549 research outputs found
Hippocampal Learning and Number Processing in Young Children
Children can enumerate the number of objects in a configuration in different ways: either through numerical processing or pattern recognition. An example of numerical processing is a child counting or subitizing a small number of disorganized blocks. This numerical cognition is related to neural processes in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS). Moreover, a child might be able to instantly know the value a configuration represents. For example, a child could instantly recognize a pattern seen on dice and know what value it represents. Recognizing previously seen patterns is related to neural processes in the hippocampus. Using fMRI and an at-home training program on an iPad, we examined how these neural mechanisms are affected in young children through repeated exposure to particular patterns. A multi-touch iPad game, Fingu, was used for at-home training; players see configurations of 1-10 fruits moving on the screen and have to indicate the number of fruits by pressing down the correct number of fingers. Before and after at-home training, participants completed tasks similar to those in Fingu in an fMRI scanner. Half of the fMRI tasks contained configurations that were repeatedly viewed during iPad training with Fingu, while the other half contained novel configurations that the child did not see in the game. The fMRI scans were used to observe functional connectivity between the IPS and visual cortex and between the hippocampus and visual cortex. My role in this project included training participants to play Fingu, assisting in mock scans, and assisting in the actual fMRI scans.https://ir.library.louisville.edu/uars/1068/thumbnail.jp
Comparison of co-located independent ground-based middle atmospheric wind and temperature measurements with numerical weather prediction models
High-resolution, ground-based and independent observations including co-located windradiometer, lidar stations, and infrasound instruments are used to evaluate the accuracy of general circulationmodels and data-constrained assimilation systems in the middle atmosphere at northern hemispheremidlatitudes. Systematic comparisons between observations, the European Centre for Medium-Range WeatherForecasts (ECMWF) operational analyses including the recent Integrated Forecast System cycles 38r1 and 38r2,the NASA’s Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) reanalyses, and thefree-running climate Max Planck Institute–Earth System Model–Low Resolution (MPI-ESM-LR) are carried out inboth temporal and spectral dom ains. We find that ECMWF and MERRA are broadly consistent with lidar and windradiometer measurements up to ~40 km. For both temperature and horizontal wind components, deviationsincrease with altitude as the assimilated observations become sparser. Between 40 and 60 km altitude, thestandard deviation of the mean difference exceeds 5 K for the temperature and 20 m/s for the zonal wind. Thelargest deviations are observed in winter when the variability from large-scale planetary waves dominates.Between lidar data and MPI-ESM-LR, there is an overall agreement in spectral amplitude down to 15–20 days. Atshorter time scales, the variability is lacking in the model by ~10 dB. Infrasound observations indicate a generalgood agreement with ECWMF wind and temperature products. As such, this study demonstrates the potentialof the infrastructure of the Atmospheric Dynamics Research Infrastructure in Europe project that integratesvarious measurements and provides a quantitative understanding of stratosphere-troposphere dynamicalcoupling for numerical weather prediction applications
Plant Community Assessment and Management Recommendations for Minneapolis Park Natural Areas
In 2017 the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) began a two-phase study to collect quantitative and qualitative data for urban park natural areas in Minneapolis, MN parks to inform management activities. The first phase took existing GIS data and quality ranking systems and tailored them to the Minneapolis park system. The second phase, which is still in process, involves field checking the data, applying the quality ranking system, and writing a management plan
Seismic investigations of the O'Higgins Seamount Group and Juan Fernández Ridge: aseismic ridge emplacement and lithosphere hydration
The O'Higgins Seamount Group is a cluster of volcanic domes located 120 km west of the central Chilean Trench on the crest of the Juan Fernández Ridge. This aseismic hot spot track is subducting under South America triggering a belt of intraslab earthquake hypocenters extending about 700 km inland. The Juan Fernández Ridge marks the southern boundary of a shallow subduction segment. Subduction of oceanic basement relief has been suggested as a cause for the “flat” slab segments characterizing the Andean trench system. The Juan Fernández Ridge, however, shows only moderate crustal thickening, inadequate to cause significant buoyancy. In 2001, wide-angle seismic data were collected along two perpendicular profiles crossing the O'Higgins Group. We present tomographic images of the volcanic edifices and adjacent outer rise-trench environment, which indicate a magmatic origin of the seamounts dominated by extrusive processes. High-resolution bathymetric data yield a detailed image of a network of syngenetic structures reactivated in the outer rise setting. A pervasive fault pattern restricted to the hot spot modified lithosphere coincides with anomalous low upper mantle velocities gained from a tomographic inversion of seismic mantle phases. Reduced uppermost mantle velocities are solely found underneath the Juan Fernández Ridge and may indicate mineral alterations. Enhanced buoyancy due to crustal and upper mantle hydration may contribute an additional mechanism for shallow subduction, which prevails to the north after the southward migration of the Juan Fernández Ridge
