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Sample records for means showed significant

  1. Meaning and significance of

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    Ph D Student Roman Mihaela

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available The concept of "public accountability" is a challenge for political science as a new concept in this area in full debate and developement ,both in theory and practice. This paper is a theoretical approach of displaying some definitions, relevant meanings and significance odf the concept in political science. The importance of this concept is that although originally it was used as a tool to improve effectiveness and eficiency of public governance, it has gradually become a purpose it itself. "Accountability" has become an image of good governance first in the United States of America then in the European Union.Nevertheless,the concept is vaguely defined and provides ambiguous images of good governance.This paper begins with the presentation of some general meanings of the concept as they emerge from specialized dictionaries and ancyclopaedies and continues with the meanings developed in political science. The concept of "public accontability" is rooted in economics and management literature,becoming increasingly relevant in today's political science both in theory and discourse as well as in practice in formulating and evaluating public policies. A first conclusin that emerges from, the analysis of the evolution of this term is that it requires a conceptual clarification in political science. A clear definition will then enable an appropriate model of proving the system of public accountability in formulating and assessing public policies, in order to implement a system of assessment and monitoring thereof.

  2. Identification of significant features by the Global Mean Rank test.

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    Klammer, Martin; Dybowski, J Nikolaj; Hoffmann, Daniel; Schaab, Christoph

    2014-01-01

    With the introduction of omics-technologies such as transcriptomics and proteomics, numerous methods for the reliable identification of significantly regulated features (genes, proteins, etc.) have been developed. Experimental practice requires these tests to successfully deal with conditions such as small numbers of replicates, missing values, non-normally distributed expression levels, and non-identical distributions of features. With the MeanRank test we aimed at developing a test that performs robustly under these conditions, while favorably scaling with the number of replicates. The test proposed here is a global one-sample location test, which is based on the mean ranks across replicates, and internally estimates and controls the false discovery rate. Furthermore, missing data is accounted for without the need of imputation. In extensive simulations comparing MeanRank to other frequently used methods, we found that it performs well with small and large numbers of replicates, feature dependent variance between replicates, and variable regulation across features on simulation data and a recent two-color microarray spike-in dataset. The tests were then used to identify significant changes in the phosphoproteomes of cancer cells induced by the kinase inhibitors erlotinib and 3-MB-PP1 in two independently published mass spectrometry-based studies. MeanRank outperformed the other global rank-based methods applied in this study. Compared to the popular Significance Analysis of Microarrays and Linear Models for Microarray methods, MeanRank performed similar or better. Furthermore, MeanRank exhibits more consistent behavior regarding the degree of regulation and is robust against the choice of preprocessing methods. MeanRank does not require any imputation of missing values, is easy to understand, and yields results that are easy to interpret. The software implementing the algorithm is freely available for academic and commercial use.

  3. Human-directed social behaviour in dogs shows significant heritability.

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    Persson, M E; Roth, L S V; Johnsson, M; Wright, D; Jensen, P

    2015-04-01

    Through domestication and co-evolution with humans, dogs have developed abilities to attract human attention, e.g. in a manner of seeking assistance when faced with a problem solving task. The aims of this study were to investigate within breed variation in human-directed contact seeking in dogs and to estimate its genetic basis. To do this, 498 research beagles, bred and kept under standardized conditions, were tested in an unsolvable problem task. Contact seeking behaviours recorded included both eye contact and physical interactions. Behavioural data was summarized through a principal component analysis, resulting in four components: test interactions, social interactions, eye contact and physical contact. Females scored significantly higher on social interactions and physical contact and age had an effect on eye contact scores. Narrow sense heritabilities (h(2) ) of the two largest components were estimated at 0.32 and 0.23 but were not significant for the last two components. These results show that within the studied dog population, behavioural variation in human-directed social behaviours was sex dependent and that the utilization of eye contact seeking increased with age and experience. Hence, heritability estimates indicate a significant genetic contribution to the variation found in human-directed social interactions, suggesting that social skills in dogs have a genetic basis, but can also be shaped and enhanced through individual experiences. This research gives the opportunity to further investigate the genetics behind dogs' social skills, which could also play a significant part into research on human social disorders such as autism. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society.

  4. Different histopathological subtypes of Hodgkin lymphoma show significantly different levels of FDG uptake

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    Hutchings, Martin; Loft, Annika; Hansen, Mads

    2006-01-01

    ) patients, 20.8 g/ml in 11 mixed cellularity (MC) patients, and 19.5 g/ml in four patients with unclassified classical HL (CHL-NOS), (ANOVA, p = 0.011). Out of 780 sites (600 lymph node regions plus 180 organs), 208 sites were found to be affected with HL. Mean SUV(max) was 8.3 g/ml in the 12 sites with NLP......, 11.2 g/ml in the 147 sites affected with NS, 14.6 g/ml in the 36 sites with MC, and 13.1 g/ml in the 13 sites with CHL-NOS (ANOVA, p = 0.002). There is a significant difference in FDG/glucose uptake between the different histopathological subtypes of HL....

  5. Radio Show on Books and Libraries as a Means of Promoting the Public Library: Marking the 200th Edition of the Show Tvoja,

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    Peter Pavletič

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACTSince 2004, the Ciril Kosmač Library of Tolmin has been continuously preparing a radio show on books and libraries on the local radio station Alpski val. The show has been used as an advertising platform or as a means of primary library promotion. The radio show is regarded as one of the tools of what is termed market communication, and it is intended to provide broad public information on the services of a public library, to promote the library’s activities and holdings and to foster a reading culture. The aim of the show is to stimulate the potential user interest in visiting and using the services of a public library, to expand the circle of users and consequently raise the number of visits and library loans. The title of the show, its audio image, target audience, metapromotion and substantive concept are all key to planning the radio show on books and libraries. The radio show is an example of an effective tool that helps to establish the library’s ties with the local community. This example of best practices shows that it is worth pursuing this activity in Slovenia’s public libraries and highlighting it on their websites.

  6. Significances and meanings of the musical identity of patients and relatives receiving oncological palliative care

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    Vladimir Araujo de Silva

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available This phenomenological study was structured on Heidegger’s theoretical-philosophical framework, with the objective of unveiling the significances and meanings of the musical identity of patients and relatives under oncological palliative care. Individual interviews were performed with 12 clients (seven patients and five relatives staying at the support residence of the Maringa Female Network Against Cancer. A total of eight musical meetings were performed between January and February of 2011. I understood that the musical identity of the evidenced beings refers to the religious and country music styles, that their significances and meanings are connected to their spirituality and the significant events of their historicity, and that their mood and reflection intermediated by music can influence their musical choice. I gave evidence to the need to consider the music identity and empowerment in musical choices, which carries existential, social, cultural, spiritual and family aspects as qualifying elements of nursing in palliative care. Descriptors: Nursing Care; Oncology Nursing; Music; Music Therapy; Palliative Care.

  7. The significance of avoiding household food waste - A means-end-chain approach.

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    Richter, Beate; Bokelmann, Wolfgang

    2018-04-01

    Many humans suffer from hunger, while edible food is discarded. This study aims at showing the importance of avoiding food waste in households and its causes by applying the means-end-chain analysis. Additional the means-end-chain approach should be examined in how far the method is suitable to get insights towards this topic. Consumer backgrounds in terms of feelings and attitudes regarding food waste should be shown, with the particular question why food waste personally is important. The data collection occurred utilizing the hard laddering method within a quantitative online survey. The results indicate that avoiding food waste is important for the greater part of consumers, as many claim to have a bad conscience, seeing it as morally wrong and reprehensible to waste food. A sample breakdown of gender, age and income points differences among these groups in regards to psychological consequences and value systems. Financial and environmental aspects have a lesser impact on attitudes and feelings regarding food waste in households. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Significant mean and extreme climate sensitivity of Norway spruce and silver fir at mid-elevation mesic sites in the Alps.

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    Marco Carrer

    Full Text Available Climate forcing is the major abiotic driver for forest ecosystem functioning and thus significantly affects the role of forests within the global carbon cycle and related ecosystem services. Annual radial increments of trees are probably the most valuable source of information to link tree growth and climate at long-term time scales, and have been used in a wide variety of investigations worldwide. However, especially in mountainous areas, tree-ring studies have focused on extreme environments where the climate sensitivity is perhaps greatest but are necessarily a biased representation of the forests within a region. We used tree-ring analyses to study two of the most important tree species growing in the Alps: Norway spruce (Picea abies and silver fir (Abies alba. We developed tree-ring chronologies from 13 mesic mid-elevation sites (203 trees and then compared them to monthly temperature and precipitation data for the period 1846-1995. Correlation functions, principal component analysis and fuzzy C-means clustering were applied to 1 assess the climate/growth relationships and their stationarity and consistency over time, and 2 extract common modes of variability in the species responses to mean and extreme climate variability. Our results highlight a clear, time-stable, and species-specific response to mean climate conditions. However, during the previous-year's growing season, which shows the strongest correlations, the primary difference between species is in their response to extreme events, not mean conditions. Mesic sites at mid-altitude are commonly underrepresented in tree-ring research; we showed that strong climatic controls of growth may exist even in those areas. Extreme climatic events may play a key role in defining the species-specific responses on climatic sensitivity and, with a global change perspective, specific divergent responses are likely to occur even where current conditions are less limited.

  9. Fibrillary glomerulonephritis associated with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance showing lambda-type Bence Jones protein.

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    Nagao, Tomoaki; Okura, Takafumi; Miyoshi, Ken-Ichi; Watanabe, Sanae; Manabe, Seiko; Kurata, Mie; Irita, Jun; Fukuoka, Tomikazu; Higaki, Jitsuo

    2005-09-01

    A 79-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of leg edema due to a nephrotic syndrome. Urinary and serum immunoelectrophoresis showed positive for the lambda type of Bence Jones protein. A bone marrow aspiration test revealed mild plasmacytosis (6.4% of the total cells). These findings confirmed her diagnosis of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). Her renal biopsy specimen revealed mild mesangial cell proliferation and an increase in the mesangial matrix. Immunofluorescence studies showed positive staining for IgG, IgA, C3, and kappa and lambda light chains in the capillary wall and mesangium area. Electron microscopy showed that the electron deposits in the thickened basement membrane were formed by randomly arranged 16- to 18-nm nonbranching fibrils. A Congo red stain for amyloid was negative. These findings corresponded with the diagnosis of fibrillary glomerulonephritis. Therefore, this case showed a rare combination of fibrillary glomerulonephritis and MGUS.

  10. PLACE MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TRADITIONAL SHOPPING DISTRICT IN THE CITY CENTRE OF KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

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    Norsidah Ujang

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Due to the rapid urbanization rate, the traditional urban environment in developing countries has been constantly replaced by modern structures with standardized images. The urban landscape of Kuala Lumpur city demonstrates a similar pattern, which, arguably, may disrupt the continuity in meaning embedded in people’s associationwith the places. This paper describes the meaning and significance of the traditional shopping districts in the city center of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The researcher conducted face-to-face interviews and field observations to understand the meanings attached to the users’ experience of the traditional shopping streets located in the area. It was also to identify the urban elements that perceived to be important. The results demonstrate that the users translated various meanings of the places. The types and length of engagement, familiarity, cultural characteristics of the users and economic dependency influenced the attachment. The places are meaningful as a reflection of self and group identity thus contribute to the continuity of place identity.

  11. How to show that unicorn milk is a chronobiotic: the regression-to-the-mean statistical artifact.

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    Atkinson, G; Waterhouse, J; Reilly, T; Edwards, B

    2001-11-01

    Few chronobiologists may be aware of the regression-to-the-mean (RTM) statistical artifact, even though it may have far-reaching influences on chronobiological data. With the aid of simulated measurements of the circadian rhythm phase of body temperature and a completely bogus stimulus (unicorn milk), we explain what RTM is and provide examples relevant to chronobiology. We show how RTM may lead to erroneous conclusions regarding individual differences in phase responses to rhythm disturbances and how it may appear as though unicorn milk has phase-shifting effects and can successfully treat some circadian rhythm disorders. Guidelines are provided to ensure RTM effects are minimized in chronobiological investigations.

  12. Citrobacter rodentium is an unstable pathogen showing evidence of significant genomic flux.

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    Nicola K Petty

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Citrobacter rodentium is a natural mouse pathogen that causes attaching and effacing (A/E lesions. It shares a common virulence strategy with the clinically significant human A/E pathogens enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC and is widely used to model this route of pathogenesis. We previously reported the complete genome sequence of C. rodentium ICC168, where we found that the genome displayed many characteristics of a newly evolved pathogen. In this study, through PFGE, sequencing of isolates showing variation, whole genome transcriptome analysis and examination of the mobile genetic elements, we found that, consistent with our previous hypothesis, the genome of C. rodentium is unstable as a result of repeat-mediated, large-scale genome recombination and because of active transposition of mobile genetic elements such as the prophages. We sequenced an additional C. rodentium strain, EX-33, to reveal that the reference strain ICC168 is representative of the species and that most of the inactivating mutations were common to both isolates and likely to have occurred early on in the evolution of this pathogen. We draw parallels with the evolution of other bacterial pathogens and conclude that C. rodentium is a recently evolved pathogen that may have emerged alongside the development of inbred mice as a model for human disease.

  13. Mystical-type experiences occasioned by psilocybin mediate the attribution of personal meaning and spiritual significance 14 months later.

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    Griffiths, Rr; Richards, Wa; Johnson, Mw; McCann, Ud; Jesse, R

    2008-08-01

    Psilocybin has been used for centuries for religious purposes; however, little is known scientifically about its long-term effects. We previously reported the effects of a double-blind study evaluating the psychological effects of a high psilocybin dose. This report presents the 14-month follow-up and examines the relationship of the follow-up results to data obtained at screening and on drug session days. Participants were 36 hallucinogen-naïve adults reporting regular participation in religious/ spiritual activities. Oral psilocybin (30 mg/70 kg) was administered on one of two or three sessions, with methylphenidate (40 mg/70 kg) administered on the other session(s). During sessions, volunteers were encouraged to close their eyes and direct their attention inward. At the 14-month follow-up, 58% and 67%, respectively, of volunteers rated the psilocybin-occasioned experience as being among the five most personally meaningful and among the five most spiritually significant experiences of their lives; 64% indicated that the experience increased well-being or life satisfaction; 58% met criteria for having had a 'complete' mystical experience. Correlation and regression analyses indicated a central role of the mystical experience assessed on the session day in the high ratings of personal meaning and spiritual significance at follow-up. Of the measures of personality, affect, quality of life and spirituality assessed across the study, only a scale measuring mystical experience showed a difference from screening. When administered under supportive conditions, psilocybin occasioned experiences similar to spontaneously occurring mystical experiences that, at 14-month follow-up, were considered by volunteers to be among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant of their lives.

  14. Mystical-type experiences occasioned by psilocybin mediate the attribution of personal meaning and spiritual significance 14 months later

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    Griffiths, Roland R.; Richards, William A.; Johnson, Matthew W.; McCann, Una D.; Jesse, Robert

    2010-01-01

    Psilocybin has been used for centuries for religious purposes; however little is known scientifically about its long-term effects. We previously reported the effects of a double-blind study evaluating the psychological effects of a high psilocybin dose. This report presents the 14-month follow-up and examines the relationship of the follow-up results to data obtained at screening and on drug session days. Participants were 36 hallucinogen-naïve adults reporting regular participation in religious/spiritual activities. Oral psilocybin (30 mg/70kg) was administered on one of two or three sessions, with methylphenidate (40 mg/70kg) administered on the other session(s). During sessions, volunteers were encouraged to close their eyes and direct their attention inward. At the 14-month follow-up, 58% and 67%, respectively, of volunteers rated the psilocybin-occasioned experience as being among the five most personally meaningful and among the five most spiritually significant experiences of their lives; 64% indicated the experience increased well-being or life satisfaction; 58% met criteria for having had a “complete” mystical experience. Correlation and regression analyses indicated a central role of the mystical experience assessed on the session day in the high ratings of personal meaning and spiritual significance at follow-up. Of the measures of personality, affect, quality of life, and spirituality assessed across the study, only a scale measuring mystical experience showed a difference from screening. When administered under supportive conditions, psilocybin occasioned experiences similar to spontaneously-occurring mystical experiences that, at 14-month follow-up, were considered by volunteers to be among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant of their lives. PMID:18593735

  15. Motivationally Significant Stimuli Show Visual Prior Entry: Evidence for Attentional Capture

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    West, Greg L.; Anderson, Adam A. K.; Pratt, Jay

    2009-01-01

    Previous studies that have found attentional capture effects for stimuli of motivational significance do not directly measure initial attentional deployment, leaving it unclear to what extent these items produce attentional capture. Visual prior entry, as measured by temporal order judgments (TOJs), rests on the premise that allocated attention…

  16. Affordance of Braille Music as a Mediational Means: Significance and Limitations

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    Park, Hyu-Yong; Kim, Mi-Jung

    2014-01-01

    Affordance refers to the properties or designs of a thing that offer the function of the thing. This paper discusses the affordance of Braille music in terms of three notions: mediational means, mastery and appropriation, and focuses on answering the following three questions: (i) How do musicians with visual impairments (MVI) perceive Braille…

  17. Estimation of population doses from diagnostic medical examinations in Japan, 1974. III. Per caput mean marrow dose and leukemia significant dose

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    Hashizume, T; Maruyama, T; Kumamoto, Y [National Inst. of Radiological Sciences, Chiba (Japan)

    1976-03-01

    The mean per capita marrow dose and leukemia-significant dose from radiographic and fluoroscopic examinations in Japan have been estimated based on a 1974 nation wide survey of randomly sampled hospitals and clinics. To determine the mean marrow dose to an individual from a certain exposure of a given type of examination, the active marrow in the whole body was divided into 119 parts for an adult and 103 for a child. Dosimetric points on which the individual marrow doses were determined were set up in the center of each marrow part. The individual marrow doses at the dosimetric points in the beams of practical diagnostic x-rays were calculated on the basis of the exposure data on the patients selected in the nation wide survey, using depth dose curves experimentally determined for diagnostic x-rays. The mean individual marrow dose was averaged over the active marrow by summing, for each dosimetric point, the product of the fraction of active marrow exposed and the individual marrow dose at the dosimetric point. The leukemia significant dose was calculated by adopting a weighting factor that is, a leukemia significant factor. The factor was determined from the shape of the time-incidence curve for radiation-induced leukemia from the Hiroshima A-bomb and from the survival statistics for the average population. The resultant mean per capita marrow dose from radiographic and fluoroscopic examination was 37.0 and 70.0 mrad/person/year, respectively, with a total of 107.05 mrad/person/year. The leukemia significant dose was 32.1 mrad/person/year for radiographic examination and 61.2 mrad/person/year, with a total of 93.3. These values were compared with those of 1960 and 1969.

  18. Organizational Citizenship Behavior of Islamic Banks through Meaning in Life and Meaning of Work

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    Heru Sulistyo

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Islamic banking had a market share that is still low if compared with conventional banks,so it has a big challenge to improve the performance and competitive advantage. Employeeswho were willing to have extra work for their organization will lead to the improvementof their performance and their organization. Several studies have examined multiplefactors that affect organizational citizenship behavior (OCB, but it was still slightlystressing on the importance of psychological aspects of meaning in life and meaning ofwork. The purpose of this study was to examine the importance of meaning in life andmeaning of work factors in improving OCB in the organization. The sample in this studywas employees of the Islamic banks in Central Java, amounted to 100 people. The datacollections were conducted by using questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Meanwhile,to analyze the data, the structural equation model with Partial least squares software wasused. The results of data analysis showed that meaning in life had a significant effect onsatisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior. Meaning of work also had a significanteffect on satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior. An employee’sjob satisfaction significantly affects the improvement of organizational citizenship behavior.

  19. Welcome to the show: meanings of work by circus performers

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    Scheila Girelli

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Theme/Objective: This research sought to understand  the meanings attributed to work by circus performers. Methodology: The research followed a qualitative approach of ethnographic feature. The participating observation and semi-structured interviews were the main data collection methods. Results: The circus performers identify themselves with the work they do, especially the possibility of traveling and the professional knowledge produced in their own living experience, marked by the strong affective bonding. The activities is characterized by autonomy, creativity, and freedom to negotiate their needs and participate in the decision-making. However, the work is done informally, making the access and guarantee of labor and social security rights precarious. Conclusions: The circus establishes itself as a social and labor living space, not providing a clear distinction between free time and work, social relationships, professional and families. This way of living (with allows, despite the difficulties, the perspective of giving continuity to the “circus magic” by their work.

  20. Herbarium specimens show contrasting phenological responses to Himalayan climate.

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    Hart, Robbie; Salick, Jan; Ranjitkar, Sailesh; Xu, Jianchu

    2014-07-22

    Responses by flowering plants to climate change are complex and only beginning to be understood. Through analyses of 10,295 herbarium specimens of Himalayan Rhododendron collected by plant hunters and botanists since 1884, we were able to separate these responses into significant components. We found a lack of directional change in mean flowering time over the past 45 y of rapid warming. However, over the full 125 y of collections, mean flowering time shows a significant response to year-to-year changes in temperature, and this response varies with season of warming. Mean flowering advances with annual warming (2.27 d earlier per 1 °C warming), and also is delayed with fall warming (2.54 d later per 1 °C warming). Annual warming may advance flowering through positive effects on overwintering bud formation, whereas fall warming may delay flowering through an impact on chilling requirements. The lack of a directional response suggests that contrasting phenological responses to temperature changes may obscure temperature sensitivity in plants. By drawing on large collections from multiple herbaria, made over more than a century, we show how these data may inform studies even of remote localities, and we highlight the increasing value of these and other natural history collections in understanding long-term change.

  1. Spatiotemporal trends in mean temperatures and aridity index over Rwanda

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    Muhire, I.; Ahmed, F.

    2016-01-01

    This study aims at quantifying the trends in mean temperatures and aridity index over Rwanda for the period of 1961-1992, based on analysis of climatic data (temperatures, precipitations, and potential evapotranspiration). The analysis of magnitude and significance of trends in temperatures and aridity index show the degree of climate change and mark the level of vulnerability to extreme events (e.g., droughts) in different areas of the country. The study reveals that mean temperatures increased in most parts of the country, with a significant increase observed in the eastern lowlands and in the southwestern parts. The highlands located in the northwest and the Congo-Nile crest showed a nonsignificant increase in mean temperatures. Aridity index increased only in March, April, October, and November, corresponding with the rainy seasons. The remaining months of the year showed a decreasing trend. At an annual resolution, the highlands and the western region showed a rise in aridity index with a decreasing pattern over the eastern lowlands and the central plateau. Generally, the highlands presented a nonsignificant increase in mean temperatures and aridity index especially during the rainy seasons. The eastern lowlands showed a significant increase in mean temperatures and decreasing trends in aridity index. Therefore, these areas are bound to experience more droughts, leading to reduced water and consequent decline in agricultural production. On the other hand, the north highlands and southwest region will continue to be more productive.

