Morning Session Research Articles

A Twilight Search for Atiras, Vatiras, and Co-orbital Asteroids: Preliminary Results

Abstract Near-Earth objects (NEOs) that orbit the Sun on or within Earth’s orbit are tricky to detect for Earth-based observers due to their proximity to the Sun in the sky. These small bodies hold clues to the dynamical history of the inner solar system as well as the physical evolution of planetesimals in extreme environments. Populations in this region include the Atira and Vatira asteroids, as well as Venus and Earth co-orbital asteroids. Here we present a twilight search for these small bodies, conducted using the 1.2 m Oschin Schmidt and the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) camera at Palomar Observatory. The ZTF twilight survey operates at solar elongations down to 35° with a limiting magnitude of r = 19.5. During a total of 40 evening sessions and 62 morning sessions conducted between 2018 November 15 and 2019 June 23, we detected six Atiras, including two new discoveries, 2019 AQ3 and 2019 LF6, but no Vatiras or Earth/Venus co-orbital asteroids. NEO population models show that these new discoveries are likely only the tip of the iceberg, with the bulk of the population yet to be found. The population models also suggest that we have only detected 5%–7% of the H < 20 Atira population over the seven month survey. Co-orbital asteroids are smaller in diameter and require deeper surveys. A systematic and efficient survey of the near-Sun region will require deeper searches and/or facilities that can operate at small solar elongations.

Effects of Genotype and Oviposition Time on Egg Quality Traits of Commercial Laying Birds

This study aimed at investigating the effects of strain of layers and oviposition time on external and internal egg quality traits. The strains of layers used for this study are Isa Brown (IB), Bovan Nera (BN) and Dominant Black (DB). The time of oviposition investigated are 8-10am, 10-12noon, 12-2pm and 2-4pm. Freshly laid eggs were collected from the different strains during the aforementioned periods, and were taken to the laboratory for both external and internal egg quality analysis. Analyzed results showed that egg weight was not significantly (P>0.05) affected by strain. The three strains recorded similar mean values. Similar results were reported for other traits except egg length and shell thickness where significant differences were reported among the strains. BN and IB were superior to DB in terms of shell thickness. With regard to internal egg quality traits, significant (P<0.01) differences among strains were reported only for yolk weight and albumen width. Pertaining to oviposition effect, almost all the traits were significantly influenced by oviposition time. Both external and internal egg quality traits had superior (P<0.01) and higher mean values during morning than afternoon or evening collection. This might be due to very low temperature prevailing in the former and which encouraged the birds to eat more resulting to bigger egg size and higher egg compositions. Haugh unit in this study was not significantly affected by strain and oviposition time. It is suggested than management practices in laying farm such as lighting and feeding pattern be focussed on having more eggs laid in the morning session than afternoon or evening session.

Exploring the Attendance and Potential Benefits of Reducing Sitting Time for Residents in a Canadian Long-Term Care Setting: A Pilot Study.

Background: This study aimed to assess the attendance to a novel intervention aiming to reduce sitting time in a long-term care facility and exploring the potential functional benefits. Methods: The intervention consisted of research staff visiting a resident to promote standing for 10-minute sessions, three times per day (morning, afternoon and evening), 4 days per week (Monday-Wednesday-Friday and Sunday) over 10 weeks. The main outcome was attendance. Functional outcomes included walking speed, power, and strength. Results: A total of 28 participants agree to participate and 24 completed the trial. The average attendance averaged four sessions per week and averaged 45 minutes of standing weekly out of 120 minutes offered. Attendance was highest during the morning session (p = .02) and weekdays (p < .01). There was a significant improvement in the 30-second chair stand test (p < .05). Conclusion: Although well accepted, the attendance was low. Based on the information gathered suggestions can be made to improve the intervention, attendance, and potential benefits of such intervention.

