Digitizing UK analogue magnetogram records from large geomagnetic storms of the past two centuries.

Continuous geomagnetic records of the strength and direction of the Earth's field at the surface extend back to the 1840s. Over the past two centuries, eight observatories have existed in the United Kingdom, which measured the daily field variations using light-sensitive photographic paper to produce analogue magnetograms. Around 350,000 magnetograms have been digitally photographed at high resolution. However, converting the traces to digital values is difficult and time consuming as the magnetograms can have over-lapping lines, low quality recordings and obscure metadata for conversion to SI units. We discuss our approach to digitizing the traces from large geomagnetic storms and highlight some of the issues to be aware of when capturing magnetic information from analogue measurements. These include cross-checking the final digitized values with the recorded hourly mean values from observatory year books and comparing several observatory records for the same storm to catch errors such as sign inversions or incorrect 'wrap-around' of data on the paper records.

Challenges in diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia.

Two 68-year-old men presented to the behavioral neurology clinic with memory complaints. The clinical picture was complicated by bilingualism and psychiatric comorbidities. Based on a combination of cognitive and language testing, 5-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, both cases were initially diagnosed as having mild cognitive impairment (MCI). At follow-up, however, both cases' language profiles and neuroimaging had evolved to clearly indicate primary progressive aphasia (PPA) as the underlying condition rather than MCI. These cases underscore the importance of careful observation of clinical and neuroimaging data over time to reach an accurate diagnosis.

Resource limitation drives spatial organization in microbial groups.

Dense microbial groups such as bacterial biofilms commonly contain a diversity of cell types that define their functioning. However, we have a limited understanding of what maintains, or purges, this diversity. Theory suggests that resource levels are key to understanding diversity and the spatial arrangement of genotypes in microbial groups, but we need empirical tests. Here we use theory and experiments to study the effects of nutrient level on spatio-genetic structuring and diversity in bacterial colonies. Well-fed colonies maintain larger well-mixed areas, but they also expand more rapidly compared with poorly-fed ones. Given enough space to expand, therefore, well-fed colonies lose diversity and separate in space over a similar timescale to poorly fed ones. In sum, as long as there is some degree of nutrient limitation, we observe the emergence of structured communities. We conclude that resource-driven structuring is central to understanding both pattern and process in diverse microbial communities.

Origins of evolutionary transitions.

An 'evolutionary transition in individuality' or 'major transition' is a transformation in the hierarchical level at which natural selection operates on a population. In this article I give an abstract (i.e. level-neutral and substrate-neutral) articulation of the transition process in order to precisely understand how such processes can happen, especially how they can get started.

Neurocognitive enhancement in older adults: comparison of three cognitive training tasks to test a hypothesis of training transfer in brain connectivity.

The ultimate goal of cognitive enhancement as an intervention for age-related cognitive decline is transfer to everyday cognitive functioning. Development of training methods that transfer broadly to untrained cognitive tasks (far transfer) requires understanding of the neural bases of training and far transfer effects. We used cognitive training to test the hypothesis that far transfer is associated with altered attentional control demands mediated by the dorsal attention network and trained sensory cortex. In an exploratory study, we randomly assigned 42 healthy older adults to six weeks of training on Brain Fitness (BF-auditory perception), Space Fortress (SF-visuomotor/working memory), or Rise of Nations (RON-strategic reasoning). Before and after training, cognitive performance, diffusion-derived white matter integrity, and functional connectivity of the superior parietal cortex (SPC) were assessed. We found the strongest effects from BF training, which transferred to everyday problem solving and reasoning and selectively changed integrity of occipito-temporal white matter associated with improvement on untrained everyday problem solving. These results show that cognitive gain from auditory perception training depends on heightened white matter integrity in the ventral attention network. In BF and SF (which also transferred positively), a decrease in functional connectivity between SPC and inferior temporal lobe (ITL) was observed compared to RON-which did not transfer to untrained cognitive function. These findings highlight the importance for cognitive training of top-down control of sensory processing by the dorsal attention network. Altered brain connectivity - observed in the two training tasks that showed far transfer effects - may be a marker for training success.

Oxytocin receptor genetic variation promotes human trust behavior.

Given that human trust behavior is heritable and intranasal administration of oxytocin enhances trust, the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene is an excellent candidate to investigate genetic contributions to individual variations in trust behavior. Although a single-nucleotide polymorphism involving an adenine (A)/guanine (G) transition (rs53576) has been associated with socio-emotional phenotypes, its link to trust behavior is unclear. We combined genotyping of healthy male students (n = 108) with the administration of a trust game experiment. Our results show that a common occurring genetic variation (rs53576) in the OXTR gene is reliably associated with trust behavior rather than a general increase in trustworthy or risk behaviors. Individuals homozygous for the G allele (GG) showed higher trust behavior than individuals with A allele carriers (AA/AG). Although the molecular functionality of this polymorphism is still unknown, future research should clarify how the OXTR gene interacts with other genes and the environment in promoting socio-emotional behaviors.

Detecting threat-related intentional actions of others: effects of image quality, response mode, and target cuing on vigilance.

