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The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Research Library Impact Framework (RLIF) pilot initiative, established in 2019, has released its final report, Building a Community of Assessment. The report details the research projects, findings, and lessons learned conducted under the pilot phase of this framework. It also includes information about the framework itself as a means to explore and learn about research library impacts. Finally, the report identifies next steps and potential considerations for any future implementation. The RLIF provides a structure to examine library services, operations, impact, and alignment with institutional mission and goals across four critical areas: Research and Scholarly Life Cycle; Teaching, Learning, and Student Success; Collections; and Physical Space. The full framework includes 185 potential research questions across these critical areas. However, the framework is also meant to be flexible and modular, allowing for modifications and adjustments based on salient issues facing research libraries. In this way, the framework serves as a tool to organize and prioritize research efforts.

The legacy use of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) has led to the generation of large volumes of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)-contaminated asphalt materials, especially at airports and fire training areas. The management of such PFAS-contaminated asphalt materials requires an understanding of PFAS concentrations in these materials. This study, therefore, aimed to develop a suitable extraction methodology for the analysis of 22 target PFAS (

In the busy world of academic research library assessment work, can simple and easy-to-use outcome-based assessment tools contribute in meaningful and actionable ways to library decision-making? This was the question at the center of a project conducted by staff in the Iowa State University (ISU) Library’s Assessment and Planning unit as part of the library’s participation in the ARL Research Library Impact Framework initiative. The ISU project was done in support of the ARL research question, “How do library spaces facilitate innovative research, creative thinking, and problem-solving?” The ISU research project was based on the use of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Project Outcome for Academic Libraries survey tool. In the ISU project, data was collected and analyzed using the Project Outcome spaces survey, once every semester, from the fall of 2018 through the fall of 2021. The ISU project was designed to identify benefits of the Project Outcome survey through the hands-on use of the Project Outcome tool kit and to share those findings. This practice brief also provides information on how to use Project Outcome. A goal of the project was to support and encourage other ARL libraries in their own use of the Project Outcome resources.

Computed Tomography (CT) is increasingly used in screening of cabin baggage in airports. The current study aimed to establish whether screening with CT confers a detection advantage over dual-view (DV) X-ray when resolution is controlled. We also evaluated whether a 'targetless' search strategy - in which screeners identify and reject safe items - improved detection relative to target-based methods. In an online study, 104 novice screeners were trained with either CT or DV, and either a targetless or a target-based search strategy. Screeners were then tested in a simulated cabin baggage screening task. CT screeners performed with greater sensitivity than DV screeners. Search strategy did not affect sensitivity, although the target-based strategy resulted in a more liberal criterion. We conclude that CT imaging confers a benefit to screening performance over DV when image resolution is controlled. This is likely due to the ability to rotate the image to resolve occlusions.

Funder: Defence and Security Accelerator; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100012339, When searching for a known target, mental representations of target features, or templates, guide attention towards matching objects and facilitate recognition. When only distractor features are known, distractor templates allow irrelevant objects to be recognised and attention to be shifted away. This is particularly true in X-ray baggage search, a challenging real-world visual search task with implications for public safety, where targets may be unknown, difficult to predict and concealed by an adversary, but distractors are typically benign and easier to identify. In the present study, we draw on basic principles of distractor suppression and rejection to investigate a counterintuitive ‘targetless’ approach to training baggage search. In a simulated X-ray baggage search task, we observed significant benefits to target detection sensitivity (d′) for targetless relative to target-based training, but no effects of performance-contingent rewards or the inclusion of superordinate semantic categories during training. The benefits of targetless search training were most apparent for stimuli involving less spatial overlap (occlusion), which likely represents the difficulty and greater individual variation involved in searching more visually complex images. Together, these results demonstrate the effectiveness of a counterintuitive targetless approach to training target detection in X-ray baggage search, based on basic principles of distractor suppression and rejection, with potential for use as a real-world training tool.

Contamination through per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have occurred globally in soil and groundwater systems at military, airport and industrial sites due to the often decades-long periodic application of firefighting foams. At PFAS contaminated sites, the unsaturated soil horizon often serves as a long-term source for sustained PFAS contamination for both groundwater and surface water runoff. An understanding of the processes controlling future mass loading rates to the saturated zone from these source zones is imperative to design efficient remediation measures. In the present study, hydrochemical data from a site where PFAS transport was observed as a result of the decades-long application of AFFF were used to develop and evaluate conceptual and numerical models that determine PFAS mobility across the vadose zone under realistic field-scale conditions. The simulation results demonstrate that the climate-driven physical flow processes within the vadose zone exert a dominating control on the retention of PFAS. Prolonged periods of evapotranspiration exceeding rainfall under the semi-arid conditions trigger periods of upward flux and evapoconcentration, leading to the observed persistence of PFAS compounds in the upper ca. 2 metres of the vadose zone, despite cessation of AFFF application to soils since more than a decade. Physico-chemical retention mechanisms, namely sorption to the air-water interface (AWI) and sediment surfaces, contribute further to PFAS retention. The simulations demonstrate how PFAS downward transport is effectively confined to short periods following discrete rain events when soils display a high degree of saturation. During these periods, AWI sorption is at a minimum. In addition, high PFAS concentrations measured and simulated below the source zone reduce the effect of the AWI further due to a decrease in surface tension associated with elevated PFAS concentrations. Consequently, time-integrated PFAS migration and retardation illuminates that the field-relevant PFAS transport rates are predominantly controlled by the physical flow processes with a lower relative importance of AWI and sediment sorption adding to PFAS retention.

