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The physical resurrection of Jesus is one of the primary tenets of Christianity. In modern times this doctrine has been questioned with a variety of different approaches. One of those approaches is the assertion that because the Jews in Palestine during the first century were part of a polyphasic culture, the resurrection was only a culturally-approved conceptualization of visionary experiences outside of time and space. This article discusses this position and explains the complications of such an assertion. This includes first defining and elucidating the characteristics of a polyphasic culture and then examining first-century Judaism within that framework. This paper will further argue that the Jews in first-century Palestine distinguished between different types of extraordinary experiences and exhibited high degrees of skepticism when warranted, especially in regards to the resurrection of Christ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During real or presumed life-threatening incidents and/or near-death circumstances, some people experience a visual life relations reminder (VLRR), which consists primarily of imagery portraying and focused on living loved ones that visually appear in an uncontrollable and/or rapid manner. This phenomenon differs from the more recognised life review that also sometimes occurs under similar conditions, which is instead a visual memory revival of past self-inclusive events or activities. This exploratory paper is the first to specifically discuss VLRRs and provides relevant insight from a reflexive thematic analysis of 57 VLRRs, generating some important qualitative themes based on meaningful patterns identified in narrative data. Relevant data excerpts to support the generated themes are provided and then those themes are discussed in more detail. This paper closes with a hypothesis that the VLRR is a purposeful and beneficial psychological phenomenon with an effect that often boosts the experient’s will to live and survive by reminding them of important relationships in their current life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breaking atmospheric gravity waves (GWs) in the tropical stratosphere are essential in driving the roughly 2‐year oscillation of zonal winds in this region known as the Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation (QBO). As Global Climate Models (GCM)s are not typically able to directly resolve the spectrum of waves required to drive the QBO, parameterizations are necessary. Such parameterizations often require knowledge of poorly constrained physical parameters. In the case of the spectral gravity parameterization used in this work, these parameters are the total equatorial GW stress and the half width of phase speed distribution. Radiosonde observations are used to obtain the period and amplitude of the QBO, which are compared against values obtained from a GCM. We utilize two established calibration techniques to obtain estimates of the range of plausible parameter values: History matching & Ensemble Kalman Inversion (EKI). History matching is found to reduce the size of the initial range of plausible parameters by a factor of 98%, requiring only 60 model integrations. EKI cannot natively provide any uncertainty quantification but is able to produce a single best estimate of the calibrated values in 25 integrations. When directly comparing the approaches using the Calibrate, Emulate, Sample method to produce a posterior estimate from EKI, history matching produces more compact posteriors with fewer model integrations at lower ensemble sizes compared to EKI; however, these differences become less apparent at higher ensemble sizes. Plain Language Summary: Atmospheric gravity waves (GWs) are buoyancy driven oscillations which propagate through the atmosphere and deposit momentum where they break. This momentum exchange plays a significant role in setting various large‐scale atmospheric phenomena, of which a prominent example is the Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation (QBO), a roughly 2‐year oscillation of winds in the tropical stratosphere. Many of the waves responsible for creating these large scale patterns are too small to be simulated by climate models. Thus, we use parameterizations to estimate their impact on the large scale. These parameterizations have settings that require tuning, to enable the model to produce variability that matches the observed climate. In this work, we utilize and compare two techniques: History matching and Ensemble Kalman Inversion. These methods are combined with observations of the QBO to tune the settings for the GW parameterization. Key Points: History matching and Ensemble Kalman Inversion (EKI) were used to calibrate two parameters in a gravity wave parameterization to Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation observationsHistory matching was found to rapidly and compactly produce an estimate of the plausible space of parameters when compared to EKIEKI was found to be strong at single best estimates of the calibrated parameters at low ensemble sizes requiring few iterations [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The perceived out-of-body experience (OBE) is a state of altered consciousness in which one has the impression of being consciously separated from the physical body. The location of this presumed disembodiment can be perceived as being either somewhere on Earth (often, but not always, in the vicinity of the physical body) or in some otherworldly place (such as having ventured into a paradisiacal or hellish environment). The latter can be referred to as a transcendental perceived OBE, which might also be qualified as a near-death experience (NDE) when it occurs during presumed life-threatening or near-death situations, and is the focus of this theoretical discussion. This paper postulates that such an experience, when spontaneous, is frequently initiated as an adaptive absorption response to brain-interpreted danger or threat and is meant to increase the probability for physical survival and wellbeing. The paper further suggests that the phenomenon accomplishes this by boosting the will to live and survive as a brain-induced simulated scenario with purposeful and beneficial psychological and physiological effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GNSS observations in and around the Aegean Sea, Peloponnese, and western Turkey are sufficiently precise and densely spaced to provide an image of the deformation associated with the Hellenic subduction zone. To isolate deformation associated with the plate boundary, we use GNSS secular velocities and shallow earthquake locations to determine an upper plate reference frame with low internal deformation (<2 mm/yr) that includes a large area of the central and western Aegean. We interpret upper plate deformation as resulting from stronger coupling on the subduction plate interface beneath western Crete than on the western or eastern segments of the Hellenic subduction zone, and the geometry of the subducting plate along-strike. If the long-term tectonic extension of the Aegean upper plate counteracts some of the contractional deformation signal from elastic