Three experiments examined the vigilance performance of participants watching videos depicting intentional actions of an individual's hand reaching for and grasping an object--involving transporting or using either a gun or a hairdryer--in order to detect infrequent threat-related actions. Participants indicated detection of target actions either manually or by withholding response. They also rated their subjective mental workload before and after each vigilance task. Irrespective of response mode, the detection rate of intentional threats declined over time on task and subjective workload increased, but only under visually degraded viewing conditions. This vigilance decrement was attenuated by temporal cues that were 75% valid in predicting a subsequent target action and eliminated with 100% valid cues. The findings indicate that detection of biological motion targets, and threat-related intentional actions in particular, although not attention sensitive under normal viewing conditions, is subject to vigilance decrement under degraded viewing conditions. The results are compatible with the view that the decrement in detecting threat-related intentional actions reflects increasing failure of attention allocation processes over time.

Anarchy, socialism and a Darwinian left.

In A Darwinian left Peter Singer aims to reconcile Darwinian theory with left wing politics, using evolutionary game theory and in particular a model proposed by Robert Axelrod, which shows that cooperation can be an evolutionarily successful strategy. In this paper I will show that whilst Axelrod's model can give support to a kind of left wing politics, it is not the kind that Singer himself envisages. In fact, it is shown that there are insurmountable problems for the idea of increasing Axelrodian cooperation within a welfare state. My surprising conclusion will be that a Darwinian left worthy of the name would be anarchistic.

A content analysis of forms, guidelines, and other materials documenting end-of-life care in intensive care units.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which data entry forms, guidelines, and other materials used for documentation in intensive care units (ICUs) attend to 6 key end-of-life care (EOLC) domains: 1) patient and family-centered decision making, 2) communication, 3) continuity of care, 4) emotional and practical support, 5) symptom management and comfort care, and 6) spiritual support. A second purpose was to determine how these materials might be modified to include more EOLC content and used to trigger clinical behaviors that might improve the quality of EOLC. PARTICIPANTS: Fifteen adult ICUs-8 medical, 2 surgical, and 4 mixed ICUs from the United States, and 1 mixed ICU in Canada, all affiliated with the Critical Care End-of-Life Peer Workgroup METHODS: Physician-nurse teams in each ICU received detailed checklists to facilitate and standardize collection of requested documentation materials. Content analysis was performed on the collected documents, aimed at characterizing the types of materials in use and the extent to which EOLC content was incorporated. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The domain of symptom management and comfort care was integrated most consistently on forms and other materials across the 15 ICUs, particularly pain assessment and management. The 5 other EOLC domains of patient and family centered decision-making, communication, emotional and practical support, continuity of care, and spiritual support were not well-represented on documentation. None of the 15 ICUs supplied a comprehensive EOLC policy or EOLC critical pathway that outlined an overall, interdisciplinary, sequenced approach for the care of dying patients and their families. Nursing materials included more cues for attending to EOLC domains and were more consistently preprinted and computerized than materials used by physicians. Computerized forms concerning EOLC were uncommon. Across the 15 ICUs, there were opportunities to make EOLC- related materials more capable of triggering and documenting specific EOLC clinical behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Inclusion of EOLC items on ICU formatted data entry forms and other materials capable of triggering and documenting clinician behaviors is limited, particularly for physicians. Standardized scales, protocols, and guidelines exist for many of the EOLC domains and should be evaluated for possible use in ICUs. Whether such materials can improve EOLC has yet to be determined.

Quality indicators for end-of-life care in the intensive care unit.

OBJECTIVE: The primary goal of this study was to address the documented deficiencies in end-of-life care (EOLC) in intensive care unit settings by identifying key EOLC domains and related quality indicators for use in the intensive care unit through a consensus process. A second goal was to propose specific clinician and organizational behaviors and interventions that might be used to improve these EOLC quality indicators. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were the 36 members of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Critical Care End-of-Life Peer Workgroup and 15 nurse-physician teams from 15 intensive care units affiliated with the work group members. Fourteen adult medical, surgical, and mixed intensive care units from 13 states and the District of Columbia in the United States and one mixed intensive care unit in Canada were represented. METHODS: An in-depth literature review was conducted to identify articles that assessed the domains of quality of EOLC in the intensive care unit and general health care. Consensus regarding the key EOLC domains in the intensive care unit and quality performance indicators within each domain was established based on the review of the literature and an iterative process involving the authors and members of the RWJF Critical Care End-of-Life Peer Workgroup. Specific clinician and organizational behaviors and interventions to address the proposed EOLC quality indicators within the domains were identified through a collaborative process with the nurse-physician teams in 15 intensive care units. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Seven EOLC domains were identified for use in the intensive care unit: a) patient- and family-centered decision making; b) communication; c) continuity of care; d) emotional and practical support; e) symptom management and comfort care; f) spiritual support; and g) emotional and organizational support for intensive care unit clinicians. Fifty-three EOLC quality indicators within the seven domains were proposed. More than 100 examples of clinician and organizational behaviors and interventions that could address the EOLC quality indicators in the intensive care unit setting were identified. CONCLUSIONS: These EOLC domains and the associated quality indicators, developed through a consensus process, provide clinicians and researchers with a framework for understanding quality of EOLC in the intensive care unit. Once validated, these indicators might be used to improve the quality of EOLC by serving as the components of an internal or external audit evaluating EOLC continuous quality improvement efforts in intensive care unit settings.