115 research outputs found
Climate change action as a project of identity: Eight meta-analyses
No full textIdentity can improve our understanding of personal climate action, particularly when climate action becomes an expression of a person's self. However, it is unclear which kind of self or identity is most relevant. Building on a comprehensive series of eight meta-analyses (using data from 188 published articles, N = 414,282 participants) this research systematically compares how strongly climate-friendly intentions and behaviors are associated with place identity, personal connectedness to nature, environmental self-identity (i.e., personal self-definition as a pro-environmentally acting person), and social identity (i.e., identification with social groups). Results suggest robust, medium-sized to strong links of both pro-environmental intentions and behaviors to people's nature connectedness (r = 0.44/0.52), environmental self-identity (r = 0.62/0.56), and identification with groups considered to support climate-friendly behavior (r = 0.48/0.51), but markedly weaker effects for identification with groups which are unrelated to environmental topics (r = 0.30/0.15) and for place identity (r = 0.18/0.32). Implications for policy interventions and psychological theory are discussed
Lifestyle can be anything if not defined. A review of understanding and use of the lifestyle concept in sustainability studies
No full textA holistic understanding of human behaviour is considered key for a successful fight against climate change and environmental degradation. In the pursuit of a holistic understanding, empirical research frequently applies the concept of "lifestyle". The concept, which plays a significant role in segmenting customers in the field of marketing, is increasingly used in the cross -domain analysis of behaviour in the field of sustainability. This increase is tied to the challenge that the meaning and operationalisation of the lifestyle concept are still highly fragmented after decades of empirical studies. While this methodological heterogeneity and pluralism of research traditions bring creativity and dynamic to the field, it makes the orientation and a comparison of studies challenging. Previous attempts to streamline lifestyle oriented research have often aimed for a single mode of operationalisation, but this does not meet the diversity of possible applications of the concept. Therefore, a better understanding of the field seems necessary. To fill this gap, we review the understanding and use of the "lifestyle" concept in 53 empirical studies in the field of sustainability and identify 12 variants of lifestyle related research, differing along three dimensions. According to our results, (I) lifestyle can either be used as a cause or as a consequence, (II) the analytical scope can be on a micro-, meso- or macro level, and (III) the behavioural scope can be either limited to a single behavioural domain or cover multiple domains. The three dimensions allow a mapping of existing and future empirical research using the "lifestyle" concept, improve the orientation in the field, facilitate the identification of relevant studies, and avoid imprecise comparisons due to methodological differences
Can You Feel it? – Correlation Between Intraoperatively Perceived Bone Quality and Objectively Measured Bone Mineral Density
No full textStudy Design
clinical study.
Objectives
Loosening of pedicle screws is a frequent complication in patients with osteoporosis. The indication for additional stabilization, such as cement augmentation, is more often based on the subjective intraoperative feeling of the surgeon than on a preoperative bone mineral density (BMD) measurement. Aim was to evaluate the correlation of the intraoperative perceived bone quality in comparison to the objectively measured BMD.
Methods
A total of 62 patients undergoing dorsal stabilization using pedicle screws at a level-1 trauma center were analyzed. The preoperative CT scan measured each instrumented vertebra's pedicle size and BMD. During the surgery, the perceived screw stability was graded by the respective surgeon for each screw.
Results
204 vertebral bodies were evaluated. Looking at all implanted screws a significant correlation between the measured BMD and the perceived screw stability was found (Resident r = .450; R2 = .202; P < .001/Attending r = .364; R2 = .133; P < .001), but there was no significant correlation in the osteoporotic patients (Resident P = .148 / Attending P = .907). The evaluation of the screws implanted in osteoporotic vertebrae showed that the surgeons considered a total of 31% of these screws to be sufficiently stable.