  2. Fungal communities in wheat grain show significant co-existence patterns among species

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nicolaisen, M.; Justesen, A. F.; Knorr, K.

    2014-01-01

    identified as ‘core’ OTUs as they were found in all or almost all samples and accounted for almost 99 % of all sequences. The remaining OTUs were only sporadically found and only in small amounts. Cluster and factor analyses showed patterns of co-existence among the core species. Cluster analysis grouped...... the 21 core OTUs into three clusters: cluster 1 consisting of saprotrophs, cluster 2 consisting mainly of yeasts and saprotrophs and cluster 3 consisting of wheat pathogens. Principal component extraction showed that the Fusarium graminearum group was inversely related to OTUs of clusters 1 and 2....

  3. Significance of Lead Residues in Mallard Tissues

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    Longcore, J.R.; Locke, L.N.; Bagley, George E.; Andrews, R.

    1974-01-01

    Tissues of adult, lead-dosed mallards that either died or were sacrificed were analyzed for lead. Lead levels in brains, tibiae, and breast muscle of ducks that died and in tibiae of ducks that were sacrificed increased significantly from dosage until death. Lead in the heart, lung, and blood from sacrificed ducks decreased significantly from dosage until death. Lead concentrations in tissues from ducks in the two groups were not significantly different except for the liver, kidney, and lung. Average lead levels in the livers and kidneys of ducks that died were significantly higher than those in ducks that were sacrificed. The mean concentration of lead in the lungs of the ducks sacrificed was significantly higher than the mean level in the lungs of ducks that died. Measurements of the lead concentrations in this study, when compared with lead levels reported in the literature for avian and non-avian species, showed that arbitrary diagnostic levels indicating lead poisoning could be set. In mallard ducks, lead levels exceeding 3 ppm in the brain, 6 to 20 ppm in the kidney or liver, or 10 ppm in clotted blood from the heart indicated acute exposure to lead.

  4. Gridded 5-day mean sea surface height anomaly and significant wave height from Jason-1 and OSTM/Jason-2 satellites (NODC Accession 0065055)

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    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This accession contains the gridded 5-day mean sea surface height anomaly (SSHA) and Ku Band significant wave height (SWH-KU) observed from Jason-1 and OSTM/Jason-2...

  5. The significance of communication means of the internet in contemporary politics

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    Арам Грачиаевич Восканян

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available In the given article on the basis of comparative analysis is studied the dual nature of the widespread approaches to influence of media sphere upon political processes by the example of actual events in western countries and Arab world. The authors investigate mobilization, integration, democratization and intervention capabilities of the modern media sphere. The practices of application of the new media means by the leading countries as specific tools of soft power strategies at national and international levels have been thoroughly analyzed in the article. The authors come to conclusion that in the modern world the functional apparatus of the Internet despite it architectural openness and infinite socio-political potential is limited by the activities of media elites that hinder true civil participation. Untimely proclaimed democratic character of media sphere is weaken by commercialization and consumerism of media space. The category of “feedback” as an important mobilization tool has situational character and has the short-term impact upon political views and perceptions.

  6. Significant interarm blood pressure difference predicts cardiovascular risk in hypertensive patients

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    Kim, Su-A; Kim, Jang Young; Park, Jeong Bae

    2016-01-01

    Abstract There has been a rising interest in interarm blood pressure difference (IAD), due to its relationship with peripheral arterial disease and its possible relationship with cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to characterize hypertensive patients with a significant IAD in relation to cardiovascular risk. A total of 3699 patients (mean age, 61 ± 11 years) were prospectively enrolled in the study. Blood pressure (BP) was measured simultaneously in both arms 3 times using an automated cuff-oscillometric device. IAD was defined as the absolute difference in averaged BPs between the left and right arm, and an IAD ≥ 10 mm Hg was considered to be significant. The Framingham risk score was used to calculate the 10-year cardiovascular risk. The mean systolic IAD (sIAD) was 4.3 ± 4.1 mm Hg, and 285 (7.7%) patients showed significant sIAD. Patients with significant sIAD showed larger body mass index (P < 0.001), greater systolic BP (P = 0.050), more coronary artery disease (relative risk = 1.356, P = 0.034), and more cerebrovascular disease (relative risk = 1.521, P = 0.072). The mean 10-year cardiovascular risk was 9.3 ± 7.7%. By multiple regression, sIAD was significantly but weakly correlated with the 10-year cardiovascular risk (β = 0.135, P = 0.008). Patients with significant sIAD showed a higher prevalence of coronary artery disease, as well as an increase in 10-year cardiovascular risk. Therefore, accurate measurements of sIAD may serve as a simple and cost-effective tool for predicting cardiovascular risk in clinical settings. PMID:27310982

  7. Polypyridylruthenium(II complexes exert in vitro and in vivo nematocidal activity and show significant inhibition of parasite acetylcholinesterases

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    Madhu Sundaraneedi

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Over 4.5 billion people are at risk of infection with soil transmitted helminths and there are concerns about the development of resistance to the handful of frontline nematocides in endemic populations. We investigated the anti-nematode efficacy of a series of polypyridylruthenium(II complexes and showed they were active against L3 and adult stages of Trichuris muris, the rodent homologue of the causative agent of human trichuriasis, T. trichiura. One of the compounds, Rubb12-mono, which was among the most potent in its ability to kill L3 (IC50 = 3.1 ± 0.4 μM and adult (IC50 = 5.2 ± 0.3 μM stage worms was assessed for efficacy in a mouse model of trichuriasis by administering 3 consecutive daily oral doses of the drug 3 weeks post infection with the murine whipworm Trichuris muris. Mice treated with Rubb12-mono showed an average 66% reduction (P = 0.015 in faecal egg count over two independent trials. The drugs partially exerted their activity through inhibition of acetylcholinesterases, as worms treated in vitro and in vivo showed significant decreases in the activity of this class of enzymes. Our data show that ruthenium complexes are effective against T. muris, a model gastro-intestinal nematode and soil-transmitted helminth. Further, knowledge of the target of ruthenium drugs can facilitate modification of current compounds to identify analogues which are even more effective and selective against Trichuris and other helminths of human and veterinary importance. Keywords: Acetylcholinesterase, Trichuris muris, Ruthenium complex, Anthelmintic

  8. Serum Copper Level Significantly Influences Platelet Count, Lymphocyte Count and Mean Cell Hemoglobin in Sickle Cell Anemia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Okocha Chide

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Background Changes in serum micro nutrients levels affect a number of critically important metabolic processes; these could potentially influence blood counts and ultimately disease presentation in patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA. Objectives To evaluate the influence of serum micro-nutrients levels; zinc, copper, selenium and magnesium on blood counts in steady state SCA patients. Methods A cross sectional study that involved 28 steady state adult SCA subjects. Seven milliliters (mls of blood was collected; 3 mls was for hemoglobin electrophoresis and full blood count determination while 4 mls was for measurement of serum micro nutrients levels, by the atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Correlation between serum micro-nutrient levels and blood counts was done by the Pearson’s linear regression. Ethical approval was obtained from the institutional review board and each participant gave informed consent. All data was analyzed by SPSS software version 20. Results There was a significant correlation between serum copper levels and mean cell hemoglobin (MCH, platelet and lymphocyte counts (r = 0.418; P = 0.02, r = -0.376; P = 0.04 and r = -0.383; P = 0.04, respectively. There were no significant correlations between serum levels of other micro nutrients (selenium, zinc and magnesium and blood counts. Conclusions Copper influences blood count in SCA patients probably by inducing red cell haemolysis, oxidant tissue damage and stimulating the immune system.

  9. An active principle of Nigella sativa L., thymoquinone, showing significant antimicrobial activity against anaerobic bacteria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Randhawa, Mohammad Akram; Alenazy, Awwad Khalaf; Alrowaili, Majed Gorayan; Basha, Jamith

    2017-01-01

    Thymoquinone (TQ) is the major active principle of Nigella sativa seed (black seed) and is known to control many fungi, bacteria, and some viruses. However, the activity of TQ against anaerobic bacteria is not well demonstrated. Anaerobic bacteria can cause severe infections, including diarrhea, aspiration pneumonia, and brain abscess, particularly in immunodeficient individuals. The present study aimed to investigate the in vitro antimicrobial activity of TQ against some anaerobic pathogens in comparison to metronidazole. Standard, ATCC, strains of four anaerobic bacteria ( Clostridium difficile , Clostridium perfringens , Bacteroides fragilis , and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron ), were initially isolated on special Brucella agar base (with hemin and vitamin K). Then, minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of TQ and metronidazole were determined against these anaerobes when grown in Brucella agar, using serial agar dilution method according to the recommended guidelines for anaerobic organisms instructed by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. TQ showed a significant antimicrobial activity against anaerobic bacteria although much weaker than metronidazole. MICs of TQ and metronidazole against various anaerobic human pathogens tested were found to be between 10-160 mg/L and 0.19-6.25 mg/L, respectively. TQ controlled the anaerobic human pathogenic bacteria, which supports the use of N. sativa in the treatment of diarrhea in folk medicine. Further investigations are in need for determination of the synergistic effect of TQ in combination with metronidazole and the activity of derivatives of TQ against anaerobic infections.

  10. Subspace K-means clustering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timmerman, Marieke E; Ceulemans, Eva; De Roover, Kim; Van Leeuwen, Karla

    2013-12-01

    To achieve an insightful clustering of multivariate data, we propose subspace K-means. Its central idea is to model the centroids and cluster residuals in reduced spaces, which allows for dealing with a wide range of cluster types and yields rich interpretations of the clusters. We review the existing related clustering methods, including deterministic, stochastic, and unsupervised learning approaches. To evaluate subspace K-means, we performed a comparative simulation study, in which we manipulated the overlap of subspaces, the between-cluster variance, and the error variance. The study shows that the subspace K-means algorithm is sensitive to local minima but that the problem can be reasonably dealt with by using partitions of various cluster procedures as a starting point for the algorithm. Subspace K-means performs very well in recovering the true clustering across all conditions considered and appears to be superior to its competitor methods: K-means, reduced K-means, factorial K-means, mixtures of factor analyzers (MFA), and MCLUST. The best competitor method, MFA, showed a performance similar to that of subspace K-means in easy conditions but deteriorated in more difficult ones. Using data from a study on parental behavior, we show that subspace K-means analysis provides a rich insight into the cluster characteristics, in terms of both the relative positions of the clusters (via the centroids) and the shape of the clusters (via the within-cluster residuals).

  11. A global mean ocean circulation estimation using goce gravity models - the DTU12MDT mean dynamic topography model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knudsen, Per; Andersen, Ole Baltazar

    2012-01-01

    The Gravity and Ocean Circulation Experiment - GOCE satellite mission measure the Earth gravity field with unprecedented accuracy leading to substantial improvements in the modelling of the ocean circulation and transport. In this study of the performance of GOCE, a newer gravity model have been...... combined with the DTU10MSS mean sea surface model to construct a global mean dynamic topography model named DTU10MDT. The results of preliminary analyses using preliminary GOCE gravity models clearly demonstrated the potential of GOCE mission. Both the resolution and the estimation of the surface currents...... have been improved significantly compared to results obtained using pre-GOCE gravity field models. The results of this study show that geostrophic surface currents associated with the mean circulation have been further improved and that currents having speeds down to 5 cm/s have been recovered....

  12. Meaning-Making Coping Among Cancer Patients in Sweden and South Korea: A Comparative Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmadi, Fereshteh; Park, Jisung; Kim, Kyung Mee; Ahmadi, Nader

    2017-10-01

    The present study compared meaning-making coping among cancer patients in Sweden and South Korea, with a focus on the sociocultural context. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 51 Swedes and 33 Koreans. The results showed significant differences between the two countries as well as similarities in existential, spiritual, and religious coping. For example, Swedes primarily used meaning-making coping as a means of meditation or relaxation, whereas Koreans relied on coping with prayer and using healthy foods as a means to survive. The present study confirms the significance of investigating cultural context when we explore the use of meaning-making coping among people who have experienced cancer.

  13. An approach to meaning and significance of the injured body in prospective physical education teachers through autobiographic narratives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gustavo González Calvo

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available This study shows how a sport injury can lead to an event that changes a prospective physical educator’s life and the consequences for the personal development that result from it. The same way, the data highlight the dilemma that this person faces to feel comfortable with their own body when his «self-image» has been distorted. In doing so, the article seeks to help us to understand how individual subjectivities expressed on autobiographical narratives about sport injuries go as far as to construct and understand the body and the meaning of the self arising after the injury. With this intention in mind, we rely on the possibilities that life story provides as method of self-analysis, awareness, and a way of connecting with the embodied experiences of physical education student teachers.

  14. Significant influences of global mean temperature and ENSO on extreme rainfall over Southeast Asia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Villafuerte, Marcelino, II; Matsumoto, Jun

    2014-05-01

    Along with the increasing concerns on the consequences of global warming, and the accumulating records of disaster related to heavy rainfall events in Southeast Asia, this study investigates whether a direct link can be detected between the rising global mean temperature, as well as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and extreme rainfall over the region. The maximum likelihood modeling that allows incorporating covariates on the location parameter of the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution is employed. The GEV model is fitted to annual and seasonal rainfall extremes, which were taken from a high-resolution gauge-based gridded daily precipitation data covering a span of 57 years (1951-2007). Nonstationarities in extreme rainfall are detected over the central parts of Indochina Peninsula, eastern coasts of central Vietnam, northwest of the Sumatra Island, inland portions of Borneo Island, and on the northeastern and southwestern coasts of the Philippines. These nonstationarities in extreme rainfall are directly linked to near-surface global mean temperature and ENSO. In particular, the study reveals that a kelvin increase in global mean temperature anomaly can lead to an increase of 30% to even greater than 45% in annual maximum 1-day rainfall, which were observed pronouncedly over central Vietnam, southern coast of Myanmar, northwestern sections of Thailand, northwestern tip of Sumatra, central portions of Malaysia, and the Visayas island in central Philippines. Furthermore, a pronounced ENSO influence manifested on the seasonal maximum 1-day rainfall; a northward progression of 10%-15% drier condition over Southeast Asia as the El Niño develops from summer to winter is revealed. It is important therefore, to consider the results obtained here for water resources management as well as for adaptation planning to minimize the potential adverse impact of global warming, particularly on extreme rainfall and its associated flood risk over the region

  15. Torque fluctuations caused by upstream mean flow and turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farr, T. D.; Hancock, P. E.

    2014-12-01

    A series of studies are in progress investigating the effects of turbine-array-wake interactions for a range of atmospheric boundary layer states by means of the EnFlo meteorological wind tunnel. The small, three-blade model wind turbines drive 4-quadrant motor-generators. Only a single turbine in neutral flow is considered here. The motor-generator current can be measured with adequate sensitivity by means of a current sensor allowing the mean and fluctuating torque to be inferred. Spectra of torque fluctuations and streamwise velocity fluctuations ahead of the rotor, between 0.1 and 2 diameters, show that only the large-scale turbulent motions contribute significantly to the torque fluctuations. Time-lagged cross-correlation between upstream velocity and torque fluctuations are largest over the inner part of the blade. They also show the turbulence to be frozen in behaviour over the 2 diameters upstream of the turbine.

  16. Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffiths, R R; Richards, W A; McCann, U; Jesse, R

    2006-08-01

    Although psilocybin has been used for centuries for religious purposes, little is known scientifically about its acute and persisting effects. This double-blind study evaluated the acute and longer-term psychological effects of a high dose of psilocybin relative to a comparison compound administered under comfortable, supportive conditions. The participants were hallucinogen-naïve adults reporting regular participation in religious or spiritual activities. Two or three sessions were conducted at 2-month intervals. Thirty volunteers received orally administered psilocybin (30 mg/70 kg) and methylphenidate hydrochloride (40 mg/70 kg) in counterbalanced order. To obscure the study design, six additional volunteers received methylphenidate in the first two sessions and unblinded psilocybin in a third session. The 8-h sessions were conducted individually. Volunteers were encouraged to close their eyes and direct their attention inward. Study monitors rated volunteers' behavior during sessions. Volunteers completed questionnaires assessing drug effects and mystical experience immediately after and 2 months after sessions. Community observers rated changes in the volunteer's attitudes and behavior. Psilocybin produced a range of acute perceptual changes, subjective experiences, and labile moods including anxiety. Psilocybin also increased measures of mystical experience. At 2 months, the volunteers rated the psilocybin experience as having substantial personal meaning and spiritual significance and attributed to the experience sustained positive changes in attitudes and behavior consistent with changes rated by community observers. When administered under supportive conditions, psilocybin occasioned experiences similar to spontaneously occurring mystical experiences. The ability to occasion such experiences prospectively will allow rigorous scientific investigations of their causes and consequences.

  17. How do mean division shares affect growth and development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shao Liang Frank

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The Gini coefficient is widely used in academia to discuss how income inequality affects development and growth. However, different Lorenz curves may provide different development and growth outcomes while still leading to the same Gini coefficient. This paper studies the development effects of “mean division shares”, i.e., the share of income (mean income share held by people whose household disposable income per capita is below the mean income and the share of the population (mean population share with this income, using panel data. Our analysis explores how this income share and population share impact development and growth. It shows that the income and population shares affect growth in significantly different ways and that an analysis of these metrics provides substantial value compared to that of the Gini coefficient.

  18. Geometric mean for subspace selection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tao, Dacheng; Li, Xuelong; Wu, Xindong; Maybank, Stephen J

    2009-02-01

    Subspace selection approaches are powerful tools in pattern classification and data visualization. One of the most important subspace approaches is the linear dimensionality reduction step in the Fisher's linear discriminant analysis (FLDA), which has been successfully employed in many fields such as biometrics, bioinformatics, and multimedia information management. However, the linear dimensionality reduction step in FLDA has a critical drawback: for a classification task with c classes, if the dimension of the projected subspace is strictly lower than c - 1, the projection to a subspace tends to merge those classes, which are close together in the original feature space. If separate classes are sampled from Gaussian distributions, all with identical covariance matrices, then the linear dimensionality reduction step in FLDA maximizes the mean value of the Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergences between different classes. Based on this viewpoint, the geometric mean for subspace selection is studied in this paper. Three criteria are analyzed: 1) maximization of the geometric mean of the KL divergences, 2) maximization of the geometric mean of the normalized KL divergences, and 3) the combination of 1 and 2. Preliminary experimental results based on synthetic data, UCI Machine Learning Repository, and handwriting digits show that the third criterion is a potential discriminative subspace selection method, which significantly reduces the class separation problem in comparing with the linear dimensionality reduction step in FLDA and its several representative extensions.

  19. Mean-field learning for satisfactory solutions

    KAUST Repository

    Tembine, Hamidou

    2013-12-01

    One of the fundamental challenges in distributed interactive systems is to design efficient, accurate, and fair solutions. In such systems, a satisfactory solution is an innovative approach that aims to provide all players with a satisfactory payoff anytime and anywhere. In this paper we study fully distributed learning schemes for satisfactory solutions in games with continuous action space. Considering games where the payoff function depends only on own-action and an aggregate term, we show that the complexity of learning systems can be significantly reduced, leading to the so-called mean-field learning. We provide sufficient conditions for convergence to a satisfactory solution and we give explicit convergence time bounds. Then, several acceleration techniques are used in order to improve the convergence rate. We illustrate numerically the proposed mean-field learning schemes for quality-of-service management in communication networks. © 2013 IEEE.

  20. Two Aspects of Activation: Arousal and Subjective Significance – Behavioral and Event-Related Potential Correlates Investigated by Means of a Modified Emotional Stroop Task

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kamil Imbir

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The arousal level of words presented in a Stroop task was found to affect their interference on the required naming of the words’ color. Based on a dual-processes approach, we propose that there are two aspects to activation: arousal and subjective significance. Arousal is crucial for automatic processing. Subjective significance is specific to controlled processing. Based on this conceptual model, we predicted that arousal would enhance interference in a Stroop task, as attention would be allocated to the meaning of the inhibited word. High subjective significance should have the opposite effect, i.e., it should enhance the controlled and explicit part of Stroop task processing, which is color naming. We found that response latencies were modulated by the interaction between the arousal and subjective significance levels of words. The longest reaction times were observed for highly arousing words of medium subjective significance level. Arousal shaped event related potentials in the 150–290 ms time range, while effects of subjective significance were found for 50–150, 150–290, and 290–530 ms time ranges.

  1. Clinical Significance of Reticulocyte Hemoglobin Content in the Diagnosis of Iron Deficiency Anemia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mustafa Karagülle

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance of reticulocyte hemoglobin content (CHr in the diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia (IDA and to compare it with other conventional iron parameters. METHODS: A total of 32 female patients with IDA (serum hemoglobin 120 g/L and serum ferritin <20 ng/mL were enrolled. RESULTS: CHr was 24.95±3.92 pg in female patients with IDA and 29.93±2.96 pg in female patients with iron deficiency. CHr showed a significant positive correlation with hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, serum iron, and transferrin saturation and a significant negative correlation with transferrin and total iron-binding capacity. The cut-off value of CHr for detecting IDA was 29 pg. CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrate that CHr is a useful parameter that can be confidently used in the diagnosis of IDA, and a CHr cut-off value of 29 pg predicts IDA.

  2. Formal conditions for the significance-effect

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thellefsen, Torkild Leo; Sørensen, Bent; Thellefsen, Martin

    2006-01-01

    The significance-effect is the right effect of meaning caused upon an interpreting mind. The right effect is understood as the right interpretation of an intended meaning caused by a sign communicated by an utterer. In the article, which is inspired by Charles S. Peirce's doctrine of signs, his s...... semeiotics and his theory of communication, we account for the formal conditions that have to be present for the release of the significance-effect....

  3. Mean-periodic functions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos A. Berenstein

    1980-01-01

    Full Text Available We show that any mean-periodic function f can be represented in terms of exponential-polynomial solutions of the same convolution equation f satisfies, i.e., u∗f=0(μ∈E′(ℝn. This extends to n-variables the work of L. Schwartz on mean-periodicity and also extends L. Ehrenpreis' work on partial differential equations with constant coefficients to arbitrary convolutors. We also answer a number of open questions about mean-periodic functions of one variable. The basic ingredient is our work on interpolation by entire functions in one and several complex variables.

