needed for the formulation. For this reason, several alternative heuristic algorithms were developed. The one presented here is based on a “reduced” transportation matrix. Containers with the same source and destination ports are stowed in full stacks as much as possible, and only the remaining containers are allocated by the binary linear programming model. This approach often allows the stowage planning of a much larger number of containers than using the exact formulation.