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This handbook focuses on the development and nurturance of creativity across the lifespan, from early childhood to adolescence, adulthood, and later life. It answers the question: how can we help individuals turn their creative potential into achievement? Each chapter examines various contexts in which creativity exists, including school, workplace, community spaces, and family life. It covers various modalities for fostering creativity such as play, storytelling, explicit training procedures, shifting of attitudes about creative capacity, and many others. The authors review research findings across disciplines, encompassing the work of psychologists, educators, neuroscientists, and creators themselves, to describe the best practices for fostering creativity at each stage of development.
This paper presents a novel GaN-based digital outphasing power amplifier (PA) for the 800 MHz range. The PA reaches a maximum output power of 5.8 W at 30 V final-stage (FS) drain supply voltage. A novel output combiner circuit is used and efficiency is improved by resonant commutation of the FSs and optimized driver circuits for the two GaN push-pull FSs. 3D electromagnetic simulation of output network has been conducted to extract an equivalent circuit model and to access full information in terms of functionality and broadband impedance characteristics for optimized outphasing operation in the final design. Measured total efficiencies (ηtot) of 59 and 25% at 0 and 10 dB power back-off are achieved, respectively, fitting the simulation quite well. The proposed digital outphasing module is a promising candidate for fully digitized base-station architectures in future wireless communications.
Major depression (MDD) presents among other symptoms with cognitive impairment and diurnal fatigue. Residual fatigue in non-remitted patients often shows neuropharmacological treatment resistance. The relationships between cognitive dysfunction, vigilance, fatigue and affective symptom intensity is poorly described in treatment-resistant MDD (TRD).
Methods
During a prospective study protocol, 17 in-patients hospitalized for TRD were compared to a healthy control group (n=17). Patients were under SNRI or SSRI and free from diurnal benzodiazepines. All subjects underwent structured psychometry (HAMD, HAD), cognitive assessment and vigilance measurements (behavioral sleep résistance task, BSRT; psychomotor vigilance test, PVT; Auditory Verbal Learning, AVLT; trail making test, TMT). Subjective fatigue and sleepiness were assessed by the Fatigue Severity and the Epworth Sleepiness Scales respectively. All measures have been performed at two time points (T1 and T2) with a 10-day interval.
Results
T1 and T2 showed higher fatigue and sleepiness in MDD (p< 0.05). With exception for the BSRT, between group comparisons showed significant differences for all variables.Comparison for repeated measures (T1 and T2) showed improvement in depressive symptom intensity (HAMD, p< 0.0005) but cognitive and psychomotor performances only improved for the TMT (TMT-B, p=.001).
Conclusions
TRD presents here with psychomotor slowing, with impaired mental flexibility (executive function) and declarative memory dysfunction. Interestingly, despite subjective complaints (ESS), objective sleepiness (BSRT) had not been revealed. Furthermore affective symptom improvement was not associated to an increase in declarative memory or psychomotor performances.
Associations between smell identification deficits (SID) and impairments in basic cognitive domains have been shown in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders.
Objectives
We analyzed social and basic cognitive deficits and SID.
Aims
To assess differences in affective decision making tasks in patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, their 1st degree relatives and healthy controls. Methods: We examined 51 patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (49% female, age 33.1 years, SD 11), 21 first-degree relatives (61.9% female, age 49.5 years, SD 17.6, one affected, others non-affected) and 51 matched healthy controls (49% female, age 33 years, SD 12.1). Psychopathology was evaluated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Subjects were administered the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT), the Facially Expressed Emotion Labelling (FEEL) test, the spatial span subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) and the Mehrfachwahl-Wortschatz Test (MWT-B).
Results
Patients, controls and 1st degree relatives differed in age (p = 0.000), WMS-R (p = 0.000) and FEEL scores (p = 0.007). In healthy controls, patients and 1st degree relatives FEEL correlated with age (p = 0.005, p = 0.003, p = 0.004, respectively). In patients FEEL also correlated with MWT-B (p = 0.000), UPSIT (p = 0.000) and PANSS negative scores (p = 0.016); furthermore, UPSIT correlated with MWT-B (p = 0.001). In 1st degree relatives age correlated with WMS-R (p = 0.04) and FEEL (p = 0.004), both of which inter-correlated (p = 0.006).
Conclusion
We found that SID, basic and social cognition, i.e. affective decision-making processes, inter-correlate in patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and are partly under the influence of negative symptoms. Some of these relationships can also be seen in 1st degree relatives of patients.