strain accumulation on the subduction interface, as measured at the surface, the coupling coefficient may be as high as 40% around western Crete, although this is the upper limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studying genomic variation in rapidly evolving pathogens potentially enables identification of genes supporting their "core biology", being present, functional and expressed by all strains or "flexible biology", varying between strains. Genes supporting flexible biology may be considered to be "accessory", whilst the "core" gene set is likely to be important for common features of a pathogen species biology, including virulence on all host genotypes. The wheat-pathogenic fungus Zymoseptoria tritici represents one of the most rapidly evolving threats to global food security and was the focus of this study. Results: We constructed a pangenome of 18 European field isolates, with 12 also subjected to RNAseq transcription profiling during infection. Combining this data, we predicted a "core" gene set comprising 9807 sequences which were (1) present in all isolates, (2) lacking inactivating polymorphisms and (3) expressed by all isolates. A large accessory genome, consisting of 45% of the total genes, was also defined. We classified genetic and genomic polymorphism at both chromosomal and individual gene scales. Proteins required for essential functions including virulence had lower-than average sequence variability amongst core genes. Both core and accessory genomes encoded many small, secreted candidate effector proteins that likely interact with plant immunity. Viral vector-mediated transient in planta overexpression of 88 candidates failed to identify any which induced leaf necrosis characteristic of disease. However, functional complementation of a non-pathogenic deletion mutant lacking five core genes demonstrated that full virulence was restored by re-introduction of the single gene exhibiting least sequence polymorphism and highest expression. Conclusions: These data support the combined use of pangenomics and transcriptomics for defining genes which represent core, and potentially exploitable, weaknesses in rapidly evolving pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a perceived out-of-body experience (OBE) occurs an individual has the impression of consciously existing as an extrapersonal self somewhere out of or away from the physical body. This can consist of the perception of being in either a non-transcendental or transcendental environment. It can also occur spontaneously or it can be self-induced by an act of will. The focus of this article is on the spontaneous non-transcendental perceived OBE in cases where the experient has the impression of consciously existing as an extrapersonal self somewhere within the immediate environment of their physical body. It postulates that such an experience is frequently initiated as an adaptive orienting response to brain-interpreted physiological and/or psychological stress meant to bolster the probability for physical survival and psychological well-being during incidents of threat. The article further briefly discusses inconsistent occurrences, unconscious threat interpretations, threat interpretation mistakes, other types of non-transcendental perceived OBEs, and the possible nature of the spontaneous non-transcendental perceived OBE as consisting of a highly accurate simulated environment meant to recreate one’s surroundings in the moment of threat to boost the odds for survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The visual life review experience (VLRE) refers to an involuntary memory revival from one's current life that consists of multiple self-inclusive visual images or scenes appearing in an uncontrollable and/or rapid manner. It is a phenomenon that is often reported during near-death experiences (NDEs). Based on a large sample of 432 accounts of a VLRE among 3,394 self-reports of NDEs, with the age of the experients at the time of their NDE ranging from 3 to 85 years old, this study explored by means of quantitative analysis if any type of relationship exists between those reported VLREs and the progression into older age at the time of occurrence. The results of that exploration and analysis found that a statistically significant negative association does exist. Although the implications of this finding are uncertain, the paper points out a number of different possibilities for preliminary consideration that might explain the finding, accentuating the need for further attention, exploration, and research of VLREs when they are reported as having occurred among the aged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Greyson scale is the most widely used tool in near-death experience (NDE) research to qualify an NDE and quantify its intensity. In addition, one of the 16 multiplechoice questions on this scale has been used for almost four decades to determine if an individual has had a life review (which is often understood as an involuntary, uncontrollable, and/or rapid revival of memories) during their experience. However, this study suggests that the multiple-choice question regarding life reviews on the Greyson scale in its current form can produce false positives if there is an absence of any type of further validation from the participant that a life review has actually occurred. This is specifically due to confusion for a substantial amount of people over the meaning of the critical answer that is presumed to provide a strong indication to the researcher that a life review has occurred. Furthermore, this paper recommends a change to the phraseology of that specific answer in order to improve clarity and reduce false positives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A data set of promoter and 5′UTR sequences of homoeo‐alleles of 459 wheat genes that contribute to agriculturally important traits in 95 ancestral and commercial wheat cultivars is presented here. The high‐stringency myBaits technology used made individual capture of homoeo‐allele promoters possible, which is reported here for the first time. Promoters of most genes are remarkably conserved across the 83 hexaploid cultivars used with <7 haplotypes per promoter and 21% being identical to the reference Chinese Spring. InDels and many high‐confidence SNPs are located within predicted plant transcription factor binding sites, potentially changing gene expression. Most haplotypes found in the Watkins landraces and a few haplotypes found in Triticum monococcum, germplasms hitherto not thought to have been used in modern wheat breeding, are already found in many commercial hexaploid wheats. The full data set which is useful for genomic and gene function studies and wheat breeding is available at https://rrescloud.rothamsted.ac.uk/index.php/s/DMCFDu5iAGTl50u/authenticate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Argo array is a large component of the ocean observing system on which operational ocean forecasts rely. Global observations of the sub‐surface temperature and salinity from Argo enables the accurate initialisation of ocean forecasts, improving the position of currents and the overall energy available for air–sea interactions. Such constraints on the