Correction for ‘Method for extraction and analysis of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances in contaminated asphalt’ by Prashant Srivastava et al., Anal. Methods, 2022, 14, 1678–1689, https://doi.org/10.1039/D2AY00221C.

Summary Background Antenatal corticosteroids given to women before preterm birth improve infant survival and health. However, whether dexamethasone or betamethasone have better maternal, neonatal, and childhood health outcomes remains unclear. We therefore aimed to assess whether administration of antenatal dexamethasone to women at risk of preterm birth reduced the risk of death or neurosensory disability in their children at age 2 years compared with betamethasone. We also aimed to assess whether dexamethasone reduced neonatal morbidity, had benefits for the mother, or affected childhood body size, blood pressure, behaviour, or general health compared with betamethasone. Methods In this multicentre, double-blind, randomised controlled trial, we recruited pregnant women from 14 maternity hospitals in Australia and New Zealand that could provide care to preterm babies. Women were eligible for study inclusion if they were at risk of preterm birth before 34 weeks of gestation, had a singleton or twin pregnancy, and had no contraindications to antenatal corticosteroids. We randomly assigned women (1:1) to receive two intramuscular injections of either 12 mg dexamethasone (dexamethasone sodium phosphate) or 11·4 mg betamethasone (Celestone Chronodose), 24 h apart. The randomisation schedule used balanced, variable blocks that were stratified by hospital, gestational age, and number of fetuses (singleton or twins). We masked all participants, staff, and assessors to treatment groups. Analyses were by intention to treat. The primary outcome was death or neurosensory disability at age 2 years (corrected for prematurity). This study is registered with ANZCTR, ACTRN12608000631303. Findings Between Jan 28, 2009, and Feb 1, 2013, we randomly assigned 1346 (78%) women who were pregnant with 1509 fetuses to groups: 679 (50%) women were assigned to receive dexamethasone and 667 (50%) women were assigned to receive betamethasone. 27 (4%) fetuses, infants, or children in the dexamethasone group and 28 (4%) fetuses, infants, or children in the betamethasone group died before age 2 years. The primary outcome of death or neurosensory disability at age 2 years was determined for 603 (79%) of 763 fetuses whose mothers received dexamethasone and 591 (79%) of 746 fetuses whose mothers received betamethasone. We found a similar incidence of death or neurosensory disability in the dexamethasone (198 [33%] of 603 infants) and betamethasone groups (192 [32%] of 591 infants; adjusted relative risk [adjRR] 0·97, 95% CI 0·83 to 1·13; p=0·66). 18 (3%) of 679 women in the dexamethasone group and 28 of 667 (4%) women in the betamethasone group reported side-effects. Discomfort at the injection site, the most frequent side-effect, was less likely in the dexamethasone group than in the betamethasone group (six [1%] women vs 17 [3%] women; p=0·02). Interpretation The incidence of survival without neurosensory disability at age 2 years did not differ between dexamethasone and betamethasone treatment. Our findings indicate that either antenatal corticosteroid can be given to women before preterm birth to improve infant and child health. Funding National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia).

Cities face immense environmental challenges with limited resources to implement management solutions. Relevant trends in the private sector toward third party certification to external environmental management standards have yet to be fully embraced by governing Local Authorities (LAs). As the first city in North America to obtain ISO 14001 certification, the City of Calgary is examined as a case study of the implementation of a certified Environmental Management System (EMS) from impetus through to ongoing effects on learning. Investigation demonstrates that the unique characteristics of LA organizations are important factors in considering the strengths and challenges of using a voluntary external standard to establish environmental priorities. While LAs must avoid overemphasizing the standard itself, an informed approach increases organizational transparency and accountability, and enables collective problem solving. The certification process is a motivating surrogate force for cities which typically lack the competitive pressure found in for-profit sectors.

Funder: University of Cambridge, Another person’s gaze direction is a rich source of social information, especially eyes gazing toward prominent or relevant objects. To guide attention to these important stimuli, visual search mechanisms may incorporate sophisticated coding of eye-gaze and its spatial relationship to other objects. Alternatively, any guidance might reflect the action of simple perceptual ‘templates’ tuned to visual features of socially relevant objects, or intrinsic salience of direct-gazing eyes for human vision. Previous findings that direct gaze (toward oneself) is prioritised over averted gaze do not distinguish between these accounts. To resolve this issue, we compared search for eyes gazing toward a prominent object versus gazing away, finding more efficient search for eyes ‘gazing toward’ the object. This effect was most clearly seen in target-present trials when gaze was task-relevant. Visual search mechanisms appear to specify gazer-object relations, a computational building-block of theory of mind.