  4. The cosmopolitan maternal heritage of the Thoroughbred racehorse breed shows a significant contribution from British and Irish native mares.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bower, M A; Campana, M G; Whitten, M; Edwards, C J; Jones, H; Barrett, E; Cassidy, R; Nisbet, R E R; Hill, E W; Howe, C J; Binns, M

    2011-04-23

    The paternal origins of Thoroughbred racehorses trace back to a handful of Middle Eastern stallions, imported to the British Isles during the seventeenth century. Yet, few details of the foundation mares were recorded, in many cases not even their names (several different maternal lineages trace back to 'A Royal Mare'). This has fuelled intense speculation over their origins. We examined mitochondrial DNA from 1929 horses to determine the origin of Thoroughbred foundation mares. There is no evidence to support exclusive Arab maternal origins as some historical records have suggested, or a significant importation of Oriental mares (the term used in historic records to refer to Middle East and western Asian breeds including Arab, Akhal-Teke, Barb and Caspian). Instead, we show that Thoroughbred foundation mares had a cosmopolitan European heritage with a far greater contribution from British and Irish Native mares than previously recognized.

  5. The cosmopolitan maternal heritage of the Thoroughbred racehorse breed shows a significant contribution from British and Irish native mares

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bower, M. A.; Campana, M. G.; Whitten, M.; Edwards, C. J.; Jones, H.; Barrett, E.; Cassidy, R.; Nisbet, R. E. R.; Hill, E. W.; Howe, C. J.; Binns, M.

    2011-01-01

    The paternal origins of Thoroughbred racehorses trace back to a handful of Middle Eastern stallions, imported to the British Isles during the seventeenth century. Yet, few details of the foundation mares were recorded, in many cases not even their names (several different maternal lineages trace back to ‘A Royal Mare’). This has fuelled intense speculation over their origins. We examined mitochondrial DNA from 1929 horses to determine the origin of Thoroughbred foundation mares. There is no evidence to support exclusive Arab maternal origins as some historical records have suggested, or a significant importation of Oriental mares (the term used in historic records to refer to Middle East and western Asian breeds including Arab, Akhal-Teke, Barb and Caspian). Instead, we show that Thoroughbred foundation mares had a cosmopolitan European heritage with a far greater contribution from British and Irish Native mares than previously recognized. PMID:20926431

  6. Taking serial correlation into account in tests of the mean

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zwiers, F.W.; Storch, H. von

    1993-01-01

    The comparison of means derived from samples of noisy data is a standard part of climatology. When the data are not serially correlated the appropriate statistical tool for this task is usually the conventional Student's t-test. However, data frequently are serially correlated in climatological applications with the result that the t-tests in its standard form is not applicable. The usual solution to this problem is to scale the t-statistic by a factor which depends upon the equivalent sample size n e . We show, by means of simulations, that the revised t-test is often conservative (the actual significance level is smaller than the specified significance level) when the equivalent sample size is known. However, in most practical cases the equivalent sample size is not known. Then the test becomes liberal (the actual significance level is greater than the specified significance level). This systematic error becomes small when the true equivalent sample size is large (greater than approximately 30). We re-examine the difficulties inherent in difference of means tests when there is serial dependence. We provide guidelines for the application of the 'usual' t-test and propose two alternative tests which substantially improve upon the 'usual' t-test when samples are small. (orig.)

  7. Significant interarm blood pressure difference predicts cardiovascular risk in hypertensive patients: CoCoNet study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Su-A; Kim, Jang Young; Park, Jeong Bae

    2016-06-01

    There has been a rising interest in interarm blood pressure difference (IAD), due to its relationship with peripheral arterial disease and its possible relationship with cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to characterize hypertensive patients with a significant IAD in relation to cardiovascular risk. A total of 3699 patients (mean age, 61 ± 11 years) were prospectively enrolled in the study. Blood pressure (BP) was measured simultaneously in both arms 3 times using an automated cuff-oscillometric device. IAD was defined as the absolute difference in averaged BPs between the left and right arm, and an IAD ≥ 10 mm Hg was considered to be significant. The Framingham risk score was used to calculate the 10-year cardiovascular risk. The mean systolic IAD (sIAD) was 4.3 ± 4.1 mm Hg, and 285 (7.7%) patients showed significant sIAD. Patients with significant sIAD showed larger body mass index (P < 0.001), greater systolic BP (P = 0.050), more coronary artery disease (relative risk = 1.356, P = 0.034), and more cerebrovascular disease (relative risk = 1.521, P = 0.072). The mean 10-year cardiovascular risk was 9.3 ± 7.7%. By multiple regression, sIAD was significantly but weakly correlated with the 10-year cardiovascular risk (β = 0.135, P = 0.008). Patients with significant sIAD showed a higher prevalence of coronary artery disease, as well as an increase in 10-year cardiovascular risk. Therefore, accurate measurements of sIAD may serve as a simple and cost-effective tool for predicting cardiovascular risk in clinical settings.

  8. Prognostic significance of radionuclide-assessed right ventricular function in dilated cardiomyopathy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohno, Akira; Nishimura, Tsunehiko; Uehara, Toshiisa; Shimonagata, Tsuyoshi; Kumita, Shinichiro; Ogawa, Youji; Nagata, Seiki; Miyatake, Kunio

    1991-01-01

    To assess the prognostic significance of right ventricular function in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), we studied consecutive 57 DCM patients. There were 41 men and 16 women, whose mean age was 48 years (range 3-68 years). The mean left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in all patients was 29±11%, and the mean interval from the onset of symptom of cardiac failure (CHF history) was 4 years (range 0-33 years). With follow-up of 3.8 years, five patients had died until the first year, and 14 had died until the third year. By using multivariate regression analysis, there were no prognostic significance in clinical parameters such as age, CHF history, sex, atrial fibrillation, except for NYHA class, and medication at the third year. In survival curves according to Kaplan-Meier method, right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) and mean pulmonary artery (PA) had predictive value (p<0.05), while LVEF did not. The patients with RVEF<45% had poor survival rate compared to those with RVEF≥45%. The patients with RVEF<45% showed lower LVEF and left ventricular end-systolic volume index. RVEF may offer prognostic predictive value through the effect of not only mean PA but also left ventricular parameter. In conclusion, radionuclide assessment of right ventricular function should be valuable for the prognostic evaluation of DCM patients. (author)

  9. Prognostic significance of radionuclide-assessed right ventricular function in dilated cardiomyopathy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ohno, Akira; Nishimura, Tsunehiko; Uehara, Toshiisa; Shimonagata, Tsuyoshi; Kumita, Shinichiro; Ogawa, Youji; Nagata, Seiki; Miyatake, Kunio [National Cardiovascular Center, Suita, Osaka (Japan)

    1991-09-01

    To assess the prognostic significance of right ventricular function in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), we studied consecutive 57 DCM patients. There were 41 men and 16 women, whose mean age was 48 years (range 3-68 years). The mean left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in all patients was 29{+-}11%, and the mean interval from the onset of symptom of cardiac failure (CHF history) was 4 years (range 0-33 years). With follow-up of 3.8 years, five patients had died until the first year, and 14 had died until the third year. By using multivariate regression analysis, there were no prognostic significance in clinical parameters such as age, CHF history, sex, atrial fibrillation, except for NYHA class, and medication at the third year. In survival curves according to Kaplan-Meier method, right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) and mean pulmonary artery (PA) had predictive value (p<0.05), while LVEF did not. The patients with RVEF<45% had poor survival rate compared to those with RVEF{>=}45%. The patients with RVEF<45% showed lower LVEF and left ventricular end-systolic volume index. RVEF may offer prognostic predictive value through the effect of not only mean PA but also left ventricular parameter. In conclusion, radionuclide assessment of right ventricular function should be valuable for the prognostic evaluation of DCM patients. (author).

  10. Interdecadal variation of April mean rainfall in Korea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Jae-Won; Kim, In-Gyum; Kim, Jeoung-Yun

    2017-05-01

    The statistical change-point analysis demonstrates that there is a climate regime shift in the April mean precipitation in Korea in 1981. The April mean precipitation in the years post-1981 showed a distinct decrease compared to the years pre-1981. This phenomenon was also noticed in China and Japan, excluding south China. One of the major causes for this decrease in April mean precipitation was the increased snow depth in the mid-latitude regions of continental East Asia. This resulted in a strengthened cold and dry anticyclone anomaly over continental East Asia and a relatively weakened subtropical anticyclone anomaly over the western North Pacific, thus forcing a continuation of the typical winter pressure pattern of "high-West and low-East" in East Asia in April. The strengthened northerly anomaly from this zonal pressure pattern anomaly played a significant role in restricting the northern movement of the subtropical anticyclone and preventing the inflow of warm and humid air into Korea.

  11. Algorithm for assessment of mean annual gonad dose and genetically significant dose from the data of personal dosimetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tomasevic, M.; Radovanovic, R.

    1986-01-01

    During one year more than 40,000 items of information on radiation exposure of personnel involved in the handling of radiation sources and more than 5,000,000 items on irradiation of other people are collected in the authors' laboratory. Considerable progress in assessment of mean annual gonad dose of genetically sifnificant dose was attained by means of an algorithm for a personal computer. This simple and inexpensive system has led to a higher accuracy in the application of protective measures. (author)

  12. Further heuristics for $k$-means: The merge-and-split heuristic and the $(k,l)$-means

    OpenAIRE

    Nielsen, Frank; Nock, Richard

    2014-01-01

    Finding the optimal $k$-means clustering is NP-hard in general and many heuristics have been designed for minimizing monotonically the $k$-means objective. We first show how to extend Lloyd's batched relocation heuristic and Hartigan's single-point relocation heuristic to take into account empty-cluster and single-point cluster events, respectively. Those events tend to increasingly occur when $k$ or $d$ increases, or when performing several restarts. First, we show that those special events ...

  13. Science means business: medical imaging shows colour of money

    CERN Multimedia

    Macfie, Rebecca

    2007-01-01

    Doctors have used x-ray machines for 100 years, but they remain an imprecise and limited diagnostic tool. But a team of Canterbury University researchers is aiming to revolutionise medical x-ray technology with high-precision colour imaging. (1,5 page)

  14. The impact of relationships, motivations, and meanings on dementia caregiving outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quinn, Catherine; Clare, Linda; McGuinness, Ted; Woods, Robert T

    2012-11-01

    Numerous theoretical models have been developed to explore how caregiving can impact on caregiving outcomes. However, limited attention has been given to the effects of caregivers' motivations for providing care, the meaning they find in caregiving, and the nature of their relationship with the care-recipient. The current study explored the associations between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, ability to find meaning in caregiving, and pre-caregiving and current relationship quality, and the way in which these variables interact to influence caregiving outcomes. This was a cross-sectional questionnaire study, in which the respondents were 447 caregivers of people with dementia who were in receipt of a specialist nursing service. The results showed that intrinsic motivations, meaning, and pre-caregiving and current relationship quality were significantly related to each other, while extrinsic motivations were only related to intrinsic motivations and meaning. All these factors were significantly related to caregiving outcomes as measured by caregiver burden, role captivity, and competence. Based on these findings, it is recommended that interventions aimed at reducing caregiving stress should take into account the impact of the quality of the relationship and the caregivers' motivations for providing care. More longitudinal research is needed to explore how meanings, motivations, and relationship quality change over the caregiving career.

  15. Intersubjective meaning making

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Davidsen, Jacob

    of single-touch screen interaction among 8-9 year-old children presented here, shows that while the constraints of single-touch screens does not support equality of interaction at the verbal and the physical level, there seems to be an intersubjective learning outcome. More precisely, the constraints...... of single-touch screens offer support for intersubjective meaning making in its ability of constraining the interaction. By presenting a short embodied interaction analysis of 22 seconds of collaboration, I illustrate how an embodied interaction perspective on intersubjective meaning making can tell...... a different story about touch-screen supported collaborative learning....

  16. The wildgeographer avatar shows how to measure soil erosion rates by means of a rainfall simulator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cerdà, Artemi; González Pelayo, Óscar; Pereira, Paulo; Novara, Agata; Iserloh, Thomas; Prosdocimi, Massimo

    2015-04-01

    This contribution to the immersed worlds wish to develop the avatar that will teach the students and other scientists how to develop measurements of soil erosion, surface runoff and wetting fronts by means of simulated rainfall experiments. Rainfall simulation is a well established and knows methodology to measure the soil erosion rates and soil hydrology under controlled conditions (Cerdà 1998a; Cerdà, 1998b; Cerdà and Jurgensen, 2011; Dunkerley, 2012; Iserloh et al., 2012; Iserloh et al., 2013; Ziadat and Taimeh, 2013; Butzen et al., 2014). However, is a method that requires a long training and expertise to avoid mismanagement and mistaken. To use and avatar can help in the teaching of the technique and the dissemination of the findings. This contribution will show to other avatars how to develop an experiment with simulated rainfall and will help to take the right decision in the design of the experiments. Following the main parts of the experiments and measurements the Wildgeographer avatar must develop: 1. Determine the objectives and decide which rainfall intensity and distribution, and which plot size to be used. Choose between a laboratory or a field rainfall simulation. 2. Design of the rainfall simulator to achieve the objectives: type of rainfall simulator (sprayer or drop former) and calibrate. 3. The experiments are carried out. 4. The results are show. Acknowledgements To the "Ministerio de Economía and Competitividad" of Spanish Government for finance the POSTFIRE project (CGL2013- 47862-C2-1-R). The research projects GL2008-02879/BTE, LEDDRA 243857 and PREVENTING AND REMEDIATING DEGRADATION OF SOILS IN EUROPE THROUGH LAND CARE (RECARE)FP7-ENV-2013- supported this research. References Butzen, V., Seeger, M., Wirtz, S., Huemann, M., Mueller, C., Casper, M., Ries, J. B. 2014. Quantification of Hortonian overland flow generation and soil erosion in a Central European low mountain range using rainfall experiments. Catena, 113, 202-212. Cerdà, A

  17. Mean transit time image - a new method of analyzing brain perfusion studies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Szabo, Z.; Ritzl, F.

    1983-05-01

    Point-by-point calculation of the mean transit time based on gamma fit was used to analyze brain perfusion studies in a vertex view. The algorithm and preliminary results in normal brain and in different stages of cerebral perfusion abnormality (ischemia, stroke, migraine, tumor, abscess) are demonstrated. In contrast to the traditional methods using fixed, a priori defined regions of interest this type of mapping of the relative regions cerebral perfusion shows more clearly the irregular outlines of the disturbance. Right to left activity ratios in the arterial part of the time-activity curves showed significant correlation with the mean transit time ratios (Q/sub 1/=1.185-0.192 Qsub(a), n=38, r=0.716, P<0.001).

  18. The Meaning of Meaning, Etc.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nilsen, Don L. F.

    This paper attempts to dispel a number of misconceptions about the nature of meaning, namely that: (1) synonyms are words that have the same meanings, (2) antonyms are words that have opposite meanings, (3) homonyms are words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings, (4) converses are antonyms rather than synonyms, (5)…

  19. The first F-ring modified ciguatoxin analogue showing significant toxicity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishihara, Yuuki; Lee, Nayoung; Oshiro, Naomasa; Matsuoka, Shigeru; Yamashita, Shuji; Inoue, Masayuki; Hirama, Masahiro

    2010-05-07

    Ciguatoxins, the principal causative toxins of ciguatera seafood poisoning, are potent neurotoxic polycyclic ethers. We report herein the total synthesis of a 10-membered F-ring analogue of 51-hydroxyCTX3C, which constitutes the first example of an F-ring modified ciguatoxin that exhibits potent cytotoxicity as well as mouse acute toxicity.

  20. Detecting Novelty and Significance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrari, Vera; Bradley, Margaret M.; Codispoti, Maurizio; Lang, Peter J.

    2013-01-01

    Studies of cognition often use an “oddball” paradigm to study effects of stimulus novelty and significance on information processing. However, an oddball tends to be perceptually more novel than the standard, repeated stimulus as well as more relevant to the ongoing task, making it difficult to disentangle effects due to perceptual novelty and stimulus significance. In the current study, effects of perceptual novelty and significance on ERPs were assessed in a passive viewing context by presenting repeated and novel pictures (natural scenes) that either signaled significant information regarding the current context or not. A fronto-central N2 component was primarily affected by perceptual novelty, whereas a centro-parietal P3 component was modulated by both stimulus significance and novelty. The data support an interpretation that the N2 reflects perceptual fluency and is attenuated when a current stimulus matches an active memory representation and that the amplitude of the P3 reflects stimulus meaning and significance. PMID:19400680

  1. 'It's Made a Huge Difference': Recognition, Rights and the Personal Significance of Civil Partnership

    OpenAIRE

    Beccy Shipman; Carol Smart

    2007-01-01

    In this paper we map briefly some of the arguments around the meaning and significance of the introduction of Civil Partnership in England and Wales, and in this way show how contested these meanings are with some groups profoundly against this legal reform and others supporting it, but for a mixture of reasons. We then turn to our empirical data based on interviews with same-sex couples to explore the extent to which these arguments and issues are part of the everyday decision making process...

  2. Trends in mean maximum temperature, mean minimum temperature and mean relative humidity for Lautoka, Fiji during 2003 – 2013

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Syed S. Ghani

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The current work observes the trends in Lautoka’s temperature and relative humidity during the period 2003 – 2013, which were analyzed using the recently updated data obtained from Fiji Meteorological Services (FMS. Four elements, mean maximum temperature, mean minimum temperature along with diurnal temperature range (DTR and mean relative humidity are investigated. From 2003–2013, the annual mean temperature has been enhanced between 0.02 and 0.080C. The heating is more in minimum temperature than in maximum temperature, resulting in a decrease of diurnal temperature range. The statistically significant increase was mostly seen during the summer months of December and January. Mean Relative Humidity has also increased from 3% to 8%. The bases of abnormal climate conditions are also studied. These bases were defined with temperature or humidity anomalies in their appropriate time sequences. These established the observed findings and exhibited that climate has been becoming gradually damper and heater throughout Lautoka during this period. While we are only at an initial phase in the probable inclinations of temperature changes, ecological reactions to recent climate change are already evidently noticeable. So it is proposed that it would be easier to identify climate alteration in a small island nation like Fiji.

  3. Mean field interaction in biochemical reaction networks

    KAUST Repository

    Tembine, Hamidou; Tempone, Raul; Vilanova, Pedro

    2011-01-01

    In this paper we establish a relationship between chemical dynamics and mean field game dynamics. We show that chemical reaction networks can be studied using noisy mean field limits. We provide deterministic, noisy and switching mean field limits

  4. Time series modelling of global mean temperature for managerial decision-making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romilly, Peter

    2005-07-01

    Climate change has important implications for business and economic activity. Effective management of climate change impacts will depend on the availability of accurate and cost-effective forecasts. This paper uses univariate time series techniques to model the properties of a global mean temperature dataset in order to develop a parsimonious forecasting model for managerial decision-making over the short-term horizon. Although the model is estimated on global temperature data, the methodology could also be applied to temperature data at more localised levels. The statistical techniques include seasonal and non-seasonal unit root testing with and without structural breaks, as well as ARIMA and GARCH modelling. A forecasting evaluation shows that the chosen model performs well against rival models. The estimation results confirm the findings of a number of previous studies, namely that global mean temperatures increased significantly throughout the 20th century. The use of GARCH modelling also shows the presence of volatility clustering in the temperature data, and a positive association between volatility and global mean temperature.

  5. Endocrinological Assessment Of Children With Significant Short Stature Using Radioimmunoassay Techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghaly, Isis; Hafez, Mona; Shousha, M. A.

    2004-01-01

    This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of clinical diagnosis in a group of children with significant short stature, height <-2.5 standard deviation below the mean for age and sex. Forty-nine children-l 8 female and 31 males-were included, mean age was 11.14 yr. (range 1.18 to 19 yr.). Clinical diagnosis, axiological measurements, thyroid profile, growth hormone, autoantibody screening for celiac disease were assessed. The patients were classified into 5 groups: Group I. familial short stature (FSS)and constitutional delay in growth and puberty (CDGP), (12%); group II. growth hormone deficiency (GHD), 54%; group III. Laron type of dwarfism (LTD) (10%); group IV. growth hormone neurosecretory disorder (GHND, 16%); group V. celiac disease (GSE, 8%). From this study the group with short normal variant (FSS-CDGP), uncommonly presents with significant short stature. Cranial CT scan should performed in any child with the diagnosis of GHD to exclude organic causes of GHD. In the group of GHND, a normal GH values to provocative tests does not guarantee sufficient GH secretion and should not be used to exclude these children from hGH treatment. Further investigations by measurement of integrated GH and IGFI may aid in the diagnosis of this disorder. Celiac disease may present only by short stature, therefore antibody screening tests should be a routine investigation for all children presented with unexplained short stature. Patient with GHD showed significant improvement of their GV SDS during treatment with hGH (p=0.021). Also children with GSE showed significant catch up growth after gluten withdrawal from the diet (p=0.029). (Authors)

  6. Mean-Field Games for Marriage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bauso, Dario; Dia, Ben Mansour; Djehiche, Boualem; Tembine, Hamidou; Tempone, Raul

    2014-01-01

    This article examines mean-field games for marriage. The results support the argument that optimizing the long-term well-being through effort and social feeling state distribution (mean-field) will help to stabilize marriage. However, if the cost of effort is very high, the couple fluctuates in a bad feeling state or the marriage breaks down. We then examine the influence of society on a couple using mean-field sentimental games. We show that, in mean-field equilibrium, the optimal effort is always higher than the one-shot optimal effort. We illustrate numerically the influence of the couple’s network on their feeling states and their well-being. PMID:24804835

  7. Mean-field games for marriage.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dario Bauso

    Full Text Available This article examines mean-field games for marriage. The results support the argument that optimizing the long-term well-being through effort and social feeling state distribution (mean-field will help to stabilize marriage. However, if the cost of effort is very high, the couple fluctuates in a bad feeling state or the marriage breaks down. We then examine the influence of society on a couple using mean-field sentimental games. We show that, in mean-field equilibrium, the optimal effort is always higher than the one-shot optimal effort. We illustrate numerically the influence of the couple's network on their feeling states and their well-being.

