1,721,027 research outputs found
Evidence on the determinants of Canadian provincial government health expenditures: 1965-1991
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Selection of bacteriophage-resistant mutants of Streptococcus thermophilus
No full textPhage-resistant mutants have been isolated from Streptococcus thermophilus. Selection was carried out using anti-phage antibodies or Hoechst 33258-labelled phages. Two mutants out of eight tested displayed reduced acidifying capacity. Selection of the bacteria that extruded more rapidly the fluorochrome 5-6-carboxyfluorescein diacetate (CFDA) restored the acidifying capacity of these two mutants to the level of the parental strains. Mutants displaying phage resistance and good acidifying capacity were obtained in 4-5 days. New phages that are able to overcome the protection mechanisms of the existing bacteria arise continually in the dairy environment. The procedures described here permit to replace promptly the starter culture susceptible to newly emerged phages with a resistant one
The representation of conceptual knowledge: Visual, auditory, and olfactory imagery compared with semantic processing
No full textTwo experiments comparing imaginative processing in different modalities and semantic processing were carried out to investigate the issue of whether conceptual knowledge can be represented in different format. Participants were asked to judge the similarity between visual images, auditory images, and olfactory images in the imaginative block, if two items belonged to the same category in the semantic block. Items were verbally cued in both experiments. The degree of similarity between the imaginative and semantic items was changed across experiments. Experiment 1 showed that the semantic processing was faster than the visual and the auditory imaginative processing, whereas no differentiation was possible between the semantic processing and the olfactory imaginative processing. Experiment 2 revealed that only the visual imaginative processing could be differentiated from the semantic processing in terms of accuracy. These results showed that the visual and auditory imaginative processing can be differentiated from the semantic processing, although both visual and auditory images strongly rely on semantic representations. On the contrary, no differentiation is possible within the olfactory domain. Results are discussed in the frame of the imagery debate. © 2013 Marta Olivetti Belardinelli and Springer-Verlag
Modeling, interoperable simulation and serious games (MS2G) for healthcare and first responders in disasters within industrial plants
No full textThis paper presents an innovative paradigm that combines interoperable simulation and serious games to support the modeling of complex scenarios related to disasters in industrial plants; the proposed approach is implemented to simulate industrial plant accidents and to train first responders and healthcare institutions in order for them to be able to react to emergencies. Hereafter the interoperable simulation is proposed as approach for applying High Level Architecture in this context and Serious Games as framework to involve the users. Indeed the paper addresses these elements as part of a new research track devoted to leveraging interoperable simulation in federating multidisciplinary models to prepare for disasters in industrial plants
Selection of bacteriophage-resistant mutants of Streptococcus thermophilus
No full textPhage-resistant mutants have been isolated from Streptococcus thermophilus. Selection was carried out using anti-phage antibodies or Hoechst 33258-labelled phages. Two mutants out of eight tested displayed reduced acidifying capacity. Selection of the bacteria that extruded more rapidly the fluorochrome 5-6-carboxyfluorescein diacetate (CFDA) restored the acidifying capacity of these two mutants to the level of the parental strains. Mutants displaying phage resistance and good acidifying capacity were obtained in 4-5 days. New phages that are able to overcome the protection mechanisms of the existing bacteria arise continually in the dairy environment. The procedures described here permit to replace promptly the starter culture susceptible to newly emerged phages with a resistant one
Rank perception and self-evaluation in eating disorders
No full textObjectives Heightened sensitivity to social comparison and negative self-evaluation have been implicated in the development and maintenance of eating disorders (EDs). This study used behavioral tasks, as well as self-report measures, to examine processing of social rank-related cues and implicit self-concept in participants with EDs. Method Fifty healthy participants (HCs), 46 people with an ED, and 22 people recovered from an ED (REC) undertook an attentional bias task using social rank-related cues and an implicit self-evaluation task. In addition, they completed self-report measures of social comparison, submissive behavior, and shame. Results People with EDs showed vigilance toward social rank-related stimuli and lower implicit positive self-evaluation than HCs. Self-report data confirmed the behavioral findings and showed that people with EDs had higher levels of unfavorable social comparison, submissive behaviors, and external and internal shame than HCs. People who had recovered from an ED showed an intermediate profile between the two groups. Discussion People with EDs have heightened sensitivity to social rank-related cues and impaired self-evaluation at an automatic level of processing. Some of these biases remain in people who have recovered. Interventions which aim to remediate social threat sensitivity and negative bias about self and others might be of benefit in EDs. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc
Inhibition of return in time-lapse: Brain Rhythms during grip force control for spatial attention
Full text linkThe inhibition of return (IoR) is the observable slowed response to a target at a cued position for cue-target intervals of longer than 300 ms; when there has been enough time to disengage from a previously-cued location, an inhibitory after-effect can be observed. Studies aimed at understanding whether mechanisms underlying IoR act at a perceptual/attentional or a later response-execution stage have offered divergent results. Though focusing on the brain's responses to cue-target intervals can offer significant information on the nature of IoR, few studies have investigated neural activity during this interval; these studies suggest the generation of inhibitory tags on the spatial coordinates of the previously attended position which, in turn, inhibit motor programming toward that position. As such, a cue-target task was administered in this study; the rhythmic activity of EEG signals on the entire cue-target interval was measured to determine whether IoR is referred to early or late response processing stages. A visually-guided force variation during isometric contraction, instead of a key press response, was required to reduce the effect of motor response initiation. Our results indicated the prominent involvement of the fronto-parietal and occipital cortical areas post-cue appearance, with a peculiar theta band modulation characterizing the posterior parietal cortex. Theta activity in this region was enhanced post-cue onset, decreased over time, and was enhanced again when a target appeared in an unexpected location rather than in a cued position. This suggests that the mechanism that generates IoR sequentially affects perceptual/attentional processing and motor preparation rather than response execution
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