Temporal specificity of latent inhibition in rats with daily water restriction prior to taste conditioning

Temporal specificity of latent inhibition of conditioned taste aversion (CTA) has been demonstrated after prolonged habituation to temporal contexts in the stages preceding conditioning, and it has been eliminated by restricting consumption during conditioning. However, it is not known if latent inhibition of CTA is still dependent on the temporal context when fluid consumption is limited in the stages prior to conditioning. We tested temporal specificity of latent inhibition in rats with (different time of day for the conditioning stage) and without (same time of day for pre-exposure and conditioning stages) temporal changes on the conditioning day. All animals had limited access to water in the morning sessions of the stages prior to the conditioning day and 15 min of free access to fluid in the evening sessions of these stages. Compared to animals without temporal changes between stages, animals with a different temporal context during conditioning did not show evidence of latent inhibition. Unlike the effects observed after taste stimulus restrictions during conditioning, these results suggest that the temporal specificity of latent inhibition of CTA is not abolished when access to water is limited in the stages preceding conditioning.

Effect of chronotype on rating of perceived exertion in active young people

The study aimed to evaluate the effect of chronotype on aerobic performance, heart rate (HR) and Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE). The Morningness–Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) was administered to determine the chronotype’s students of the School of Exercise Sciences, University of Milan. To investigate the effect of chronotype on aerobic performance, HR and RPE, 22 participants (11 M-types, 11 E-types) performed the Cooper test at 9:00 a.m. and at 5:00 p.m. Before and after the Cooper test, the RPE was detected using the Borg Scale CR 0–10. The two-way ANOVA showed an interaction between chronotype, time span and RPE. Specifically, M-types perceived less effort in the morning compared to the afternoon session (p < 0.05), both before (CR-10: 1.1 ± 0.8 vs 2.5 ± 1.3) and after exercise (CR-10: 7.4 ± 1 vs 8.6 ± 1). E-types felt more fatigued in the morning than in the afternoon session (p < 0.05), both before (CR-10: 2.4 ± 1.4 vs 1.1 ± 1.1) and after exercise (CR-10: 8.4 ± 0.6 vs 7.5 ± 0.7). Moreover, in the morning session, E-types had a greater perception of the effort (CR-10: 2.4 ± 1.4 vs 8.4 ± 0.6) than M-types (CR-10: 1.1 ± 0.8 vs 7.4 ± 1). Instead, in the afternoon session, M-types showed higher RPE values (CR-10: 2.5 ± 1.3 vs 8.6 ± 1) than E-types (CR-10: 1.1 ± 1.1 vs 7.5 ± 0.7). Cooper Test and HR results did not show statistically significant differences. On the other hand, no interaction was found between chronotype, day time and performance or HR. M-types perceive higher effort in the afternoon session; by contrast, E-types show an opposite trend and are more fatigued in the morning session. These findings may be useful to the coach to plane tailored training programs.

A Delayed Advantage: Multi-Session Training at Evening Hours Leads to Better Long-Term Retention of Motor Skill in the Elderly.

The acquisition and retention of motor skills is necessary for everyday functioning in the elderly and may be critical in the context of motor rehabilitation. Recent studies indicate that motor training closely followed by sleep may result in better engagement of procedural (“how to”) memory consolidation processes in the elderly. Nevertheless, elderly individuals are mostly morning oriented and a common practice is to time rehabilitation programs to morning hours. Here, we tested whether the time-of-day wherein training is afforded (morning, 8–10:30 a.m., or evening, 6–9 p.m.) affects the long-term outcome of a multi-session motor practice program (10 sessions across 3–4 weeks) in healthy elderly participants. Twenty-nine (15 women) older adults (60–75 years) practiced an explicitly instructed five-element key-press sequence by repeatedly generating the sequence “as fast and accurately as possible.” The groups did not differ in terms of sleep habits and quality (1-week long actigraphy); all were morning-oriented individuals. All participants gained robustly from the intervention, shortening sequence tapping duration and retaining the gains (> 90%) at 1-month post-intervention, irrespective of the time-of-day of training. However, retesting at 7-months post-intervention showed that the attrition of the training induced gains was more pronounced in the morning trained group compared to the evening group (76 and 56.5% loss in sequence tapping time; 7/14 and 3/14 participants showed a > 5% decline in accuracy relative to end of training, respectively). Altogether, the results show that morning-oriented older adults effectively acquired skill in the performance of a sequence of finger movements, in both morning and evening practice sessions. However, evening training leads to a significant advantage, over morning training, in the long-term retention of the skill. Evening training should be considered an appropriate time window for motor skill learning in older adults, even in individuals with morning chronotype. The results are in line with the notion that motor training preceding a sleep interval may be better consolidated into long-term memory in the elderly, and thus result in lower forgetting rates.