Conclusions
There was no significant correlation between the measured BMD and the perceived pedicle screw stability in the group with osteopenic / osteoporotic bone (<100 mg/cm³). The results indicate that it is not possible to reliably determine the bone quality and the resulting screw stability in patients with reduced BMD. The preoperative measurement of the BMD should become a crucial part of preoperative planning
Isoforms of alpha1E voltage-gated calcium channels in rat cerebellar granule cells-detection of major calcium channel alpha1-transcripts by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction
No full textSingle channel patch-clamp recordings show that embryonic rat spinal motorneurons express anomalous L-type calcium channels, which reopen upon repolarization to resting potentials, displaying both short and long reopenings. The probability of reopening increases with increasing voltage of the preceding depolarization without any apparent correlation with inactivation during thr depolarization. The probability of long with respect to short reopenings increases with increasing length of the depolarization, with little change in the total number of reopenings and in their delay with less negative repolarization voltages, thr delay increases, while the mean duration of both short and long reopenings decreases, remaining longer than that of the openings during the preceding depolarization. Open times decrease with increasing voltage in the range -60 to +40 mV. Closed times tend to increase at V > 20 mV: The open probability is low at all voltages and has an anomalous bell-shaped voltage dependence. We provide evidence that short and long reopenings of anomalous L-type channels correspond to two gating modes, whose relative probability depends on voltage. Positive voltages favor both the transition fi om a short-opening to a long-opening mode and the occupancy of a closed state outside the activation pathway within each mode fr-om which the channel reopens upon repolarization. The voltage dependence of the probability of reopenings reflects the voltage dependence of the occupancy of these closed states, while the relative probability of long with respect to short reopenings reflects the voltage dependence of the equilibrium between modes. The anomalous gating persists after patch excision, and therefore our data rule out voltage-dependent block by diffusible ions as the basis fur the anomalous gating and imply that a diffusible cytosolic factor is not necessary for voltage-dependent potentiation of anomalous L-tt pe channel
Hart, Mary (Death, 1907-10-14)
No full textAddress: St. Mary's Hospital 2613 JeffersonAge at death: 56 yrs.478/Pg 111/1907/F WM/Germany/Dr. R. E. Klockner/Joseph Huth/Carthage Rd.Original record filed in drawer labeled 'HARRIS, F-HASEL'
Influence of Hyponatremia on Spinal Bone Quality and Fractures Due to Low-Energy Trauma
No full textBackground and Objectives: Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte disorder in elderly and associated with increased risk of falls. Clinical studies as well as small animal experiments suggested an association between chronic hyponatremia and osteoporosis. Furthermore, it has been assumed that subtle hyponatremia may be an independent fracture risk in the elderly. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the possible influence of chronic hyponatremia on osteoporosis and low-energy fractures of the spine. Materials and Methods: 144 patients with a vertebral body fracture (mean age: 69.15 ± 16.08; 73 females and 71 males) due to low-energy trauma were treated in a level one trauma center within one year and were included in the study. Chronic hyponatremia was defined as serum sodium Results: Overall, 19.44% (n = 28) of patients in the low-energy trauma group had hyponatremia. In the group with fractures caused by low-energy trauma, the proportion of hyponatremia of patients older than 65 years was significantly increased as compared to younger patients (p** = 0.0016). Furthermore, there was no significant gender difference in the hyponatremia group. Of 28 patients with chronic hyponatremia, all patients had decreased bone quality. Four patients showed osteopenia and the other 24 patients even showed osteoporosis. In the low-energy trauma group, the BMD correlated significantly with serum sodium (r = 0.396; p*** Conclusions: The results suggest that chronic hyponatremia affects bone quality. Patients with chronic hyponatremia have an increased prevalence of fractures after low-energy trauma due to a decreased bone quality. Therefore, physicians from different specialties should focus on the treatment of chronic hyponatremia to reduce the fracture rate after low-energy trauma, particularly with elderly patients
Noticing and helping the neglected child: A Review of the literature