  8. Risk-sensitive mean-field games

    KAUST Repository

    Tembine, Hamidou

    2014-04-01

    In this paper, we study a class of risk-sensitive mean-field stochastic differential games. We show that under appropriate regularity conditions, the mean-field value of the stochastic differential game with exponentiated integral cost functional coincides with the value function satisfying a Hamilton -Jacobi- Bellman (HJB) equation with an additional quadratic term. We provide an explicit solution of the mean-field best response when the instantaneous cost functions are log-quadratic and the state dynamics are affine in the control. An equivalent mean-field risk-neutral problem is formulated and the corresponding mean-field equilibria are characterized in terms of backward-forward macroscopic McKean-Vlasov equations, Fokker-Planck-Kolmogorov equations, and HJB equations. We provide numerical examples on the mean field behavior to illustrate both linear and McKean-Vlasov dynamics. © 1963-2012 IEEE.

  9. Risk-sensitive mean-field games

    KAUST Repository

    Tembine, Hamidou; Zhu, Quanyan; Başar, Tamer

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, we study a class of risk-sensitive mean-field stochastic differential games. We show that under appropriate regularity conditions, the mean-field value of the stochastic differential game with exponentiated integral cost functional coincides with the value function satisfying a Hamilton -Jacobi- Bellman (HJB) equation with an additional quadratic term. We provide an explicit solution of the mean-field best response when the instantaneous cost functions are log-quadratic and the state dynamics are affine in the control. An equivalent mean-field risk-neutral problem is formulated and the corresponding mean-field equilibria are characterized in terms of backward-forward macroscopic McKean-Vlasov equations, Fokker-Planck-Kolmogorov equations, and HJB equations. We provide numerical examples on the mean field behavior to illustrate both linear and McKean-Vlasov dynamics. © 1963-2012 IEEE.

  10. Clinical significance of the VEGF level in urinary bladder carcinoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sankhwar, Monica; Sankhwar, Satya Narayan; Abhishek, Amar; Rajender, Singh

    2015-01-01

    To investigate the correlation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and micro-vessel density (MVD) with urinary bladder tumor and its stage. The study was conducted between January 2010 and December 2012. The study included screening of 122 patients at elevated risk for bladder cancer, of which 35 patients were finally enrolled in the study. Diagnosis was made on the basis of urine cytology, radiological investigation (ultrasound KUB, and CT-scan) and histopathology. Thirty-five normal cancer-free individuals were enrolled as controls. Human VEGF levels were measured using an enzyme linked immunoassay and protein content (pg/mg protein) by Lowry method. SPSS for Windows version 10.0.7 (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA) was used for statistical analysis of the data. Mean urine VEGF level in the cases was significantly higher in comparison to the control group. There was a direct correlation between VEGF level and tumor stage. Mean urine VEGF values were minimum in the control group (22.75 ± 15.41 pg/mg creatinine) and maximum in stage IV patients (180.15 ± 75.93 pg/mg creatinine). Tissue VEGF levels also showed a similar trend of increase with increase in stage. Urine VEGF level also showed a correlation with tissue VEGF level. Similarly, MVD showed a significant increase with increase in tumor stage. A correlation between bladder cancer and MVD and VEGF suggest that the latter can serve as markers for therapeutic guidance. This is the first study from India on clinical and pathological correlation among urine VEGF, tumor tissue VEGF levels, and Micro Vessel Density (MVD) in urinary bladder cancer patients.

  11. Mean field interaction in biochemical reaction networks

    KAUST Repository

    Tembine, Hamidou

    2011-09-01

    In this paper we establish a relationship between chemical dynamics and mean field game dynamics. We show that chemical reaction networks can be studied using noisy mean field limits. We provide deterministic, noisy and switching mean field limits and illustrate them with numerical examples. © 2011 IEEE.

  12. The Elderly Perceived Meanings and Values of Virtual Reality Leisure Activities: A Means-End Chain Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cheng-Shih Lin

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available This study uses means-end chain (MEC techniques to examine the awareness, decision-making procedure, and personal values of the elderly with regard to virtual reality leisure activities. The results of the study show that elderly respondents value virtual reality leisure activities that are fun, safe, and easy. In terms of outcome benefits, elderly respondents value feeling physically and mentally healthy, firsthand experience, and satisfied curiosity. In value terms, elderly respondents hope that their chosen virtual reality leisure activities improve not only their relationships with others, but also their enjoyment, quality of life, and sense of belonging. The results show that, while consumers with different awarenesses of virtual reality leisure activities have different decision-making processes, they share creating “good memories” as the terminal value with the most significant effect. This presents a potential opportunity to promote virtual reality leisure activities. Relevant bodies or enterprises can seek to create good memories in consumers by developing activities that are safe and fun, promote good health, and provide good service, thereby attracting the interest of elderly consumers.

  13. The Elderly Perceived Meanings and Values of Virtual Reality Leisure Activities: A Means-End Chain Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Cheng-Shih; Jeng, Mei-Yuan

    2018-01-01

    This study uses means-end chain (MEC) techniques to examine the awareness, decision-making procedure, and personal values of the elderly with regard to virtual reality leisure activities. The results of the study show that elderly respondents value virtual reality leisure activities that are fun, safe, and easy. In terms of outcome benefits, elderly respondents value feeling physically and mentally healthy, firsthand experience, and satisfied curiosity. In value terms, elderly respondents hope that their chosen virtual reality leisure activities improve not only their relationships with others, but also their enjoyment, quality of life, and sense of belonging. The results show that, while consumers with different awarenesses of virtual reality leisure activities have different decision-making processes, they share creating “good memories” as the terminal value with the most significant effect. This presents a potential opportunity to promote virtual reality leisure activities. Relevant bodies or enterprises can seek to create good memories in consumers by developing activities that are safe and fun, promote good health, and provide good service, thereby attracting the interest of elderly consumers. PMID:29614012

  14. The Elderly Perceived Meanings and Values of Virtual Reality Leisure Activities: A Means-End Chain Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Cheng-Shih; Jeng, Mei-Yuan; Yeh, Tsu-Ming

    2018-04-03

    This study uses means-end chain (MEC) techniques to examine the awareness, decision-making procedure, and personal values of the elderly with regard to virtual reality leisure activities. The results of the study show that elderly respondents value virtual reality leisure activities that are fun, safe, and easy. In terms of outcome benefits, elderly respondents value feeling physically and mentally healthy, firsthand experience, and satisfied curiosity. In value terms, elderly respondents hope that their chosen virtual reality leisure activities improve not only their relationships with others, but also their enjoyment, quality of life, and sense of belonging. The results show that, while consumers with different awarenesses of virtual reality leisure activities have different decision-making processes, they share creating "good memories" as the terminal value with the most significant effect. This presents a potential opportunity to promote virtual reality leisure activities. Relevant bodies or enterprises can seek to create good memories in consumers by developing activities that are safe and fun, promote good health, and provide good service, thereby attracting the interest of elderly consumers.

  15. The global Minmax k-means algorithm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiaoyan; Bai, Yanping

    2016-01-01

    The global k -means algorithm is an incremental approach to clustering that dynamically adds one cluster center at a time through a deterministic global search procedure from suitable initial positions, and employs k -means to minimize the sum of the intra-cluster variances. However the global k -means algorithm sometimes results singleton clusters and the initial positions sometimes are bad, after a bad initialization, poor local optimal can be easily obtained by k -means algorithm. In this paper, we modified the global k -means algorithm to eliminate the singleton clusters at first, and then we apply MinMax k -means clustering error method to global k -means algorithm to overcome the effect of bad initialization, proposed the global Minmax k -means algorithm. The proposed clustering method is tested on some popular data sets and compared to the k -means algorithm, the global k -means algorithm and the MinMax k -means algorithm. The experiment results show our proposed algorithm outperforms other algorithms mentioned in the paper.

  16. Mean-field games for marriage

    KAUST Repository

    Bauso, Dario

    2014-05-07

    This article examines mean-field games for marriage. The results support the argument that optimizing the long-term well-being through effort and social feeling state distribution (mean-field) will help to stabilize marriage. However, if the cost of effort is very high, the couple fluctuates in a bad feeling state or the marriage breaks down. We then examine the influence of society on a couple using mean-field sentimental games. We show that, in mean-field equilibrium, the optimal effort is always higher than the one-shot optimal effort. We illustrate numerically the influence of the couple\\'s network on their feeling states and their well-being. © 2014 Bauso et al.

  17. Mean-field games for marriage

    KAUST Repository

    Bauso, Dario; Dia, Ben Mansour; Djehiche, Boualem; Tembine, Hamidou; Tempone, Raul

    2014-01-01

    This article examines mean-field games for marriage. The results support the argument that optimizing the long-term well-being through effort and social feeling state distribution (mean-field) will help to stabilize marriage. However, if the cost of effort is very high, the couple fluctuates in a bad feeling state or the marriage breaks down. We then examine the influence of society on a couple using mean-field sentimental games. We show that, in mean-field equilibrium, the optimal effort is always higher than the one-shot optimal effort. We illustrate numerically the influence of the couple's network on their feeling states and their well-being. © 2014 Bauso et al.

  18. Structural breaks in mean temperature over agroclimatic zones in India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul, Ranjit Kumar; Birthal, P S; Khokhar, Ankit

    2014-01-01

    Amongst Asian countries India is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. During the past century, surface temperature in India has shown a significant increasing trend. In this paper, we have investigated behavior of mean monthly temperature during the period 1901-2001 over four agroclimatic zones of India and also tried to detect structural change in the temperature series. A structural break in the series has been observed at the national as well regional levels between 1970 and 1980. An analysis of trends before and after the structural break shows a significant increase in July temperature in the arid zone since 1972.

  19. Embodying Meaning: Qualities, Feelings, Selective Attention, and Habits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersson, Joacim; Garrison, Jim

    2016-01-01

    Recently, there has been increasing pedagogical interest in the qualities and characteristics of movement. This article examines these qualities and characteristics in terms of John Dewey's distinction between abstract, linguistic "significant" meanings and concrete, embodied "imminent" meanings. Imminent meanings are comprised…

  20. Emergence and Evolution of Meaning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José M. Díaz Nafría

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The category of meaning is traced forward starting from the origin of the Universe itself as well as its very grounding in pre-geometry. Different from many former approaches in the theories of information and also in biosemiotics, we will show that the forms of meaning emerge simultaneously (alongside with information and energy. Hence, information is always meaningful (in a sense to be explicated rather than its meaning would show up as a later specification of information within social systems only. This perspective taken has two immediate consequences: (1 We follow the GDI as defined by Floridi, though we modify it somehow as to the aspect of truthfulness. (2 We can conceptually solve Capurro’s trilemma. Hence, what we actually do is to follow the strict (i.e. optimistic line of UTI in the sense of Hofkirchner’s. While doing this, we treat energy and information as two different categorial aspects of one and the same underlying primordial structure.

  1. MEAN STACK WEB DEVELOPMENT

    OpenAIRE

    Le Thanh, Nghi

    2017-01-01

    The aim of the thesis is to provide a universal website using JavaScript as the main programming language. It also shows the basic parts anyone need to create a web application. The thesis creates a simple CMS using MEAN stack. MEAN is a collection of JavaScript based technologies used to develop web application. It is an acronym for MongoDB, Express, AngularJS and Node.js. It also allows non-technical users to easily update and manage a website’s content. But the application also lets o...

  2. Spirituality in narratives of meaning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francois Wessels

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This article forms part of a study which was inspired by the ever-growing need for significance expressed both by my life coaching and pastoral therapy clients as well as the need for existential meaning reported both in the lay press and academic literature. The study reflected on a life that matters with a group of co-researchers in a participatory action research relationship. The study has been positioned within pastoral theology and invited the theological discourse into a reflection of existential meaning. Adopting a critical relational constructionist epistemology, the research was positioned within a postmodern paradigm. The implications for meaning and research were explored and described. This article tells the story of how spirituality was positioned in the narratives of meaning by my fellow researchers.

  3. ENERGETIC PARTICLE TRANSPORT ACROSS THE MEAN MAGNETIC FIELD: BEFORE DIFFUSION

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Laitinen, T.; Dalla, S.

    2017-01-01

    Current particle transport models describe the propagation of charged particles across the mean field direction in turbulent plasmas as diffusion. However, recent studies suggest that at short timescales, such as soon after solar energetic particle (SEP) injection, particles remain on turbulently meandering field lines, which results in nondiffusive initial propagation across the mean magnetic field. In this work, we use a new technique to investigate how the particles are displaced from their original field lines, and we quantify the parameters of the transition from field-aligned particle propagation along meandering field lines to particle diffusion across the mean magnetic field. We show that the initial decoupling of the particles from the field lines is slow, and particles remain within a Larmor radius from their initial meandering field lines for tens to hundreds of Larmor periods, for 0.1–10 MeV protons in turbulence conditions typical of the solar wind at 1 au. Subsequently, particles decouple from their initial field lines and after hundreds to thousands of Larmor periods reach time-asymptotic diffusive behavior consistent with particle diffusion across the mean field caused by the meandering of the field lines. We show that the typical duration of the prediffusive phase, hours to tens of hours for 10 MeV protons in 1 au solar wind turbulence conditions, is significant for SEP propagation to 1 au and must be taken into account when modeling SEP propagation in the interplanetary space.

  4. ENERGETIC PARTICLE TRANSPORT ACROSS THE MEAN MAGNETIC FIELD: BEFORE DIFFUSION

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Laitinen, T.; Dalla, S., E-mail: tlmlaitinen@uclan.ac.uk [Jeremiah Horrocks Institute, University of Central Lancashire, Preston (United Kingdom)

    2017-01-10

    Current particle transport models describe the propagation of charged particles across the mean field direction in turbulent plasmas as diffusion. However, recent studies suggest that at short timescales, such as soon after solar energetic particle (SEP) injection, particles remain on turbulently meandering field lines, which results in nondiffusive initial propagation across the mean magnetic field. In this work, we use a new technique to investigate how the particles are displaced from their original field lines, and we quantify the parameters of the transition from field-aligned particle propagation along meandering field lines to particle diffusion across the mean magnetic field. We show that the initial decoupling of the particles from the field lines is slow, and particles remain within a Larmor radius from their initial meandering field lines for tens to hundreds of Larmor periods, for 0.1–10 MeV protons in turbulence conditions typical of the solar wind at 1 au. Subsequently, particles decouple from their initial field lines and after hundreds to thousands of Larmor periods reach time-asymptotic diffusive behavior consistent with particle diffusion across the mean field caused by the meandering of the field lines. We show that the typical duration of the prediffusive phase, hours to tens of hours for 10 MeV protons in 1 au solar wind turbulence conditions, is significant for SEP propagation to 1 au and must be taken into account when modeling SEP propagation in the interplanetary space.

  5. Analysis of genetic distance between Peruvian Alpaca (Vicugna Pacos showing two distinct fleece phenotypes, Suri and Huacaya, by means of microsatellite markers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlo Renieri

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Two coat phenotypes exist in Alpaca, Huacaya and Suri. The two coats show different fleece structure, textile characteristics and prices on the market. Although present scientific knowledge suggests a simple genetic model of inheritance, there is a tendency to manage and consider the two phenotypes as two different breeds. A 13 microsatellite panel was used in this study to assess genetic distance between Suri and Huacaya alpacas in a sample of non-related animals from two phenotypically pure flocks at the Illpa-Puno experimental station in Quimsachata, Peru. The animals are part of a germplasm established approximately 20 years ago and have been bred separately according to their coat type since then. Genetic variability parameters were also calculated. The data were statistically analyzed using the software Genalex 6.3, Phylip 3.69 and Fstat 2.9.3.2. The sample was tested for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE and after strict Bonferroni correction only one locus (LCA37 showed deviation from equilibrium (Ploci associations showed significant disequilibrium. Observed heterozygosis (Ho= 0.766; SE=0.044, expected heterozygosis (He=0.769; SE=0.033, number of alleles (Na=9.667, SE=0.772 and Fixation index (F=0.004; SE=0.036 are comparable to data from previous studies. Measures of genetic distance were 0.06 for Nei’s and 0.03 for Cavalli-Sforza’s. The analysis of molecular variance reported no existing variance between populations. Considering the origin of the animals, their post domestication evolution and the reproductive practices in place, the results do not show genetic differentiation between the two populations for the studied loci.

  6. The significant relationships between hormonal growth pattern parameters in children with chronic liver disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ayad, S.K.

    2009-01-01

    Present study was undertaken to investigate the disturbance in GH. IGF-I and IGFBP-3 axis by evaluating their levels in serum of children with chronic liver disease. twenty-two under normal growth children suffering from cholestasis and chronic viral hepatitis B or C (3-7 years) with mean value (5.05± 1.18 years) compared with twenty healthy children with mean age value (5.07+ 1.37 years) served as control. the malnourished children were classified into 2 groups (l) included 8 cholestatic children and ll: included 14 children with chronic viral hepatitis (HBV or HCV).the biochemical analysis for lover disease as serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT),aspartate aminotransferase (ASTt), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), γ-glutamyl transferase ( γ-GT), total bilirubin, total protein (P), total albumin (A), and prothrombin concentration were performed by colorimetric technique. serum growth hormone (GH), insulin -like growth factor-l (IGF-l) and insulin -like growth factor binding protein- 3 (IGFBP-3) were estimated by radioisotope technique as marker for growth. the biochemical results showed highly significant increases (P< 0.01) in ALT, AST, ALP, γ-GT and total bilirubin respectively in both malnourished groups with chronic liver disease when matched to that of control . total protein , total albumin and prothrombin concentration recorded highly significant decreases (P<0.001) particularly in GR.ll when compared with healthy children . total protein showed non-significant difference in gr.l when compared to control. GH level showed highly significant increases (P<0.01), while IGF-l and IGFBP-3 reported highly significant reduction (P<0.001) in both manourished groups when compared to the normal growth children . the elevation of GH level and reduction of both IGF-l and IGFBP-3 levels were more prominent in children with chronic viral hepatitis than cholestatic children

  7. Fuzzy C-means method for clustering microarray data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dembélé, Doulaye; Kastner, Philippe

    2003-05-22

    Clustering analysis of data from DNA microarray hybridization studies is essential for identifying biologically relevant groups of genes. Partitional clustering methods such as K-means or self-organizing maps assign each gene to a single cluster. However, these methods do not provide information about the influence of a given gene for the overall shape of clusters. Here we apply a fuzzy partitioning method, Fuzzy C-means (FCM), to attribute cluster membership values to genes. A major problem in applying the FCM method for clustering microarray data is the choice of the fuzziness parameter m. We show that the commonly used value m = 2 is not appropriate for some data sets, and that optimal values for m vary widely from one data set to another. We propose an empirical method, based on the distribution of distances between genes in a given data set, to determine an adequate value for m. By setting threshold levels for the membership values, genes which are tigthly associated to a given cluster can be selected. Using a yeast cell cycle data set as an example, we show that this selection increases the overall biological significance of the genes within the cluster. Supplementary text and Matlab functions are available at http://www-igbmc.u-strasbg.fr/fcm/

  8. Discussing Firearm Ownership and Access as Part of Suicide Risk Assessment and Prevention: "Means Safety" versus "Means Restriction".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stanley, Ian H; Hom, Melanie A; Rogers, Megan L; Anestis, Michael D; Joiner, Thomas E

    2017-01-01

    The goal of this study was to describe the relative utility of the terms "means safety" versus "means restriction" in counseling individuals to limit their access to firearms in the context of a mock suicide risk assessment. Overall, 370 participants were randomized to read a vignette depicting a clinical scenario in which managing firearm ownership and access was discussed either using the term "means safety" or "means restriction." Participants rated the term "means safety" as significantly more acceptable and preferable than "means restriction." Participants randomized to the "means safety" condition reported greater intentions to adhere to clinicians' recommendations to limit access to a firearm for safety purposes (F[1,367] = 7.393, p = .007, [Formula: see text]). The term "means safety" may be more advantageous than "means restriction" when discussing firearm ownership and access in clinical settings and public health-oriented suicide prevention efforts.

  9. Prognostic significance of snail expression in hilar cholangiocarcinoma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kong, Dalu [Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Hexi District, Tianjin (China); Liang, Jun [Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong Province (China); Li, Rong [Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Hexi District, Tianjin (China); Liu, Shihai [Department of Laboratory Center, Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong Province (China); Wang, Jigang [Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong Province (China); Zhang, Kejun; Chen, Dong [Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong Province (China)

    2012-05-11

    Many patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HC) have a poor prognosis. Snail, a transcription factor and E-cadherin repressor, is a novel prognostic factor in many cancers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between snail and E-cadherin protein expression and the prognostic significance of snail expression in HC. We examined the protein expression of snail and E-cadherin in HC tissues from 47 patients (22 males and 25 females, mean age 61.2 years) using immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR. Proliferation rate was also evaluated in the same cases by the MIB1 index. High, low and negative snail protein expression was recorded in 18 (38%), 17 (36%), and 12 (26%) cases, respectively, and 40.4% (19/47) cases showed reduced E-cadherin protein expression in HC samples. No significant correlation was found between snail and E-cadherin protein expression levels (P = 0.056). No significant correlation was found between snail protein expression levels and gender, age, tumor grade, vascular or perineural invasion, nodal metastasis and invasion, or proliferative index. Cancer samples with positive snail protein expression were associated with poor survival compared with the negative expresser groups. Kaplan-Meier curves comparing different snail protein expression levels to survival showed highly significant separation (P < 0.0001, log-rank test). With multivariate analysis, only snail protein expression among all parameters was found to influence survival (P = 0.0003). We suggest that snail expression levels can predict poor survival regardless of pathological features and tumor proliferation. Immunohistochemical detection of snail protein expression levels in routine sections may provide the first biological prognostic marker.

