The current study investigated trait mindfulness associations with distinct aspects of executive function. We also aimed to characterize relationships between trait mindfulness with measures of ...psychological risk and resilience within adults aged 55-87 years.
In this cross-sectional study, 121 adults completed neuropsychological measures of working memory, mental set-shifting, and inhibition, as well as a battery of well-validated psychological self-report measures. The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) measured trait mindfulness.
Trait mindfulness was associated with greater age, years of education and self-efficacy, and less perceived stress, depression, anxiety, and subjective cognitive concerns. Hierarchal multiple regression analyses showed that trait mindfulness was a significant predictor of inhibitory control, even after adjusting for age, education, and global cognition in the model. Trait mindfulness was not significantly associated with working memory or mental set-shifting. Follow-up analyses using the PROCESS macro revealed that trait mindfulness mediated the relationship between perceived stress and inhibitory control.
Trait mindfulness was associated with measures of greater well-being and mental health. Our results also indicate that trait mindfulness may provide psychological resilience by attenuating perceived stress and enhancing the capacity to intentionally suppress irrelevant information and automatic responses.
There are few cases in the current literature that describe simultaneous heart and kidney transplant (HKTx) while on total artificial heart (TAH) bridge therapy. We present a case of successful HKTx ...after 318 days on TAH bridge therapy and renal replacement therapy. This case demonstrates that TAH placement is a unique and up-and-coming option for bridging patients with heart and kidney failure to HKTx. TAH is a promising bridging option for patients who do not qualify for left ventricular assist device placement. The survival rates to heart transplant and long-term outcomes after heart transplant on TAH bridge therapy are encouraging as well. However, it is crucial for clinicians to be vigilant of the wide variety of complications associated with TAH when managing patients on TAH bridge therapy.
We present near- and mid-IR observations of a sample of Seyfert II galaxies drawn from the 12 mu m Galaxy sample. The sample was observed in the J, H, K, L, M and N bands. Galaxy surface brightness ...profiles are modeled using nuclear, bulge, bar (when necessary), and disk components. To check the reliability of our findings, the procedure was tested using Spitzer observations of M 31. Nuclear spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are determined for 34 objects, and optical spectra are presented for 38, including analysis of their stellar populations using the STARLIGHT spectral synthesis code. Emission line diagnostic diagrams are used to discriminate between genuine active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and H II nuclei. Combining our observations with those found in the literature, we have a total of 40 SEDs. It is found that about 40% of the SEDs are characterized by an upturn in the near-IR, which we have quantified as a NIR slope alpha < 1 for an SED characterized as lambdafunctionof sub(lambda) is proportional to lambda super( alpha ). The three objects with an H II nucleus and two Seyfert nuclei with strong contamination from a circumnuclear also show an upturn. For genuine AGNs, this component could be explained as emission from the accretion disk, a jet, or from a very hot dust component leaking from the central region through a clumpy obscuring structure. The presence of a very compact nuclear starburst as the origin for this NIR excess emission is not favored by our spectroscopic data for these objects.
Drosophila suzukii is a severe economic invasive pest of soft-skinned fruit crops. Management typically requires killing gravid adult female flies with insecticides to prevent damage resulting from ...oviposition and larval development. Fruits from cultivated and uncultivated host plants are used by the flies for reproduction at different times of the year, and knowledge of D. suzukii seasonal host plant use and movement patterns could be better exploited to protect vulnerable crops. Rearing and various marking methodologies for tracking movement patterns of D. suzukii across different landscapes have been used to better understand host use and movement of the pest. In this study, we report on potential to determine larval host for adult D. suzukii using their fatty acid profile or signature, and to use larval diet as an internal marker for adult flies in release-recapture experiments. Fatty acids can pass efficiently through trophic levels unmodified, and insects are constrained in the ability to synthesize fatty acids and may acquire them through diet. In many holometabolous insects, lipids acquired in the larval stage carry over to the adult stage. We tested the ability of a machine learning algorithm to discriminate adult D. suzukii reared from susceptible small fruit crops (blueberry, strawberry, blackberry and raspberry) and laboratory diet based on the fatty acid profile of adult flies. We found that fatty acid components in adult flies were significantly different when flies were reared on different hosts, and the machine learning algorithm was highly successful in correctly classifying flies according to their larval host based on fatty acid profile.
