Cognitive function in childhood and lifetime cognitive change in relation to mental wellbeing in four cohorts of older people

Background: poorer cognitive ability in youth is a risk factor for later mental health problems but it is largely unknown whether cognitive ability, in youth or in later life, is predictive of mental wellbeing. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether cognitive ability at age 11 years, cognitive ability in later life, or lifetime cognitive change are associated with mental wellbeing in older people.Methods: we used data on 8191 men and women aged 50 to 87 years from four cohorts in the HALCyon collaborative research programme into healthy ageing: the Aberdeen Birth Cohort 1936, the Lothian Birth Cohort 1921, the National Child Development Survey, and the MRC National Survey for Health and Development. We used linear regression to examine associations between cognitive ability at age 11, cognitive ability in later life, and lifetime change in cognitive ability and mean score on the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale and meta-analysis to obtain an overall estimate of the effect of each.Results: people whose cognitive ability at age 11 was a standard deviation above the mean scored 0.53 points higher on the mental wellbeing scale (95% confidence interval 0.36, 0.71). The equivalent value for cognitive ability in later life was 0.89 points (0.72, 1.07). A standard deviation improvement in cognitive ability in later life relative to childhood ability was associated with 0.66 points (0.39, 0.93) advantage in wellbeing score. These effect sizes equate to around 0.1 of a standard deviation in mental wellbeing score. Adjustment for potential confounding and mediating variables, primarily the personality trait neuroticism, substantially attenuated these associations.Conclusion: associations between cognitive ability in childhood or lifetime cognitive change and mental wellbeing in older people are slight and may be confounded by personality trait difference

Evaluating the performance of model transformation styles in Maude

Rule-based programming has been shown to be very successful in many application areas. Two prominent examples are the specification of model transformations in model driven development approaches and the definition of structured operational semantics of formal languages. General rewriting frameworks such as Maude are flexible enough to allow the programmer to adopt and mix various rule styles. The choice between styles can be biased by the programmer’s background. For instance, experts in visual formalisms might prefer graph-rewriting styles, while experts in semantics might prefer structurally inductive rules. This paper evaluates the performance of different rule styles on a significant benchmark taken from the literature on model transformation. Depending on the actual transformation being carried out, our results show that different rule styles can offer drastically different performances. We point out the situations from which each rule style benefits to offer a valuable set of hints for choosing one style over the other

Status of carnivores in Biscay (N lberian peninsula)

The first study on the carnivore community of Biscay was published in 1985. The present study, made twelve years later, was carried out to assess the present situation of these mammals. In this work, data collected from 1990 to 1996 by trapping, sighting, and surveying road and other kills, as well as faeces and tracks are reported. Records of 12 species were obtained, of which American mink Mustela vison (Schreber, 1777) is cited for the first time, and the wolf reappears as a non-occasional species. The main trends observed during the last twelve years seem to be related to changes in land use and management of natural resources. The situation has turned favourable for the most opportunistic species, which have become very abundant in some areas, while populations of the most specialist or relictic species show a more restricted distribution. At the same time, the expansion of wolf and European mink, with the appearance of American mink for the first time, reflect a dynamic but very unstable scene. Key words: Carnivores, Population status, Distribution, Conservation, lberian peninsula.The first study on the carnivore community of Biscay was published in 1985. The present study, made twelve years later, was carried out to assess the present situation of these mammals. In this work, data collected from 1990 to 1996 by trapping, sighting, and surveying road and other kills, as well as faeces and tracks are reported. Records of 12 species were obtained, of which American mink Mustela vison (Schreber, 1777) is cited for the first time, and the wolf reappears as a non-occasional species. The main trends observed during the last twelve years seem to be related to changes in land use and management of natural resources. The situation has turned favourable for the most opportunistic species, which have become very abundant in some areas, while populations of the most specialist or relictic species show a more restricted distribution. At the same time, the expansion of wolf and European mink, with the appearance of American mink for the first time, reflect a dynamic but very unstable scene. Key words: Carnivores, Population status, Distribution, Conservation, lberian peninsula.The first study on the carnivore community of Biscay was published in 1985. The present study, made twelve years later, was carried out to assess the present situation of these mammals. In this work, data collected from 1990 to 1996 by trapping, sighting, and surveying road and other kills, as well as faeces and tracks are reported. Records of 12 species were obtained, of which American mink Mustela vison (Schreber, 1777) is cited for the first time, and the wolf reappears as a non-occasional species. The main trends observed during the last twelve years seem to be related to changes in land use and management of natural resources. The situation has turned favourable for the most opportunistic species, which have become very abundant in some areas, while populations of the most specialist or relictic species show a more restricted distribution. At the same time, the expansion of wolf and European mink, with the appearance of American mink for the first time, reflect a dynamic but very unstable scene. Key words: Carnivores, Population status, Distribution, Conservation, lberian peninsula

Rewriting Logic Semantics of a Plan Execution Language

The Plan Execution Interchange Language (PLEXIL) is a synchronous language developed by NASA to support autonomous spacecraft operations. In this paper, we propose a rewriting logic semantics of PLEXIL in Maude, a high-performance logical engine. The rewriting logic semantics is by itself a formal interpreter of the language and can be used as a semantic benchmark for the implementation of PLEXIL executives. The implementation in Maude has the additional benefit of making available to PLEXIL designers and developers all the formal analysis and verification tools provided by Maude. The formalization of the PLEXIL semantics in rewriting logic poses an interesting challenge due to the synchronous nature of the language and the prioritized rules defining its semantics. To overcome this difficulty, we propose a general procedure for simulating synchronous set relations in rewriting logic that is sound and, for deterministic relations, complete. We also report on two issues at the design level of the original PLEXIL semantics that were identified with the help of the executable specification in Maude