  10. The Significance of Serum beta2-Microglobulin Measurement in Various Renal Diseases

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Koong, Sung Soo; Oh, Ha Yong; Han, Jin Suk; Lee, Jung Sang [Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    1985-03-15

    To evaluate change of serum beta{sub 2}-microglobulin concentration (sbeta{sub 2}-MG) and the usefulness of sbeta{sub 2}-MG and sbeta{sub 2}-MG/serum creatinine concentration (sCr) ratio in various renal diseases, sbeta{sub 2}-MG and sCr were measured in 25 normal controls and 90 patients of various renal diseases (16 cases of glomerulonephritis, 12 cases of acute renal failure, 8 cases of chronic renal failure, 24 cases of nephrotic syndrome, 15 cases of tubulointerstitial diseases and 15 cases of lupus nephritis) using Phadebas beta{sub 2}-Micro Test kits. The results were as follows; 1) In normal control, the mean value of sbeta{sub 2}-MG was 1.65+-0.41 mg/l and the mean value of sbeta{sub 2}-MG/sCr ratio was 0.14+-0.05. 2) In various renal diseases, the mean value of sbeta{sub 2}-MG was 6.74+-5.47 mg/l. The mean value of sbeta{sub 2}-MG/sCr ratio was 0.24+-0.11 and significantly elevated than that of normal contro1. (P<0.05). 3) The correlation between sbeta-2-MG and sCr in glomerular and tubulointerstitial disease was log sbeta{sub 2}-MG=0.90 log sCr-0.48 and its correlation coefficient was 0.78 (P<0.05). 4) In glomerular disease, the correlation between sbeta{sub 2}-MG and sCr was log sbeta{sub 2}-MG=0.89 log sCr-0.46 (r-0.76) and in tubulointerstitial disease, it was log sbeta{sub 2}-MG=0.95 1og sCr-0.59 (r-0.87). There was no significant difference between the two groups (p<0.05). 5) Among 32 cases of glomerular and tubulointerstitial disease patients, whose sCr was within normal range, 17 cases showed elevated sbeta{sub 2}-MG. The mean values of sbeta{sub 2}-MG/sCr ratio in these patients was 0.30+-0.14 and significantly elevated than that of normal control (p<0.05). 6) In 15 cases of lupus nephritis, 12 cases showed elevated sbeta{sub 2}-MG with normal sCr and 12 cases showed elevated sbeta{sub 2}-MG/sCr ratio. With above results, It was found that the sbeta{sub 2}-MG can be used as an index of glomerular filtration rate as in the case of sCr and thats

  11. Meaning in life, resilience, and psychological well-being among children affected by parental HIV.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Du, Hongfei; Li, Xiaoming; Chi, Peilian; Zhao, Junfeng; Zhao, Guoxiang

    2017-11-01

    Meaning in life has been posited to improve psychological well-being. People facing adversities can reduce psychological distress through pursuing a sense of purpose in life. However, the effectiveness of meaning in life in promoting psychological well-being has been found varied, and what factors may affect the function of meaning in life remain unclear. In this paper, the authors suggest that resilience, the positive adaptation during or following significant adversity, can strengthen the protective effects of meaning in life on psychological well-being. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed data from a sample of 518 vulnerable children of parents living with HIV about their meaning in life, resilience, depression, and loneliness. Results showed that resilience moderated the relationship between meaning in life and depression, and between meaning in life and loneliness. Meaning in life was associated with lower levels of depression and loneliness among children high in resilience, in comparison to children low in resilience. Future interventions targeting meaning in life and well-being should consider children's resilience, which can allow for better individualization of the treatment.

  12. Perceived Work Conditions and Turnover Intentions: The Mediating Role of Meaning of Work

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnoux-Nicolas, Caroline; Sovet, Laurent; Lhotellier, Lin; Di Fabio, Annamaria; Bernaud, Jean-Luc

    2016-01-01

    Perceived working conditions lead to various negative outcomes for employee behaviors, including turnover intentions. Although potential mediators for these relationships were previously identified, the importance of meaning of work has not yet been investigated. This study examines the role of this psychological resource as a mediator for the relationships between perceived working conditions and turnover intentions in a sample of 336 French workers from different job contexts. Results show that adverse working conditions were positively and significantly associated with turnover intentions. Meaning of work is negatively related to both perceived working conditions and turnover intentions. Mediation analyses for meaning of work demonstrated indirect effects of several adverse working conditions on turnover intentions. The role of meaning of work as a psychological resource for employees facing adverse working conditions is discussed, especially regarding its implications for research and practice within organizational contexts. PMID:27242616

  13. Perceived Work Conditions and Turnover Intentions: The Mediating Role of Meaning of Work.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnoux-Nicolas, Caroline; Sovet, Laurent; Lhotellier, Lin; Di Fabio, Annamaria; Bernaud, Jean-Luc

    2016-01-01

    Perceived working conditions lead to various negative outcomes for employee behaviors, including turnover intentions. Although potential mediators for these relationships were previously identified, the importance of meaning of work has not yet been investigated. This study examines the role of this psychological resource as a mediator for the relationships between perceived working conditions and turnover intentions in a sample of 336 French workers from different job contexts. Results show that adverse working conditions were positively and significantly associated with turnover intentions. Meaning of work is negatively related to both perceived working conditions and turnover intentions. Mediation analyses for meaning of work demonstrated indirect effects of several adverse working conditions on turnover intentions. The role of meaning of work as a psychological resource for employees facing adverse working conditions is discussed, especially regarding its implications for research and practice within organizational contexts.

  14. Human microRNA oncogenes and tumor suppressors show significantly different biological patterns: from functions to targets.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dong Wang

    Full Text Available MicroRNAs (miRNAs are small noncoding RNAs which play essential roles in many important biological processes. Therefore, their dysfunction is associated with a variety of human diseases, including cancer. Increasing evidence shows that miRNAs can act as oncogenes or tumor suppressors, and although there is great interest in research into these cancer-associated miRNAs, little is known about them. In this study, we performed a comprehensive analysis of putative human miRNA oncogenes and tumor suppressors. We found that miRNA oncogenes and tumor suppressors clearly show different patterns in function, evolutionary rate, expression, chromosome distribution, molecule size, free energy, transcription factors, and targets. For example, miRNA oncogenes are located mainly in the amplified regions in human cancers, whereas miRNA tumor suppressors are located mainly in the deleted regions. miRNA oncogenes tend to cleave target mRNAs more frequently than miRNA tumor suppressors. These results indicate that these two types of cancer-associated miRNAs play different roles in cancer formation and development. Moreover, the patterns identified here can discriminate novel miRNA oncogenes and tumor suppressors with a high degree of accuracy. This study represents the first large-scale bioinformatic analysis of human miRNA oncogenes and tumor suppressors. Our findings provide help for not only understanding of miRNAs in cancer but also for the specific identification of novel miRNAs as miRNA oncogenes and tumor suppressors. In addition, the data presented in this study will be valuable for the study of both miRNAs and cancer.

  15. Stereological estimation of nuclear mean volume in invasive meningiomas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, C; Schrøder, H D

    1996-01-01

    A stereological estimation of nuclear mean volume in bone and brain invasive meningiomas was made. For comparison the nuclear mean volume of benign meningiomas was estimated. The aim was to investigate whether this method could discriminate between these groups. We found that the nuclear mean...... volume in the bone and brain invasive meningiomas was larger than in the benign tumors. The difference was significant and moreover it was seen that there was no overlap between the two groups. In the bone invasive meningiomas the nuclear mean volume appeared to be larger inside than outside the bone....... No significant difference in nuclear mean volume was found between brain and bone invasive meningiomas. The results demonstrate that invasive meningiomas differ from benign meningiomas by an objective stereological estimation of nuclear mean volume (p

  16. MEAN PLATELET VOLUME AND RISK OF THROMBOTIC STROKE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prasantha Kumar Thankappan

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND Stroke is a major cause of long term morbidity and mortality. Several factors are known to increase the liability to stroke. Platelets play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic complications, contributing to thrombus formation. Platelet size (mean platelet volume, MPV is a marker and possible determinant of platelet function, large platelets being potentially more reactive. Hence an attempt has-been made to study the association if any between mean platelet volume and thrombotic stroke. The aim of this study was to determine whether an association exists between Mean Platelet Volume (MPV and thrombotic stroke. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study is a case control study and data was collected at Government Medical College Hospital, Kottayam, Kerala a tertiary care referral centre. The study was carried out among fifty patients diagnosed with thrombotic stroke and presenting to the hospital within forty eight hours of onset of symptoms. Fifty age group and sex matched controls were also recruited. Mean platelet volume was obtained using a SYSMEX automated analyser. RESULTS This study has shown a statistically significant relation between mean platelet volume and risk of thrombotic stroke but no statistically significant correlation between clinical severity of stroke and mean platelet volume. CONCLUSION This study has shown an elevation of MPV in acute phase of thrombotic stroke. Platelet mass was found to be more or less a constant. This study did not find a statistically significant correlation between clinical severity of stroke and mean platelet volume.

  17. Meaning construction in remembering

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wagoner, Brady

    2011-01-01

    F.C. Bartlett and L.S.Vygotsky were two seminal figures in the psychological study of remembering. Both emphasized the role of meaning and imagination in this process. Bartlett did this by showing the systematic and holistic changes that ensue when cultural material is repeatedly reproduced outsi...

  18. Means and Variances without Calculus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kinney, John J.

    2005-01-01

    This article gives a method of finding discrete approximations to continuous probability density functions and shows examples of its use, allowing students without calculus access to the calculation of means and variances.

  19. Mean-Reverting Portfolio With Budget Constraint

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Ziping; Palomar, Daniel P.

    2018-05-01

    This paper considers the mean-reverting portfolio design problem arising from statistical arbitrage in the financial markets. We first propose a general problem formulation aimed at finding a portfolio of underlying component assets by optimizing a mean-reversion criterion characterizing the mean-reversion strength, taking into consideration the variance of the portfolio and an investment budget constraint. Then several specific problems are considered based on the general formulation, and efficient algorithms are proposed. Numerical results on both synthetic and market data show that our proposed mean-reverting portfolio design methods can generate consistent profits and outperform the traditional design methods and the benchmark methods in the literature.

  20. Sovereignty, globalization and the constitution of meaning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Farid Samir Benavides Vanegas

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available In this essay I wish to show how law’s and the nation’s loss of sovereignty have meant the emergence of new sites of identity construction and how these new identities have become global due to the loss of centrality of the nation state as a place of meaning production. By analyzing the concept of sovereignty and its relation to the power of naming held by the State, and exercised through the law, I want to show how in a society of the spectacle that power is removed from the State and given to other places that can ensure passivity of viewers and thus the absence of resistance in the construction of meaning. This I will do by analyzing a Colombian soap opera and its handling of the concept of corruption to show legal meaning was overtaken by the one built in the media.

  1. Impact of child maltreatment on meaning in life in psychiatric patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weibel, Sébastien; Vidal, Sonia; Olié, Emilie; Hasler, Roland; Torriani, Catherine; Prada, Paco; Courtet, Philippe; Guillaume, Sébastien; Perroud, Nader; Huguelet, Philippe

    2017-05-01

    Child maltreatment (CM) worsens prognosis and quality of life in several psychiatric conditions. Meaning in life is a construct which relates to the sense of purpose that one can perceive in life, and is a key aspect of recovery in psychiatric patients. The lasting impact of CM on meaning in life and its mediating variables have not been studied in patients with chronic persistent psychiatric conditions. One hundred and sixty-six patients with bipolar disorder (N=35), psychotic disorder (N=73), anorexia nervosa (N=30) or borderline personality disorder (N=28) were assessed for meaning in life (revised version of the Life Regard Index (LRI-R)), for CM (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ)) and for internalized/externalized psychopathology. CM was associated with a lower LRI score. Structural Equation Modeling showed that internalized psychopathology (depression, hopelessness and low self-esteem) was the main mediator of the impact of CM on meaning in life. The direct effect of CM on meaning in life was not significant. Having suffered from negligence or abuse during childhood is associated with lower meaning in life in adults with persistent and pervasive psychiatric disorders. Treating depressive symptoms and improving self-esteem may improve meaning in life in patients with severe mental disorders who were affected by CM. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Investigating Meaning in Experimental Semiotics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberts Gareth

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Experimental semiotics is a new discipline developed over the last decade to study human communication. Studies within this discipline typically involve people creating novel signs by associating signals with meanings. Here we suggest ways this discipline can be used to shed light on how people create and communicate meaning. First we present observations drawn from studies in which participants not only construct novel signals, but also have considerable freedom over what these signals refer to. These studies offer intriguing insight on non-saussurian signs (where a single unit of meaning is associated with different signals, communicative egocentricity, private and public meaning, and the distinction between meaningful and meaningless units in linguistic structure, that is between morphemes and phonemes (or analogous entities. We then present a novel quantitative approach to determining the extent to which a signal unit is meaningful, and illustrate its use with data from a study in which participants construct signals to refer to predetermined meanings. Aside from these specific contributions, we show more generally how challenging investigating meaning in Experimental Semiotics is, but we argue that this reflects the difficulties we must face when studying meaning, outside the lab as well as in it.

  3. Early onset of significant local warming in low latitude countries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mahlstein, I; Knutti, R; Solomon, S; Portmann, R W

    2011-01-01

    The Earth is warming on average, and most of the global warming of the past half-century can very likely be attributed to human influence. But the climate in particular locations is much more variable, raising the question of where and when local changes could become perceptible enough to be obvious to people in the form of local warming that exceeds interannual variability; indeed only a few studies have addressed the significance of local signals relative to variability. It is well known that the largest total warming is expected to occur in high latitudes, but high latitudes are also subject to the largest variability, delaying the emergence of significant changes there. Here we show that due to the small temperature variability from one year to another, the earliest emergence of significant warming occurs in the summer season in low latitude countries (∼25 deg. S-25 deg. N). We also show that a local warming signal that exceeds past variability is emerging at present, or will likely emerge in the next two decades, in many tropical countries. Further, for most countries worldwide, a mean global warming of 1 deg. C is sufficient for a significant temperature change, which is less than the total warming projected for any economically plausible emission scenario. The most strongly affected countries emit small amounts of CO 2 per capita and have therefore contributed little to the changes in climate that they are beginning to experience.

  4. Big data integration shows Australian bush-fire frequency is increasing significantly.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dutta, Ritaban; Das, Aruneema; Aryal, Jagannath

    2016-02-01

    Increasing Australian bush-fire frequencies over the last decade has indicated a major climatic change in coming future. Understanding such climatic change for Australian bush-fire is limited and there is an urgent need of scientific research, which is capable enough to contribute to Australian society. Frequency of bush-fire carries information on spatial, temporal and climatic aspects of bush-fire events and provides contextual information to model various climate data for accurately predicting future bush-fire hot spots. In this study, we develop an ensemble method based on a two-layered machine learning model to establish relationship between fire incidence and climatic data. In a 336 week data trial, we demonstrate that the model provides highly accurate bush-fire incidence hot-spot estimation (91% global accuracy) from the weekly climatic surfaces. Our analysis also indicates that Australian weekly bush-fire frequencies increased by 40% over the last 5 years, particularly during summer months, implicating a serious climatic shift.

  5. Creating Significant Learning Experiences across Disciplines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levine, Laura E.; Fallahi, Carolyn R.; Nicoll-Senft, Joan M.; Tessier, Jack T.; Watson, Cheryl L.; Wood, Rebecca M.

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to use Fink's (2003) taxonomy of significant learning to redesign courses and assess student learning. Significant improvements were found across the semester for students in the six courses, but there were differences in which taxa showed improvement in each course. The meta-analysis showed significant, positive…

  6. Group analyses of connectivity-based cortical parcellation using repeated k-means clustering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nanetti, Luca; Cerliani, Leonardo; Gazzola, Valeria; Renken, Remco; Keysers, Christian

    2009-10-01

    K-means clustering has become a popular tool for connectivity-based cortical segmentation using Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) data. A sometimes ignored issue is, however, that the output of the algorithm depends on the initial placement of starting points, and that different sets of starting points therefore could lead to different solutions. In this study we explore this issue. We apply k-means clustering a thousand times to the same DWI dataset collected in 10 individuals to segment two brain regions: the SMA-preSMA on the medial wall, and the insula. At the level of single subjects, we found that in both brain regions, repeatedly applying k-means indeed often leads to a variety of rather different cortical based parcellations. By assessing the similarity and frequency of these different solutions, we show that approximately 256 k-means repetitions are needed to accurately estimate the distribution of possible solutions. Using nonparametric group statistics, we then propose a method to employ the variability of clustering solutions to assess the reliability with which certain voxels can be attributed to a particular cluster. In addition, we show that the proportion of voxels that can be attributed significantly to either cluster in the SMA and preSMA is relatively higher than in the insula and discuss how this difference may relate to differences in the anatomy of these regions.

  7. A new formulation of mean stress effects in fatigue

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manson, S. S.; Heidmann, K. R.

    1987-01-01

    A common method of treating the mean stress effect on fatigue life is to displace the elastic line on a Manson-Coffin-Basquin diagram while retaining the position of the plastic line. Manson and Halford pointed out that this procedure implies that mean stress significantly affects the cyclic stress-strain curve. Actually, however, they showed experimentally and by more general reasoning, that mean stress has little, if any, effect on the cyclic stress-strain curve. Thus, they concluded that it is necessary to displace the plastic line as well as the elastic line in order to keep the cyclic stress-strain curve unaltered. Another way to express the common displacement of the two lines is to keep the lines in place and change the horizontal coordinate to include a term relating to the displacement. Thus, instead of life, 2N sub f, as the horizontal coordinate, a new coordinate can become 2N sub f (1-sigma sub m/sigma sub f) superscript 1/b, thereby displacing both the elastic and plastic lines by an amount (1-sigma sub m/sigma sub f) superscript 1/b where sigma sub m is the mean stress and sigma sub f is the intercept of the elastic line at N sub f = 1/2 cycles and b is the slope of the elastic line.

  8. Mean-field approximation minimizes relative entropy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bilbro, G.L.; Snyder, W.E.; Mann, R.C.

    1991-01-01

    The authors derive the mean-field approximation from the information-theoretic principle of minimum relative entropy instead of by minimizing Peierls's inequality for the Weiss free energy of statistical physics theory. They show that information theory leads to the statistical mechanics procedure. As an example, they consider a problem in binary image restoration. They find that mean-field annealing compares favorably with the stochastic approach

  9. The Meaning and Significance of Contemporary Media in Collecting and Studying Croatian Oral Literary Heritage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vanda Babić

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available In the study of Croatian oral literary heritage, great importance present the records that have remained preserved as notes on documents, books, songs and poems as part of literary works. Records shows that oral literary text is the subject of research and study of oral heritage. However, the records themselves are not sufficient for studying oral literary text and its context. The text is accompanied by a recorded voice that faithfully represents the diction, rhythm, tone and color of the narrator voice. Videos shows the gestures, context and emotion of the narrator. Without the role of the modern media, oral literary records would be insufficient for studying fundamental aspects of communicativeness that can be interpreted as a context. The media of public communication greatly affects the expansion of the basic ideas of the oral transmission of text which is - storytelling.

  10. Meaning in work of secondary school teachers: A qualitative study

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Hennie

    In order to identify specific, shared sources of meaning and mechanisms with which ... Keywords: education sector; meaning in work; meaning-making mechanisms; ..... was mainly divided into purpose and significance- ... Attention ought.

  11. MEAN OF MEDIAN ABSOLUTE DERIVATION TECHNIQUE MEAN ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    eobe

    development of mean of median absolute derivation technique based on the based on the based on .... of noise mean to estimate the speckle noise variance. Noise mean property ..... Foraging Optimization,” International Journal of. Advanced ...

  12. Persian Gardens: Meanings, Symbolism, and Design

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leila Mahmoudi Farahani

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Culture and identity in a society can be represented in the architecture and the meanings intertwined with it. In this sense, the architecture and design are the interface for transferring meaning and identity to the nation and future generations. Persian gardens have been evolved through the history of Persian Empire in regard to the culture and beliefs of the society. This paper aims to investigate the patterns of design and architecture in Persian gardens and the meanings intertwined with their patterns and significant elements such as water and trees. Persian gardens are not only about geometries and shapes; but also manifest different design elements, each representing a specific symbol and its significance among the society. This paper seeks to explore Persian gardens in terms of their geometric structure, irrigation system, network construction and pavilions alongside design qualities such as hierarchy, symmetry, centrality, rhythm and harmony. In the second stage, the paper investigates the fundamental symbols and their philosophy in the creation of Persian gardens and in relation to the architecture and design.

  13. DNA Methylation Profiling of Human Prefrontal Cortex Neurons in Heroin Users Shows Significant Difference between Genomic Contexts of Hyper- and Hypomethylation and a Younger Epigenetic Age

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexey Kozlenkov

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available We employed Illumina 450 K Infinium microarrays to profile DNA methylation (DNAm in neuronal nuclei separated by fluorescence-activated sorting from the postmortem orbitofrontal cortex (OFC of heroin users who died from heroin overdose (N = 37, suicide completers (N = 22 with no evidence of heroin use and from control subjects who did not abuse illicit drugs and died of non-suicide causes (N = 28. We identified 1298 differentially methylated CpG sites (DMSs between heroin users and controls, and 454 DMSs between suicide completers and controls (p < 0.001. DMSs and corresponding genes (DMGs in heroin users showed significant differences in the preferential context of hyper and hypo DM. HyperDMSs were enriched in gene bodies and exons but depleted in promoters, whereas hypoDMSs were enriched in promoters and enhancers. In addition, hyperDMGs showed preference for genes expressed specifically by glutamatergic as opposed to GABAergic neurons and enrichment for axonogenesis- and synaptic-related gene ontology categories, whereas hypoDMGs were enriched for transcription factor activity- and gene expression regulation-related terms. Finally, we found that the DNAm-based “epigenetic age” of neurons from heroin users was younger than that in controls. Suicide-related results were more difficult to interpret. Collectively, these findings suggest that the observed DNAm differences could represent functionally significant marks of heroin-associated plasticity in the OFC.

  14. Losing a child: finding meaning in bereavement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julia Bogensperger

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Confronting the loss of a loved one leads us to the core questions of human existence. Bereaved parents have to deal with the rupture of a widely shared concept of what is perceived to be the natural course of life and are forced into meaning reconstruction. Objective: This study aims to expand upon existing work concerning specific themes of meaning reconstruction in a sample of bereaved parents. More specifically, the relationship between meaning reconstruction, complicated grief, and posttraumatic growth was analyzed, with special attention focused on traumatic and unexpected losses. Method: In a mixed methods approach, themes of meaning reconstruction (sense-making and benefit-finding were assessed in in-depth interviews with a total of 30 bereaved parents. Posttraumatic growth and complicated grief were assessed using standardized questionnaires, and qualitative and quantitative results were then merged using data transformation methods. Results: In total 42 themes of meaning reconstruction were abstracted from oral material. It was shown that sense-making themes ranged from causal explanations to complex philosophical beliefs about life and death. Benefit-finding themes contained thoughts about personal improvement as well as descriptions about social actions. Significant correlations were found between the extent of sense-making and posttraumatic growth scores (rs=0.54, rs=0.49; p<0.01, especially when the death was traumatic or unexpected (rs=0.67, rs=0.63; p<0.01. However, analysis revealed no significant correlation with complicated grief. Overall results corroborate meaning reconstruction themes and the importance of meaning reconstruction for posttraumatic growth.

