It\u2019s a Matter of Mind! Cognitive Functioning Predicts the Athletic Performance in Ultra- Marathon Runners

The present study was aimed at exploring the influence of cognitive processes on performance in ultra-marathon runners, providing an overview of the cognitive aspects that characterize outstanding runners. Thirty runners were administered a battery of computerized tests right before their participation in an ultra-marathon. Then, they were split according to the race rank into two groups (i.e., faster runners and slower runners) and their cognitive performance was compared. Faster runners outperformed slower runners in trials requiring motor inhibition and were more effective at performing two tasks together, successfully suppressing the activation of the information for one of the tasks when was not relevant. Furthermore, slower runners took longer to remember to execute pre-defined actions associated with emotional stimuli when such stimuli were presented. These findings suggest that cognitive factors play a key role in running an ultra-marathon. Indeed, if compared with slower runners, faster runners seem to have a better inhibitory control, showing superior ability not only to inhibit motor response but also to suppress processing of irrelevant information. Their cognitive performance also appears to be less influenced by emotional stimuli. This research opens new directions towards understanding which kinds of cognitive and emotional factors can discriminate talented runners from less outstanding runners

Stable diquark matter ?

Two-quark correlations ({\it diquarks}) may play an important role in hadronic physics, particularly near the deconfinement point. This opens the possibility of a net energy gain by means of a (non-perturbative) quark pairing effect, perheps up to stabilize diquark droplets. We address in this work the possibility of a self-bound, stable state of bulk diquark matter.Comment: 10p. PlainTeX, 2 Figures available upon request. IAG-USP Report No 3

Is Family Protection a Question of Moral Duty?

The Law Commission undertook a review of succession law in New Zealand at the time of writing. Whether the concept of "moral duty" is a satisfactory basis for determinations under the Family Protection Act 1955 was one of the issues the Commission is addressing in the context of the succession project. This article is based on a paper written by the author for the Law Commission. It examines the rationale behind the introduction of the original family protection legislation and the development of the concept of moral duty in this context. The article discusses a number of reasons for the author's conclusion that the use of the concept of moral obligation should be abandoned and replaced by a more clearly defined test based on dependence and need

What\u27s Yours Is Mine: Reform of the Property Division Regime for Unmarried Couples in New Zealand

In February 2002, when the Property (Relationships) Act came into force, unmarried couples in New Zealand became subject to the same legislative regime for division of property that has applied to married couples since the 1970s. The statutory regime is based on a deferred community property principle. Both partners are free to deal with their own property during the relationship, but at the end of the relationship all property is classified as either relationship property or separate property. Relationship property usually includes all property acquired by either party during the relationship. There is a presumption that this property must be divided equally between the parties when the relationship comes to an end. Separate property, typically property owned prior to the relationship, generally remains with the original owner, though this property too must be shared with the other partner in certain circumstances. Previously, property of unmarried couples was divided upon separation according to the general rules of law and equity. While other jurisdictions apply a deferred property regime to married partners, New Zealand dppears to be the first to apply the regime to unmarried couples to this extent. The requirement that couples who live together but have not undertaken the commitment of marriage must share their property 50/50 raises difficult issues of both law and policy. The most obvious legal issues relate to the determination as to whether, and from what point in time, an unmarried relationship is subject to this property regime. The most important policy issue is whether, when applied to unmarried couples, the deferred property regime leads to fairer results than the traditional treatment. These and other questions are addressed in this article

Monitoring a PGD solver for parametric power flow problems with goal-oriented error assessment

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [García-Blanco, R., Borzacchiello, D., Chinesta, F., and Diez, P. (2017) Monitoring a PGD solver for parametric power flow problems with goal-oriented error assessment. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng, 111: 529–552. doi: 10.1002/nme.5470], which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/nme.5470/full. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.The parametric analysis of electric grids requires carrying out a large number of Power Flow computations. The different parameters describe loading conditions and grid properties. In this framework, the Proper Generalized Decomposition (PGD) provides a numerical solution explicitly accounting for the parametric dependence. Once the PGD solution is available, exploring the multidimensional parametric space is computationally inexpensive. The aim of this paper is to provide tools to monitor the error associated with this significant computational gain and to guarantee the quality of the PGD solution. In this case, the PGD algorithm consists in three nested loops that correspond to 1) iterating algebraic solver, 2) number of terms in the separable greedy expansion and 3) the alternated directions for each term. In the proposed approach, the three loops are controlled by stopping criteria based on residual goal-oriented error estimates. This allows one for using only the computational resources necessary to achieve the accuracy prescribed by the end- user. The paper discusses how to compute the goal-oriented error estimates. This requires linearizing the error equation and the Quantity of Interest to derive an efficient error representation based on an adjoint problem. The efficiency of the proposed approach is demonstrated on benchmark problems.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