Many applications such as compact accelerators and electron microscopy demand high brightness electron beams with small beam size and ultra-low emittance. Electric-field-assisted diamond emitters ...manufactured from semiconductor processes has been recognized as a leading candidate for such compact sources. The micro-scale pyramid structure of the emitter has the desirable attribute of significant electric field enhancement at the sharp interfaces (apex and edges) to facilitate electron emission. We investigate the dependence of field enhancement on the geometric shape. To account for the semiconductor charge transport in the bulk material and the tunneling through the surface, a first-principle semiclassical Monte Carlo emission model is developed and applied to the diamond pyramid. Combining the results from the Monte Carlo and the geometric field enhancement calculation, we construct a simple model to qualitatively explain the measured emission characteristics. 1 The electron beam formation and dynamics in a 1D diode setup are simulated with a particle-in-cell code to obtain the macroscopic observables such as the beam energy, voltage, and divergence. The physical characteristics and parametric dependence of the emitted beam are compared with experiments and understood through the analysis of particle trajectory in a model field configuration.2 We further develop an effective mass based theoretical model accounting for the conduction band quantization in a high aspect ratio semiconductor nanostructure and the corresponding Monte Carlo implementation to describe electron transport and subsequent electron emission from the nanotip of the emitter. The effects of level quantization, electron scattering due to the nanotip diameter variation, and electron-phonon scattering on the nanotip emission properties are identified and compared with the case of a bulk slab. 3
The Data Stewardship project is a new initiative from the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands. Its aim is to create mature working practices and policies regarding research ...data management across all TU Delft faculties. The novelty of this project relies on having a dedicated person, the so-called ‘Data Steward’, embedded in each faculty to approach research data management from a more discipline-specific perspective. It is within this framework that a research data management survey was carried out at the faculties that had a Data Steward in place by July 2018. The goal was to get an overview of the general data management practices, and use its results as a benchmark for the project. The total response rate was 11 to 37% depending on the faculty. Overall, the results show similar trends in all faculties, and indicate lack of awareness regarding different data management topics such as automatic data backups, data ownership, relevance of data management plans, awareness of FAIR data principles and usage of research data repositories. The results also show great interest towards data management, as more than ~80% of the respondents in each faculty claimed to be interested in data management training and wished to see the summary of survey results. Thus, the survey helped identified the topics the Data Stewardship project is currently focusing on, by carrying out awareness campaigns and providing training at both university and faculty levels.
Trissolcus japonicus
is an egg parasitoid of
Halyomorpha halys
, brown marmorated stink bug, a severe agricultural pest in the USA
. T. japonicus
is being evaluated in quarantine as a classical ...biological control agent to manage
H. halys
populations in the USA. To determine
T. japonicus
’ potential for successful management of the pest, we performed a series of no-choice and paired-host-range tests, evaluating parasitism and host recognition in ten nontarget insects. In laboratory no-choice tests,
T. japonicus
successfully parasitized egg masses of seven Pentatomidae native to Oregon in addition to
H. halys
. Mean parasitism proportions of egg masses were greater than 40% in two species,
B. dimidiata
and
H. abbreviatus
, and were statistically similar to parasitism of
H. halys.
However, paired-host tests identified higher proportions of parasitized
H. halys
egg masses compared to four other pentatomids.
T. japonicus
was equally attracted to volatiles produced by
H. halys
and other pentatomids but demonstrated significantly longer arrestment response time on surfaces with
H. halys
contact kairomones. Although host acceptance patterns were similar between stink bug species, our results suggest a greater potential for parasitoid development in
H. halys
eggs compared to the native pentatomids. During host-range testing, we detected field populations of
T. japonicus
at 11 sites in Portland, OR, indicating an unintentional introduction and establishment. Further work is needed to characterize its nontarget activity and dispersal patterns in areas where
H. halys
causes economic damage in Oregon.
Abstract
Objective
Recent research has suggested that positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) may be sensitive markers of early pathological changes in Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive ...impairment (MCI). However, mechanisms underlying this relationship are poorly understood and likely reflect diverse etiological factors.
Method
The present study aimed to determine whether individual differences in NA and PA were related to group differences in global cognition and socioeconomic status (SES). We collected data from a group of adult participants aged 57–87 (N = 120). Participants were categorized as cognitively normal (CN) or MCI based on Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) measured PA and NA. Information on SES including education level and household income were collected via interview.
Results
Results indicated that those with psychometrically-defined MCI statistically differed in PA but not in NA compared to CN adults. Additionally, economically insecure older adults were higher in NA than economically secure older adults. Further, examination of this effect suggested that this economically-related group difference was significantly greater in those with evidence of cognitive impairments than CN. Older age was associated with greater positive affect (r = 0.170, p < 0.050) and lower negative affect (r = −0.296, p = 0.001).
Conclusions
Results highlight the combined effect of economic insecurity and cognitive impairment on NA, suggesting that economically insecure adults with cognitive impairments may benefit from additional support to reduce its harmful effects on mood. Future research is needed to examine whether heightened NA is a sensitive predictor of depression and MCI.
PDF