  15. Regression away from the mean: Theory and examples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwarz, Wolf; Reike, Dennis

    2018-02-01

    Using a standard repeated measures model with arbitrary true score distribution and normal error variables, we present some fundamental closed-form results which explicitly indicate the conditions under which regression effects towards (RTM) and away from the mean are expected. Specifically, we show that for skewed and bimodal distributions many or even most cases will show a regression effect that is in expectation away from the mean, or that is not just towards but actually beyond the mean. We illustrate our results in quantitative detail with typical examples from experimental and biometric applications, which exhibit a clear regression away from the mean ('egression from the mean') signature. We aim not to repeal cautionary advice against potential RTM effects, but to present a balanced view of regression effects, based on a clear identification of the conditions governing the form that regression effects take in repeated measures designs. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

  16. Significance of librarian’s self-concept in the communication process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Darja Kobal-Grum

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with the significance of the librarian’s self-concept in the communication process. First, it underlines the meaning of reference interviews, and second, it focuses on other micro and macro aspects of communication. The analysis shows that the librarian’s self-concept is hierarchically organised, structured, and therefore it consists of different areas. Each area equally contributes to the development and preservation of the appropriate librarian’s self-concept; although some areas have more direct influence than others. To attain a high self-concept, it is of fundamental importance, that the librarian develops all self-concept areas, from individual ones to social ones. It was found that a structured and positive specialist’s self-concept is highly significant for the contribution of effective reference interviews, and finally, the article offers some directions for a successful development of the communication process.

  17. Automated spike sorting algorithm based on Laplacian eigenmaps and k-means clustering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chah, E; Hok, V; Della-Chiesa, A; Miller, J J H; O'Mara, S M; Reilly, R B

    2011-02-01

    This study presents a new automatic spike sorting method based on feature extraction by Laplacian eigenmaps combined with k-means clustering. The performance of the proposed method was compared against previously reported algorithms such as principal component analysis (PCA) and amplitude-based feature extraction. Two types of classifier (namely k-means and classification expectation-maximization) were incorporated within the spike sorting algorithms, in order to find a suitable classifier for the feature sets. Simulated data sets and in-vivo tetrode multichannel recordings were employed to assess the performance of the spike sorting algorithms. The results show that the proposed algorithm yields significantly improved performance with mean sorting accuracy of 73% and sorting error of 10% compared to PCA which combined with k-means had a sorting accuracy of 58% and sorting error of 10%.A correction was made to this article on 22 February 2011. The spacing of the title was amended on the abstract page. No changes were made to the article PDF and the print version was unaffected.

  18. Environmental drivers of phototrophic biofilms in an Alpine show cave (SW-Italian Alps)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Piano, E.; Bona, F.; Falasco, E.; La Morgia, V.; Badino, G.; Isaia, M.

    2015-01-01

    The proliferation of lampenflora is a major threat for the conservation of show caves, since phototrophic organisms cause physical, chemical and aesthetic damage to speleothems. In this paper we examine the environmental factors influencing the presence and the growth of the three main photosynthetic groups composing phototrophic biofilms in the Bossea show cave (SW-Italian Alps). The presence and the primary production of cyanobacteria, diatoms and green algae were detected with BenthoTorch®, an instrument for in situ measurement of chlorophyll a concentration that has never been used before in caves. By means of different techniques of regression analysis, we highlighted the response of the three photosynthetic groups to different environmental factors. Illuminance proved to be the main factor influencing positively both the probability of the presence and the productivity of the three groups. The presence of seeping water on the substrate and the distance from the cave entrance proved to play an important role in determining patterns of colonization. By means of GIS techniques, we provide thematic maps of the cave, providing a representation of pattern of the density of the three examined photosynthetic groups within different areas of the cave. The same approach may apply to other show caves, aiming at providing suggestions for the cave management (i.e. cleaning of the cave walls and positioning of artificial lights) and reduce impact caused by tourism. - Highlights: • We used a PAM fluorimeter on autotrophic biofilms in a show cave for the first time. • We modelled the environmental factors influencing phototrophic biofilms. • Illuminance, moisture and distance from the entrance proved to be significant. • We produced thematic maps illustrating our results. • We provide suggestions for cave management

  19. Environmental drivers of phototrophic biofilms in an Alpine show cave (SW-Italian Alps)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Piano, E., E-mail: elena.piano@unito.it [Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Turin (Italy); Bona, F.; Falasco, E. [Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Turin (Italy); La Morgia, V. [ISPRA, via Ca' Fornacetta, 9, 40064 Ozzano dell' Emilia (Italy); Badino, G. [Department of Physics, University of Turin, Via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Turin (Italy); Isaia, M. [Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Turin (Italy)

    2015-12-01

    The proliferation of lampenflora is a major threat for the conservation of show caves, since phototrophic organisms cause physical, chemical and aesthetic damage to speleothems. In this paper we examine the environmental factors influencing the presence and the growth of the three main photosynthetic groups composing phototrophic biofilms in the Bossea show cave (SW-Italian Alps). The presence and the primary production of cyanobacteria, diatoms and green algae were detected with BenthoTorch®, an instrument for in situ measurement of chlorophyll a concentration that has never been used before in caves. By means of different techniques of regression analysis, we highlighted the response of the three photosynthetic groups to different environmental factors. Illuminance proved to be the main factor influencing positively both the probability of the presence and the productivity of the three groups. The presence of seeping water on the substrate and the distance from the cave entrance proved to play an important role in determining patterns of colonization. By means of GIS techniques, we provide thematic maps of the cave, providing a representation of pattern of the density of the three examined photosynthetic groups within different areas of the cave. The same approach may apply to other show caves, aiming at providing suggestions for the cave management (i.e. cleaning of the cave walls and positioning of artificial lights) and reduce impact caused by tourism. - Highlights: • We used a PAM fluorimeter on autotrophic biofilms in a show cave for the first time. • We modelled the environmental factors influencing phototrophic biofilms. • Illuminance, moisture and distance from the entrance proved to be significant. • We produced thematic maps illustrating our results. • We provide suggestions for cave management.

  20. Musical meaning and social significance : techno triggers for dancing

    OpenAIRE

    Gadir, Tami Ester

    2014-01-01

    Electronically-produced dance music has only recently achieved as much visibility in the global pop music industry as ‘live’ or instrumental pop. Yet the fascination of cultural scholars and sociologists with dance music predates its rise as a product of mass culture. Much of this interest derives from early associations of dance music with marginalised groups and oppositional ideologies. It therefore follows that many explorations of dance music focus on the ways in which tech...

  1. Communication: Electronic and transport properties of molecular junctions under a finite bias: A dual mean field approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Shuanglong; Feng, Yuan Ping; Zhang, Chun

    2013-01-01

    We show that when a molecular junction is under an external bias, its properties cannot be uniquely determined by the total electron density in the same manner as the density functional theory for ground state properties. In order to correctly incorporate bias-induced nonequilibrium effects, we present a dual mean field (DMF) approach. The key idea is that the total electron density together with the density of current-carrying electrons are sufficient to determine the properties of the system. Two mean fields, one for current-carrying electrons and the other one for equilibrium electrons can then be derived. Calculations for a graphene nanoribbon junction show that compared with the commonly used ab initio transport theory, the DMF approach could significantly reduce the electric current at low biases due to the non-equilibrium corrections to the mean field potential in the scattering region

  2. [Darwinism and the meaning of "meaning"].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castrodeza, Carlos

    2009-01-01

    The problem of the meaning of life is herewith contemplated from a Darwinian perspective. It is argued how factors such as existential depression, the concern about the meaning of "meaning," the problem of evil, death as the end of our personal identity, happiness as an unachievable goal, etc. may well have an adaptive dimension "controlled" neither by ourselves nor obscure third parties (conspiracy theories) but "simply" by our genes (replicators in general) so that little if anything is to be done to find a radical remedy for the human condition.

  3. Periodontal Health vs. Various Preventive Means in Toy Dog Breeds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Igor Capík

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This study used six toy Chihuahua dogs in relationship. They underwent four 8 week periods differing in type of food (dry, soft, dental diet and preventive means of periodontitis (tooth-brushing and enzymatic chewing strips. The results showed nonsignificant influence of food consistency on dental plaque, calculus and gingivitis scores. Dental diet nonsignificantly decreased dental calculus deposition in comparison to common commercial food. The best results were achieved with toothbrushing. The enzymatic chewing strips significantly decreased dental plaque, calculus and gingivitis scores only on carnassial teeth. These results confirm that there are no absolute preventive measures of periodontitis.

  4. The limits of the mean field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guerra, E.M. de

    2001-01-01

    In these talks, we review non relativistic selfconsistent mean field theories, their scope and limitations. We first discuss static and time dependent mean field approaches for particles and quasiparticles, together with applications. We then discuss extensions that go beyond the non-relativistic independent particle limit. On the one hand, we consider extensions concerned with restoration of symmetries and with the treatment of collective modes, particularly by means of quantized ATDHF. On the other hand, we consider extensions concerned with the relativistic dynamics of bound nucleons. We present data on nucleon momentum distributions that show the need for relativistic mean field approach and probe the limits of the mean field concept. Illustrative applications of various methods are presented stressing the role that selfconsistency plays in providing a unifying reliable framework to study all sorts of properties and phenomena. From global properties such as size, mass, lifetime,.., to detailed structure in excitation spectra (high spin, RPA modes,..), as well as charge, magnetization and velocity distributions. (orig.)

  5. The Dual Meaning of the Expresion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Irani

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available   Abstract The ironic expression "az bone dandan" (from the root has been written to mean "wholeheartedly and desirous "in all persian dictionaries including general and specific ones like those of idioms and expressions or the ones devoted to a particular poet ’ s or works terminology. In fact they have just pointed to one aspect of its meaning. Since this meaning was not in accordance whit the semantic structure of some of the lines of poetry, this study analysed a number of cases from old poetry and prose texts. The outcome shows that the aforementioned expression should be regarded as one of the "Opposits" in Persian, because in the collected cases one can see that the expression means exactly something contradictory which has been ignored by lexicographers. In the opposite case the expression means: "obliged or forced to do something. "This expression is an adverbial and a prepositional phrase. Â

  6. Meaning and the English verb

    CERN Document Server

    Leech, Geoffrey

    2014-01-01

    Every language has its peculiar problems of meaning for the foreign learner. In the English language, some of the biggest yet most fascinating problems are concentrated in the area of the finite verb phrase: in particular, tense, aspect, mood and modality. Meaning and the English Verb describes these fields in detail for teachers and advanced students of English as a foreign or second language. This new third edition uses up-to-date examples to show differences and similarities between American and British english, reflecting a great deal of recent research in this area. It also takes account

  7. Gastrointestinal mean transit times in young and middle-aged healthy subjects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Graff, J; Brinch, K; Madsen, Jan Lysgård

    2001-01-01

    To investigate the effects of age and gender on gastric, small intestinal and colonic mean transit times, a study was conducted in 32 healthy volunteers: eight young women (22-30 years), eight young men (20-28 years), eight middle-aged women (43-51 years) and eight middle-aged men (38-53 years......, small intestinal and colonic mean transit times were calculated. The gastric, small intestinal and colonic mean transit times were significantly longer in women. Ageing was shown to accelerate the gastric and small intestinal transit significantly. In the group of men the colonic mean transit time...... was unaffected by age, but middle-aged women had a significantly slower colonic transit than young women. We therefore conclude that both age and gender have to be considered when reference values for gastric, small intestinal and colonic mean transit times have to be established....

  8. Finding golden mean in a physics exercise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benedetto, Elmo

    2017-07-01

    The golden mean is an algebraic irrational number that has captured the popular imagination and is discussed in many books. Indeed, some scientists believe that it appears in some patterns in nature, including the spiral arrangement of leaves and other plant parts. Generally, the golden mean is introduced in geometry and the textbooks give the definition showing a graphical method to determine it. In this short note, we want to find this number by studying projectile motion. This could be a way to introduce the golden mean (also said to be the golden ratio, golden section, Fidia constant, divine proportion or extreme and mean ratio) in a physics course.

  9. Distributed k-Means Algorithm and Fuzzy c-Means Algorithm for Sensor Networks Based on Multiagent Consensus Theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qin, Jiahu; Fu, Weiming; Gao, Huijun; Zheng, Wei Xing

    2016-03-03

    This paper is concerned with developing a distributed k-means algorithm and a distributed fuzzy c-means algorithm for wireless sensor networks (WSNs) where each node is equipped with sensors. The underlying topology of the WSN is supposed to be strongly connected. The consensus algorithm in multiagent consensus theory is utilized to exchange the measurement information of the sensors in WSN. To obtain a faster convergence speed as well as a higher possibility of having the global optimum, a distributed k-means++ algorithm is first proposed to find the initial centroids before executing the distributed k-means algorithm and the distributed fuzzy c-means algorithm. The proposed distributed k-means algorithm is capable of partitioning the data observed by the nodes into measure-dependent groups which have small in-group and large out-group distances, while the proposed distributed fuzzy c-means algorithm is capable of partitioning the data observed by the nodes into different measure-dependent groups with degrees of membership values ranging from 0 to 1. Simulation results show that the proposed distributed algorithms can achieve almost the same results as that given by the centralized clustering algorithms.

  10. MBOK: ITS DISTRIBUTION, MEANING, AND FUNCTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ajar Pradika A. Tur

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Mbok, in Javanese language, has not only a ’mother’ in meaning. As a lexicon in the language, mbok in one side truly means a ‘mother’ and still has the same meaning although it experiences the morphological process to be, at least, embok, simbok, or mboke. The variations exist and are spoken by Javanese native speakers throughout the Javanese dialects such as Suroboyoan, Solo, Yogyakarta, Bagelen, and Banyumasan dialects spread from the East Java, Yogyakarta, and Central Java. However, mbok, as a particle has different meaning, even different various meanings relying on its distribution in a sentence. Then the meanings bear its different various functions as well in the sentence based on the context of the sentence (grammatical-semantics meaning. Through Teknik Balik (Converse Technique the data gained was analyzed to distinguish the position of the particle in the sentence in order to reach its significant different meanings and functions. At least, from the analysis, we have three positions of mbok in the sentences, that are in the initial, middle, and the end of the sentences. These positions affect the meanings and functions that can be seen as follows; ‘, is not it?’ (Tag Question and ‘is/are” (Verbal Question for emphasizing, ‘please’ for requesting a help, ‘may be’ and ‘in case’ for expressing possibility, and ‘causing’ for expressing cause-effect. Keywords: mbok, semantics, Banyumasan dialect

  11. Obesity in show cats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corbee, R J

    2014-12-01

    Obesity is an important disease with a high prevalence in cats. Because obesity is related to several other diseases, it is important to identify the population at risk. Several risk factors for obesity have been described in the literature. A higher incidence of obesity in certain cat breeds has been suggested. The aim of this study was to determine whether obesity occurs more often in certain breeds. The second aim was to relate the increased prevalence of obesity in certain breeds to the official standards of that breed. To this end, 268 cats of 22 different breeds investigated by determining their body condition score (BCS) on a nine-point scale by inspection and palpation, at two different cat shows. Overall, 45.5% of the show cats had a BCS > 5, and 4.5% of the show cats had a BCS > 7. There were significant differences between breeds, which could be related to the breed standards. Most overweight and obese cats were in the neutered group. It warrants firm discussions with breeders and cat show judges to come to different interpretations of the standards in order to prevent overweight conditions in certain breeds from being the standard of beauty. Neutering predisposes for obesity and requires early nutritional intervention to prevent obese conditions. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2014 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  12. Safety significance of steam generator tube degradation mechanisms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roussel, G; Mignot, P [AIB-Vincotte Nuclear - AVN, Brussels (Belgium)

    1991-07-01

    Steam generator (SG) tube bundle is a part of the Reactor Coolant Pressure Boundary (RCPB): this means that its integrity must be maintained. However, operating experience shows various types of tube degradation to occur in the SG tubing, which may lead to SG tube leaks or SG tube ruptures and create a loss of primary system coolant through the SG, therefore providing a direct path to the environment outside the primary containment structure. In this paper, the major types of known SG tube degradations are described and analyzed in order to assess their safety significance with regard to SG tube integrity. In conclusion: The operational reliability and the safety of the PWR steam generator s requires a sufficient knowledge of the degradation mechanisms to determine the amount of degradation that a tube can withstand and the time that it may remain in operation. They also require the availability of inspection techniques to accurately detect and characterize the various degradations. The status of understanding of the major types of degradation summarized in this paper shows and justifies why efforts are being performed to improve the management of the steam generator tube defects.

  13. Portfolio optimization with mean-variance model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoe, Lam Weng; Siew, Lam Weng

    2016-06-01

    Investors wish to achieve the target rate of return at the minimum level of risk in their investment. Portfolio optimization is an investment strategy that can be used to minimize the portfolio risk and can achieve the target rate of return. The mean-variance model has been proposed in portfolio optimization. The mean-variance model is an optimization model that aims to minimize the portfolio risk which is the portfolio variance. The objective of this study is to construct the optimal portfolio using the mean-variance model. The data of this study consists of weekly returns of 20 component stocks of FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBMKLCI). The results of this study show that the portfolio composition of the stocks is different. Moreover, investors can get the return at minimum level of risk with the constructed optimal mean-variance portfolio.

  14. Fusion of protegrin-1 and plectasin to MAP30 shows significant inhibition activity against dengue virus replication.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hussin A Rothan

    Full Text Available Dengue virus (DENV broadly disseminates in tropical and sub-tropical countries and there are no vaccine or anti-dengue drugs available. DENV outbreaks cause serious economic burden due to infection complications that requires special medical care and hospitalization. This study presents a new strategy for inexpensive production of anti-DENV peptide-fusion protein to prevent and/or treat DENV infection. Antiviral cationic peptides protegrin-1 (PG1 and plectasin (PLSN were fused with MAP30 protein to produce recombinant antiviral peptide-fusion protein (PG1-MAP30-PLSN as inclusion bodies in E. coli. High yield production of PG1-MAP30-PLSN protein was achieved by solubilization of inclusion bodies in alkaline buffer followed by the application of appropriate refolding techniques. Antiviral PG1-MAP30-PLSN protein considerably inhibited DENV protease (NS2B-NS3pro with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50 0.5±0.1 μM. The real-time proliferation assay (RTCA and the end-point proliferation assay (MTT assay showed that the maximal-nontoxic dose of the peptide-fusion protein against Vero cells is approximately 0.67±0.2 μM. The cell-based assays showed considerable inhibition of the peptide-fusion protein against binding and proliferating stages of DENV2 into the target cells. The peptide-fusion protein protected DENV2-challeged mice with 100% of survival at the dose of 50 mg/kg. In conclusion, producing recombinant antiviral peptide-fusion protein by combining short antiviral peptide with a central protein owning similar activity could be useful to minimize the overall cost of short peptide production and take advantage of its synergistic antiviral activities.

  15. Schur Convexity of Generalized Heronian Means Involving Two Parameters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bencze Mihály

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The Schur convexity and Schur-geometric convexity of generalized Heronian means involving two parameters are studied, the main result is then used to obtain several interesting and significantly inequalities for generalized Heronian means.

  16. Implicit Referential Meaning with Reference to English Arabic Translation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Zughoul, Basem

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to investigate how English implicit referential meaning is translated into Arabic by analyzing sentences containing implicit referential meanings found in the novel "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban". The analysis shows that the translation of English implicit referential meaning into Arabic can be…

  17. The Classification of Diabetes Mellitus Using Kernel k-means

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alamsyah, M.; Nafisah, Z.; Prayitno, E.; Afida, A. M.; Imah, E. M.

    2018-01-01

    Diabetes Mellitus is a metabolic disorder which is characterized by chronicle hypertensive glucose. Automatics detection of diabetes mellitus is still challenging. This study detected diabetes mellitus by using kernel k-Means algorithm. Kernel k-means is an algorithm which was developed from k-means algorithm. Kernel k-means used kernel learning that is able to handle non linear separable data; where it differs with a common k-means. The performance of kernel k-means in detecting diabetes mellitus is also compared with SOM algorithms. The experiment result shows that kernel k-means has good performance and a way much better than SOM.

  18. Tides, surges and mean sea-level

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Pugh, D. T

    1987-01-01

    .... Interest in mean sea-level changes has recently been focused on the possibility of significant increases over the coming century as a result of global warming. Examples of applications from North America, Europe and other parts of the world are included.

  19. A human intervention study with foods containing natural Ah-receptor agonists does not significantly show AhR-mediated effects as measured in blood cells and urine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Waard, Pim W J; Peijnenburg, Ad A C M; Baykus, Hakan; Aarts, Jac M M J G; Hoogenboom, Ron L A P; van Schooten, Frederik J; de Kok, Theo M C M

    2008-10-22

    Binding and activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is thought to be an essential step in the toxicity of the environmental pollutants dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs. However, also a number of natural compounds, referred to as NAhRAs (natural Ah-receptor agonists), which are present in, for example, fruits and vegetables, can bind and activate this receptor. To study their potential effects in humans, we first investigated the effect of the prototypical AhR agonist 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) on gene expression in ex vivo exposed freshly isolated human lymphocytes, and compared the resulting gene expression profile with those caused by the well-known NAhRA indolo[3,2-b]carbazole (ICZ), originating from cruciferous vegetables, and by a hexane extract of NAhRA-containing grapefruit juice (GJE). Only ICZ induced a gene expression profile similar to TCDD in the lymphocytes, and both significantly up-regulated CYP1B1 and TIPARP (TCDD-inducible poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase) mRNA. Next, we performed a human intervention study with NAhRA-containing cruciferous vegetables and grapefruit juice. The expression of the prototypical AhR-responsive genes CYP1A1, CYP1B1 and NQO1 in whole blood cells and in freshly isolated lymphocytes was not significantly affected. Also enzyme activities of CYP1A2, CYP2A6, N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) and xanthine oxidase (XO), as judged by caffeine metabolites in urine, were unaffected, except for a small down-regulation of NAT2 activity by grapefruit juice. Examination of blood plasma with DR CALUX showed a 12% increased AhR agonist activity 3 and 24 h after consumption of cruciferous vegetables, but did not show a significant effect of grapefruit juice consumption. We conclude that intake of NAhRAs from food may result in minor AhR-related effects measurable in human blood and urine.

  20. Mean intraocular pressure in hypertensive adults

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Irum, S.; Malik, A.M.; Saeed, M.