An investigation of the efficacy of group counseling with emotionally disturbed middle school students

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of group counseling on the self-concept of emotionally disturbed students in a public middle school. This study examined the efficacy of non-directive group counseling and structured group counseling and compared the two approaches.;Method. Thirty middle school students diagnosed as emotionally disturbed and enrolled in self-contained special education classes at four different schools were subjects in the study. Two classes were assigned to receive non-directive group counseling and the other two classes received structured group counseling. Both groups received their respective group counseling for ten weeks. Pre and posttesting was accomplished with the Tennessee Self Concept, the Behavior Evaluation Scale, and the projective technique; the Human Figure Drawing. It was hypothesized that by virtue of group counseling there would be significant improvement in self-concept as measured by (1) the Total Positive Scale of the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, and (2) significant improvement in classroom behavior as measured by the Behavior Quotient of the Behavior Evaluation Scale. Furthermore it was hypothesized that the students who participated in structured group counseling would show significantly greater improvement on the Total Positive Scale, and the Behavior Quotient Scale, and manifest significantly fewer emotional indicators on Human Figure Drawings than students who participated in non-directive group counseling.;Finds and Conclusions. The results were not statistically significant for any of the hypotheses. However, there were positive trends indicated by the direction of posttest means. This suggested that group counseling in general and structured group counseling in particular may have some potential to effect changes with emotionally disturbed students. Moreover, qualitative data seemed to support this indicating that future research along these lines may need to consider elements such as the emotionally disturbed population, instruments, and data gathering strategies

Family Business Interests under the Matrimonial Property and Companies Legislation An Introduction

This article is a preliminary investigation of family business interests under the Matrimonial Property Act 1976 ('MPA') and the Companies Act 1993 ('CA'). This article introduces the reader to the interrelationship of the matrimonial property regime and the legislative regulation of business entities, focusing on the implications of the MPA for the choice of entity, source of finance, division of shares, and allocation of management responsibility. Two principal lessons emerge from the authors' analysis: first, as applied to family ventures, the business entities legislation provides extensive flexibility with its ample allowance for contractual autonomy; and secondly, the matrimonial property regime is unsuitable for family structures involving a business operation. The authors conclude that the current regime for unmarried separate property, accessible by a MPA agreement under s 21, operates in a far more predictable manner and better suits the interests of many spouses.&nbsp

The frequency of transforming growth factor-TGF-B gene polymorphisms in a normal southern Iranian population

Several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the transforming growth factor-β1 gene (TGFB1) have been reported. Determination of TGFB1 SNPs allele frequencies in different ethnic groups is useful for both population genetic analyses and association studies with immunological diseases. In this study, five SNPs of TGFB1 were determined in 325 individuals from a normal southern Iranian population using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. This population was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium for these SNPs. Of the 12 constructed haplotypes, GTCGC and GCTGC were the most frequent in the normal southern Iranian population. Comparison of genotype and allele frequencies of TGFB SNPs between Iranian and other populations (meta-analysis) showed significant differences, and in this case the southern Iranian population seems genetically similar to Caucasoid populations. However, neighbour-joining tree using Nei's genetic distances based on TGF-β1 allele frequencies showed that southern Iranians are genetically far from people from the USA, Germany, UK, Denmark and the Czech Republic. In conclusion, this is the first report of the distribution of TGFB1 SNPs in an Iranian population and the results of this investigation may provide useful information for both population genetic and disease studies. © 2008 The Authors

Comparing rectal biopsy using artery forceps and full-thickness rectal biopsy in diagnosing hirschsprung’s disease at University teaching hospital, Lusaka