SummaryZebras’ stripes cannot protect them from predators, Darwin concluded, and current consensus tends to support his view1,2. In principle, stripes could support crypsis or aposematism, could dazzle, confuse or disrupt predators’ perception3–8, yet no such effects are manifest in predator-prey interactions9–11. Instead, narrow stripes covering zebras’ head, neck, limbs and flanks are an effective deterrent to tabanids12, vectors for equine disease13,14. Accordingly, while other potential benefits, e.g., thermoregulation15,16 and intraspecific communication17, cannot be excluded, zebra stripes likely evolved primarily to deter parasites18–20. Rump stripes, however, do not fit this, or any extant view. Typically horizontal and broader in sub-species with width variation, they are ill-suited to crypsis or parasite-deterrence12 and vary with hyaena threat18, perhaps shaped by an additional selective pressure. We observed that rump (and rear-flank) stripes remain highly conspicuous when viewed in motion or at distance, while other stripes do not. To study this striking effect, we filtered images of zebra to simulate acuity limitations in lion and hyaena photopic and mesopic vision. For mountain zebra and plains zebra without shadow striping, rump stripes were the most conspicuous image regions according to computational salience models, corroborated by human observers’ judgements of maximally attention-capturing image locations, which were strongly biased toward the rear. By hijacking exogenous attention mechanisms to force predator attention to the rear, salient rump stripes confer benefits to zebra, estimated here in pursuit simulations. Benefits of rump stripe salience may counteract anti-parasite benefits and costs of conspicuity to shape rump and shadow stripe variation.1HighlightsZebra stripes likely evolved to deter biting flies, but rump stripes are ill-suited to this.Rump-stripes remain highly conspicuous when viewed at distance or in motion.Computational models and human observers’ judge rump stripes are most salient stripes.Salient rump stripes drive predator attention to rear, hindering capture by predators.Observe this striking effect in moving zebra at: viscog.psychol.cam.ac.uk/resources-and-downloads

Direct gaze - someone looking at you - is an important and subjectively-salient stimulus. Its processing is thought to be enhanced by the brain's internalised predictions - priors - that effectively specify it as the most likely gaze direction. Current consensus holds that, befitting its presumed importance, direct gaze attracts attention more powerfully than other gazes. Conversely, some Predictive Coding (PC) models, in which exogenous attention is drawn to stimuli that violate predictions, may be construed as making the opposite claim - i.e., exogenous attention should be biased away from direct gaze (which conforms to internal predictions), toward averted gaze (which does not). Here, searching displays with salient, 'odd-one-out' gazes, we observed attentional bias (in rapid, initial saccades) toward averted gaze, as would be expected by PC models. However, this pattern obtained only when conditions highlighted gaze-uniqueness. We speculate that, in our experiments, task requirements determined how prediction influenced perception.

The world is currently in a pandemic of COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease-2019) caused by a novel positive-sense, single-stranded RNA β-coronavirus referred to as SARS-CoV-2. Fortunately, most infected individuals recover and are then resistant to re-infection for a period, indicating that a vaccination approach can be successful. Elucidation of rates of past SARS-CoV-2 infection within select regions across the United States of America (USA) will help direct vaccination efforts and together will inform our approach towards achieving herd immunity. Here we investigated rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the greater Cincinnati, Ohio, USA metropolitan area from August to December 2020, just prior to initiation of the national vaccination program. Examination of 9,550 adult blood donor volunteers for serum IgG antibody positivity against the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein showed an overall prevalence of 8.40%, measured as 7.56% in the first 58 days of this time frame, versus a significant increase to 9.24% in the last 58 days, and a final rate of 12.86% in December 2020. Approximately 56% of Spike seropositive individuals also had immunoreactivity against the receptor binding domain (RBD) within the Spike protein, which is associated with viral neutralization. Males and females in the Cincinnati area showed nearly identical rates of past infection, and rates among Hispanics, African Americans and Caucasians were not significantly different. Interestingly, donors under 30 years of age had the highest rates of past infection, while those over 60 had the lowest. Geographic analysis showed that the West side of Cincinnati had a rate of 9.63% versus 8.13% on the East side (demarcated by Interstate-75), while the adjoining area of Kentucky was 7.04% (as demarcated by the Ohio River). These results among healthy blood donors will be critical in calculating the time needed to achieve regional herd immunity in conjunction with the national vaccination campaign.