sub‐surface ocean are important for coupled initialisation for seasonal forecasting where the atmosphere is coupled to the upper ocean. As operational centres move toward using coupled atmosphere–ocean models for numerical weather prediction (NWP), it is useful to understand how ocean observations contribute to short‐range coupled forecasts. Using the Met Office Weakly Coupled Data Assimilation system, we have run Observing System Experiments (OSEs) to investigate the effect of withholding Argo observations on short‐range coupled ocean–atmosphere analyses and forecasts. Withholding Argo significantly increases the sub‐surface temperature and salinity RMS errors with consequent changes in the upper ocean heat content and positions of currents. Overall, there is little systematic impact of these ocean differences on global atmosphere analyses. However, in a case‐study over the period of hurricane Sandy (October 2012), we do see that Argo observations have some impact on atmospheric forecasts. The assimilation of Argo observations affects the position of the Gulf Stream leading to a small effect on the position and intensity of hurricane Sandy as it made landfall. As the resolution of the system is quite low compared to operational NWP systems, seeing even a small impact is encouraging. We might expect with future increased‐resolution coupled models that this influence of ocean observations on the atmosphere would only increase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irish Travellers constitute a pre-demographic-shift population living among a post-demographic-shift one. Their socio-medico profile identifies them as largely on fast life-history trajectories. In addition, they are strongly religious (typically using no contraception), highly sexually behaviorally dimorphic, with strong traditions of male-male competition (bare-knuckle fighting) and quasi-symbolic bride capture ("grabbing"). Their male-male competitions thus allow for the comparative testing of a number of interesting theories pertaining to the nature and function of types of violence in society. As a pilot study, we used expert raters (some naive to the hypotheses) to analyze a number of real-life bare-knuckle competitions in terms of the support said spectacles offered to theories of this sort of violence as reinforcing ideas of antisociality, hierarchical promotion, intersexual signaling, or maintenance of within-group equality. We found good evidence to support theories of within-group, prosocial hierarchical functions for these contests. Limitations and implications for future research, such as direct measurement of fitness, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 28-year-old woman with a history of congenital hip dysplasia was referred for evaluation of recurrent bronchitis. She had undergone left hip replacement with titanium implants 11 years prior to presentation. The patient reported frequent bouts of bronchitis, sinusitis, and left-sided nontender facial swelling that started after the hip replacement surgery. She also reported nail discoloration of her left first toenail 1 year after this procedure, and nail discoloration of her right first toenail 3 years after the procedure. She was treated for onychomycosis without improvement. Review of symptoms was positive for chronic dry cough and facial tenderness but was negative for dyspnea, wheezing, or chest tightness. She previously had been diagnosed with common variable immunodeficiency based on low immunoglobulin levels, and the condition was maintained with monthly IV immunoglobulins but without any improvement or change in the frequency of sinusitis, bronchitis, or facial swelling. She did not use tobacco, and her family history was unremarkable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the work of a peer supervision group engaged in simultaneous research and clinical supervision. During an 18‐month period, the group met to discuss 22 individual treatments of people diagnosed with psychosomatic disorders to identify common patterns of resistance and to assist therapists to effectively manage resistance. The aim of the present study was to identify and better understand psychological challenges the group experienced during this research process and its impact on their capacity to work effectively in their tasks. Supervision meetings were recorded and two types of qualitative analyses, derived from the work of Pichon‐Rivière and Bion, were performed to study the group work and processes. Analysis showed fluctuations and compromise formations between the tendency to work objectively and to regress during critical periods of the research process. Factors that pulled the group in both directions are identified and discussed. We believe many of the processes observed in this study are applicable to other peer supervision groups. An understanding of such group processes is likely to enhance group work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA) made several changes to the crop insurance products available to organic growers for the 2014 crop year. Most notably, a 5 percent premium surcharge was removed and organic-specific transitional yields (t-yields) were issued for the first time. The purpose of this paper is to use farm-level organic crop yield data to analyze the impact of these reforms on producer insurance outcomes and compare the insurance options for new organic growers.Design/methodology/approach This study uses a unique panel data set of organic corn and soybean yields to analyze the impact of organic crop insurance reforms. Actual Production History values and premium rates are calculated for each farm and crop yield sequence. Producer loss ratios and subsidized premium wedges are compared for yield, revenue and area-risk products before and after the instituted reforms.Findings Results indicate that RMA succeeded in improving the actuarial soundness of the organic insurance program, though further refinement of organic t-yields may be necessary to accurately reflect the yield potential of organic producers and avoid reductions in program participation.Originality/value This paper provides insight into the effectiveness of reforms intended to improve the actuarial soundness of organic crop insurance and demonstrates the effect that the reforms are likely to have on new and existing organic farms. Because this analysis uses data collected independently of RMA and includes farms that may or may not have purchased crop insurance, it avoids the self-selection problems that might affect analyses using crop insurance program data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measuring Sea‐Surface Salinity (SSS) from space is a relatively recent technique that relies on L‐band radiometry that has evolved to a point where useful information is provided every few days. The impact of assimilating satellite SSS data is investigated using the global FOAM ocean forecasting system. This system assimilates daily satellite SSS products from the ESA Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS), NASA Aquarius and Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) missions equatorward of 40°N/S, in addition to other observing systems. The data are assimilated using a 3D‐Var scheme