No full textThis report presents findings from a systematic literature review examining the evidence on the extent to which practicioners are equpped to recoconise and respond to the indicators that a child's needs are likely to be or are being neglected, whatever the cause. It considers published evidence about the ways in which children and families signal their need for help, how those signals are recognised and responded to and whether response could be swifter. The aim was to contribute to the evidence base that equips: 1. Practitioners with the information they need to be able and willing to recognise that a child's needs are not being met, or are in danger of being unmet, and consider themselves as part of a protective network around children; 2. Organisations with the information they need to ensure that their services are easily accessible to children and parents who need support and help; 3. Policy makers who make recommendations to the health, education and social care sectors regarding the needs of and response to neglected children; 4. Education and training bodies, both statutory and volunary, who provide access to and information about the evidence to relevant individuals. The research questions addressed in the review were: 1. What is known about the ways in which children and families directly and indirectly signal their need for help? 2. To what extent are practitioners equipped to recognise and respond to the indications that a child's needs are likely to be, or are being neglected, whatever the cause? 3. Does the evidence suggest that professional response could be swifter
Architectural tradeoffs in reconfigurable computer for Monte Carlo based simulation of sintering
No full textMining the Herschel-Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey: submillimetre-selected blazars in equatorial fields
No full textThe Herschel-Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS) provides an unprecedented opportunity to search for blazars at sub-mm wavelengths. We cross-matched the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-cm (FIRST) radio source catalogue with the 11 655 sources brighter than 35 mJy at 500 μm in the ∼135 deg2 of the sky covered by the H-ATLAS equatorial fields at 9h and 15h, plus half of the field at 12h. We found that 379 of the H-ATLAS sources have a FIRST counterpart within 10 arcsec, including eight catalogued blazars (plus one known blazar that was found at the edge of one of the H-ATLAS maps). To search for additional blazar candidates we have devised new diagnostic diagrams and found that known blazars occupy a region of the log(S500μm/S350μm) versus log(S500μm/S1.4 GHz) plane separated from that of sub-mm sources with radio emission powered by star formation, but shared with radio galaxies and steep-spectrum radio quasars. Using this diagnostic we have selected 12 further possible candidates that turn out to be scattered in the (r-z) versus (u-r) plane or in the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer colour-colour diagram, where known blazars are concentrated in well defined strips. This suggests that the majority of them are not blazars. Based on an inspection of all the available photometric data, including unpublished VISTA Kilo-degree Infrared Galaxy survey photometry and new radio observations, we found that the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of only one out of the 12 newly selected sources are compatible with being synchrotron dominated at least up to 500 μm, i.e. with being a blazar. Another object may consist of a faint blazar nucleus inside a bright star-forming galaxy. The possibility that some blazar hosts are endowed with active star formation is supported by our analysis of the SEDs of Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalogue blazars detected at both 545 and 857 GHz. The estimated rest-frame synchrotron peak frequencies of H-ATLAS blazars are in the range 11.5 ≤ log (νpeak, Hz) ≤ 13.7, implying that these objects are low synchrotron peak. Six of them also show evidence of an ultraviolet excess that can be attributed to emission from the accretion disc. Allowing for the possibility of misidentifications and of contamination of the 500 μm flux density by the dusty torus or by the host galaxy, we estimate that there are seven or eight pure synchrotron sources brighter than S500μm = 35 mJy over the studied area, a result that sets important constraints on blazar evolutionary models. © 2013 The Author. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society
VLBI imaging of OH absorption: the puzzle of the nuclear region of NGC 3079
No full textBroad hydroxyl (OH) absorption lines in the 1667- and 1665-MHz transitions towards the central region of NGC 3079 have been observed at high resolution with the European VLBI Network (EVN). Velocity fields of two OH absorption components have been resolved across the unresolved nuclear radio continuum source of extention similar to10 pc. The velocity field of the OH absorption close to the systemic velocity shows rotation in nearly the same sense as that of the edge-on galactic-scale molecular disc probed by CO(1-0) emission. The velocity field of the blueshifted OH absorption displays a gradient in almost the opposite direction. The blueshifted velocity field represents a non-rotational component, which may trace an outflow from the nucleus, or material driven and shocked by the kiloparsec-scale superbubble. This OH absorption component traces a structure that does not support a counter-rotating disc suggested on the basis of the neutral hydrogen absorption
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