The separate but related origins of the recency and the modality effect in free recall

The recency effect found in free recall can be accounted for almost entirely in terms of the recall of ordered sequences of items. It is such sequences, presented at the end of the stimulus list but recalled at the very beginning of the response protocol, which produce a recency effect. Such sequences are recalled at the beginning of the response protocol equally often following auditory and visual presentation. These same stimulus sequences are also frequently recalled other than initially in the response protocol following auditory presentation. However, such responses are rarely found following visual presentation. The modality effect in free recall, the advantage of auditory over visual presentation, can be substantially accounted for in these terms. Theoretical and procedural implications of these data are discussed.

PINCER trial: a cluster randomised trial comparing the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a pharmacist-led IT-based intervention with simple feedback in reducing rates of clinically important errors in medicines management in general practices

Background: Medication errors in general practice are an important source of potentially preventable morbidity and mortality. Building on previous descriptive, qualitative and pilot work, we sought to investigate the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and likely generalisability of a complex pharm acist-led IT-based intervention aiming to improve prescribing safety in general practice. Objectives: We sought to: • Test the hypothesis that a pharmacist-led IT-based complex intervention using educational outreach and practical support is more effective than simple feedback in reducing the proportion of patients at risk from errors in prescribing and medicines management in general practice. • Conduct an economic evaluation of the cost per error avoided, from the perspective of the National Health Service (NHS). • Analyse data recorded by pharmacists, summarising the proportions of patients judged to be at clinical risk, the actions recommended by pharmacists, and actions completed in the practices. • Explore the views and experiences of healthcare professionals and NHS managers concerning the intervention; investigate potential explanations for the observed effects, and inform decisions on the future roll-out of the pharmacist-led intervention • Examine secular trends in the outcome measures of interest allowing for informal comparison between trial practices and practices that did not participate in the trial contributing to the QRESEARCH database. Methods Two-arm cluster randomised controlled trial of 72 English general practices with embedded economic analysis and longitudinal descriptive and qualitative analysis. Informal comparison of the trial findings with a national descriptive study investigating secular trends undertaken using data from practices contributing to the QRESEARCH database. The main outcomes of interest were prescribing errors and medication monitoring errors at six- and 12-months following the intervention. Results: Participants in the pharmacist intervention arm practices were significantly less likely to have been prescribed a non-selective NSAID without a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) if they had a history of peptic ulcer (OR 0.58, 95%CI 0.38, 0.89), to have been prescribed a beta-blocker if they had asthma (OR 0.73, 95% CI 0.58, 0.91) or (in those aged 75 years and older) to have been prescribed an ACE inhibitor or diuretic without a measurement of urea and electrolytes in the last 15 months (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.34, 0.78). The economic analysis suggests that the PINCER pharmacist intervention has 95% probability of being cost effective if the decision-maker’s ceiling willingness to pay reaches £75 (6 months) or £85 (12 months) per error avoided. The intervention addressed an issue that was important to professionals and their teams and was delivered in a way that was acceptable to practices with minimum disruption of normal work processes. Comparison of the trial findings with changes seen in QRESEARCH practices indicated that any reductions achieved in the simple feedback arm were likely, in the main, to have been related to secular trends rather than the intervention. Conclusions Compared with simple feedback, the pharmacist-led intervention resulted in reductions in proportions of patients at risk of prescribing and monitoring errors for the primary outcome measures and the composite secondary outcome measures at six-months and (with the exception of the NSAID/peptic ulcer outcome measure) 12-months post-intervention. The intervention is acceptable to pharmacists and practices, and is likely to be seen as costeffective by decision makers.

Health-related quality of life in Huntington's disease: which factors matter most?

The aim of this article was to determine which aspects of Huntington's disease (HD) are most important with regard to the health-related quality of life (HrQOL) of patients with this neurodegenerative disease. Seventy patients with HD participated in the study. Assessment comprised the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) motor, cognitive and functional capacity sections, and the Beck Depression inventory. Mental and physical HrQOL were assessed using summary scores of the SF-36. Multiple regression analyses showed that functional capacity and depressive mood were significantly associated with HrQOL, in that greater impairments in HrQOL were associated with higher levels of depressive mood and lower functional capacity. Motor symptoms and cognitive function were not found to be as closely linked with HrQOL. Therefore, it can be concluded that, depressive mood and greater functional incapacity are key factors in HrQOL for people with HD, and further longitudinal investigation will be useful to determine their utility as specific targets in intervention studies aimed at improving patient HrQOL, or whether other mediating variables. As these two factors had a similar association with the mental and physical summary scores of the SF-36, this generic HrQOL measure did not adequately capture and distinguish the true mental and physical health-related HrQOL in HD.