that includes an observation bias correction scheme to estimate spatially and temporally varying bias estimates for each SSS satellite. The SSS assimilation is tested over 2 years and 3 months covering the 2015/2016 El Niño with assessment focussed on the tropical regions, particularly in the Pacific. Consistent reductions in root‐mean‐square errors are found in all tropical regions from each of the satellite SSS datasets. The largest improvements of up to about 8% are found in the tropical Pacific from assimilating both the SMOS and SMAP datasets together. The largest impact is in the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) in the central Pacific during 2015 and early 2016 where the surface salinity is reduced by about 0.03 pss on average, correcting for too little precipitation. A smaller magnitude, large‐scale reduction in the SSS is also seen in the tropical Pacific that increases the modelled surface stratification and leads to reduced vertical mixing. Changes to the SSS in the ITCZ lead to changes in the meridional gradients of SSS that affects the sea surface height and surface currents, both of which are improved in the SMOS assimilation experiment compared to externally produced observation‐based datasets. The results suggest that assimilation of SMOS and SMAP satellite data is now of an appropriate quality for operational implementation. Daily satellite sea surface salinity (SSS) products from SMOS, Aquarius and SMAP are assimilated into the FOAM global ocean forecasting system. Observing system experiments demonstrate the impact of the satellite SSS data in the context of the other ocean observing systems during the 2015/16 El Niño. Model outputs are compared with datasets of salinity and other variables including surface temperature, height and currents. The figure shows the percentage change in near‐surface salinity root‐mean‐square error in the tropical Pacific when assimilating different satellite SSS datasets compared to the control experiment. Errors are consistently reduced by assimilating the satellite SSS data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Multidimensional State Boredom Scale (MSBS) is a promising new self-report measure of state boredom. Two condensed versions of the scale have also been introduced. This study helped explore the psychometric qualities of these scales, using a large sample of Australian adults (N = 1,716), as well as two smaller samples (N = 199 and N = 422). Data analyses indicated strong convergent validity and very high internal consistency for the scales. Test–retest reliability over a 6- to 8-day period was moderately high. Confirmatory factor analyses of the MSBS authors’ suggested factor structure indicated good fit for this model. However, some of the data analyses raise questions as to whether the scale includes meaningful subfactors. Overall, the MSBS (and Short Form) is recommended for researchers who wish to assess state boredom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Profile and altimeter observations are now assimilated in our shelf-seas model. • In our new system, temperature and salinity RMS errors are reduced by > 25%. • More realistic eddying structures are introduced by the altimeter assimilation. Abstract The quality of a short-term ocean forecast relies on its initialisation. However, operational shelf-seas forecasting systems tend to assimilate fewer observation types than non-tidal global systems. For shelf-seas systems, the challenge is to incorporate observations into the 3D ocean state within a model with complex vertical coordinates and large-amplitude variations in the sea surface height due to tides. In this paper, we describe the first use of altimeter and in situ profile observations to improve the initialisation of an operational shelf-seas forecasting system. FOAM-Shelf v9 is a 7 km horizontal resolution ocean model covering the European North-West Shelf (NWS) seas. We have adapted our assimilation scheme in this system to account for spatially- and temporally-varying vertical coordinates. Throughout the domain, there is now assimilation of in situ profile measurements of temperature and salinity and satellite and in situ sea surface temperature observations. Additionally, in deep water regions (>700 m) southward of 60°N, the system assimilates newly-available altimeter observations tailored for use in coastal models. With this new system, gross biases are significantly reduced, the sub-surface root-mean-square (RMS) temperature and salinity errors are reduced by >25%, and there is an increase in the number of eddying structures providing a better qualitative match to observation-derived surface current products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid and cost-effective virus-derived transient expression systems for plants are invaluable in elucidating gene function and are particularly useful in plant species for which transformation-based methods are unavailable or are too time and labor demanding, such as wheat (Triticum aestivum) and maize (Zea mays). The virus-mediated overexpression (VOX) vectors based on Barley stripe mosaic virus and Wheat streak mosaic virus described previously for these species are incapable of expressing free recombinant proteins of more than 150 to 250 amino acids, are not suited for high-throughput screens, and have other limitations. In this study, we report the development of a VOX vector based on a monopartite single-stranded positive sense RNA virus, Foxtail mosaic virus (genus Potexvirus). In this vector, PV101, the gene of interest was inserted downstream of the duplicated subgenomic promoter of the viral coat protein gene, and the corresponding protein was expressed in its free form. The vector allowed the expression of a 239-amino acid-long GFP in both virus-inoculated and upper uninoculated (systemic) leaves of wheat and maize and directed the systemic expression of a larger approximately 600-amino acid protein, GUSPlus, in maize. Moreover, we demonstrated that PV101 can be used for in planta expression and functional analysis of apoplastic pathogen effector proteins such as the host-specific toxin ToxA of Parastagonospora nodorum. Therefore, this VOX vector opens possibilities for functional genomics studies in two important cereal crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The soil dwelling saprotrophic non-pathogenic fungus Fusarium venenatum, routinely used in the commercial fermentation industry, is phylogenetically closely related to the globally important cereal and non-cereal infecting pathogen F. graminearum. This study aimed to sequence, assemble and annotate the F. venenatum (strain A3/5) genome, and compare this genome with F. graminearum. Results: Using shotgun sequencing, a 38,660,329 bp F. venenatum genome was assembled into four chromosomes, and a 78,618 bp mitochondrial genome. In comparison to F. graminearum, the predicted gene count of 13,946 was slightly lower. The F. venenatum centromeres were found to be 25% smaller compared to F. graminearum. Chromosome length was 2.8% greater in F. venenatum, primarily due to an increased abundance of repetitive elements and transposons, but not transposon diversity. On chromosome 3 a major sequence rearrangement was