Several lines of evidence suggest that children born via Cesarean section (C-section) are at greater risk for adverse health outcomes including allergies, asthma and obesity. Vaginal seeding is a medical procedure in which infants born by C-section are swabbed immediately after birth with vaginal secretions from the mother. This procedure has been proposed as a way to transfer the mother's vaginal microbiome to the child, thereby restoring the natural exposure that occurs during vaginal birth that is interrupted in the case of babies born via C-section. Preliminary evidence indicates partial restoration of microbes. However, there is insufficient evidence to determine the health benefits of the procedure. Several studies, including trial, are currently underway. At the same time, in the clinic setting, doctors are increasingly being asked to by expectant mothers to have their babies seeded. This article reports on the current research on this procedure and the issues it raises for regulators, researchers, physicians, and patients.
Identifying options for the sustainable intensification of cropping systems in southern Africa under prevailing high climate risk is needed. With this in mind, we tested an intercropping system that combined the staple crop maize with lablab, a local but underutilised legume. Grain and biomass productivity was determined for four variants (i) sole maize (sole-maize), (ii) sole lablab (sole-lablab), (iii) maize/lablab with both crops sown simultaneously (intercropped-SP) and (iv) maize/lablab with lablab sown 28 days after the maize crop (intercropped-DP). Soil water and weather data were monitored and evaluated. The trial was conducted for two seasons (2015/2016 and 2016/2017) at two sites in the Limpopo Province, South Africa: Univen (847 mm rainfall, 29.2 °C maximum and 18.9 °C minimum temperature average for the cropping season over the years 2008–2017) and Syferkuil (491 mm rainfall, with 27.0 °C maximum and 14.8 °C minimum temperature). Analysis revealed three key results: The treatment with intercropped-SP had significantly lower maize yields (2320 kg ha−1) compared with maize in intercropped-DP (2865 kg ha−1) or sole-maize (2623 kg ha−1). As expected, maize yields in the El Niño affected in season 2015/2016 were on average 1688 kg ha−1 lower than in 2016/2017. Maize yields were significantly lower (957 kg ha−1) at Univen, the warmer site with higher rainfall, than at Syferkuil. In 2015/2016, maximum temperature at Univen exceeded 40 °C around anthesis. Furthermore, soil water was close to the estimated permanent wilting point (PWP) for most of the cropping season, which indicates possible water limitations. In Syferkuil, the soil water was maintained well above PWP. Lablab yields were low, around 500 ha−1, but stable as they were not affected by treatment across season and site. Overall, the study demonstrated that intercropped-DP appears to use available soil water more efficiently than sole maize. Intercropped-DP could therefore be considered as an option for sustainable intensification under high climate risk and resource-limited conditions for smallholders in southern Africa.
Older people have a higher risk of drug-related problems (DRPs). However, little is known about the prevalence of DRPs in community-dwelling people who screened positive for dementia. Our study aimed to determine (1) the prevalence and types of DRPs and (2) the socio-demographic and clinical variables associated with DRPs in people screened positive for dementia in primary care.
Methods:
The Dementia: life- and person-centered help in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (DelpHi-MV) study is a general practitioner (GP)-based cluster-randomized controlled intervention study to implement and evaluate an innovative concept of collaborative dementia care management in the primary care setting in Germany. Medication reviews of 446 study participants were conducted by pharmacists based on a comprehensive baseline assessment that included a computer-based home medication assessment. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01401582.
Results:
A total of 1,077 DRPs were documented. In 414 study participants (93%), at least one DRP was detected by a pharmacist. The most frequent DRPs were administration and compliance problems (60%), drug interactions (17%), and problems with inappropriate drug choice (15%). The number of DRPs was significantly associated with the total number of drugs taken and with a formal diagnosis of a mental or behavioral disorder.
Conclusions:
Degree of cognitive impairment (MMSE defined) and formal diagnosis of dementia were not risk factors for an increased number of DRPs. However, the total number of drug taken and the presence of a diagnosis of mental and behavioral disorders were associated with an increased total number of DRPs.
Strategies for the involvement of primary care in the management of patients with presumed or diagnosed dementia are heterogeneous across Europe. We wanted to explore attitudes of primary care physicians (PCPs) when managing dementia: (i) the most popular cognitive tests, (ii) who had the right to initiate or continue cholinesterase inhibitor or memantine treatment, and (iii) the relationship between the permissiveness of these rules/guidelines and PCP's approach in the dementia investigations and assessment.