BSR 2019 Annual Meeting: Program

For the Belgian Society of Radiology (BSR) 2019 Annual Meeting, the sections on Abdominal Imaging and Leadership, Management and Quality (LMQ) and the Young Radiologist Section (YRS) joined forces to organize parallel morning sessions on pelvic imaging and LMQ. The afternoon program kicks off with a message from the BSR president followed by a session on radiation protection and a short quiz provided by the YRS.

A comparison of temperament and character among psychiatry, internal medicine, and surgery residents at Iran University of Medical Sciences in the academic year 2013-2014.

Background: This study was conducted to compare temperament and character among psychiatry residents, internal medicine, and surgery residents in hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences in the academic year 2013–2014. Methods: This cross sectional analytical study was conducted on 201 residents using the non-probability method of convenience sampling. Cloninger’s 125-item Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and Maslach’s Burnout Inventory (MBI) were distributed among all the residents in their morning session. Once the questionnaires were completed and submitted, the data were analyzed in SPSS 16. The frequency of different personality traits was analyzed among the selected residents. Results: A total of 49.8% of the respondents were female (n=100) and 50.2% were male (n=101). The results of data analysis showed more novelty seeking, reward dependence, and harm avoidance and less persistence (33.93, p=0.006; 9.00, p=0.056; 32.55, p=0.021; and 2.48, p=0.028, respectively) in psychiatry residents than in surgery residents (31.97, 7.87, 30.74, and 3.12 respectively). Reward dependence was more frequent in internal medicine residents than in surgery residents (9.44 and 7.87 respectively, p=0.002). The self-directedness score was lower in psychiatry residents than in internal medicine residents (p=0.761) and higher than in surgery residents (17.96, 18.30, and 17.57 respectively, p=0.824). The cooperativeness and self-transcendence scores were higher in psychiatry residents than in internal medicine (p=0.943, p=0.199, respectively) and surgery residents (p=0.105, p=0.069 respectively). Conclusion: The different dimensions of personality varied between the surgery, internal medicine, and psychiatry residents. Particularly, this study did not show statistically significant differences in dimensions of character (cooperativeness, self-directedness, and self-transcendence) among surgery, internal medicine, and psychiatry residents. The selection of medical specialties based on character traits significantly contributes to more effective treatment of patients and higher satisfaction of the residents.

Training Schedule and Sleep in Adolescent Swimmers.

Insufficient sleep duration may affect athletic performance and health. Inconsistent sleep pattern also has negative health effects, but studies on athletes' intraindividual sleep variability are scarce. The aim of this research was to compare total sleep time (TST) and variability (TST-variability), wakening after sleep onset, and sleep efficiency, during nights preceding early morning practices with other nights, and to investigate sleep characteristics of nights following a day with early morning only, evening only, or both a morning and an evening session in adolescent swimmers. Wrist-worn accelerometers were used to measure 1 week of sleep in 108 swimmers (mean age 16.1 [2.6]y) in Iceland. Adjusted regression analyses and linear mixed models were used to explore associations of training schedules with TST, TST-variability, wakening after sleep onset, and sleep efficiency. Mean TST was 6:32 (h:min) (±39min) and TST-variability was 63 minutes (±25min). TST decreased and TST-variability increased with more early morning practices. TST preceding early training was 5:36 and 5:06 in <16- and ≥16-year-olds, respectively, shorter than on nights preceding later or no morning training (P < .001). Swimmers have extremely short TST preceding early morning sessions and increased TST-variability with more early morning sessions.