found, but its overall gene content was relatively unchanged. Unlike homothallic F. graminearum, heterothallic F. venenatum possessed the MAT1–1 type locus, but lacked the MAT1–2 locus. The F. venenatum genome has the type A trichothecene mycotoxin TRI5 cluster, whereas F. graminearum has type B. From the F. venenatum gene set, 786 predicted proteins were species-specific versus NCBI. The annotated F. venenatum genome was predicted to possess more genes coding for hydrolytic enzymes and species-specific genes involved in the breakdown of polysaccharides than F. graminearum. Comparison of the two genomes reduced the previously defined F. graminearum-specific gene set from 741 to 692 genes. A comparison of the F. graminearum versus F. venenatum proteomes identified 15 putative secondary metabolite gene clusters (SMC), 109 secreted proteins and 38 candidate effectors not found in F. venenatum. Five of the 15 F. graminearum-specific SMCs that were either absent or highly divergent in the F. venenatum genome showed increased in planta expression. In addition, two predicted F. graminearum transcription factors previously shown to be required for fungal virulence on wheat plants were absent or exhibited high sequence divergence. Conclusions: This study identifies differences between the F. venenatum and F. graminearum genomes that may contribute to contrasting lifestyles, and highlights the repertoire of F. graminearum-specific candidate genes and SMCs potentially required for pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Southern Ocean is expected to be significantly affected by future ocean acidification. Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is the key species of the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Understanding their behavioural responses to acidification is critical for assessing the impacts of ocean acidification on the ecosystem. Adult Antarctic krill reared in different holding tanks with various CO2 levels for 6 months prior to the experiments were tested for their behavioural responses to different carbon dioxide partial pressures (pCO2) (400, 1000, 1500, 2000, and 4000 μatm pCO2) in a two-channel flume. The time krill occupied either of the flume channels (with high or ambient CO2 levels) was highly variable in all tests. In most cases no significant preference to either side of the flume was found. The krill did not display any systematic discrimination to the sea water with different CO2 levels regardless of the CO2 levels that krill were acclimated for in the 6 months prior to the experiment. Poor ability to discriminate high CO2 waters may have an important implication to their life history in the future as ocean acidification rapidly progresses in parts of Southern Ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the potential usefulness of the transmuted modified Weibull distribution for modelling lifetime data. We attain the diagnostic shapes of the density and hazard functions. We formulate the expressions for the moments, incomplete moments, Rnyi entropy and q- entropy. We estimate the mean, variance, coefficient of variation, coefficient of skewness and coefficient of kurtosis based on moment approach. The method of maximum likelihood is used for estimating the model parameters. We illustrate the use of transmuted modified Weibull distribution with an application to survival data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of several rare coins inscribed with Lavo pura confirms the existence of a city and province described under the name Lohu (or Lohuk) in Chinese records of the Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty (1260-1368) and in Vietnamese historical records as Lộ Hạc. This city and the province to which it gave its name were evidently the “province of Locach” described in the Travels of Marco Polo, the location of which remained a riddle to the mapmakers and navigators of the Age of Discovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Few longitudinal studies have investigated the functional outcomes of individuals with recent-onset psychotic illness in low- and middle-income countries. Aims: To investigate short-term functional remission and its predictors in a central Vietnamese sample. Methods: A naturalistic 6-month prospective cohort study recruited 79 patients of public health facilities who had experienced a first episode of schizophrenia or related illness in the past 18 months. Individuals and their family members were interviewed using standardised assessments of community functioning, symptoms, treatment, demographics and various psychosocial variables. Rates of functional remission (i.e. no or minimal impairment) were calculated based on rigorous, culturally appropriate criteria. Generalised estimating equations were used to explore predictors of remission. Results: Rates of global functional remission were 28% at baseline and 53% at follow-up. In individual functional domains, remission was least common for occupational activities, intermediate for relationships and relatively common for daily living activities. Global functional remission was significantly associated with absence of negative and cognitive symptoms, average or better household economic status and unimpaired premorbid functioning. Conclusion: Remission rates appeared similar to those seen in many international intervention studies. However, individuals from poor households had markedly unfavourable outcomes, suggesting the need for community-based interventions targeting low-socioeconomic status (SES) groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pathogenic fungi must extend filamentous hyphae across solid surfaces to cause diseases of plants. However, the full inventory of genes which support this is incomplete and many may be currently concealed due to their essentiality for the hyphal growth form. During a random T-DNA mutagenesis screen performed on the pleomorphic wheat (Triticum aestivum) pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici, we acquired a mutant unable to extend hyphae specifically when on solid surfaces. In contrast “yeast-like” growth, and all other growth forms, were unaffected. The inability to extend surface hyphae resulted in a complete loss of virulence on plants. The affected gene encoded a predicted type 2 glycosyltransferase (ZtGT2). Analysis of >800 genomes from taxonomically diverse fungi highlighted a generally widespread, but discontinuous, distribution of ZtGT2 orthologues, and a complete absence of any similar proteins in non-filamentous ascomycete yeasts. Deletion mutants of the ZtGT2 orthologue in the taxonomically un-related fungus Fusarium graminearum were also severely impaired in hyphal growth and non-pathogenic on wheat ears. ZtGT2 expression increased during filamentous growth and electron microscopy on deletion mutants (ΔZtGT2) suggested the protein functions to maintain the outermost surface of the fungal cell wall. Despite this, adhesion to leaf surfaces was unaffected in ΔZtGT2 mutants and global RNAseq-based gene expression profiling highlighted that surface-sensing and protein secretion was also largely unaffected. However, ΔZtGT2 mutants constitutively overexpressed several transmembrane and secreted proteins, including