Age related changes in speed and mechanism of adult skeletal muscle stem cell migration

Skeletal muscle undergoes a progressive age-related loss in mass and function. Preservation of muscle mass depends in part on satellite cells, the resident stem cells of skeletal muscle. Reduced satellite cell function may contribute to the age-associated decrease in muscle mass. Here we focused on characterising the effect of age on satellite cell migration. We report that aged satellite cells migrate at less than half the speed of young cells. In addition, aged cells show abnormal membrane extension and retraction characteristics required for amoeboid based cell migration. Aged satellite cells displayed low levels of integrin expression. By deploying a mathematical model approach to investigate mechanism of migration, we have found that young satellite cells move in a random ‘memoryless’ manner whereas old cells demonstrate superdiffusive tendencies. Most importantly, we show that nitric oxide, a key regulator of cell migration, reversed the loss in migration speed and reinstated the unbiased mechanism of movement in aged satellite cells. Finally we found that although Hepatocyte Growth Factor increased the rate of aged satellite cell movement it did not restore the memoryless migration characteristics displayed in young cells. Our study shows that satellite cell migration, a key component of skeletal muscle regeneration, is compromised during aging. However, we propose clinically approved drugs could be used to overcome these detrimental changes.

What people study when they study Twitter: classifying Twitter related academic papers

PURPOSE: Since its introduction in 2006, messages posted to the microblogging system Twitter have provided a rich dataset for researchers, leading to the publication of over a thousand academic papers. This paper aims to identify this published work and to classify it in order to understand Twitter based research. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Firstly the papers on Twitter were identified. Secondly, following a review of the literature, a classification of the dimensions of microblogging research was established. Thirdly, papers were qualitatively classified using open coded content analysis, based on the paper’s title and abstract, in order to analyze method, subject, and approach. FINDINGS: The majority of published work relating to Twitter concentrates on aspects of the messages sent and details of the users. A variety of methodological approaches are used across a range of identified domains. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: This work reviewed the abstracts of all papers available via database search on the term “Twitter” and this has two major implications: 1) the full papers are not considered and so works may be misclassified if their abstract is not clear, 2) publications not indexed by the databases, such as book chapters, are not included. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: To date there has not been an overarching study to look at the methods and purpose of those using Twitter as a research subject. Our major contribution is to scope out papers published on Twitter until the close of 2011. The classification derived here will provide a framework within which researchers studying Twitter related topics will be able to position and ground their work

Endosomal proteolysis regulates calcitonin gene-related peptide responses in mesenteric arteries

Background and Purpose: Calcitonin gene‐related peptide (CGRP) is a potent vasodilator, implicated in the pathogenesis of migraine. CGRP activates a receptor complex comprising, calcitonin receptor‐like receptor (CLR) and receptor activity‐modifying protein 1 (RAMP1). In vitro studies indicate recycling of CLR•RAMP1 is regulated by degradation of CGRP in early endosomes by endothelin‐converting enzyme‐1 (ECE‐1). However, it is not known if ECE‐1 regulates the resensitization of CGRP‐induced responses in functional arterial tissue. Experimental Approach: CLR, ECE‐1a‐d and RAMP1 expression in rat mesenteric artery smooth muscle cells (RMA‐SMCs) and mesenteric arteries was analyzed by RT‐PCR and by immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy. CGRP‐induced signaling in cells was examined by measuring cAMP production and ERK activation. CGRP‐induced relaxation of arteries was measured by isometric wire myography. ECE‐1 was inhibited using the specific inhibitor, SM‐19712. Key Results: RMA‐SMCs and arteries contained mRNA for CLR, ECE‐1a‐d and RAMP1. ECE‐1 was present in early endosomes of RMA‐SMCs and in the smooth muscle layer of arteries. CGRP induced endothelium‐independent relaxation of arteries. ECE‐1 inhibition had no effect on initial CGRP‐induced responses but reduced cAMP generation in RMA‐SMCs and vasodilation in mesenteric arteries responses to subsequent CGRP challenges. Conclusions and Implications: ECE‐1 regulates the resensitization of responses to CGRP in RMA‐SMCs and mesenteric arteries. CGRP‐induced relaxation does not involve endothelium‐derived pathways. This is the first report of ECE‐1 regulating CGRP responses in SMCs and arteries. ECE‐1 inhibitors may attenuate an important vasodilatory pathway, implicated in primary headaches and may represent a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of migraine.