34 A Review of the Implementation of a Stroke Education Programme in a Dublin Teaching Hospital in 2018

Abstract Background Aim: To commence Stroke education in a specific Dublin Hospital to improve the assessment of management of Stroke patients. Methods Seven 1 day study days were organised in 2018. These study days were multidisciplinary team (MDT) led with theory in the morning session delivered by the Stroke Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) followed by MDT led workshops in the afternoon. Stroke education was delivered to Emergency Department (ED) doctors on each rotation. Whiteboard education sessions were carried out for nurses on Medicine for the Elderly Ward/Stroke Unit. Results A total of 103 health professionals were trained over the 7 study days. Stroke Study Day attendances consisted of 69 RGN/CNMs 26 student nurses (21 intern nurses who are now staff nurses working in the hospital), 2 Allied Health Professionals, 1 CNS and 5 from Practice development. 32 ED doctors were trained over 3 separate induction days. Weekly scenario based sessions with nurses on the Stroke Ward. Conclusion Staff applying the learned knowledge and competencies to Stroke patients has significantly improved following the commencement of the education. 100% of staff who attended the Stroke study day stated that the training improved their knowledge and skills. 100% of staff would recommend the Stroke Study Day to other colleagues. We aim to continue the study days and whiteboard sessions with health professionals in all wards in 2019.

2019 Academy Proceedings

2019 Academy Proceedings

Evidence of non-circadian timing in a low response-cost daily Time-Place Learning task with pigeons Columba Livia

Previous research has shown that rats require high response cost in order to display circadian timing in daily Time-Place Learning (TPL) tasks. For many possible reasons, no explicit effort to explore the effects of response cost on the performance of other species in these tasks has been made. Therefore, the present paper explores the effects of response cost on pigeon’s performance on a daily TPL task. Head entry responses were reinforced according to a Random Interval schedule of reinforcement on one feeder during morning sessions and on another feeder during afternoon sessions. Feeders were located 8 cm apart for one group of birds (Group Near) and 56 cm apart for another group (Group Far). After 50 training sessions, testing began. Test sessions consisted of skipping either the morning or the afternoon session. Results show that most birds in the near group respond primarily on the opposite feeder during the first 20 s of the test sessions and then they switch to the correct feeder. On the other hand, most birds in Group Far respond at the same rate on both opposite and correct feeders during 20 s, and then they respond primarily on the correct feeder. The possibility of these data revealing non circadian timing for birds in a low response-cost daily TPL task is discussed along with the implications of such a finding for previous literature that claims that this type of performance could be unique to rats.

Beyond the Low Frequency Fluctuations: Morning and Evening Differences in Human Brain.

Human performance, alertness, and most biological functions express rhythmic fluctuations across a 24-h-period. This phenomenon is believed to originate from differences in both circadian and homeostatic sleep-wake regulatory processes. Interactions between these processes result in time-of-day modulations of behavioral performance as well as brain activity patterns. Although the basic mechanism of the 24-h clock is conserved across evolution, there are interindividual differences in the timing of sleep-wake cycles, subjective alertness and functioning throughout the day. The study of circadian typology differences has increased during the last few years, especially research on extreme chronotypes, which provide a unique way to investigate the effects of sleep-wake regulation on cerebral mechanisms. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we assessed the influence of chronotype and time-of-day on resting-state functional connectivity. Twenty-nine extreme morning- and 34 evening-type participants underwent two fMRI sessions: about 1 h after wake-up time (morning) and about 10 h after wake-up time (evening), scheduled according to their declared habitual sleep-wake pattern on a regular working day. Analysis of obtained neuroimaging data disclosed only an effect of time of day on resting-state functional connectivity; there were different patterns of functional connectivity between morning (MS) and evening (ES) sessions. The results of our study showed no differences between extreme morning-type and evening-type individuals. We demonstrate that circadian and homeostatic influences on the resting-state functional connectivity have a universal character, unaffected by circadian typology.

The preschool classroom linguistic environment: Children's first-person experiences.

