Nicotine and stimulant medications share similar neurotransmission-related effects in the pre-frontal cortex, but it is unclear if nicotine has a similar benefit on inhibitory control. Impulsivity resulting from deficits in inhibition and sustained attention have been posited as a unifying mechanism of adult ADHD psychopathology. These deficits were quantified in the present study using Go/No-Go task accuracy and intra-individual reaction time variability (RTV). The electro-cortical P3a amplitude indexes inhibitory cognitive processes and sustained attention-related frontal cortex activation in response to infrequent NOGO stimuli. However, little work has characterized the effects of nicotine on P3a or RTV in adult ADHD. Therefore, the effects of the nicotine patch on NOGO P3a amplitude, inhibitory accuracy, and RTV were assessed in non-medicated ADHD adults (12 smokers, 12 never-smokers) in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, repeated-measures design. Nicotine patch, relative to placebo patch, significantly increased NOGO inhibitory accuracy, significantly decreased GO RTV, and significantly increased NOGO P3a peak amplitude at four frontal electrode sites. These results suggest that the nicotine reduces impulsivity in adults with ADHD. The implications of these basic findings to the clinical assessment and treatment of ADHD are discussed. Additional reports at both the basic and clinical levels are needed to confirm and extend these findings.

No description available.

Master of Science / Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering / Kyle R. Douglas-Mankin / Radar-derived P3 data from Next Generation Radar (NEXRAD) of the National Weather Service (NWS) offer higher spatial resolution than precipitation gauge data, which might improve the accuracy of streamflow simulations using watershed models. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of spatially-averaged subwatershed-specific NEXRAD P3 data on streamflow simulations using Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. The SWAT hydrologic model was chosen for this study to simulate the hydrologic processes in North Fork Ninnescah Watershed located in south-central Kansas. A precipitation gauge station for each subwatershed was created using an area-weighted average of NEXRAD P3 precipitation estimates for all HRAP grid cells covering the subwatershed. The SWAT model was calibrated with both NEXRAD P3 data and NCDC precipitation gauge (PG) data from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2008. The P3-calibrated model was validated using PG data for the same simulation period (2002-2008), and vice versa. The PG-calibrated model yielded slightly higher daily Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (E(subscript)NS = 0.40) than P3 calibrated model (ENS = 0.35), but the yearly ENS and PBIAS for P3 calibrated model (ENS = 0.80) was much better than PG-calibrated model (ENS = 0.43). The P3-validated model (PG calibration) had yearly ENS = of 0.70, whereas the PGcalibrated model had ENS = 0.43. The daily PBIAS value for P3-calibrated model in 2007 (wet year) was -14.13 and for the P3-calibrated model was -32.83; PG data overestimated the streamflow compared to P3 data in 2007. The P3 data has better agreement with PG data from 2002-2008 period than for 1996-2001 period. The streamflow estimation was better with NEXRAD P3 precipitation data in both calibration and validation runs. Even though the model was calibrated with PG data, the validated model with P3 data has comparatively high ENS. The spatial variation of streamflow response within the watershed was greater compared to the temporal variation in both the calibrated models. The spatial representation of precipitation data by NEXRAD P3 has improved the modeling performance compared to PG data; it is evident that NEXRAD data is an alternative to precipitation gauge measurements.

I uppsatsen behandlas frågeställningarna: Går det finna ett gemensamt sound hos musiken som spelas i P3? Och hur ser P3:s tablå ut under en vecka? Dessa frågeställningar undersöks för att ge en bild av den musik som spelas i P3 som är Sveriges Radios ungdomskanal. Frågorna undersöks genom att utgå från tidigare forskning i ämnet, information från P3:s hemsida samt genom djupgående analyser av sju låtar från de artister som spelades mest under vecka 46 år 2010. Analyserna utformas utifrån Gunnar Ternhags gehörsbaserade analysmetod. Även Lars Lilliestams gehörsbaserade analysmetoder av rock och blues används. Analyserna presenteras först låt för låt och sedan sammanfattas likheter och skillnader hos musiken som spelas. I den slutgiltiga diskussionen framkommer att det går att finna gemensamma nämnare hos låtarna vilket gör att man skulle kunna klassa dem till vad som skulle kunna kallas ett ”P3-sound”. Hur musiken prioriteras och ges utrymme för olika lyssnargrupper beskrivs också. Det går att se att P3 prioriterar olika typ av musik vid olika tidpunkter under dagen, exempelvis sänder man genre-inriktade program främst på kvällstid, medan andra artister spelas från morgon till kväll, det är de här artisterna som tas upp i studien. Arbetet med studien ses som en del av det större arbetet med att granska public service och dess utformning, samt som en förlängning av Alf Björnbergs studie av radio och TV i public service-fomat, där han går igenom utvecklingen av dessa medier under 25 år.