    2015-01-01

    To determine the mean Intraocular Pressure (IOP) in already diagnosed adult hypertensive patients with different grades of hypertension. Study Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study. Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital, Lahore, from March 2012 to Aug 2012. Patients and Methods: A total of 178 already diagnosed hypertensive patients were selected. A detailed history of ocular or systemic diseases was taken. Intraocular pressure was measured with help of Goldmann applanation tonometer. Three consecutive readings of IOP of each eye were taken at 30 minutes interval and mean calculated. Blood pressure was recorded in seated position from right upper arm, by mercury sphygmomanometer. Blood pressure measurements were determined by taking the mean value of three systolic and diastolic readings. Results: The results of intraocular pressure (IOP) between various grades of hypertension were determined. There was an increase in mean IOP with rise in blood pressure. The subjects with grade I hypertension showed a mean IOP of 13.95 ± 3.74 mmHg, while grade II and grade III hypertensive subjects had mean IOPs as 18.10 ± 3.32 and 20.21 ± 2.52 mmHg respectively. Conclusion: A higher value of mean IOP was found with increase in systolic and diastolic blood pressures. (author)

  1. Parallel k-means++ for Multiple Shared-Memory Architectures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mackey, Patrick S.; Lewis, Robert R.

    2016-09-22

    In recent years k-means++ has become a popular initialization technique for improved k-means clustering. To date, most of the work done to improve its performance has involved parallelizing algorithms that are only approximations of k-means++. In this paper we present a parallelization of the exact k-means++ algorithm, with a proof of its correctness. We develop implementations for three distinct shared-memory architectures: multicore CPU, high performance GPU, and the massively multithreaded Cray XMT platform. We demonstrate the scalability of the algorithm on each platform. In addition we present a visual approach for showing which platform performed k-means++ the fastest for varying data sizes.

  2. Temporal Variation of the Rotation of the Solar Mean Magnetic Field

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xie, J. L.; Shi, X. J.; Xu, J. C., E-mail: xiejinglan@ynao.ac.cn [Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650011 (China)

    2017-04-01

    Based on continuous wavelet transformation analysis, the daily solar mean magnetic field (SMMF) from 1975 May 16 to 2014 July 31 is analyzed to reveal its rotational behavior. Both the recurrent plot in Bartels form and the continuous wavelet transformation analysis show the existence of rotational modulation in the variation of the daily SMMF. The dependence of the rotational cycle lengths on solar cycle phase is also studied, which indicates that the yearly mean rotational cycle lengths generally seem to be longer during the rising phase of solar cycles and shorter during the declining phase. The mean rotational cycle length for the rising phase of all of the solar cycles in the considered time is 28.28 ± 0.67 days, while for the declining phase it is 27.32 ± 0.64 days. The difference of the mean rotational cycle lengths between the rising phase and the declining phase is 0.96 days. The periodicity analysis, through the use of an auto-correlation function, indicates that the rotational cycle lengths have a significant period of about 10.1 years. Furthermore, the cross-correlation analysis indicates that there exists a phase difference between the rotational cycle lengths and solar activity.

  3. Evaluation of some mutant lines of rice induced by gamma radiation treatment 1. mean performance of rice mutants in M4 generation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El-Banna, M.N.; El-Wakil, H.M.F.; Ebaid, R.A.; Sallam, R.A.

    2009-01-01

    Grains of eight rice mutants; SC 1, SC 6, RTY 1, RTY 3, HY 14, HYI 17, EH 4 and HYPI 22 were secured from Botany Department Faculty of Agriculture Cairo university. The procedures and the methodology for induction these mutants as well as the original mean performance of such mutants are presented else where; Sabbour, (1989) and Sabbour etal. (2002). Grains were sown (M4 generation) at the experimental farm in Itai EI-Baroud Agricultural Research Station Behaira Governorate Agricultural Research Center (ARC) in the summer season (2007). The mean performance of such mutants was studied during M4 generation. The most exciting results were as follows: the selected line SC 1 showed in M4 generation superior agronomic and yield traits. Sc 1 mutant line is not bred truly and it need more generations to reach stability. SC 6 in M4 generation showed considerable number of individuals scored low mean values toward the negative direction and lowering the overall trait mean performance. The rice lines RTY 1 and RTY 3 proved that, the average number of fertile tillers per plant of the selected lines maintained previously recorded mean values of M3 generation in M4. The traits showed significant differences among their progeny that recorded high CV% values as compared with those showed no significant differences. The rice lines HY 14 and HYI 17 showed a true breeding signs and no more breeding generations are required. Rice lines EH 4, showed a considerable reduction in number of days elapsed from date of cultivation till harvest. As, this mutant maintained 86.58 days till heading. Rice mutant line HYPI 22 did not bred truly for the original selected traits (high yield and high protein content) and it still need more generations of selection to reach considerable stability

  4. Identify High-Quality Protein Structural Models by Enhanced K-Means.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Hongjie; Li, Haiou; Jiang, Min; Chen, Cheng; Lv, Qiang; Wu, Chuang

    2017-01-01

    Background. One critical issue in protein three-dimensional structure prediction using either ab initio or comparative modeling involves identification of high-quality protein structural models from generated decoys. Currently, clustering algorithms are widely used to identify near-native models; however, their performance is dependent upon different conformational decoys, and, for some algorithms, the accuracy declines when the decoy population increases. Results. Here, we proposed two enhanced K -means clustering algorithms capable of robustly identifying high-quality protein structural models. The first one employs the clustering algorithm SPICKER to determine the initial centroids for basic K -means clustering ( SK -means), whereas the other employs squared distance to optimize the initial centroids ( K -means++). Our results showed that SK -means and K -means++ were more robust as compared with SPICKER alone, detecting 33 (59%) and 42 (75%) of 56 targets, respectively, with template modeling scores better than or equal to those of SPICKER. Conclusions. We observed that the classic K -means algorithm showed a similar performance to that of SPICKER, which is a widely used algorithm for protein-structure identification. Both SK -means and K -means++ demonstrated substantial improvements relative to results from SPICKER and classical K -means.

  5. Mean platelet volume (MPV) predicts middle distance running performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lippi, Giuseppe; Salvagno, Gian Luca; Danese, Elisa; Skafidas, Spyros; Tarperi, Cantor; Guidi, Gian Cesare; Schena, Federico

    2014-01-01

    Running economy and performance in middle distance running depend on several physiological factors, which include anthropometric variables, functional characteristics, training volume and intensity. Since little information is available about hematological predictors of middle distance running time, we investigated whether some hematological parameters may be associated with middle distance running performance in a large sample of recreational runners. The study population consisted in 43 amateur runners (15 females, 28 males; median age 47 years), who successfully concluded a 21.1 km half-marathon at 75-85% of their maximal aerobic power (VO2max). Whole blood was collected 10 min before the run started and immediately thereafter, and hematological testing was completed within 2 hours after sample collection. The values of lymphocytes and eosinophils exhibited a significant decrease compared to pre-run values, whereas those of mean corpuscular volume (MCV), platelets, mean platelet volume (MPV), white blood cells (WBCs), neutrophils and monocytes were significantly increased after the run. In univariate analysis, significant associations with running time were found for pre-run values of hematocrit, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), red blood cell distribution width (RDW), MPV, reticulocyte hemoglobin concentration (RetCHR), and post-run values of MCH, RDW, MPV, monocytes and RetCHR. In multivariate analysis, in which running time was entered as dependent variable whereas age, sex, blood lactate, body mass index, VO2max, mean training regimen and the hematological parameters significantly associated with running performance in univariate analysis were entered as independent variables, only MPV values before and after the trial remained significantly associated with running time. After adjustment for platelet count, the MPV value before the run (p = 0.042), but not thereafter (p = 0.247), remained significantly associated with running

  6. Mean platelet volume (MPV predicts middle distance running performance.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giuseppe Lippi

    Full Text Available Running economy and performance in middle distance running depend on several physiological factors, which include anthropometric variables, functional characteristics, training volume and intensity. Since little information is available about hematological predictors of middle distance running time, we investigated whether some hematological parameters may be associated with middle distance running performance in a large sample of recreational runners.The study population consisted in 43 amateur runners (15 females, 28 males; median age 47 years, who successfully concluded a 21.1 km half-marathon at 75-85% of their maximal aerobic power (VO2max. Whole blood was collected 10 min before the run started and immediately thereafter, and hematological testing was completed within 2 hours after sample collection.The values of lymphocytes and eosinophils exhibited a significant decrease compared to pre-run values, whereas those of mean corpuscular volume (MCV, platelets, mean platelet volume (MPV, white blood cells (WBCs, neutrophils and monocytes were significantly increased after the run. In univariate analysis, significant associations with running time were found for pre-run values of hematocrit, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH, red blood cell distribution width (RDW, MPV, reticulocyte hemoglobin concentration (RetCHR, and post-run values of MCH, RDW, MPV, monocytes and RetCHR. In multivariate analysis, in which running time was entered as dependent variable whereas age, sex, blood lactate, body mass index, VO2max, mean training regimen and the hematological parameters significantly associated with running performance in univariate analysis were entered as independent variables, only MPV values before and after the trial remained significantly associated with running time. After adjustment for platelet count, the MPV value before the run (p = 0.042, but not thereafter (p = 0.247, remained significantly associated with running

  7. The predictive value of mean serum uric acid levels for developing prediabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Qing; Bao, Xue; Meng, Ge; Liu, Li; Wu, Hongmei; Du, Huanmin; Shi, Hongbin; Xia, Yang; Guo, Xiaoyan; Liu, Xing; Li, Chunlei; Su, Qian; Gu, Yeqing; Fang, Liyun; Yu, Fei; Yang, Huijun; Yu, Bin; Sun, Shaomei; Wang, Xing; Zhou, Ming; Jia, Qiyu; Zhao, Honglin; Huang, Guowei; Song, Kun; Niu, Kaijun

    2016-08-01

    We aimed to assess the predictive value of mean serum uric acid (SUA) levels for incident prediabetes. Normoglycemic adults (n=39,353) were followed for a median of 3.0years. Prediabetes is defined as impaired fasting glucose (IFG), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), or impaired HbA1c (IA1c), based on the American Diabetes Association criteria. Serum SUA levels were measured annually. Four diagnostic strategies were used to detect prediabetes in four separate analyses (Analysis 1: IFG. Analysis 2: IFG+IGT. Analysis 3: IFG+IA1c. Analysis 4: IFG+IGT+IA1c). Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess the relationship between SUA quintiles and prediabetes. C-statistic was additionally used in the final analysis to assess the accuracy of predictions based upon baseline SUA and mean SUA, respectively. After adjustment for potential confounders, the hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) of prediabetes for the highest versus lowest quintile of mean SUA were 1.22 (1.10, 1.36) in analysis 1; 1.59 (1.23, 2.05) in analysis 2; 1.62 (1.34, 1.95) in analysis 3 and 1.67 (1.31, 2.13) in analysis 4. In contrast, for baseline SUA, significance was only reached in analyses 3 and 4. Moreover, compared with baseline SUA, mean SUA value was associated with a significant increase in the C-statistic (Pprediabetes risk, and showed better predictive ability for prediabetes than baseline SUA. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. The wall/ ruin: meaning and memory in landscape

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Caroline Lavoie

    1997-03-01

    . 'Everything is text, and all text is indefinitely ambiguous' (1989, p.148. In this paper I will try to show that neither of the alternatives need be accepted, that there can be a conception of meaning that is neither verificationist (scientistic, nor empty (purely textual. This provides us with room to give levels of meaning to the world and to understand behaviour in a way which is neither scientific nor merely textual. I argue that for space to be intrinsically and authentically meaningful, design must be conceived imaginatively. This imaginative conception will involve and appeal to a metaphorical visual vocabulary which provides a non-literal, but authentic experience of time and space. As a result, an artifact may become an object of authentic aesthetic appreciation. I will illustrate this rather abstract conception with a variety of concrete examples, drawn primarily from landscape architecture using the wall and the ruin as an archetypal form of design language. This example offers a variety of interpretations and meanings, but ones which are necessarily underpinned by the notions (or criteria of truth and falsity. I will consider the implications for design from the perspective of both the designer and the participant. I believe this account opens up levels of meaning, truth and legitimation which help us to understand the true significance and value of design and, in particular, landscape design.

  9. Statistical significant changes in ground thermal conditions of alpine Austria during the last decade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kellerer-Pirklbauer, Andreas

    2016-04-01

    Longer data series (e.g. >10 a) of ground temperatures in alpine regions are helpful to improve the understanding regarding the effects of present climate change on distribution and thermal characteristics of seasonal frost- and permafrost-affected areas. Beginning in 2004 - and more intensively since 2006 - a permafrost and seasonal frost monitoring network was established in Central and Eastern Austria by the University of Graz. This network consists of c.60 ground temperature (surface and near-surface) monitoring sites which are located at 1922-3002 m a.s.l., at latitude 46°55'-47°22'N and at longitude 12°44'-14°41'E. These data allow conclusions about general ground thermal conditions, potential permafrost occurrence, trend during the observation period, and regional pattern of changes. Calculations and analyses of several different temperature-related parameters were accomplished. At an annual scale a region-wide statistical significant warming during the observation period was revealed by e.g. an increase in mean annual temperature values (mean, maximum) or the significant lowering of the surface frost number (F+). At a seasonal scale no significant trend of any temperature-related parameter was in most cases revealed for spring (MAM) and autumn (SON). Winter (DJF) shows only a weak warming. In contrast, the summer (JJA) season reveals in general a significant warming as confirmed by several different temperature-related parameters such as e.g. mean seasonal temperature, number of thawing degree days, number of freezing degree days, or days without night frost. On a monthly basis August shows the statistically most robust and strongest warming of all months, although regional differences occur. Despite the fact that the general ground temperature warming during the last decade is confirmed by the field data in the study region, complications in trend analyses arise by temperature anomalies (e.g. warm winter 2006/07) or substantial variations in the winter

  10. Can mean platelet volume and mean platelet volume/platelet count ratio be used as a diagnostic marker for sepsis and systemic inflammatory response syndrome?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ates, Selma; Oksuz, Hafıze; Dogu, Bırsen; Bozkus, Fulsen; Ucmak, Hasan; Yanıt, Fadime

    2015-01-01

    Objectives: To determine whether the mean platelet volume (MPV) and MPV/platelet (PLT) values can be used in the study of sepsis and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). Methods: In this retrospective case-controlled study, 69 sepsis, 69 SIRS patients, and 72 control group who were treated in the years 2012-2013 were reviewed, and both the MPV and MPV/PLT rates were evaluated in all groups at Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University Intensive Care Unit, Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Results: Statistically significant difference was found between sepsis, SIRS, and control groups when comparing the MPV and MPV/PLT ratio (p0.05). Mean platelet volume values for sepsis and control groups was 10.07/8.731 femtoliter (fL) (p=0.000), and 9.45/8.731 fL (p=0.000) for SIRS and control groups. In the group of sepsis patients, the MPV was found to be at cut-off 8.915, sensitivity 71%, and specificity 63.9%. In the group of patients with SIRS, MPV was found to be at cut-off 8.85, sensitivity 69.6%, and specificity 62.5%. For the MPV/PLT values, the specificity and sensitivity were found to be insignificant. Conclusion: This study shows that although there was no significant reduction in the PLT values between the sepsis and SIRS patients, the MPV and MPV/PLT ratio values were found to have significant differences. However, the specificity and sensitivity of the values were not reliable standard to be used as a test. PMID:26446329

  11. Uncertainty quantification for mean field games in social interactions

    KAUST Repository

    Dia, Ben Mansour

    2016-01-09

    We present an overview of mean field games formulation. A comparative analysis of the optimality for a stochastic McKean-Vlasov process with time-dependent probability is presented. Then we examine mean-field games for social interactions and we show that optimizing the long-term well-being through effort and social feeling state distribution (mean-field) will help to stabilize couple (marriage). However , if the cost of effort is very high, the couple fluctuates in a bad feeling state or the marriage breaks down. We then examine the influence of society on a couple using mean field sentimental games. We show that, in mean-field equilibrium, the optimal effort is always higher than the one-shot optimal effort. Finally we introduce the Wiener chaos expansion for the construction of solution of stochastic differential equations of Mckean-Vlasov type. The method is based on the Cameron-Martin version of the Wiener Chaos expansion and allow to quantify the uncertainty in the optimality system.

  12. Uncertainty quantification for mean field games in social interactions

    KAUST Repository

    Dia, Ben Mansour

    2016-01-01

    We present an overview of mean field games formulation. A comparative analysis of the optimality for a stochastic McKean-Vlasov process with time-dependent probability is presented. Then we examine mean-field games for social interactions and we show that optimizing the long-term well-being through effort and social feeling state distribution (mean-field) will help to stabilize couple (marriage). However , if the cost of effort is very high, the couple fluctuates in a bad feeling state or the marriage breaks down. We then examine the influence of society on a couple using mean field sentimental games. We show that, in mean-field equilibrium, the optimal effort is always higher than the one-shot optimal effort. Finally we introduce the Wiener chaos expansion for the construction of solution of stochastic differential equations of Mckean-Vlasov type. The method is based on the Cameron-Martin version of the Wiener Chaos expansion and allow to quantify the uncertainty in the optimality system.

  13. Diagnosis of Joseph disease by means of N-isopropyl-p-[123I]iodoamphetamine (IMP) SPECT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takahashi, Naoya; Nishihara, Mamiko; Odano, Ikuo; Sakai, Kunio; Yuasa, Tatsuhiko.

    1993-01-01

    Using N-isopropyl-p-[ 123 I]iodoamphetamine (IMP) and single-photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT), we studied the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in 4 Japanese patients who had been clinically diagnosed as having Joseph disease. This is the first report of rCBF measurement by means of [ 123 I]-IMP SPECT in patients with Joseph disease. Cerebellar atrophy was evaluated by means of a 5-rating scale as defined by X-ray computed tomography (X-CT). As compared with 10 normal controls (mean cerebellar CBF±SD: 66.9±6.6 ml/100 g/min), the regional CBF of the patients with Joseph disease was found to decrease significantly in the cerebellum (mean±SD: 52.8±5.3 ml/100 g/min). However, no significant relationship was found between the decrease in rCBF in the cerebellum and the degree of cerebellar atrophy as shown by X-CT. The regional CBF in the cerebellum decreased little in one patient who had severe cerebellar atrophy or in two who showed moderate atrophy. [ 123 I]-IMP SPECT demonstrates the pathological and metabolic changes in the cerebellum that do not appear on X-CT or MRI. IMP SPECT is thus shown to be useful for the diagnosis of patients with Joseph disease. (author)

  14. Elastic K-means using posterior probability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Aihua; Jiang, Bo; Li, Yan; Zhang, Xuehan; Ding, Chris

    2017-01-01

    The widely used K-means clustering is a hard clustering algorithm. Here we propose a Elastic K-means clustering model (EKM) using posterior probability with soft capability where each data point can belong to multiple clusters fractionally and show the benefit of proposed Elastic K-means. Furthermore, in many applications, besides vector attributes information, pairwise relations (graph information) are also available. Thus we integrate EKM with Normalized Cut graph clustering into a single clustering formulation. Finally, we provide several useful matrix inequalities which are useful for matrix formulations of learning models. Based on these results, we prove the correctness and the convergence of EKM algorithms. Experimental results on six benchmark datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of proposed EKM and its integrated model.

  15. The Hybrid Museum: Hybrid Economies of Meaning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vestergaard, Vitus

    2013-01-01

    Social media has created new ways of communicating and has brought about a new distinctive ethos. New literacies are not simply about new technology but also about this new ethos. Many museums are embracing this ethos by what is often called participatory practices. From a sociocultural perspective...... this article shows that there are two different museum mindsets where the second mindset leans towards participatory practices. It is shown how a museum can support a hybrid economy of meaning that builds on both a user generated economy of meaning and an institutional economy of meaning and adds value to both...

  16. Differences in maintenance of mean blood glucose (BG and their association with response to “recognizing hunger”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ciampolini M

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Mario Ciampolini1, Massimiliano Sifone21Preventive Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Paediatrics, Università di Firenze, Florence, Italy; 2Department of Statistics, Università di Firenze, Florence, ItalyBackground: Meals begin and end subjectively. We trained healthy subjects to recognize initial hunger as a preprandial target for meal consumption, and to create a “recognizing hunger” or initial hunger meal pattern.Objective: Training subjects to “recognize hunger” lowers blood glucose (BG and improves energy balance, and lowers metabolic risks and bodyweight. A minority may have low BG and low metabolic risks at recruitment, but the others may recover this favorable condition by training.Methods: In a 7-day food diary, subjects reported their preprandial BG measurements; BG and energy availability by blood were assessed at the lowest BG during the day, and diary-mean BG thus characterized the individual meal pattern (daily energy intake. We analyzed the same diaries of a recent paper on a global, randomized comparison of subjects trained in “recognizing hunger” with control subjects. This time, we checked whether subjects who had maintained low BG (LBG subgroup at recruitment were able to decrease mean BG and metabolic risk factors during “hunger recognition” like those who presented high BG (HBG subgroup.Results: At recruitment, the BG means of 120 investigated subjects were within mean confidence limits of ± 3.84 mg/dL, and we could stratify subjects in ten small strata of which each significantly differed by mean BG. Mean BG was stable in each control subject over five months; the mean absolute change being 6.0 ± 4.6 mg/dL. Only three out of 34 trained subjects who had lower mean BG than 81.8 mg/dL significantly decreased mean BG, whereas 41 out of 55 subjects whose mean BG was greater than 81.8 mg/dL significantly decreased mean BG after training (P < 0.0001. At recruitment, the LBG subgroup showed significantly lower

  17. Prevalence and clinical significance of cathepsin G antibodies in systemic sclerosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Favaro

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence and clinical significance of cathepsin G antibodies in patients affected with systemic sclerosis (SSc, scleroderma. Methods: 115 patients affected by SSc, 55 (47,8% with diffuse scleroderma (dSSc and 60 (52,2% with limited scleroderma (lSSc, were tested for cathepsin G antibodies by ELISA method. Moreover these sera were evaluated by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF on ethanol and formalin fixed human neutrophils. Results: By means of the ELISA method 16 (13,9% patients were found to be sera positive for anti-cathepsin G, 2 (12.5% of which showed a perinuclear fluorescence pattern (P-ANCA and 4 (25% an atypical ANCA staining, while 10 (62,5% were negative on IIF. The IIF on scleroderma sera revealed 5 (4,3% P-ANCA and 18 (15,7% atypical ANCA patterns. The anti-cathepsin G antibodies significantly prevailed in scleroderma sera (p=0.02 when their frequency was compared with that of healthy controls; while they were not significantly associated to any clinical or serological features of SSc patients. Conclusions: The anti-cathepsin G antibodies were significantly frequent in scleroderma sera; however, no clinical correlations were found. Thus, the significance of their presence in SSc still needs to be clarified.