Exploiting the Hierarchical Structure of Rule-Based Specifications for Decision Planning

Rule-based specifications have been very successful as a declarative approach in many domains, due to the handy yet solid foundations offered by rule-based machineries like term and graph rewriting. Realistic problems, however, call for suitable techniques to guarantee scalability. For instance, many domains exhibit a hierarchical structure that can be exploited conveniently. This is particularly evident for composition associations of models. We propose an explicit representation of such structured models and a methodology that exploits it for the description and analysis of model- and rule-based systems. The approach is presented in the framework of rewriting logic and its efficient implementation in the rewrite engine Maude and is illustrated with a case study.

Neurobehavioral consequences of chronic intrauterine opioid exposure in infants and preschool children: a systematic review and meta-analysis

<b>Background</b><p></p> It is assumed within the accumulated literature that children born of pregnant opioid dependent mothers have impaired neurobehavioral function as a consequence of chronic intrauterine opioid use.<p></p> <b>Methods</b><p></p> Quantitative and systematic review of the literature on the consequences of chronic maternal opioid use during pregnancy on neurobehavioral function of children was conducted using the Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. We searched Cinahl, EMBASE, PsychINFO and MEDLINE between the periods of January 1995 to January 2012.<p></p> <b>Results</b><p></p> There were only 5 studies out of the 200 identified that quantitatively reported on neurobehavioral function of children after maternal opioid use during pregnancy. All 5 were case control studies with the number of exposed subjects within the studies ranging from 33–143 and 45–85 for the controls. This meta-analysis showed no significant impairments, at a non-conservative significance level of p < 0.05, for cognitive, psychomotor or observed behavioural outcomes for chronic intra-uterine exposed infants and pre-school children compared to non-exposed infants and children. However, all domains suggested a trend to poor outcomes in infants/children of opioid using mothers. The magnitude of all possible effects was small according to Cohen’s benchmark criteria.<p></p> <b>Conclusions</b><p></p> Chronic intra-uterine opioid exposed infants and pre-school children experienced no significant impairment in neurobehavioral outcomes when compared to non-exposed peers, although in all domains there was a trend to poorer outcomes. The findings of this review are limited by the small number of studies analysed, the heterogenous populations and small numbers within the individual studies. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine if any neuropsychological impairments appear after the age of 5 years and to help investigate further the role of environmental risk factors on the effect of ‘core’ phenotypes

Binuclear Cu2+ complex mediated discrimination between L-glutamate and L-aspartate in water

L-Glutamate and L-aspartate selectivity is achieved by the action of two Cu2+ metal ions rightly disposed in a cyclophanetype macrocyclic framework; electrochemical sensing of glutamate has been achieved by adsorption of the copper complexes on graphite electrodes.Verdejo Viu, Begoña, [email protected] ; Domenech Carbo, Antonio, [email protected] ; Jimenez Garcia, Hermas Rafael, [email protected] ; Soriano Soto, Concepción, [email protected] ; Garcia-España Monsonis, Enrique, [email protected]

Cognitive and behavioral predictors of light therapy use

Objective: Although light therapy is effective in the treatment of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and other mood disorders, only 53-79% of individuals with SAD meet remission criteria after light therapy. Perhaps more importantly, only 12-41% of individuals with SAD continue to use the treatment even after a previous winter of successful treatment. Method: Participants completed surveys regarding (1) social, cognitive, and behavioral variables used to evaluate treatment adherence for other health-related issues, expectations and credibility of light therapy, (2) a depression symptoms scale, and (3) self-reported light therapy use. Results: Individuals age 18 or older responded (n = 40), all reporting having been diagnosed with a mood disorder for which light therapy is indicated. Social support and self-efficacy scores were predictive of light therapy use (p's<.05). Conclusion: The findings suggest that testing social support and self-efficacy in a diagnosed patient population may identify factors related to the decision to use light therapy. Treatments that impact social support and self-efficacy may improve treatment response to light therapy in SAD. © 2012 Roecklein et al

The systematicity challenge to anti-representational dynamicism

After more than twenty years of representational debate in the cognitive sciences, anti-representational dynamicism may be seen as offering a rival and radically new kind of explanation of systematicity phenomena. In this paper, I argue that, on the contrary, anti-representational dynamicism must face a version of the old systematicity challenge: either it does not explain systematicity, or else, it is just an implementation of representational theories. To show this, I present a purely behavioral and representation-free account of systematicity. I then consider a case of insect sensorimotor systematic behavior: communicating behavior in honey bees. I conclude that anti-representational dynamicism fails to capture the fundamental trait of systematic behaviors qua systematic, i.e., their involving exercises of the same behavioral capacities. I suggest, finally, a collaborative strategy in pursuit of a rich and powerful account of this central phenomenon of high cognition at all levels of explanation, including the representational level

Разработка методики оптимизации данных для неразрушающего контроля прочности бетона по параметрам электрического отклика на ударное воздействие

The article presents the results of investigation to improve the method of non-destructive testing of concrete strength by the parameters of electric response to impact excitation. The Electric response parameters of concrete samples with the same composition in size 100x100x100mm were studied. It is shown that the use of linear filtering procedure reduces the variance of diagnostic electric parameter to determine the strength of concrete