681 research outputs found
Risk factors for onset of chronic oro-facial pain - Results of the North Cheshire oro-facial pain prospective population study
No full textDue to the cross-sectional nature of previous studies, whether mechanical factors predict the onset of Chronic oro-facial pain remains unclear. Aims of the current study were to test the hypotheses that self-reported mechanical factors would predict onset of Chronic oro-facial pain and that any observed relationship would be independent of the confounding effects of psychosocial factors and reporting of other unexplained symptoms. About 1735 subjects who had completed a baseline questionnaire were assessed at 2 year follow-up for the presence of Chronic oro-facial pain, psychosocial factors (anxiety and depression, illness behaviour, life stressors and reporting of somatic symptoms), mechanical dysfunction (facial trauma, grinding, phantom bite and missing teeth) and reporting of other unexplained symptoms (chronic widespread pain, irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue). About 1329 subjects returned completed questionnaires (adjusted response rate 87%). About 56 (5%) reported new episodes of Chronic oro-facial pain at follow-up. Univariate analyses showed that age, gender, reporting of other unexplained symptoms, psychosocial factors and two self-report mechanical factors predicted the onset of Chronic oro-facial pain. However multivariate analysis showed that mechanical factors did not independently predict onset. The strongest predictors were health anxiety (Relative Risk (RR) 2.8, 95% CI 1.3-6.2), chronic widespread pain (RR 4.0 95% C.I. 2.2-7.4) and age (RR 0.2, 95% CI 0.1-0.7). The findings from this prospective study support the hypothesis that psychosocial factors are markers for onset of Chronic oro-facial pain. The efficacy of early psychological management of Chronic oro-facial pain to address these factors should be a priority for future investigations. © 2010 International Association for the Study of Pain
Father‘s first car
No full textEpisodes 1-3 of 'Father‘s first car' by Hugh Tracey, read by the author from the book published by Routledge & Kegan PaulThe book is based on extracts from the motoring diary of Hugh Tracey's father, Dr Eugene Tracey, who owned the first motor car in their village of Willand near Cullompton, Devon, in 1907For further details refer to the ILAM Document Collection: Hugh Tracey Broadcast
JobPlan --- a new integrated representation and planner for batch job workflow automation
No full textThis dissertation presents a new representation and action logic for integrated planning, scheduling, execution monitoring and sensing. These features were motivated by the problem of computer batch job management but are applicable to any domain entailing these forms of reasoning. The existing planning literature has primarily focussed on providing highly efficient representations and algorithms which address specific aspects of planning and sensing. However no single planning framework currently combines the requisite integrated abilities of managing durative triggered actions in an open world environment. The dissertation's contributions are a multi-purpose planning and sensing representation and an associated partial order action logic to support these features. Plans and beliefs are represented as a workflow state machine governed by a clearly defined dynamics. Time based goals are handled by treating time as a fluent. The implementation and evaluation of a prototype planner ``JobPlan" on key domain scenarios illustrating these features is presented.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaby Tracey D. Lal
Academic Integrity: A Global Community of Scholars
No full textSlides from a keynote presentation at Canadian Symposium on Academic Integrity, held at the University of Calgary, April 17-18, 2019. In this session, Dr. Tracey Bretag examined how academic integrity research, policy and advocacy work is undertaken around the world, discussion the implications for Canadian educational contexts. These slides have been submitted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Co-Chair of the symposium, with the permission of the author, Dr. Tracey Bretag
Academic Integrity and Embracing Diversity
No full textSlides from the Pre-conference for the Canadian Symposium on Academic Integrity, held at the University of Calgary, April 17-18, 2019. In this session, Dr. Tracey Bretag examined the issue of academic integrity and diversity, focusing specifically on international students and those who speak languages other than English (LOTE). These slides have been submitted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Co-Chair of the symposium, with the permission of the author, Dr. Tracey Bretag
Review of \u3ci\u3eGuerrilla Gardening: A Manualfesto\u3c/i\u3e, by David Tracey
No full text[First paragraph]
David Tracey, author of Guerrilla Gardening: A Manualfesto, summarizes the philosophy of guerrilla gardening in a simple statement: Every plant is political (32)
An upper bound on the Chebotarev invariant of a finite group
Full text linkA subset {g1,.., gd} of a finite group G invariably generates {g1x1,..,gdxd} generates G for every choice of xi ∈ G. The Chebotarev invariant C(G) of G is the expected value of the random variable n that is minimal subject to the requirement that n randomly chosen elements of G invariably generate G. The first author recently showed that C(G)≤β|G| for some absolute constant β. In this paper we show that, when G is soluble, then β is at most 5/3. We also show that this is best possible. Furthermore, we show that, in general, for each ε > 0 there exists a constant cε such that C(G)≤(1+∈)|G|+c
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor-Induced Gene Expression Reveals Novel Actions of VGF in Hippocampal Synaptic Plasticity