Communication and social regulation. the criminalization of work-related death

This paper addresses the movement towards criminalization as a tool for the regulation of work-related deaths in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in the last 20 years. This can be seen as reflecting dissatisfaction with the relevant law, although it is best understood in symbolic terms as a response to a disjunction between the instrumental nature and communicative aspirations of regulatory law. This paper uses empirical data gathered from interviews with members of the public to explore the role that such an offence might play. The findings demonstrate that the failures of regulatory law give rise to a desire for criminalization as a means of framing work-related safety events in normative terms.

The asymptotic behavior of densities related to the supremum of a stable process

If X is a stable process of index α∈(0, 2) whose Lévy measure has density cx−α−1 on (0, ∞), and S1=sup0it is known that P(S1>x)∽Aα−1x−α as x→∞ and P(S1≤x)∽Bα−1ρ−1xαρ as x↓0. [Here ρ=P(X1>0) and A and B are known constants.] It is also known that S1 has a continuous density, m say. The main point of this note is to show that m(x)∽Ax−(α+1) as x→∞ and m(x)∽Bxαρ−1 as x↓0. Similar results are obtained for related densities.

How difficult is it to recover from dangerous levels of global warming?

Climate models provide compelling evidence that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at present rates, then key global temperature thresholds (such as the European Union limit of two degrees of warming since pre-industrial times) are very likely to be crossed in the next few decades. However, there is relatively little attention paid to whether, should a dangerous temperature level be exceeded, it is feasible for the global temperature to then return to safer levels in a usefully short time. We focus on the timescales needed to reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases and associated temperatures back below potentially dangerous thresholds, using a state-of-the-art general circulation model. This analysis is extended with a simple climate model to provide uncertainty bounds. We find that even for very large reductions in emissions, temperature reduction is likely to occur at a low rate. Policy-makers need to consider such very long recovery timescales implicit in the Earth system when formulating future emission pathways that have the potential to 'overshoot' particular atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and, more importantly, related temperature levels that might be considered dangerous.

Dynamic capabilities in a sixth generation family firm: entrepreneurship and the Bibby Line

In this paper we draw on the theory of dynamic capabilities to examine development of the only surviving family-owned Liverpool shipping company. The Bibby Line was founded in 1807 to take advantage of the growing sea-trade based in Liverpool. The company remained in shipping until the mid-1960s, when a series of external crises led the owner, Derek Bibby, to begin a process of diversification. In the last 50 years, the Bibby Line has grown into a £1bn business with interests in retail, distribution and financial services as well as a continuing commitment to shipping. Our intention is to demonstrate how multigenerational ownership contributes to the creation of dynamic capabilities in family firms. The distinctive nature of Bibby as a long-standing family business is related to unique assets such as patient capital, flexible governance structures as well as the ability to mobilise social and human capital.

Global warming potentials and radiative efficiencies of halocarbons and related compounds: a comprehensive review

In the mid-1970s it was recognized that, as well as being substances that deplete stratospheric ozone, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were strong greenhouse gases that could have substantial impacts on radiative forcing of climate change. Around a decade later, this group of radiatively active compounds was expanded to include a large number of replacements for ozone-depleting substances such as chlorocarbons, hydrochlorocarbons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), bromofluorocarbons, and bromochlorofluorocarbons. This paper systematically reviews the published literature concerning the radiative efficiencies (REs) of CFCs, bromofluorocarbons and bromochlorofluorocarbons (halons), HCFCs, HFCs, PFCs, SF6, NF3, and related halogen containing compounds. In addition we provide a comprehensive and self-consistent set of new calculations of REs and global warming potentials (GWPs) for these compounds, mostly employing atmospheric lifetimes taken from the available literature. We also present Global Temperature change Potentials (GTPs) for selected gases. Infrared absorption spectra used in the RE calculations were taken from databases and individual studies, and from experimental and ab initio computational studies. Evaluations of REs and GWPs are presented for more than 200 compounds. Our calculations yield REs significantly (> 5%) different from those in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) for 49 compounds. We present new RE values for more than 100 gases which were not included in AR4. A widely-used simple method to calculate REs and GWPs from absorption spectra and atmospheric lifetimes is assessed and updated. This is the most comprehensive review of the radiative efficiencies and global warming potentials of halogenated compounds performed to date.