an important LysM-domain chitin-binding virulence effector, Zt3LysM. ZtGT2 likely functions in the synthesis of a currently unknown, potentially minor but widespread, extracellular or outer cell wall polysaccharide which plays a key role in facilitating many interactions between plants and fungi by enabling hyphal growth on solid matrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the role that therapists play in psychotherapy outcome, and the contribution to outcome made by individual therapist differences has implications for service delivery and training of therapists. In this study we used a novel approach to estimate the magnitude of the therapist contribution overall and the effect of individual therapist differences. We conducted a meta-analysis of studies in which participants were randomised to receive the same treatment either through self-help or through a therapist. We identified a total of 15 studies (commencement N = 910; completion N = 723) meeting inclusion criteria. We found no difference in treatment completion rate and broad equivalence of treatment outcomes for participants treated through self-help and participants treated through a therapist. Also, contrary to our expectations, we found that the variability of outcomes was broadly equivalent, suggesting that differences in efficacy of individual therapists were not sufficient to make therapy outcomes more variable when a therapist was involved. Overall, the findings suggest that self-help, with minimal therapist input, has considerable potential as a first-line intervention. The findings did not suggest that individual differences between therapists play a major role in psychotherapy outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food shelves are placing increased emphasis on the healthfulness of the food they offer to clients. This paper presents an analysis of foods ordered from food banks by 110 food shelves in Minnesota and western Wisconsin in 2013. We examine whether and how food shelves’ Healthy Eating Index scores for ordered food are associated with food shelf size and sourcing patterns, food bank providers, food shelf policies, food shelf manager characteristics, client characteristics and community-level demographics. We find a significant positive relationship between annual order quantity and the HEI-2010 score for ordered food. We also find strong associations between characteristics of the person placing food bank orders and the healthfulness of food ordered, which suggest that training programs designed to improve these individuals’ skills and motivation for ordering a healthy assortment of foods may have an important impact. Finally, while the age structure of clients served does have a significant relationship with HEI-2010 scores, it is noteworthy that the ethnic profile of clients served by a food shelf does not have a strong relationship with the healthfulness of food ordered. This suggests that food shelves can respond successfully to wide variations in culturally based food preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The near-death experience (NDE) most generally refers to a state of altered consciousness with various features that can occur during real or presumed near-death circumstances and/or life-threatening incidents. Some NDEs are associated with a nonfatal suicide attempt. This paper discusses how a belief by suicide attempters that their NDEs are a true portrayal of objective spiritual reality can at least in some cases be positively associated with a persistence or increase of suicidal ideation and on occasion lead to further suicide attempts, while also exploring why at other times such a belief may reduce the risk of suicide. The formulation of suicidal ideation associated with NDEs among some of those who did not initially try to kill themselves is also explored. Various examples related to NDEs and suicidal ideation are provided and discussed. Furthermore, this paper also offers some theoretical insights related to this matter and points out some specific therapeutic concerns based on this discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Telehealth use has had widespread expansion and adoption over the past two years. This study aims to evaluate access to telehealth essentials (TE) using a novel metric. Methods: This single institute study surveyed outpatient surgical patients to determine their access to TE. Generalized linear mixed models were used to determine the relationship of demographic and county-level variables on access to four TE. Results: 138 patients were surveyed. Sixty-six (47.8%) were from Appalachian Kentucky. In the survey cohort, 122 (88.4%) had smart phones, 109 (80.7%) had devices with video messaging capabilities, 106 (80.9%) had cellular reception, and 112 (82.4%) had access to WiFi. Increasing age and Medicare insurance were the most consistent predictors of lack of access to TE. Conclusion: Rural Appalachian Kentucky has access to TE. Telehealth has the potential to decrease the healthcare inequity in rural populations, but incompletely address this inequity for the aging population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we investigate the potential usefulness of the three-parameter transmuted generalized exponential distribution for analyzing lifetime data. We compare it with various generalizations of the two-parameter exponential distribution using maximum likelihood estimation. Some mathematical properties of the new extended model including expressions for the quantile and moments are investigated. We propose a location-scale regression model, based on the log-transmuted generalized exponential distribution. Two applications with real data are given to illustrate the proposed family of lifetime distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we investigate the potential usefulness of the three-parameter transmuted Weibull distribution for modeling survival data. The main advantage of this distribution is that it has increasing, decreasing or constant instantaneous failure rate depending on the shape parameter and the new transmuting parameter. We obtain several mathematical properties of the transmuted Weibull distribution such as the expressions for the quantile function, moments, geometric mean, harmonic mean, Shannon, Rényi and q-entropies, mean deviations, Bonferroni and Lorenz curves, and the moments of order statistics. We propose a location-scale regression model based on the log-transmuted Weibull distribution for modeling lifetime data. Applications to two real datasets are given to illustrate the flexibility and potentiality of the transmuted Weibull family of lifetime distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the transmuted new generalized inverse Weibull distribution by using the quadratic rank transmutation map (QRTM) scheme studied by Shaw et al. (2007). The proposed model contains twenty three lifetime distributions as special sub-models. Some mathematical properties of the new distribution are formulated, such as quantile function, Rényi entropy, mean deviations, moments, moment generating function and order statistics. The method of maximum likelihood is used for estimating the model parameters. We illustrate the flexibility