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Change but no climate change: discourses of climate change in corporate social responsibility reporting in the oil industry
Using corpus linguistic tools and methods, this paper investigates the discourses of climate change in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental reports produced by major oil companies from 2000 to 2013. It focuses on the frequency of key references to climatic changes and examines in detail discourses surrounding the most frequently used term ‘climate change’. The analysis points to shifting patterns in the ways in which climate change has been discursively constructed in the studied sample. Whereas in the mid-2000s, it was seen as a phenomenon that something could be done about, in recent years the corporate discourse has increasingly emphasised the notion of risk portraying climate change as an unpredictable agent. A pro-active stance signalled by the use of force metaphors is offset by a distancing strategy often indicated through the use of hedging devices and ‘relocation’ of climate change to the future and other stakeholders. In doing so, the discourse obscures the sector’s large contribution to environmental degradation and ‘grooms’ the public perception to believe that the industry actively engages in climate change mitigation. At the methodological level, this study shows how a combination of quantitative corpus-linguistic and qualitative discourse-analytical techniques can offer insights into the existence of salient discursive patterns and contribute to a better understanding of the role of language in performing ideological work in corporate communications
The steeply subducting edge of the Cocos Ridge : evidence from receiver functions beneath the northern Talamanca Range, south-central Costa Rica
The deep structure of the south-central Costa Rican subduction zone has not been studied in great detail so far because large parts of the area are virtually inaccessible. We present a receiver function study along a transect of broadband seismometers through the northern flank of the Cordillera de Talamanca (south Costa Rica). Below Moho depths, the receiver functions image a dipping positive conversion signal. This is interpreted as the subducting Cocos Plate slab, compatible with the conversions in the individual receiver functions. In finite difference modeling, a dipping signal such as the one imaged can only be reproduced by a steeply (80°) dipping structure present at least until a depth of about 70–100 km; below this depth, the length of the slab cannot be determined because of possible scattering effects. The proposed position of the slab agrees with previous results from local seismicity, local earthquake tomography, and active seismic studies, while extending the slab location to greater depths and steeper dip angle. Along the trench, no marked change is observed in the receiver functions, suggesting that the steeply dipping slab continues until the northern flank of the Cordillera de Talamanca, in the transition region between the incoming seamount segment and Cocos Ridge. Considering the time predicted for the establishment of shallow angle underthrusting after the onset of ridge collision, the southern Costa Rican subduction zone may at present be undergoing a reconfiguration of subduction style, where the transition to shallow underthrusting may be underway but still incomplete
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Technical Support for Geopressured Geothermal Well Activities in Louisiana Annual Report
The rationale previously developed and utilized in interpreting various databases were outlined in the DOE final report titled "Technical Support for Geopressured-Geothermal Well Activities in Louisiana" (August 31, 1981), authored by Fred M. Wrighton, Don G. Bebout, Dale R. Carver, Charles G. Groat, and Adrain E. Johnson, Jr., under Contract No. DE-AS05-78ET27160. Due to the importance of the concepts presented in the previous report for developing an assessment evaluation program, much of the text and illustrations have been repeated for the convenience of the reader. However, the assessment techniques and calculations presented in this report are new.
Estimates of the in-place methane resource in the geopressured zone of the U.S. Gulf Coast have varied widely, ranging from less than 1000 trillion cubic feet (TCF) to 49,000 TCF. The most recent assessment for onshore Texas, conducted by Gregory, Dodge, Posey, and Morton in 1981, estimated a total of 690 TCF. Well logs from deep oil and gas wells served as the primary data source for all assessment studies, although the interpretation of these logs varied significantly. In this study focusing on Louisiana, the methods and results were found to compare favorably with those of Gregory and others for Texas. The assessment included the Wilcox, Frio, and Miocene formations.