No full textSynaptic strengthening induced by brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is associated with learning and is coupled to transcriptional activation. However, identification of the spectrum of genes associated with BDNF-induced synaptic plasticity and the correlation of expression with learning paradigms in vivo has not yet been studied. Transcriptional analysis of BDNF-induced synaptic strengthening in cultured hippocampal neurons revealed increased expression of the immediate early genes (IEGs), c-fos, early growth response gene 1 (EGR1), activity-regulated cytoskeletal-associated protein (Arc) at 20 min, and the secreted peptide VGF (non-acronymic) protein precursor at 3 hr. The induced genes served as prototypes to decipher mechanisms of both BDNF-induced transcription and plasticity. BDNF-mediated gene expression was tyrosine kinase B and mitogen-activated protein kinase-dependent, as demonstrated by pharmacological studies. Single-cell transcriptional analysis of Arc after whole-cell patch-clamp recordings indicated that increased gene expression correlated with enhancement of synaptic transmission by BDNF. Increased expression in vitro predicted elevations in vivo: VGF and the IEGs increased after trace eyeblink conditioning, a hippocampal-dependent learning paradigm. VGF protein was also upregulated by BDNF treatment and was expressed in a punctate manner in dissociated hippocampal neurons. Collectively, these findings suggested that the VGF neuropeptides may regulate synaptic function. We found a novel function for VGF by applying VGF peptides to neurons. C-terminal VGF peptides acutely increased synaptic charge in a dose-dependent manner, whereas N-terminal peptide had no effect. These observations indicate that gene profiling in vitro can reveal new mechanisms of synaptic strengthening associated with learning and memory.Peer reviewe
Automatic detection of learner-style for adaptive eLearning
No full textThe advent of modern wireless technologies has seen a shift in focus towards the design and development of educational systems for deployment through mobile devices. The use of mobile phones, tablets and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) is steadily growing across the educational sector as a whole. Mobile learning (mLearning) systems developed for deployment on such devices hold great significance for the future of education. However, mLearning systems must be built around the particular learner’s needs based on both their motivation to learn and subsequent learning outcomes. This thesis investigates how biometric technologies, in particular accelerometer and eye-tracking technologies, could effectively be employed within the development of mobile learning systems to facilitate the needs of individual learners. The creation of personalised learning environments must enable the achievement of improved learning outcomes for users, particularly at an individual level. Therefore consideration is given to individual learning-style differences within the electronic learning (eLearning) space. The overall area of eLearning is considered and areas such as biometric technology and educational psychology are explored for the development of personalised educational systems. This thesis explains the basis of the author’s hypotheses and presents the results of several studies carried out throughout the PhD research period. These results show that both accelerometer and eye-tracking technologies can be employed as an Human Computer Interaction (HCI) method in the detection of student learning-styles to facilitate the provision of automatically adapted eLearning spaces. Finally the author provides recommendations for developers in the creation of adaptive mobile learning systems through the employment of biometric technology as a user interaction tool within mLearning applications. Further research paths are identified and a roadmap for future of research in this area is defined
The neuropeptide VGF produces antidepressant-like behavioral effects and enhances proliferation in the hippocampus
No full textBrain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is upregulated in the hippocampus by antidepressant treatments and BDNF produces antidepressant-like effects in behavioral models of depression. In our previous work, we identified genes induced by BDNF and defined their specific roles in hippocampal neuronal development and plasticity. To identify genes downstream of BDNF that may play roles in psychiatric disorders, we have examined a subset of BDNF-induced genes also regulated by serotonin (5-HT), which includes the neuropeptide VGF (non-acronymic). To explore the function of VGF in depression, we first investigated the expression of the neuropeptide in animal models of depression. VGF was downregulated in the hippocampus following both the learned helplessness (LH) and forced swim test (FST) paradigms. Conversely, VGF infusion in the hippocampus of mice subjected to FST reduced the time spent immobile for up to 6 days, thus demonstrating a novel role for VGF as an antidepressant-like agent. Recent evidence indicates that chronic treatment of rodents with antidepressants increases neurogenesis in the adult dentate gyrus and that neurogenesis is required for the behavioral effects of antidepressants. Our studies using 3H-thymidine and bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) as markers of DNA synthesis indicate that chronic VGF treatment enhances proliferation of hippocampal progenitor cells both in vitro and in vivo with survival up to 21d. By double immunocytochemical analysis of hippocampal neurons, we demonstrate that VGF increases the number of dividing cells that express neuronal markers in vitro. Thus VGF may act downstream of BDNF and exert its effects as an antidepressant-like agent by enhancing neurogenesis in the hippocampus.Peer reviewe
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