The linguistic environment of the classroom is influential to young children’s language development. To date, however, literature on the linguistic environment of child-care centers has largely examined teacher practices or children’s aggregate environment, overlooking the child’s first-person experiences and differentiated experiences within the classroom. In this study we used a new method in the educational setting that captures the learner’s perspective: head-mounted cameras. Thirteen children in one preschool classroom wore a head-mounted camera to capture their first-person experiences in one morning session, including interactions with others and the features of the child-directed speech (CDS) addressed to them. Results revealed that, from children’s personal view, the linguistic environment of the classroom is more dynamic from what previous studies have reported. Children interacted for longer with their teachers than their peers and heard more CDS from them, but for some children peers served as an additional source of language. Further, our analysis highlighted within-classroom variability in language experiences in terms of the properties of the CDS addressed to target children and how they were exposed to this input over time. Results are discussed with respect to peer influence on children’s learning, heterogeneity in learning opportunities in classrooms, and the variability of the linguistic environment over time.

Fundamentals of 3D dosimetry

Since 1999 it has been convention at the IC3Ddose conferences to provide an opportunity for interested attendees to come together for an early morning session to review the basic properties of one family of 3D dosimeters: volumetric chemical dosimeters. Seasoned workers in the field benefit from a refreshed perspective, while those new to the field get an overview of this one modality for 3D dose measurement early in the conference. The intent of the session is to describe the basic science and characteristics of these true 3D systems, how they work and how they are read out. This provides some basic foundation to all attendees before the conference moves to the more detailed presentations directed to various specific issues and applications (e.g., looking at specific gel or plastic dosimeter, its readout and its clinical utilization). This talk is that session.

Circadian mismatch and cardiovascular response to a performance challenge: Larks in morning and evening work sessions

We presented morning chronotype (“Lark”) university undergraduate volunteers a more or less difficult Sternberg-type recognition memory task either in the morning (8–11 am) or in the evening (5–8 pm) with instructions that they could win a prize if they were 85% successful. We established morning chronotype using the Composite Scale for Morningness (Smith et al., 1989), employing a tertile split on a pool of scale scores that ranged from 13 (extreme eveningness) to 55 (extreme morningness). Participants had scores above 37, with most participants identifying as White/Caucasian, Hispanic/Latino, or Black/African-American. Among women (final sample n = 81), systolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure responses assessed during work formed a crossover pattern, being positively correspondent to difficulty in the morning but negatively correspondent to difficulty in the evening. Heart rate and heart pre-ejection period responses ran parallel in the morning but not the evening. Among men (final sample n = 41), cardiovascular responses differed neither with difficulty nor with time. Findings for women support the extension of a recent analysis of fatigue influence on effort and associated cardiovascular responses to the phenomenon of circadian mismatch. Findings for men do not support the extension but should be interpreted guardedly in light of prohibitively low cell ns and unexpected findings on key subjective measures.

Nationally Representative Estimates of Serum Testosterone Concentration in Never-Smoking, Lean Men Without Aging-Associated Comorbidities.

ContextTestosterone deficiency prevalence increases with age, comorbidities, and obesity.ObjectiveTo inform clinical guidelines for testosterone deficiency management and development of targets for nonpharmacologic intervention trials for these men, we determined serum testosterone in never-smoking, lean men without select comorbidities in nationally representative surveys.Design, Setting, ParticipantsWe used cross-sectional data for never-smoking, lean men ≥20 years without diabetes, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, stroke, or cancer, without use of hormone-influencing medications, and participated in morning sessions of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III (phase I 1988–1991) or continuous NHANES (1999–2004). By age, we determined median total testosterone (ng/mL) measured previously by a Food and Drug Administration-approved immunoassay and median estimated free testosterone concentration.ResultsIn NHANES III, in never-smoking, lean men without comorbidities, median (25th, 75th percentile) testosterone was 4% to 9% higher than all men—20 to 39 years: 6.24 (5.16, 7.51), 40 to 59: 5.37 (3.83, 6.49), and ≥60: 4.61 (4.01, 5.18). In continuous NHANES, in never-smoking, lean men without comorbidities, levels were 13% to 24% higher than all men—20 to 39 years: 6.26 (5.32, 7.27), 40 to 59: 5.86 (4.91, 6.55), and ≥60: 4.22 (3.74, 5.73). In never-smoking, lean men without comorbidities, median estimated free testosterone was similar to (NHANES III) or slightly higher than (continuous NHANES) in all men.ConclusionsThese nationally representative data document testosterone levels (immunoassay) in never-smoking, lean men without select comorbidities 30 and 15 to 20 years ago. This information can be incorporated into guidelines for testosterone deficiency management and used to develop targets for nonpharmacologic intervention trials for testosterone deficiency.