For a graph G = (V, E), a subset S ⊆ V (G) is an equivalence dominating set if for every vertex v ∈ V (G) \ S, there exist two vertices u, w ∈ S such that the subgraph induced by {u, v, w} is a path. The equivalence domination number is the minimum cardinality of an equivalence dominating set of G, and the upper equivalence domination number is the maximum cardinality of a minimal equivalence dominating set of G. We explore relationships between total domination and equivalence domination. Then we determine the extremal graphs having large equivalence domination numbers.

For a graph G = (V, E), a subset S ⊆ V (G) is an equivalence dominating set if for every vertex v ∈ V (G) \ S, there exist two vertices u, w ∈ S such that the subgraph induced by {u, v, w} is a path. The equivalence domination number is the minimum cardinality of an equivalence dominating set of G, and the upper equivalence domination number is the maximum cardinality of a minimal equivalence dominating set of G. We explore relationships between total domination and equivalence domination. Then we determine the extremal graphs having large equivalence domination numbers.

Abstract available in the American Journal of Pharmacy Education.

No description available.

Shyness is a personality trait that is stable across time and situations in some individuals. While childhood shyness is a risk factor for later mental health and emotional problems, not all shy children grow up to have these problems. This thesis examined subtypes of shyness identified based on the temporal stability of shyness and based on levels of sociability and their corresponding outcomes, as well as the roles of social and biological contextual factors. Chapters 2-4 comprise the empirical studies. In Chapter 2, I report three shyness trajectories from middle childhood to adulthood (ages 8 to 30-35). Relative to a low-stable non-shy trajectory, children with an increasing, but not a decreasing, shy trajectory were at higher risk for clinically significant social anxiety, depression, and substance use, and were hypervigilant to angry faces in adulthood. Chapters 3 and 4 then report electrocortical correlates and mechanisms during the processing of non-social auditory novelty and social exclusion across children, adolescents, and adults with varying levels of shyness and sociability. Chapter 3 established that shyness, but not sociability, was related to the P300 ERP in processing non-social auditory stimuli in both 10-year-old children and adults, in support of the notion that shyness and sociability are independent personality dimensions. Findings on subtypes of shyness also showed that children characterized by conflicted shyness (with high levels of both shyness and sociability) reported higher neuroticism, but this relation was mediated by increased P300 amplitudes to processing background stimuli. Finally, Chapter 4 reports that individuals characterized by conflicted shyness who exhibited high theta EEG spectral power to social exclusion were most fearful of negative evaluation, irrespective of age. Also, conflicted shy adolescents who showed high theta spectral power to social exclusion were most likely to engage in substance-use. These findings highlight that there is much heterogeneity in shyness, and that shyness is not directly related to adverse mental health outcomes. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Shyness is a personality trait that is stable across time and situations in some individuals. Past research suggests that shy children exhibit more internalizing problems, including anxiety and depression, compared to their non-shy counterparts. However, the development of shyness has not been studied beyond adolescence, and the biological and social factors that contribute to adverse developmental pathways and outcomes related to shyness are not well understood. The goal of this thesis was to understand the mental health outcomes of shy individuals by examining different subtypes of shy individuals. To this end, this thesis first demonstrated how shyness unfolds across the first four decades of life to shape adult mental health outcomes in a cohort of individuals. Second, this thesis examined how neural responses to threatening social and non-social contexts related to the socioemotional outcomes across children, adolescents and adults with varying levels of shyness.

The continuous upward pressure of costs is forcing Virginia dairy farmers to adjust their operations in order to meet changing economic conditions, and to maintain acceptable income levels. The individual milk producer has little or no control over the price he receives for his product, whereas he does have considerable control over his costs of production. Efforts to reduce costs often offer the most practical method of improving net income levels. The objectives of this study were to identify those factors that are associated with variation in costs of producing a unit of milk output, and to estimate the individual effects of these variables on costs. Cost and other production data from 39 Grade A dairy farms for a five-year period, 1963-67, were obtained from the V.P.I. Farm Accounts System files. The average sample farm had 48 dairy cows, 2.5 full-time man equivalents of labor, $53,748 average investment, and 238 acres of crop and pasture land. The multiple regression procedure was used to determine the importance of each independent variable used in the study. Both linear and quadratic functions were used. The dependent variable was average total cost of producing a hundredweight of milk, and independent variables were those which were hypothesized to affect average total costs. Eight variables associated with variation in average costs of producing a hundredweight of milk were identified, and the effect of each on costs was estimated. / Master of Science