Hirschprung’s disease is a congenital disorder that is characterised by functional constipation whose onset is dependent on the length of affected bowel and always involves the rectum. Despite having a diagnostic challenge, rectal biopsy for histological analysis is the most definitive form of diagnosis. The average number of patients seen at University Teaching Hospital in Zambia, generally come as referrals. Superficial thickness biopsy using the rectal suction method has been adopted as the gold standard for obtaining rectal biopsy in the western world leaving the invasive full thickness biopsy for inconclusive cases. However, superficial thickness biopsy using special types of forceps have been quoted to be as good or even superior to the rectal suction biopsy. Superficial thickness biopsy using curved artery forceps is proposed in this study to provide a simple cost-effective method of obtaining adequate rectal biopsy sample for diagnosis. The aim of this study was to compare superficial rectal biopsy using an artery forceps and full thickness rectal biopsy in the diagnosis of Hirschsprung’s disease in a resource limited environment at University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka This was a prospective single-blind study conducted at University Teaching Hospital in the department of Surgery, paediatric unit from June 2018 to March 2019. Thirty-one patients, who presented with chronic constipation and delayed passage of meconium, were enrolled in the study. A structured questionnaire was used to gather information from the patient and record files. Two rectal biopsies using two different procedures under study were obtained from each patient and submitted for histopathological evaluation to the histopathology department. The results of the two methods were then compared. All patients had chronic constipation and some had a history of delayed passage of meconium. 19 out of 31 full thickness biopsies had adequate biopsy whereas only four out of 31 had adequate biopsy with superficial thickness method using curved artery forceps. The biopsy obtained using the curved artery forceps had a high sensitivity and poor specificity and predictive value. This meant that too many patients would require a re-biopsy. Although not all patients required suturing hence saving on consumables, none of the patients developed any complications during or after the procedures. Based on these results, this study recommends that the traditional full-thickness biopsy procedure should continue to be used until such a time when rectal suction biopsy sets for superficial-thickness biopsy can be made available. Keywords : Hirschsprung’s disease, full-thickness rectal biopsy, superficial-thickness rectal biopsy, curved artery forcep

Comparing Rectal Biopsy Using Artery Forceps And Full-Thickness Rectal Biopsy In Diagnosing Hirschsprung’s Disease At University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka

Hirschprung’s disease is a congenital disorder characterised by functional constipation whose onset is dependent on the length of the affected bowel and always involves the rectum. Rectal biopsy for histological analysis is the most definitive form of diagnosis. Full-thickness biopsy, which involves full wall laceration under general anaesthesia, continues to be commonly practiced in many African countries, including Zambia. Rectal suction biopsy, which can obtain a superficial-thickness biopsy as deep as the submucosa, has been adopted as the gold standard in the western world, leaving the invasive full-thickness biopsy with its associated risks for inconclusive cases. However, different types of forceps using the grasp and cut method have been shown to be able to obtain superficial-thickness biopsies that are as good or even superior to the rectal suction biopsy. The medium curved artery forceps was proposed to provide a simple, less invasive and hopefully cost-effective method of obtaining superficial rectal biopsies. Thirty-one (31) patients were enrolled in a prospective, single-blind study that was conducted at the University Teaching Hospital in the Department of Surgery, Paediatric Surgical unit from 2018 to 2019. Two biopsy specimens were obtained from each patient in the same sitting using the full-thickness biopsy method and artery forceps and compared the results. Out of 31 patients, 19 (61.30%) of the full-thickness biopsy specimens were adequate for diagnosis, whereas only 4 (12.9%) of the superficial-thickness biopsy specimens using curved artery forceps were adequate. The biopsy obtained using the curved artery forceps had a high sensitivity (93.3%) and poor specificity (13.3%), and predictive value. Although not all patients required suturing hence saving on consumables, none of the patients developed any complications during or after the procedures. Based on these results, the medium curved artery forceps is a poor choice for obtaining rectal biopsies. The traditional full-thickness biopsy procedure should be continued. Efforts should be made to acquire the necessary tools to obtain superficial thickness biopsy and reserve full-thickness biopsy for indeterminate cases