and potential usefulness of the new distribution by means of two real data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Difficulties engaging people with psychosomatic disorders in psychotherapy are widely recognised. Such patients are often reluctant to participate in psychotherapy and to consider the contribution of psychological factors to their somatic experience. However, less is known about effective ways to address what is commonly referred to as resistance to psychotherapy among this population. Objectives: To study early engagement, client resistance and the impact of therapist response on outcome in treatment of psychosomatic disorders. Methodology: Mixed methods were used in a naturalistic longitudinal study of 22 psychotherapeutic treatments of patients with psychosomatic disorders. Results: Persistence with treatment was associated with better outcome. The extent to which therapists addressed patients’ in‐session distress was associated with persistence with treatment, even when distress was not resolved. Discussion: Results do not allow attribution of causality but indicate that further research investigating therapist recognition of and response to client distress may be important in the development of more effective psychotherapeutic response to people with psychosomatic disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the kurtosis of the logistic-exponential distribution is analyzed. All the moments of this survival distribution are finite, but do not possess closed-form expressions. The standardized fourth central moment, known as Pearson’s coefficient of kurtosis and often used to describe the kurtosis of a distribution, can thus also not be expressed in closed form for the logistic-exponential distribution. Alternative kurtosis measures are therefore considered, specifically quantile-based measures and theL-kurtosis ratio. It is shown that these kurtosis measures of the logistic-exponential distribution are invariant to the values of the distribution’s single shape parameter and hence skewness invariant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geodetic, geologic and palaeomagnetic data reveal that Oregon (western USA) rotates clockwise at 0.3 to 1.0? Ma-1 (relative to North America) about an axis near the Idaho-Oregon- Washington border, while northeast Washington is relatively fixed. This rotation has been going on for at least 15 Ma. The Yakima fold and thrust belt (YFTB) forms the boundary between northern Oregon and central Washington where convergence of the clockwise-rotating Oregon block is apparently accommodated. North-south shortening across the YFTB has been thought to occur in a fan-like manner, increasing in rate to thewest. We obtained high-accuracy, high-density geodetic GPS measurements in 2012-2014 that are used with earlier GPS measurements from the 1990s to characterize YFTB kinematics. The new results show that the deformation associated with the YFTB starts at the Blue Mountains Anticline in northern Oregon and extends north beyond the Frenchman Hills in Washington, past the epicentre of the 1872 Mw 7.0 Entiat earthquake to 49?N. The north-south strain rate across the region is 2 to 3 × 10-9 yr-1 between the volcanic arc and the eastern edge of the YFTB (241.0?E); east of there it drops to about 10-9 yr-1. At the eastern boundary of the YFTB, faults and earthquake activity are truncated by a north-trending, narrow zone of deformation that runs along the Pasco Basin and Moses Lake regions near 240.9?E. This zone, abutting the Department of Energy Hanford Nuclear Reservation, accommodates about 0.5 mm yr-1 of east to northeast shortening. A similar zone of N-trending transpression is seen along 239.9?E where there is a change in the strike of the Yakima folds. The modern deformation of the YFTB is about 600 km wide from south to north and internally may be controlled by pre-existing crustal structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All humans must eventually face death at the end of life in this physical world. Nevertheless, sometimes sudden death can be horrendous, especially when associated with what appears to be unbearable pain during those final moments, such as being burned alive or beaten to death. The thought of a loved one having suffered such pain at the moment of death may intensify the degree of grief. However, despite the appearance of what sometimes appears to be conscious somatic suffering in those final moments, a non-pathological dissociation from that pain may have occurred. This paper explores this hypothesis, providing evidence of this occurring from research studies and/or self-reports. It then closes with a suggestion that knowledge of this phenomenon may provide some comfort to those in grief over a loved one who has undergone a horrible death in which extreme suffering seemed to have been present in those final moments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When people experience a near-death or life-threatening incident, they sometimes report an altered state of consciousness in which they have the perception of being out of or away from their physical body. During such an experience these individuals at times have the impression of encountering a spiritual personage who offers them a choice to stay or return to their physical life and/or attempts to motivate them to willingly do so, sometimes conflicting with a simultaneous desire to stay in that altered state of consciousness they perceive as the afterlife. This paper discusses how self-determination theory (SDT) is relevant to this process by meeting the experient’s three basic psychological needs for relatedness, competence, and autonomy, resulting in various degrees of effectiveness. It concludes with a postulation that by doing so it may foster a continuing intrinsic motivation to live life well, resulting in a greater overall condition of psychological wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the potential usefulness of the transmuted Gompertz distribution for modeling lifetime data. This distribution can be obtained by using the quadratic rank transmutation map scheme. Various structural properties of the transmuted Gompertz model are investigated including estimation of the parameters using maximum likelihood and evaluate the performance of MLE using simulation. The potential usefulness of the transmuted Gompertz model is shown by means of windshields data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Human female orgasmis avexed question in the fieldwhile there is credible evidence of cryptic female choice that has many hallmarks of orgasm in other species. Our initial goal was to produce a proof of concept for allowing females to study an aspect of infertility in a home setting, specifically by aligning the study of human infertility and increased fertility with the study of other mammalian fertility. In the latter case - the realm of oxytocin-mediated sperm retention mechanisms seems to be at work in terms of ultimate function (differential sperm retention) while the proximate function (rapid transport or cervical tenting) remains unresolved. Method: Arepeated measures design using an easily taught technique in a natural setting was used. Participants