Temporal patterns and sex differences in dyadic interactions in a wild zebrafish population

Male-female interactions in several group living organisms, including some fish species tend to be dynamic and play a key role in determining their mating and courtship behavior. Laboratory-bred zebrafish (Danio rerio) strains are one of the most widely used model systems in various fields of biology. While research on wild zebrafish behavior is gaining ground, our knowledge about their mating ecology and mating strategies is still limited. We investigated diel temporal patterns in inter-sex dyadic interactions among wild zebrafish and the occurrence of behavioral dimorphism in their interactive behaviors. We observed randomly paired male and female individuals at three distinct time intervals (early morning, morning and afternoon sessions) in the day and collected occurrence data for six discrete inter-individual interactive behaviors that were associated with mating, aggression, and display. We used generalized linear mixed models to examine the effect of time, sex of the individual and presence of oviposition substrate on these behavioral traits. We found a higher incidence of mating-associated behavior during the early parts of the day which declined by the afternoon. These mating-associated behaviors were also dependent on the presence of gravel substrate for egg-laying compared to other behaviors. This work is the first of its kind that details patterns in behavioral dimorphism between sexes in zebrafish. Our results throw light on the complex dynamics of male-female interactions in a group living externally fertilizing species and can have implications in designing experiments involving behavioral testing of zebrafish which is increasingly being done in toxicological studies and laboratory breeding.

A service-learning proposal in the initial training of social educators: closing the older peoples’s digital gap

Service Learning (ApS) is a powerful educative methodology into higher education in our country. In this article we present an experience based on the ApS. Where we analyze the different phases through which this methodology passes in a specific case at the University of Valladolid. The experience was carried out with students of the Bachelor Degree in Social Education in the subject of ICTs Applied to Education in the first year and a group of some forty Elderly People in the Municipal Centers of the City of Valladolid. The main objective of the educational process is to cover a demand of older people who attend these centers over the digital world through a training process that includes the use of different apps, online services and other digital tools. The objective for the univesity students was that they are capable of developing social and civic competences, acquiring an ethical commitment and a social responsibility through the transfer of their theoretical knowledge to the practice, elaborating a design of a proposal of media literacy for elderly people and their implementation in the university classrooms in a morning session of coexistence.

Effect of Time of Day on Sustained Postexercise Vasodilation Following Small Muscle-Mass Exercise in Humans.

IntroductionPrevious studies observed diurnal variation in hemodynamic responses during recovery from whole-body exercise, with vasodilation appearing greater after evening versus morning sessions. It is unclear what mechanism(s) underlie this response. Since small muscle-mass exercise can isolate peripheral effects related to postexercise vasodilation, it may provide insight into possible mechanisms behind this diurnal variation.MethodsThe study was conducted in ten healthy (5F, 5M) young individuals, following single-leg dynamic knee-extension exercise performed in the Morning (7:30–11:30 am) or the Evening (5–9 pm) on two different days, in random order. Arterial pressure (automated auscultation) and leg blood flow (femoral artery Doppler ultrasound) were measured pre-exercise and during 120 min postexercise. Net effect for each session was calculated as percent change in blood flow (or vascular conductance) between the Active Leg and the Inactive Leg.ResultsFollowing Morning exercise, blood flow was 34.9 ± 8.9% higher in the Active Leg versus the Inactive Leg (p < 0.05) across recovery. Following Evening exercise, blood flow was 35.0 ± 8.8% higher in the Active Leg versus the Inactive Leg (p < 0.05). Likewise, vascular conductance was higher in the Active Leg versus the Inactive Leg (Morning: +35.1 ± 9.0%, p < 0.05; Evening: +33.2 ± 8.2%, p < 0.05). Morning and Evening blood flow (p = 0.66) and vascular conductance (p = 0.64) did not differ.ConclusionThese data suggest previous studies which identified diurnal variations in postexercise vasodilation responses are likely reflecting central rather than peripheral modulation of cardiovascular responses.