Background Exosomes arise from viable cancer cells and may reflect a different biology than circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) shed from dying tissues. We compare exosome-derived DNA (exoDNA) to cfDNA in liquid biopsies of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Patients and methods Patient samples were obtained between 2003 and 2010, with clinically annotated follow up to 2015. Droplet digital PCR was performed on exoDNA and cfDNA for sensitive detection ofKRAS mutants at codons 12/13. A cumulative series of 263 individuals were studied, including a discovery cohort of 142 individuals: 68 PDAC patients of all stages; 20 PDAC patients initially staged with localized disease, with blood drawnafter resection for curative intent; and 54 age-matched healthy controls. A validation cohort of 121 individuals (39 cancer patients and 82 healthy controls) was studied to validateKRAS detection rates in early-stage PDAC patients. Primary outcome was circulatingKRAS status as detected by droplet digital PCR. Secondary outcomes were disease-free and overall survival. Results KRAS mutations in exoDNA, were identified in 7.4%, 66.7%, 80%, and 85% of age-matched controls, localized, locally advanced, and metastatic PDAC patients, respectively. Comparatively, mutantKRAS cfDNA was detected in 14.8%, 45.5%, 30.8%, and 57.9% of these individuals. Higher exoKRAS MAFs were associated with decreased disease-free survival in patients with localized disease. In the validation cohort, mutantKRAS exoDNA was detected in 43.6% of early-stage PDAC patients and 20% of healthy controls. Conclusions Exosomes are a distinct source of tumor DNA that may be complementary to other liquid biopsy DNA sources. A higher percentage of patients with localized PDAC exhibited detectableKRAS mutations in exoDNA than previously reported for cfDNA. A substantial minority of healthy samples demonstrated mutantKRAS in circulation, dictating careful consideration and application of liquid biopsy findings, which may limit its utility as a broad cancer-screening method.

Introduction: Pregnancy and childbirth can be a source of anxiety and worry for women. This is probably more so for women with a complicated pregnancy. Anxiety and worry may contribute to, or exacerbate, mental health disorders including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Mental health is an integral part of health and well-being and poor mental health can be detrimental to the woman's welfare and her infant's behavior and cognitive development. It may be undetected, potentially leading to a burden on the woman, her family, the health system, and society. Women with complicated pregnancies, such as those with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), may be at greater risk of poor mental health. The aim of this review was to examine whether there is an association between depression, anxiety, and PTSD in postpartum women with a history of HDP. Methods: A narrative literature review was undertaken. Using the key search terms: preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, hypertensive disorders, pregnancy complications, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder; electronic databases were searched to determine what is known about depression, anxiety, and PTSD after HDP. Results: In total, 17 publications were included. The relationship between HDP and depression, anxiety, and PTSD was variable between studies and inconsistent. Although some studies reported no significant association, there is a trend for increased prevalence and symptom severity of depression, anxiety, and PTSD following HDP. This trend was particularly evident following the more severe presentations of HDP. It was uncertain whether this association was due to the hypertensive disorder itself, the sequelae of the HDP, such as giving birth to a preterm baby, or it predated the pregnancy. Conclusions: Women who experience HDP may be at increased risk of developing postpartum depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Awareness of, and screening for, these mental health disorders in the postpartum period will alert clinicians to the need for additional follow-up and referral for women following HDP. More research on the benefits and risks of such an approach is needed.

Direct gaze-someone gazing at you-is an important social cue that might be expected to capture visual attention, even in the presence of other faces. Consistent with this, direct gazing eyes are often detected more rapidly in arrays of averted gazing eyes, than vice versa; a search asymmetry termed the stare-in-the-crowd effect (SITCE). Here, we examine top-down influences on the SITCE by manipulating observers' knowledge of the target's gaze prior to the search display. Our findings revealed two dissociable components of the SITCE. The first, which scaled with set size but was unaffected by prior knowledge, was attributed to noisy, parallel gaze processing that guides attention toward direct gaze (Process 1). The second, an overall response time advantage for direct versus averted gaze targets, irrespective of set size, was attributed to criteria for determining target presence versus absence (Process 2). Prior knowledge of the target's gaze direction increased the direct gaze advantage, rather than speeding up responses for both target types (typically expected for 100% valid cues). This unusual pattern suggests that top-down gaze-related influences may comprise an obligatory bias toward direct gaze. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Insufficient neovascularization is associated with high levels of resorption and necrosis in autologous and engineered fat grafts. We tested the hypothesis that incorporating angiogenic growth factor into a scaffold–stem cell construct and implanting this construct around a vascular pedicle improves neovascularization and adipogenesis for engineering soft tissue flaps. Poly(lactic-co-glycolic-acid/polyethylene glycol (PLGA/PEG) microspheres containing vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were impregnated into collagen-chitosan scaffolds seeded with human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs). This setup was analyzed in vitro and then implanted into isolated chambers around a discrete vascular pedicle in nude rats. Engineered tissue samples within the chambers were harvested and analyzed for differences in vascularization and adipose tissue growth. In vitro testing showed that the collagen-chitosan scaffold provided a supportive environment for hASC integration and proliferation. PLGA/PEG microspheres with slow-release VEGF had no negative effect on cell survival in collagen-chitosan scaffolds. In vivo, the system resulted in a statistically significant increase in neovascularization that in turn led to a significant increase in adipose tissue persistence after 8 weeks versus control constructs. These data indicate that our model—hASCs integrated with a collagen-chitosan scaffold incorporated with VEGF-containing PLGA/PEG microspheres supported by a predominant vascular vessel inside a chamber—provides a promising, clinically translatable platform for engineering vascularized soft tissue flap. The engineered adipose tissue with a vascular pedicle could conceivably be transferred as a vascularized soft tissue pedicle flap or free flap to a recipient site for the repair of soft-tissue defects.