were a small (n=6), non-representative sample of females. The introduction of a sperm-simulant combined with an orgasm-producing technique using a vibrator/home massager and other easily supplied materials. Results: The sperm flowback (simulated) was measured using a technique that can be used in a home setting. There was a significant difference in simulant retention between the orgasm (M=4.08, SD=0.17) and nonorgasm (M=3.30, SD=0.22) conditions; t (5)=7.02, p=0.001. Cohen's d=3.97, effect size r=0.89. This indicates a medium to small effect size. Conclusions: This method could allow females to test an aspect of sexual response that has been linked to lowered fertility in a home setting with minimal training. It needs to be replicated with a larger sample size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthy behaviour, such as smoking cessation and adherence to prescribed medications, mitigates illness risk factors but health behaviour change can be challenging. Mobile phone short-message service (SMS) messages are increasingly used to deliver interventions designed to enhance healthy behaviour. This meta-analysis used a random-effects model to synthesise 38 randomised controlled trials that investigated the efficacy of SMS messages to enhance healthy behaviour. Participants (N = 19,641) lived in developed and developing countries and were diverse with respect to age, ethnicity, socioeconomic background and health behaviours targeted for change. SMS messages had a small, positive, significant effect (g = 0.291) on a broad range of healthy behaviour. This effect was maximised when multiple SMS messages per day were used (g = 0.395) compared to using lower frequencies (daily, multiple per week and once-off) (g = 0.244). The low heterogeneity in this meta-analysis (I2 = 38.619) supports reporting a summary effect size and implies that the effect of SMS messaging is robust, regardless of population characteristics or healthy behaviour targeted. SMS messaging is a simple, cost-effective intervention that can be automated and can reach any mobile phone owner. While the effect size is small, potential health benefits are well worth achieving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Targeted Induced Local Lesions in Genomes (TILLING) is a reverse genetics approach to identify novel sequence variation in genomes, with the aims of investigating gene function and/or developing useful alleles for breeding. Despite recent advances in wheat genomics, most current TILLING methods are low to medium in throughput, being based on PCR amplification of the target genes. We performed a pilot-scale evaluation of TILLING in wheat by next-generation sequencing through exon capture. An oligonucleotide-based enrichment array covering ~2 Mbp of wheat coding sequence was used to carry out exon capture and sequencing on three mutagenised lines of wheat containing previously-identified mutations in the TaGA20ox1 homoeologous genes. After testing different mapping algorithms and settings, candidate SNPs were identified by mapping to the IWGSC wheat Chromosome Survey Sequences. Where sequence data for all three homoeologues were found in the reference, mutant calls were unambiguous; however, where the reference lacked one or two of the homoeologues, captured reads from these genes were mis-mapped to other homoeologues, resulting either in dilution of the variant allele frequency or assignment of mutations to the wrong homoeologue. Competitive PCR assays were used to validate the putative SNPs and estimate cut-off levels for SNP filtering. At least 464 high-confidence SNPs were detected across the three mutagenized lines, including the three known alleles in TaGA20ox1, indicating a mutation rate of ~35 SNPs per Mb, similar to that estimated by PCR-based TILLING. This demonstrates the feasibility of using exon capture for genome re-sequencing as a method of mutation detection in polyploid wheat, but accurate mutation calling will require an improved genomic reference with more comprehensive coverage of homoeologues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Evaluation of psychotherapy impact and effect has advanced substantially in the last half century. The development of reliable standardised measures has been especially important. However, several issues remain controversial. One such issue is the extent to which standardised measures adequately capture change and their integration with normal clinical practice. A second is how to deal with the not uncommon situation where one outcome measure indicates change and another does not. Finally, researchers are often confronted with cases where standardised measures are used, but some participants quit therapy without completing them. Aim In this study, we present and discuss an outcome assessment method developed in the context of a naturalistic, mixed-methods study of 22 treatments of psychosomatic patients. Methodology This multimodal, multi-informant method involved a thorough and individualised analysis of transcripts, questionnaires and other clinical data, the consideration of patient and therapist's opinions about outcome, and the use of clinical judgment to integrate different indicators and classify outcome, with the aid of two auditors reviewing the process. Findings Eight cases improved, six deteriorated, and eight did not change. Three case vignettes illustrate the application of the method, and some possible sources of bias of patient and therapist's opinion about outcome are identified. Implications Clinical judgment can help integrate results from standardised measures and other data sources into outcome assessment normally practised by clinicians. This method, besides its high cost in time and resources, can also be useful in research to rescue outcome assessment when collection of outcome measures fails. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geometries and energetics of the n-vertex polyhedral dicobaltadithiaboranes and dicobaltadiselenaboranes Cp2Co2E2Bn−4Hn−4 (E = S, Se; n = 8 to 12) have been investigated via the density functional theory. Most of the lowest-energy structures in these systems are generated from the (n + 1)-vertex most spherical closo deltahedra by removal of a single vertex, leading to a tetragonal, pentagonal, or hexagonal face depending on the degree of the vertex removed. In all of these low-energy structures, the chalcogen atoms are located at the vertices of the non-triangular face. Alternatively, the central polyhedron in most of the 12-vertex structures can be derived from a Co2E2B8 icosahedron with adjacent chalcogen (E) vertices by breaking the E–E edge and 1 or more E–B edges to create a hexagonal face. Examples of the arachno polyhedra with two tetragonal and/or pentagonal faces derived from the removal of two vertices from isocloso deltahedra were found among the set of lowest-energy Cp2Co2E2Bn−4Hn−4 (E = S, Se; n = 8 and 12) structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented which discusses various reports within the issue focusing on therapists as a possible agent of treatment, with topics including improvement to systems of care, how the behaviour of therapists in service delivery influences user outcomes, and research methodologies.