Climate-related changes in peatland carbon accumulation during the last millennium.

Peatlands are a major terrestrial carbon store and a persistent natural carbon sink during the Holocene, but there is considerable uncertainty over the fate of peatland carbon in a changing climate. It is generally assumed that higher temperatures will increase peat decay, causing a positive feedback to climate warming and contributing to the global positive carbon cycle feedback. Here we use a new extensive database of peat profiles across northern high latitudes to examine spatial and temporal patterns of carbon accumulation over the past millennium. Opposite to expectations, our results indicate a small negative carbon cycle feedback from past changes in the long-term accumulation rates of northern peatlands. Total carbon accumulated over the last 1000 yr is linearly related to contemporary growing season length and photosynthetically active radiation, suggesting that variability in net primary productivity is more important than decomposition in determining long-term carbon accumulation. Furthermore, northern peatland carbon sequestration rate declined over the climate transition from the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) to the Little Ice Age (LIA), probably because of lower LIA temperatures combined with increased cloudiness suppressing net primary productivity. Other factors including changing moisture status, peatland distribution, fire, nitrogen deposition, permafrost thaw and methane emissions will also influence future peatland carbon cycle feedbacks, but our data suggest that the carbon sequestration rate could increase over many areas of northern peatlands in a warmer future.

Beta event-related desynchronization as an index of individual differences in processing human facial expression: further investigations of autistic traits in typically developing adults

The human mirror neuron system (hMNS) has been associated with various forms of social cognition and affective processing including vicarious experience. It has also been proposed that a faulty hMNS may underlie some of the deficits seen in the autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). In the present study we set out to investigate whether emotional facial expressions could modulate a putative EEG index of hMNS activation (mu suppression) and if so, would this differ according to the individual level of autistic traits [high versus low Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) score]. Participants were presented with 3 s films of actors opening and closing their hands (classic hMNS mu-suppression protocol) while simultaneously wearing happy, angry, or neutral expressions. Mu-suppression was measured in the alpha and low beta bands. The low AQ group displayed greater low beta event-related desynchronization (ERD) to both angry and neutral expressions. The high AQ group displayed greater low beta ERD to angry than to happy expressions. There was also significantly more low beta ERD to happy faces for the low than for the high AQ group. In conclusion, an interesting interaction between AQ group and emotional expression revealed that hMNS activation can be modulated by emotional facial expressions and that this is differentiated according to individual differences in the level of autistic traits. The EEG index of hMNS activation (mu suppression) seems to be a sensitive measure of the variability in facial processing in typically developing individuals with high and low self-reported traits of autism.

Tropical Atlantic variability modes (1979–2002). Part I: Time-evolving SST modes related to West African rainfall

This work presents a description of the 1979–2002 tropical Atlantic (TA) SST variability modes coupled to the anomalous West African (WA) rainfall during the monsoon season. The time-evolving SST patterns, with an impact on WA rainfall variability, are analyzed using a new methodology based on maximum covariance analysis. The enhanced Climate Prediction Center (CPC) Merged Analysis of Precipitation (CMAP) dataset, which includes measures over the ocean, gives a complete picture of the interannual WA rainfall patterns for the Sahel dry period. The leading TA SST pattern, related to the Atlantic El Niño, is coupled to anomalous precipitation over the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, which corresponds to the second WA rainfall principal component. The thermodynamics and dynamics involved in the generation, development, and damping of this mode are studied and compared with previous works. The SST mode starts at the Angola/Benguela region and is caused by alongshore wind anomalies. It then propagates westward via Rossby waves and damps because of latent heat flux anomalies and Kelvin wave eastward propagation from an off-equatorial forcing. The second SST mode includes the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean, showing how the Mediterranean SST anomalies are those that are directly associated with the Sahelian rainfall. The global signature of the TA SST patterns is analyzed, adding new insights about the Pacific– Atlantic link in relation to WA rainfall during this period. Also, this global picture suggests that the Mediterranean SST anomalies are a fingerprint of large-scale forcing. This work updates the results given by other authors, whose studies are based on different datasets dating back to the 1950s, including both the wet and the dry Sahel periods.