‘Heuristic’ theories of autism postulate that a single mechanism or process underpins the diverse psychological features of autism spectrum disorder. Although no such theory can offer a comprehensive account, the parsimonious descriptions they provide are powerful catalysts to autism research. One recent proposal holds that ‘noisy’ neuronal signalling explains not only some deficits in autism spectrum disorder, but also some superior abilities, due to ‘stochastic resonance’. Here, we discuss three distinct actions of noise in neural networks, arguing in each case that autism spectrum disorder symptoms reflect too little, rather than too much, neural noise. Such reduced noise, perhaps a function of atypical brainstem activation, would enhance detection and discrimination in autism spectrum disorder but at significant cost, foregoing the widespread benefits of noise in neural networks.

Background Caesarean section rates in Australia have risen to >30%, with repeat caesarean delivery the most common indication. One method of reducing caesarean delivery rates is to increase rates of vaginal birth after caesarean section (VBAC). Aims To determine the combined effect of two management strategies on the rates of successful VBAC in women experiencing their first pregnancy following primary caesarean section. Methods Prospective cohort study from May 2009 to October 2010 at a metropolitan Australian teaching hospital. The strategies studied were (i) allocating responsibility for VBAC candidates attempting labour to the hospital's three high-risk obstetric consultants and (ii) implementing a next birth after caesarean (NBAC) antenatal clinic designed to counsel and support women deciding on mode of birth for their next pregnancy after a primary caesarean section. Data were collected from Obstetrix, a NBAC logbook and medical records of 396 eligible women who gave birth during the study period. Results Overall VBAC rates improved from 17.2% in 2006 prior to implementation of the combined strategies, to 27.0% over the studied period (P Conclusions A dedicated NBAC clinic and more consistent approach to labour management can help improve VBAC rates. Further targeted counselling towards women with previous malpresentation and/or East Asian descent may further improve VBAC attempt rates.

Background: Widespread use of antiplatelet and anticoagulation medications (APACs) can be a difficult challenge in the presence of a neurosurgical emergency. Premorbid use of APACs, particularly clopidogrel, has been shown to affect outcomes in patients with stroke and traumatic brain injury. Objective: We hypothesized that pre-morbid clopidogrel use in patients with intracranial hemorrhage necessitating surgical intervention would lead to a greater risk of death and need for re-operation than those taking other APACs. Methods: Retrospective single institution review was conducted from January, 2010 through November, 2012 for intracranial hemorrhages necessitating surgical evacuation. Acute, subacute and chronic subdural, epidural and intraparenchymal hemorrhages were included. Results: 185 of 410 patients that required surgery for intracranial hemorrhage were on APACs. Overall mortality rate was 33%, with a 37% mortality rate in the APAC group. Overall reoperation rate was 7.5%, and 13% in the APAC group. Chi-square testing demonstrated significance between mortality and clopidogrel use (p = 0.0038), but not in APAC, warfarin or aspirin groups. There was statistical significance between the need for reoperation and APAC use (p = 0.002), aspirin use (p = 0.0097), and clopidogrel use (p = 0.0152), but not warfarin. Multivariate regression demonstrated only clopidogrel use is associated with higher mortality (p = 0.05) and need for reoperation (p = 0.0206). Conclusion: APAC use in the setting of intracranial hemorrhage necessitating surgical evacuation have higher intraoperative blood loss, need for transfusion and risk for adverse cardiac events. Premorbid clopidogrel use is associated with an increased risk in mortality and need for reoperation.

Introduction Women who have had pre-eclampsia (PE) have increased risk for future hypertension and cardiovascular disease; however, what defines normal blood pressure (BP) for healthy young non-pregnant women is unclear. Objective To determine: a) the normal BP range for healthy young women who have had a normal pregnancy (NP); b) the percentage of women with prior PE with BPs above this range. Methods The prospective P4 study examines BP, cardiovascular function and risk, mental health and paediatric assessment following PE and NP at 6 months, 2 yrs. and 5 yrs. post-partum. We measured routine sphygmomanometry BP, central BP (CBP) with applanation tonometry, and 24 h. ambulatory BP (ABPM) at 6 months (NP = 245, PE = 76) and, in the same women, at 2 years (NP = 66, PE = 27) post-partum. Results At 6 months PE women had higher: 1) routine BP (112/71 vs. 104/66 mmHg, p 0.001); 2) central BP (105/74 vs. 97/68 mmHg, p = 0.002); 3) ABPM (114/71 vs. 107/67 mmHg, p 0.001) than NP women. The upper normal BP at 6 months was 122/79 mmHg for routine BP (‘traditional’ = 140/90 mmHg), 115/81 mmHg for central BP (‘traditional’ = 120 mmHg systolic) and 120/77 mmHg for ABPM (‘traditional’ = 130/80 mmHg). Between group differences persisted at 2 years post-partum; there were no changes in any BP parameter within groups between 6 months and 2 years. Clinicians using traditional values would have considered up to 3% as hypertensive by routine BP, 8% by Central BP and 17% by ABPM; using these new limits hypertension detection rates were 15,13 and 20% respectively at 6 months and 22, 32 and 17% at 2 years. Discussion These new normal BP limits for defining hypertension in young women are lower than those used in the general community; using these values defines more formerly PE women as hypertensive than using traditional cut-off BP levels.