Constructing regional cross-sections across the south Louisiana Gulf Coast was a prime objective to aid in assessing the total solution-methane resource in place. These cross-sections provided point sources of information from key wells and offered insights into the significance of each well through logical correlations with others on the section. Additionally, detailed studies of smaller areas conducted at LSU and other institutions throughout the Gulf Coast were considered, with data from these studies also contributing to the assessment.
The total area under consideration in south Louisiana exceeds 18,000 square miles, with geopressured formations including the Wilcox (1692 square miles), Frio (5200 square miles), and Miocene. Parameters considered in this assessment included pressure, sandstone volume, porosity, temperature, and salinity.Bureau of Economic Geolog
Extended Thromboprophylaxis with Betrixaban in Acutely Ill Medical Patients
Background
Patients with acute medical illnesses are at prolonged risk for venous thrombosis. However, the appropriate duration of thromboprophylaxis remains unknown.
Methods
Patients who were hospitalized for acute medical illnesses were randomly assigned to receive subcutaneous enoxaparin (at a dose of 40 mg once daily) for 10±4 days plus oral betrixaban placebo for 35 to 42 days or subcutaneous enoxaparin placebo for 10±4 days plus oral betrixaban (at a dose of 80 mg once daily) for 35 to 42 days. We performed sequential analyses in three prespecified, progressively inclusive cohorts: patients with an elevated d-dimer level (cohort 1), patients with an elevated d-dimer level or an age of at least 75 years (cohort 2), and all the enrolled patients (overall population cohort). The statistical analysis plan specified that if the between-group difference in any analysis in this sequence was not significant, the other analyses would be considered exploratory. The primary efficacy outcome was a composite of asymptomatic proximal deep-vein thrombosis and symptomatic venous thromboembolism. The principal safety outcome was major bleeding.
Results
A total of 7513 patients underwent randomization. In cohort 1, the primary efficacy outcome occurred in 6.9% of patients receiving betrixaban and 8.5% receiving enoxaparin (relative risk in the betrixaban group, 0.81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.65 to 1.00; P=0.054). The rates were 5.6% and 7.1%, respectively (relative risk, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.66 to 0.98; P=0.03) in cohort 2 and 5.3% and 7.0% (relative risk, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.63 to 0.92; P=0.006) in the overall population. (The last two analyses were considered to be exploratory owing to the result in cohort 1.) In the overall population, major bleeding occurred in 0.7% of the betrixaban group and 0.6% of the enoxaparin group (relative risk, 1.19; 95% CI, 0.67 to 2.12; P=0.55).
Conclusions
Among acutely ill medical patients with an elevated d-dimer level, there was no significant difference between extended-duration betrixaban and a standard regimen of enoxaparin in the prespecified primary efficacy outcome. However, prespecified exploratory analyses provided evidence suggesting a benefit for betrixaban in the two larger cohorts. (Funded by Portola Pharmaceuticals; APEX ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01583218. opens in new tab.
Cause of Death and Predictors of All-Cause Mortality in Anticoagulated Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation : Data From ROCKET AF
M. Kaste on työryhmän ROCKET AF Steering Comm jäsen.Background-Atrial fibrillation is associated with higher mortality. Identification of causes of death and contemporary risk factors for all-cause mortality may guide interventions. Methods and Results-In the Rivaroxaban Once Daily Oral Direct Factor Xa Inhibition Compared with Vitamin K Antagonism for Prevention of Stroke and Embolism Trial in Atrial Fibrillation (ROCKET AF) study, patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation were randomized to rivaroxaban or dose-adjusted warfarin. Cox proportional hazards regression with backward elimination identified factors at randomization that were independently associated with all-cause mortality in the 14 171 participants in the intention-to-treat population. The median age was 73 years, and the mean CHADS(2) score was 3.5. Over 1.9 years of median follow-up, 1214 (8.6%) patients died. Kaplan-Meier mortality rates were 4.2% at 1 year and 8.9% at 2 years. The majority of classified deaths (1081) were cardiovascular (72%), whereas only 6% were nonhemorrhagic stroke or systemic embolism. No significant difference in all-cause mortality was observed between the rivaroxaban and warfarin arms (P=0.15). Heart failure (hazard ratio 1.51, 95% CI 1.33-1.70, P= 75 years (hazard ratio 1.69, 95% CI 1.51-1.90, P Conclusions-In a large population of patients anticoagulated for nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, approximate to 7 in 10 deaths were cardiovascular, whereasPeer reviewe
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