Methods:
Key informant survey. Setting: Primary care practices across 25 European countries. Subjects: Four hundred forty-five PCPs responded to a self-administered questionnaire. Two-step cluster analysis was performed using characteristics of the informants and the responses to the survey. Main outcome measures: Two by two contingency tables with odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were used to assess the association between categorical variables. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to assess the association of multiple variables (age class, gender, and perceived prescription rules) with the PCPs’ attitude of “trying to establish a diagnosis of dementia on their own.”
Results:
Discrepancies between rules/guidelines and attitudes to dementia management was found in many countries. There was a strong association between the authorization to prescribe dementia drugs and pursuing dementia diagnostic work-up (odds ratio, 3.45; 95% CI 2.28–5.23).
Conclusions:
Differing regulations about who does what in dementia management seemed to affect PCP's engagement in dementia investigations and assessment. PCPs who were allowed to prescribe dementia drugs also claimed higher engagement in dementia work-up than PCPs who were not allowed to prescribe.
Introduction: Point of care ultrasound has become an established tool in the initial management of patients with undifferentiated hypotension. Current established protocols (RUSH, ACES, etc) were developed by expert user opinion, rather than objective, prospective data. We wished to use reported disease incidence to develop an informed approach to PoCUS in hypotension using a “4 F’s” approach: Fluid; Form; Function; Filling. Methods: We summarized the incidence of PoCUS findings from an international multicentre RCT, and using a modified Delphi approach incorporating this data we obtained the input of 24 international experts associated with five professional organizations led by the International Federation of Emergency Medicine. The modified Delphi tool was developed to reach an international consensus on how to integrate PoCUS for hypotensive emergency department patients. Results: Rates of abnormal PoCUS findings from 151 patients with undifferentiated hypotension included left ventricular dynamic changes (43%), IVC abnormalities (27%), pericardial effusion (16%), and pleural fluid (8%). Abdominal pathology was rare (fluid 5%, AAA 2%). After two rounds of the survey, using majority consensus, agreement was reached on a SHoC-hypotension protocol comprising: A. Core: 1. Cardiac views (Sub-xiphoid and parasternal windows for pericardial fluid, cardiac form and ventricular function); 2. Lung views for pleural fluid and B-lines for filling status; and 3. IVC views for filling status; B. Supplementary: Additional cardiac views; and C. Additional views (when indicated) including peritoneal fluid, aorta, pelvic for IUP, and proximal leg veins for DVT. Conclusion: An international consensus process based on prospectively collected disease incidence has led to a proposed SHoC-hypotension PoCUS protocol comprising a stepwise clinical-indication based approach of Core, Supplementary and Additional PoCUS views.
Introduction: Point of care ultrasound (PoCUS) provides invaluable information during resuscitation efforts in cardiac arrest by determining presence/absence of cardiac activity and identifying reversible causes such as pericardial tamponade. There is no agreed guideline on how to safely and effectively incorporate PoCUS into the advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) algorithm. We consider that a consensus-based priority checklist using a “4 F’s” approach (Fluid; Form; Function; Filling), would provide a better algorithm during ACLS. Methods: The ultrasound subcommittee of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) drafted a checklist incorporating PoCUS into the ACLS algorithm. This was further developed using the input of 24 international experts associated with five professional organizations led by the International Federation of Emergency Medicine. A modified Delphi tool was developed to reach an international consensus on how to integrate ultrasound into cardiac arrest algorithms for emergency department patients. Results: Consensus was reached following 3 rounds. The agreed protocol focuses on the timing of PoCUS as well as the specific clinical questions. Core cardiac windows performed during the rhythm check pause in chest compressions are the sub-xiphoid and parasternal cardiac views. Either view should be used to detect pericardial fluid, as well as examining ventricular form (e.g. right heart strain) and function, (e.g. asystole versus organized cardiac activity). Supplementary views include lung views (for absent lung sliding in pneumothorax and for pleural fluid), and IVC views for filling. Additional ultrasound applications are for endotracheal tube confirmation, proximal leg veins for DVT, or for sources of blood loss (AAA, peritoneal/pelvic fluid). Conclusion: The authors hope that this process will lead to a consensus-based SHoC-cardiac arrest guideline on incorporating PoCUS into the ACLS algorithm.