Atypical high-level vision in autism is sometimes attributed to a core deficit in the function of lateral geniculate nucleus magnocells or their retinal drives. While some physiological measures provide indirect, suggestive evidence for such a deficit, support from behavioural measures is lacking and contradictory. We assessed luminance contrast increment thresholds on pulsed- and steady- pedestals in 17 children with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) compared to 17 typically developing children; these two conditions correspond to widely-used indices of magnocellular and parvocellular function. As a group, children with ASC had strikingly elevated thresholds on the steady pedestal-paradigm, yet performed similarly to controls on the pulsed pedestal paradigm, a finding that would typically be interpreted to reflect impaired magnocellular function. The effect size of the impairment was large and a substantial minority (41.2%) of the ASC group showed significantly impaired performance on an individual basis. This finding is consistent with a selective magnocellular deficit. It directly contradicts previous claims that such deficits are confined to 'complex' visual stimuli and likely does not reflect atypical attention, adaptation or high-level vision. The pattern of results is not clearly predicted by notions of imbalance of excitation versus inhibition, atypical lateral connectivity or enhanced perceptual function that account for a range of other findings associated with perception in autism. It may be amenable to explanation in terms of decreased endogenous neural noise, a novel alternative we outline here.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential of silk fibroin and chitosan blend (SFCS) biological scaffolds for the purpose of cartilage tissue engineering with applications in tracheal tissue reconstruction. The capability of these scaffolds as cell carrier systems for chondrocytes was determined in vitro and cartilage generation in vivo on engineered chondrocyte-scaffold constructs with and without a perichondrium wrapping was tested in an in vivo nude mouse model. SFCS scaffolds supported chondrocyte adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation, determined as features of the cells based on the spherical cell morphology, increased accumulation of glycosaminoglycans, and increased collagen type II deposition with time within the scaffold framework. Perichondrium wrapping significantly (P

Introduction Hypertensive disorders and poor dietary quality are associated with increased long-term risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease. Energy intake patterns after hypertensive (HP) versus normotensive pregnancy (NP) may provide insight into these risk associations and their mechanisms. Objective/hypothesis Assess diet quality as measured by micronutrient and macronutrient intake six months after NP versus HP (either preeclampsia or gestational hypertension). Methods Prospective sub-study of the P4 (Postpartum, Physiology, Psychology and Paediatrics) study. Women were studied 6 months after NP versus HP. Energy intake (EI) was measured using a self-reported, three-day food diary and FoodWorksTM to calculate macronutrient and micronutrient intake. Results 74 women (60 NP, 14 HP) had complete, analysable 3-day food diaries 6 months postpartum. Maternal age (32 NP, 31 HP) was similar, however less (4/14; 29%) of the HP group were still breastfeeding (50/60; 83% of NP, p 0.001). Mean BMI was higher postpartum in HP (29 ± 8 versus 24 ± 4, p =0.02). Total average EI was 17% lower in HP (7909kJ versus 9534kJ NP, p = 0.02). Macronutrient intake (carbohydrate, fat and protein) was similar between groups. However, intake of several important micronutrients was significantly lower after HP, even allowing for the lower total EI, including Vitamin A (43% lower), riboflavin (36% lower), magnesium (34%), calcium (29%), iodine (29%) and phosphorus (24%). Women breastfeeding at 6 months (both after NP and HP, n=54) had higher carbohydrate and fat (but not protein) intake compared to women not breastfeeding (n=20), and also increased intake of Vitamin A, riboflavin, magnesium and iron. However, breastfeeding women also had higher EI, with their increased macronutrient and micronutrient intake approximately in proportion to their overall EI versus women not breastfeeding. Discussion Six months postpartum, women with previous HP have significantly lower reported micronutrient intake compared to NP, possibly reflecting poorer diet quality.

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to present the results of a content analysis of Canadian corporate sustainable development reports.Design/methodology/approachA comparison of existing content analyses of corporate sustainable development reports was conducted. Based on the comparison, eight key areas were identified for further research in the content analysis of Canadian corporate reports. A total of 89 reports were reviewed in the content analysis.FindingsThe content analysis highlighted several interesting trends in Canadian reporting. For example, the analysis highlighted that relatively few corporations explicitly identify the audience for the report, include an endorsement from the board chair, provide details on specific standards used for managing the supply chain, discuss linkages to public policy, or use third‐party assurance. The analysis also highlighted the wide variety in report structure.Research limitations/implicationsThe content analysis did not address all issues related to corporate sustainable development reporting. Numerous areas for further research were identified, such as focusing on how companies decide on what to include in the reports, how the reports are used, the accommodations made for specific audiences, challenges in auditing the reports, and future directions of company reporting.Originality/valueThe content analysis focused on several areas that have been highlighted in previous studies as well as areas that have not previously been investigated. The analysis is based on a larger sample size than the most recent Canadian studies. The research will be of interest to both research and practitioners in corporate sustainable development reporting.

When presented with a face stimulus whose gaze is diverted, observers' attention shifts to locations fixated by the face. Such "gaze following" has been characterized by some previous studies as a consequence of sophisticated theory of mind processes, but by others (particularly those employing the "gaze-cuing" paradigm) as an involuntary response that is triggered directly and reflexively by the physical features of a face. To address this apparent contradiction, we modified the gaze-cuing paradigm using a deception procedure to convince observers that prerecorded videos of an experimenter making head turns and wearing mirrored goggles were a "live" video link to an adjacent room. In two experiments, reflexive gaze following was found when observers believed that the model was wearing transparent goggles and could see, but it was significantly reduced when they believed that the experimenter wore opaque goggles and could not see. These results indicate that the attribution of the mental state "seeing" to a face plays a role in controlling even reflexive gaze following.

In addition to those with savant skills, many individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASCs) show superior perceptual and attentional skills relative to the general population. These superior skills and savant abilities raise important theoretical questions, including whether they develop as compensations for other underdeveloped cognitive mechanisms, and whether one skill is inversely related to another weakness via a common underlying neurocognitive mechanism. We discuss studies of perception and visual processing that show that this inverse hypothesis rarely holds true. Instead, they suggest that enhanced performance is not always accompanied by a complementary deficit and that there are undeniable difficulties in some aspects of perception that are not related to compensating strengths. Our discussion emphasizes the qualitative differences in perceptual processing revealed in these studies between individuals with and without ASCs. We argue that this research is important not only in furthering our understanding of the nature of the qualitative differences in perceptual processing in ASCs, but can also be used to highlight to society at large the exceptional skills and talent that individuals with ASCs are able to contribute in domains such as engineering, computing and mathematics that are highly valued in industry.

Studies of the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis ofFrancisella tularensis, the causative agent of tularemia, have been hampered by a lack of genetic techniques for rapid targeted gene disruption in the most virulent subspecies. Here we describe efficient targeted gene disruption inF. tularensisutilizing mobile group II introns (targetrons) specifically optimized forF. tularensis. Utilizing a targetron targeted toblaB, which encodes ampicillin resistance, we showed that the system works at high efficiency in three different subspecies:F. tularensissubsp.tularensis, F. tularensissubsp.holarctica, and “F. tularensissubsp.novicida.” A targetron was also utilized to inactivateF. tularensissubsp.holarctica iglC, a gene required for virulence. TheiglCgene is located within theFrancisellapathogenicity island (FPI), which has been duplicated in the most virulent subspecies. Importantly, theiglCtargetron targeted both copies simultaneously, resulting in a strain mutated in bothiglCgenes in a single step. This system will help illuminate the contributions of specific genes, and especially those within the FPI, to the pathogenesis of this poorly studied organism.

Early Cretaceous orogenic gold deposits in eastern Asia are globally unique in that large Phanerozoic lode gold deposits occur in Archean-Paleoproterozoic cratons. In the northern Pacific region, ca. 125 Ma orogenic gold deposits in the North China, Yangzte, and Siberian craton margins, as well as in young terranes in California, may ultimately relate to the giant Cretaceous mantle plume in the southern Pacific basin and the relatively rapid tectonic consequences along both continental margins from resulting Pacific plate reconfigurations. In eastern Asia, such consequences include reactivation of and fluid flow along major fault systems, with fluid focusing into simultaneously forming, isolated core complexes of uncertain genesis. Deposition of gold ores in previously devolatilized high-grade Precambrian metamorphic rocks requires an exotic source of ore fluid, most likely subducted Mesozoic oceanic crust and/or overlying sediment. An implication is that Phanerozoic metamorphic core complexes in other destabilized craton margins could host large gold resources.