Superconductivity and magnetism at intermediate (“mesoscopic”) length scales between atomic and bulk have a long history of interesting science. New science emerges due to the presence of multiple length scales, especially when these become comparable to relevant geometric sizes. New phenomena may appear due to topological interactions, geometric confinement, proximity between dissimilar materials, dimensional crossover, and collective effects induced by periodicity. In this review, we select a few, recent highlights that illustrate the type of novel science that can be accomplished in superconducting and magnetic structures. These materials can serve as model systems and provide new ideas, which can be extended to other systems such as ferroelectrics and multiferroics. We also highlight general open questions and new directions in which the field may move.
In this study, a video-based infrared camera (IRC) was investigated as a tool to monitor the body temperature of calves. Body surface temperatures were measured contactless using videos from an IRC fixed at a certain location in the calf feeder. The body surface temperatures were analysed retrospectively at three larger areas: the head area (in front of the forehead), the body area (behind forehead) and the area of the entire animal. The rectal temperature served as a reference temperature and was measured with a digital thermometer at the corresponding time point. A total of nine calves (Holstein-Friesians, 8 to 35 weeks old) were examined. The average maximum temperatures of the area of the entire animal (mean±SD: 37.66±0.90°C) and the head area (37.64±0.86°C) were always higher than that of the body area (36.75±1.06°C). The temperatures of the head area and of the entire animal were very similar. However, the maximum temperatures as measured using IRC increased with an increase in calf rectal temperature. The maximum temperatures of each video picture for the entire visible body area of the calves appeared to be sufficient to measure the superficial body temperature. The advantage of the video-based IRC over conventional IR single-picture cameras is that more than one picture per animal can be analysed in a short period of time. This technique provides more data for analysis. Thus, this system shows potential as an indicator for continuous temperature measurements in calves.
There is an urgent need to understand how climate change, including sea-level rise, is likely to threaten biodiversity and cause secondary effects, such as agro-ecosystem alteration and human displacement. The consequences of climate change, and the resulting sea-level rise within the Forests of East Australia biodiversity hotspot, were modelled and assessed for the 2070–2099 period. Climate change effects were predicted to affect c. 100000 km2, and a rise in sea level an area of 860 km2; this could potentially lead to the displacement of 20600 inhabitants. The two threats were projected to mainly affect natural and agricultural areas. The greatest conservation benefits would be obtained by either maintaining or increasing the conservation status of areas in the northern (Wet Tropics) or southern (Sydney Basin) extremities of the hotspot, as they constitute about half of the area predicted to be affected by climate change, and both areas harbour high species richness. Increasing the connectivity of protected areas for Wet Tropics and Sydney Basin species to enable them to move into new habitat areas is also important. This study provides a basis for future research on the effects on local biodiversity and agriculture.
Ecological restoration of trees is often constrained by limited knowledge of the biology, propagation and management requirements of individual species. Consequently, restoration initiatives rarely incorporate less well-known species or those that are difficult to source and grow. We describe challenges associated with the restoration of threatened trees in the Araucaria Forest of southern Brazil, and analyse the effectiveness of methods used to define target species, identify seed sources and generate information on the phenology of rare or threatened tree species. A review of secondary data identified 71 rare or threatened taxa as targets for seed collection. We then surveyed 68.7 km of trails in 26 forest remnants, identifying and mapping 1,027 seed-producing trees of 38 species. Surveys confirmed the scarcity of several tree species (including seven species with an abundance of <0.04 individuals per km), and nine species showed no signs of fruiting during 3 years of phenological monitoring. These findings, together with limited knowledge and application of optimal seed collection methods, are significant factors impeding the recovery of these species within their natural habitat. Wider application of the results of this case study could support restoration of the Araucaria Forest with seedlings from a wider diversity of species.
In Germany, active bat rabies surveillance was conducted between 1993 and 2012. A total of 4546 oropharyngeal swab samples from 18 bat species were screened for the presence of EBLV-1- , EBLV-2- and BBLV-specific RNA. Overall, 0·15% of oropharyngeal swab samples tested EBLV-1 positive, with the majority originating from Eptesicus serotinus. Interestingly, out of seven RT–PCR-positive oropharyngeal swabs subjected to virus isolation, viable virus was isolated from a single serotine bat (E. serotinus). Additionally, about 1226 blood samples were tested serologically, and varying virus neutralizing antibody titres were found in at least eight different bat species. The detection of viral RNA and seroconversion in repeatedly sampled serotine bats indicates long-term circulation of the virus in a particular bat colony. The limitations of random-based active bat rabies surveillance over passive bat rabies surveillance and its possible application of targeted approaches for future research activities on bat lyssavirus dynamics and maintenance are discussed.