Previous studies in animals have revealed effects of both prenatal and current testosterone on brain organization and behavior. However, it is unclear how these effects translate to the human brain. Here, we refine previous procedures to clarify the relative contribution of prenatal versus current testosterone indices to cognitive function. Sixty-nine subjects performed four computerized tasks measuring mental rotation, targeting, figure-disembedding and perceptual discrimination. Using stepwise regression analyses, performance was related to free testosterone assayed in saliva samples and to second-to-fourth finger length ratios (2D:4D), a putative index of prenatal testosterone exposure. The exclusive predictor for mental rotation was found to be sex, while 2D:4D was found to be the sole predictor of targeting, exhibiting a curvilinear relation, and figure-disembedding performance, showing a linear relation. These findings suggest a substantial role for prenatal testosterone but not current testosterone in determining cognitive performance.

Several studies have reported that individuals with autism and Asperger's syndrome show a local processing bias on tasks involving features and configurations. This study assessed whether this bias results from differences in the perception of features or a cognitive bias to attend to features in autism as a consequence of a deficit in attending to configurations. Children with autism and typically developing children performed a task assessing the initial perceptual representation of features and configurations following a 50 ms stimulus display and the development of the perceptual representation by grouping processes following an 800 ms stimulus display. No differences were observed between the two groups, suggesting that the perceptual and attentional mechanisms marshalled by this task operate typically in children with autism.

Subitization, the rapid enumeration of small numbers of objects, is often held to reflect a general ability to process three or four items simultaneously. However, questions as to which types of visual representations count as items for subitization have, thus far, received relatively little attention. In several new experiments, we instructed participants to enumerate three or four colored regions in a display. In some trials, all of these regions belonged to separate visual objects, whereas in others, two or more belonged to the same object(s). We found far slower enumeration in the latter case than in the former case, a result that cannot be attributed to Stroop interference from the number of attended objects in a display. We conclude that subitization mechanisms cannot operate on small fragments of shape and color alone, even when such fragments are easily individuated from one another. Rather, such mechanisms are compelled to operate on object representations.

In divided-attention tasks, observers must make speeded (or near threshold accuracy) judgements concerning two target features in a display. Typically, when the two features belong to the same object they are more rapidly judged than when they belong to separate objects, a pattern of findings referred to here as a “same-object benefit”. However, we note here that many of these studies share common features, in particular the use of pre-exposed, outline, and/or overlapping objects, and their findings may not generalize to other types of display. Building substantially on previous work by Davis, Welch, Holmes, and Shepherd (2001), we show in four new studies that once these features are not present in a divided-attention task, no same-object benefits are reported. Rather we now find “same-object costs”, where features belonging to a single object are less rapidly judged than features belonging to separate objects.

Although the human retina can code many object images simultaneously, observers are often aware of only a tiny fraction of this information. These processing limitations of the visual brain have evolved to prioritize particularly relevant features of a scene while ignoring other irrelevant features. However, such selectivity has its drawbacks. In information-rich environments, such as driving a car or landing an aircraft, vision can fail to cope, and accidents can result. Accordingly, much recent research in psychophysics and ergonomics has examined how display characteristics affect our ability to process multiple features of the visual environment simultaneously. The majority of these experiments has found that performance can be optimized by combining several features into one visual 'object'. In contrast, several recent studies from my own laboratory have found the opposite pattern, indicating that information sources can often be more efficiently processed when they belong to separate objects. Indeed, these data suggest that the number of objects has no general effect on our perceptual performance. Instead, I argue for a two-pathway approach to understanding human visual capacities, and suggest that this approach may have important implications for a diverse range of display technologies, including cockpit displays.

Background Women who have hypertension in pregnancy are routinely treated with antihypertensive medication and the recent CHIPS study has recommended tighter blood pressure control, requiring greater use of medication [1]. While the perinatal outcomes of babies after treatment of mild to moderate hypertension in pregnancy with medication are no different [2], the longer term effects on infants are not well described. Aims To compare the physical health and development of the infants at six months after birth of women who were normotensive in pregnancy and: (1) those who had gestational hypertension (GH) or preeclampsia (PE); (2) those requiring antihypertensive medication. Methods Infants are recruited as part of the Postpartum Physiology, Psychology and Paediatric Study (P4 Study) – a longitudinal follow up study of normotensive and hypertensive women and their babies. It is planned to recruit 300 women who were normotensive, 100 who had GH and 100 who had PE and their babies. Women and their babies are assessed at six months, two and five years after birth. Mother-infant bonding is assessed with a validated self-report questionnaire completed by the mother. The infants are examined by a paediatrician and their behavioural development is assessed with an age appropriate Ages and Stages Questionnaire completed by their mother. Results Recruitment began in July 2013 and by the end of 2015, 210 women completed their six month assessments. Of the 210 women assessed, 161 were normotensive in pregnancy and 49 hypertensive (40 PE, 9 GH). As expected, women with hypertension gave birth earlier and had smaller babies. Conclusions References 1. L.A. Magee, P. von Dadelszen, E. Rey, et al., Less-tight versus tight control of hypertension in pregnancy, New Engl. J. Med. 372 (2015) 407–417. 2. E. Abalos, L. Duley, D.W. Steyn, Antihypertensive drug therapy for mild to moderate hypertension during pregnancy, Cochrane Database Syst. Rev. 2 (2014) CD002252.