  18. Nonequilibrium dynamical mean-field theory

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eckstein, Martin

    2009-12-21

    The aim of this thesis is the investigation of strongly interacting quantum many-particle systems in nonequilibrium by means of the dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT). An efficient numerical implementation of the nonequilibrium DMFT equations within the Keldysh formalism is provided, as well a discussion of several approaches to solve effective single-site problem to which lattice models such as the Hubbard-model are mapped within DMFT. DMFT is then used to study the relaxation of the thermodynamic state after a sudden increase of the interaction parameter in two different models: the Hubbard model and the Falicov-Kimball model. In the latter case an exact solution can be given, which shows that the state does not even thermalize after infinite waiting times. For a slow change of the interaction, a transition to adiabatic behavior is found. The Hubbard model, on the other hand, shows a very sensitive dependence of the relaxation on the interaction, which may be called a dynamical phase transition. Rapid thermalization only occurs at the interaction parameter which corresponds to this transition. (orig.)

  19. Nonequilibrium dynamical mean-field theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eckstein, Martin

    2009-01-01

    The aim of this thesis is the investigation of strongly interacting quantum many-particle systems in nonequilibrium by means of the dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT). An efficient numerical implementation of the nonequilibrium DMFT equations within the Keldysh formalism is provided, as well a discussion of several approaches to solve effective single-site problem to which lattice models such as the Hubbard-model are mapped within DMFT. DMFT is then used to study the relaxation of the thermodynamic state after a sudden increase of the interaction parameter in two different models: the Hubbard model and the Falicov-Kimball model. In the latter case an exact solution can be given, which shows that the state does not even thermalize after infinite waiting times. For a slow change of the interaction, a transition to adiabatic behavior is found. The Hubbard model, on the other hand, shows a very sensitive dependence of the relaxation on the interaction, which may be called a dynamical phase transition. Rapid thermalization only occurs at the interaction parameter which corresponds to this transition. (orig.)

  20. Intrapersonal self-transcendence, meaning-in-life and nurse-patient interaction: powerful assets for quality of life in cognitively intact nursing-home patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haugan, Gørill; Moksnes, Unni Karin; Løhre, Audhild

    2016-12-01

    Spirituality has demonstrated a significant impact on quality of life in nursing-home patients. Likewise, as essential aspects of spirituality, hope, self-transcendence, and meaning are found to be vital resources to nursing-home patients' global well-being. Further, nurse-patient interaction has demonstrated a powerful influence on patient's hope, self-transcendence, and meaning-in-life, as well as on anxiety and depression. The present study investigated the associations of hope, self-transcendence, meaning, and perceived nurse-patient interaction with quality of life. In a cross-sectional design, a sample of 202 cognitively intact nursing-home patients in Mid-Norway responded to the Herth Hope Index, the Self-Transcendence scale, the Purpose-in-Life test, the Nurse-Patient Interaction scale, and a one-item overall measure on quality of life. Using SPSS ordinal regression, bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted with quality of life as dependent variable. Controlling for gender, age, and residential time, all the scales were significantly related to quality of life in the bivariate analyses. Intrapersonal self-transcendence showed an exceptional position presenting a very high odds ratio in the bivariate analysis, and also the strongest association with quality of life in multivariate analyses. Meaning and nurse-patient interaction also showed independent and significant associations with quality of life. The associations found encourage the idea that intrapersonal self-transcendence, meaning-in-life, and nurse-patient interaction are powerful health-promoting factors that significantly influence on nursing-home patients' quality of life. Therefore, pedagogical approaches for advancing caregivers' presence and confidence in health-promoting interaction should be upgraded and matured. Proper educational programs for developing interacting skills including assessing and supporting patients' intrapersonal self-transcendence and meaning-in-life should be

  1. Mean-field theory and solitonic matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cohen, T.D.

    1989-01-01

    Finite density solitonic matter is considered in the context of quantum field theory. Mean-field theory, which provides a reasonable description for single-soliton properties gives rise to a crystalline description. A heuristic description of solitonic matter is given which shows that the low-density limit of solitonic matter (the limit which is presumably relevant for nuclear matter) does not commute with the mean-field theory limit and gives rise to a Fermi-gas description of the system. It is shown on the basis of a formal expansion of simple soliton models in terms of the coupling constant why one expects mean-field theory to fail at low densities and why the corrections to mean-field theory are nonperturbative. This heuristic description is tested against an exactly solvable 1+1 dimensional model (the sine-Gordon model) and found to give the correct behavior. The relevance of these results to the program of doing nuclear physics based on soliton models is discussed. (orig.)

  2. Operator Arithmetic-Harmonic Mean Inequality on Krein Spaces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Dehghani

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available We prove an operator arithmetic-harmonic mean type inequality in Krein space setting, by using some block matrix techniques of indefinite type. We also give an example which shows that the operator arithmetic-geometric-harmonic mean inequality for two invertible selfadjoint operators on Krein spaces is not valid, in general.

  3. Some means inequalities for positive operators in Hilbert spaces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jin Liang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract In this paper, we obtain two refinements of the ordering relations among Heinz means with different parameters via the Taylor series of some hyperbolic functions and by the way, we derive new generalizations of Heinz operator inequalities. Moreover, we establish a matrix version of Heinz inequality for the Hilbert-Schmidt norm. Finally, we introduce a weighted multivariate geometric mean and show that the weighted multivariate operator geometric mean possess several attractive properties and means inequalities.

  4. Mean shear flow in recirculating turbulent urban convection and the plume-puff eddy structure below stably stratified inversion layers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Yifan; Hunt, Julian; Yin, Shi; Li, Yuguo

    2018-03-01

    The mean and random components of the velocity field at very low wind speeds in a convective boundary layer (CBL) over a wide urban area are dominated by large eddy structures—either turbulent plumes or puffs. In the mixed layer at either side of the edges of urban areas, local mean recirculating flows are generated by sharp horizontal temperature gradients. These recirculation regions also control the mean shear profile and the bent-over plumes across the mixed layer, extending from the edge to the center of the urban area. A simplified physical model was proposed to calculate the mean flow speed at the edges of urban areas. Water tank experiments were carried out to study the mean recirculating flow and turbulent plume structures. The mean speed at urban edges was measured by the particle image velocimetry (PIV), and the plume structures were visualized by the thermalchromic liquid crystal (TLC) sheets. The horizontal velocity calculated by the physical model at the urban edge agrees well with that measured in the water tank experiments, with a root mean square of 0.03. The experiments also show that the pattern of the mean flow over the urban area changes significantly if the shape of the heated area changes or if the form of the heated urban area becomes sub-divided, for example by the creation of nearby but separated "satellite cities." The convective flow over the square urban area is characterized as the diagonal inflow at the lower level and the side outflow at the upper level. The outflow of the small city can be drawn into the inflow region of the large city in the "satellite city" case. A conceptual analysis shows how these changes significantly affect the patterns of dispersion of pollutants in different types of urban areas.

  5. Clinical Significance of CK19 Negative Breast Cancer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fujisue, Mamiko, E-mail: nishimura.reiki@cityhosp-kumamoto.jp; Nishimura, Reiki; Okumura, Yasuhiro [Department of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Kumamoto City Hospital, 1-1-60 Kotoh, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto 862-8505 (Japan); Tashima, Rumiko [Department of Surgery, Kumamoto City Hospital, 1-1-60 Kotoh, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto 862-8505 (Japan); Nishiyama, Yasuyuki; Osako, Tomofumi [Department of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Kumamoto City Hospital, 1-1-60 Kotoh, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto 862-8505 (Japan); Toyozumi, Yasuo; Arima, Nobuyuki [Department of Pathology, Kumamoto City Hospital, 1-1-60 Kotoh, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto 862-8505 (Japan)

    2012-12-21

    Analysis of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) by means of One-Step Nucleic Acid Amplification (OSNA) is gaining widespread use as a quick and accurate method. This assay detects the expression level of cytokeratin 19 (CK19) which is present in some but not all breast tumors. In this study, the clinical significance of negative CK19 was investigated in 219 cases of primary breast cancer. In 179 patients with clinically negative nodes, OSNA and imprint smear cytology of SLN were performed simultaneously. The OSNA revealed a node-positive rate of 24.6%. Negative CK19 correlated significantly with negative ER/PgR and higher Ki-67 values, and marginally with higher nuclear grade and p53 overexpression. The triple negative subtype showed lower CK19 expression. OSNA revealed that one of the negative CK19 cases was actually a false negative but this was corrected with the use of the imprint smear cytology. In conclusion, CK19 negativity reflected the aggressiveness of primary breast cancer. OSNA assay used to analyze SLN was useful, but there is a possibility that it will mistakenly detect false negatives in CK19 negative tumors. Therefore, in tumors with negative CK19, the imprint smear cytology may be more useful in cases with macrometastasis.

  6. Clinical Significance of CK19 Negative Breast Cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nobuyuki Arima

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Analysis of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs by means of One-Step Nucleic Acid Amplification (OSNA is gaining widespread use as a quick and accurate method. This assay detects the expression level of cytokeratin 19 (CK19 which is present in some but not all breast tumors. In this study, the clinical significance of negative CK19 was investigated in 219 cases of primary breast cancer. In 179 patients with clinically negative nodes, OSNA and imprint smear cytology of SLN were performed simultaneously. The OSNA revealed a node-positive rate of 24.6%. Negative CK19 correlated significantly with negative ER/PgR and higher Ki-67 values, and marginally with higher nuclear grade and p53 overexpression. The triple negative subtype showed lower CK19 expression. OSNA revealed that one of the negative CK19 cases was actually a false negative but this was corrected with the use of the imprint smear cytology. In conclusion, CK19 negativity reflected the aggressiveness of primary breast cancer. OSNA assay used to analyze SLN was useful, but there is a possibility that it will mistakenly detect false negatives in CK19 negative tumors. Therefore, in tumors with negative CK19, the imprint smear cytology may be more useful in cases with macrometastasis.

  7. Clinical Significance of CK19 Negative Breast Cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujisue, Mamiko; Nishimura, Reiki; Okumura, Yasuhiro; Tashima, Rumiko; Nishiyama, Yasuyuki; Osako, Tomofumi; Toyozumi, Yasuo; Arima, Nobuyuki

    2012-01-01

    Analysis of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) by means of One-Step Nucleic Acid Amplification (OSNA) is gaining widespread use as a quick and accurate method. This assay detects the expression level of cytokeratin 19 (CK19) which is present in some but not all breast tumors. In this study, the clinical significance of negative CK19 was investigated in 219 cases of primary breast cancer. In 179 patients with clinically negative nodes, OSNA and imprint smear cytology of SLN were performed simultaneously. The OSNA revealed a node-positive rate of 24.6%. Negative CK19 correlated significantly with negative ER/PgR and higher Ki-67 values, and marginally with higher nuclear grade and p53 overexpression. The triple negative subtype showed lower CK19 expression. OSNA revealed that one of the negative CK19 cases was actually a false negative but this was corrected with the use of the imprint smear cytology. In conclusion, CK19 negativity reflected the aggressiveness of primary breast cancer. OSNA assay used to analyze SLN was useful, but there is a possibility that it will mistakenly detect false negatives in CK19 negative tumors. Therefore, in tumors with negative CK19, the imprint smear cytology may be more useful in cases with macrometastasis

  8. Derivation and precision of mean field electrodynamics with mesoscale fluctuations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Hongzhe; Blackman, Eric G.

    2018-06-01

    Mean field electrodynamics (MFE) facilitates practical modelling of secular, large scale properties of astrophysical or laboratory systems with fluctuations. Practitioners commonly assume wide scale separation between mean and fluctuating quantities, to justify equality of ensemble and spatial or temporal averages. Often however, real systems do not exhibit such scale separation. This raises two questions: (I) What are the appropriate generalized equations of MFE in the presence of mesoscale fluctuations? (II) How precise are theoretical predictions from MFE? We address both by first deriving the equations of MFE for different types of averaging, along with mesoscale correction terms that depend on the ratio of averaging scale to variation scale of the mean. We then show that even if these terms are small, predictions of MFE can still have a significant precision error. This error has an intrinsic contribution from the dynamo input parameters and a filtering contribution from differences in the way observations and theory are projected through the measurement kernel. Minimizing the sum of these contributions can produce an optimal scale of averaging that makes the theory maximally precise. The precision error is important to quantify when comparing to observations because it quantifies the resolution of predictive power. We exemplify these principles for galactic dynamos, comment on broader implications, and identify possibilities for further work.

  9. Variance decomposition shows the importance of human-climate feedbacks in the Earth system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calvin, K. V.; Bond-Lamberty, B. P.; Jones, A. D.; Shi, X.; Di Vittorio, A. V.; Thornton, P. E.

    2017-12-01

    The human and Earth systems are intricately linked: climate influences agricultural production, renewable energy potential, and water availability, for example, while anthropogenic emissions from industry and land use change alter temperature and precipitation. Such feedbacks have the potential to significantly alter future climate change. Current climate change projections contain significant uncertainties, however, and because Earth System Models do not generally include dynamic human (demography, economy, energy, water, land use) components, little is known about how climate feedbacks contribute to that uncertainty. Here we use variance decomposition of a novel coupled human-earth system model to show that the influence of human-climate feedbacks can be as large as 17% of the total variance in the near term for global mean temperature rise, and 11% in the long term for cropland area. The near-term contribution of energy and land use feedbacks to the climate on global mean temperature rise is as large as that from model internal variability, a factor typically considered in modeling studies. Conversely, the contribution of climate feedbacks to cropland extent, while non-negligible, is less than that from socioeconomics, policy, or model. Previous assessments have largely excluded these feedbacks, with the climate community focusing on uncertainty due to internal variability, scenario, and model and the integrated assessment community focusing on uncertainty due to socioeconomics, technology, policy, and model. Our results set the stage for a new generation of models and hypothesis testing to determine when and how bidirectional feedbacks between human and Earth systems should be considered in future assessments of climate change.

  10. Heritability of Intraindividual Mean and Variability of Positive and Negative Affect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Yao; Plomin, Robert; von Stumm, Sophie

    2016-12-01

    Positive affect (e.g., attentiveness) and negative affect (e.g., upset) fluctuate over time. We examined genetic influences on interindividual differences in the day-to-day variability of affect (i.e., ups and downs) and in average affect over the duration of a month. Once a day, 17-year-old twins in the United Kingdom ( N = 447) rated their positive and negative affect online. The mean and standard deviation of each individual's daily ratings across the month were used as the measures of that individual's average affect and variability of affect. Analyses revealed that the average of negative affect was significantly heritable (.53), but the average of positive affect was not; instead, the latter showed significant shared environmental influences (.42). Fluctuations across the month were significantly heritable for both negative affect (.54) and positive affect (.34). The findings support the two-factor theory of affect, which posits that positive affect is more situational and negative affect is more dispositional.

  11. Event-by-event fluctuations in mean pT and mean eT in √(sNN)=130 GeV Au+Au collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adcox, K.; El Chenawi, K.; Ghosh, T.K.; Greene, S.V.; Maguire, C.F.; Miller, T.E.; Rose, A.A.; Adler, S.S.; Aronson, S.H.; David, G.; Desmond, E.J.; Ewell, L.; Franz, A.; Guryn, W.; Haggerty, J.S.; Johnson, B.M.; Kistenev, E.; Kroon, P.J.; Mahon, J.; Makdisi, Y.I.

    2002-01-01

    Distributions of event-by-event fluctuations of the mean transverse momentum and mean transverse energy near mid-rapidity have been measured in Au+Au collisions at √(s NN )=130 GeV at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider. By comparing the distributions to what is expected for statistically independent particle emission, the magnitude of nonstatistical fluctuations in mean transverse momentum is determined to be consistent with zero. Also, no significant nonrandom fluctuations in mean transverse energy are observed. By constructing a fluctuation model with two event classes that preserve the mean and variance of the semi-inclusive p T or e T spectra, we exclude a region of fluctuations in √(s NN )=130 GeV Au+Au collisions

  12. Low-cost synthesis of pure ZnO nanowalls showing three-fold symmetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scuderi, Mario; Strano, Vincenzina; Spinella, Corrado; Nicotra, Giuseppe; Mirabella, Salvo

    2018-04-01

    ZnO nanowalls (NWLs) represent a non-toxic, Earth abundant, high surface-to-volume ratio, semiconducting nanostructure which has already showed potential applications in biosensing, environmental monitoring and energy. Low-cost synthesis of these nanostructures is extremely appealing for large scale upgrading of laboratory results, and its implementation has to be tested at the nanoscale, at least in terms of chemical purity and crystallographic orientation. Here, we have produced pure and texturized ZnO NWLs by using chemical bath deposition (CBD) synthesis followed by a thermal treatment at 300 °C. We examined the NWL formation process and the new obtained structure at the nanoscale, by means of scanning and transmission electron microscopy in combination with x-ray diffraction and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. We have shown that only after annealing at 300 °C in nitrogen does the as-grown material, composed of a mixture of Zn compounds NWLs, show its peculiar crystal arrangement. The resulting ZnO sheets are in fact made by ZnO wurtzite domains (4-5 nm) that show a particular kind of texturization; indeed, they are aligned with their own c-axis always perpendicular to the sheets forming the wall and rotated (around the c-axis) by multiples of 20° from each other. The presented data show that low-cost CBD, followed by an annealing process, gives pure ZnO with a peculiarly ordered nanostructure that shows three-fold symmetry. Such evidence at the nanoscale will have significant implications for realizing sensing or catalyst devices based on ZnO NWLs.

  13. Networks and knowledge creation for meaning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brink, Tove

    2016-01-01

    . The findings show that business networks provide an important frame for organising both central- and distributed leadership to provide meaning on all levels of the network organisations. The business network consists of customers, suppliers and business partners for support of reciprocal learning for providing......The research in this paper reveals how business networks can create organisational knowledge to provide meaning for enabling innovation and reduction of Levelized Cost Of Energy (LCOE)? The research was conducted from June 2014 to May 2015, using a qualitative deductive research approach...... and due to the organising process highly valuable findings regarding innovation can be utilised both for improved central decisions and for improved application of knowledge locally when the meaning is established. Further research is needed for elaboration of the business network frame and the organising...

  14. A Mean variance analysis of arbitrage portfolios

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fang, Shuhong

    2007-03-01

    Based on the careful analysis of the definition of arbitrage portfolio and its return, the author presents a mean-variance analysis of the return of arbitrage portfolios, which implies that Korkie and Turtle's results ( B. Korkie, H.J. Turtle, A mean-variance analysis of self-financing portfolios, Manage. Sci. 48 (2002) 427-443) are misleading. A practical example is given to show the difference between the arbitrage portfolio frontier and the usual portfolio frontier.

  15. Mean-Variance Analysis in a Multiperiod Setting

    OpenAIRE

    Frauendorfer, Karl; Siede, Heiko

    1997-01-01

    Similar to the classical Markowitz approach it is possible to apply a mean-variance criterion to a multiperiod setting to obtain efficient portfolios. To represent the stochastic dynamic characteristics necessary for modelling returns a process of asset returns is discretized with respect to time and space and summarized in a scenario tree. The resulting optimization problem is solved by means of stochastic multistage programming. The optimal solutions show equivalent structural properties as...

  16. Mean-Variance Optimization in Markov Decision Processes

    OpenAIRE

    Mannor, Shie; Tsitsiklis, John N.

    2011-01-01

    We consider finite horizon Markov decision processes under performance measures that involve both the mean and the variance of the cumulative reward. We show that either randomized or history-based policies can improve performance. We prove that the complexity of computing a policy that maximizes the mean reward under a variance constraint is NP-hard for some cases, and strongly NP-hard for others. We finally offer pseudo-polynomial exact and approximation algorithms.

  17. Role of scaffold mean pore size in meniscus regeneration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Zheng-Zheng; Jiang, Dong; Ding, Jian-Xun; Wang, Shao-Jie; Zhang, Lei; Zhang, Ji-Ying; Qi, Yan-Song; Chen, Xue-Si; Yu, Jia-Kuo

    2016-10-01

    Recently, meniscus tissue engineering offers a promising management for meniscus regeneration. Although rarely reported, the microarchitectures of scaffolds can deeply influence the behaviors of endogenous or exogenous stem/progenitor cells and subsequent tissue formation in meniscus tissue engineering. Herein, a series of three-dimensional (3D) poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) scaffolds with three distinct mean pore sizes (i.e., 215, 320, and 515μm) were fabricated via fused deposition modeling. The scaffold with the mean pore size of 215μm significantly improved both the proliferation and extracellular matrix (ECM) production/deposition of mesenchymal stem cells compared to all other groups in vitro. Moreover, scaffolds with mean pore size of 215μm exhibited the greatest tensile and compressive moduli in all the acellular and cellular studies. In addition, the relatively better results of fibrocartilaginous tissue formation and chondroprotection were observed in the 215μm scaffold group after substituting the rabbit medial meniscectomy for 12weeks. Overall, the mean pore size of 3D-printed PCL scaffold could affect cell behavior, ECM production, biomechanics, and repair effect significantly. The PCL scaffold with mean pore size of 215μm presented superior results both in vitro and in vivo, which could be an alternative for meniscus tissue engineering. Meniscus tissue engineering provides a promising strategy for meniscus regeneration. In this regard, the microarchitectures (e.g., mean pore size) of scaffolds remarkably impact the behaviors of cells and subsequent tissue formation, which has been rarely reported. Herein, three three-dimensional poly(ε-caprolactone) scaffolds with different mean pore sizes (i.e., 215, 320, and 515μm) were fabricated via fused deposition modeling. The results suggested that the mean pore size significantly affected the behaviors of endogenous or exogenous stem/progenitor cells and subsequent tissue formation. This study furthers

  18. Machinima as a Practice of Meaning-making

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frølunde, Lisbeth

    into their stated inspirational resources. The theoretical approach is dialogic communication research and mediated discourse analysis, which aims to uncover the nexus of dynamic creative processes as fundamentally social and polyphonic. Therefore, the study examines the dynamics and significance of the complex...... interactions, relationships, cultural identities, and tools which constitute and sustain machinima activities. This is done by asking questions regarding meaningfulness; what meanings the machinimators ascribe to finished films, how these meanings might have transformed during specific creative processes...

  19. Human and Animal Isolates of Yersinia enterocolitica Show Significant Serotype-Specific Colonization and Host-Specific Immune Defense Properties

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaake, Julia; Kronshage, Malte; Uliczka, Frank; Rohde, Manfred; Knuuti, Tobias; Strauch, Eckhard; Fruth, Angelika; Wos-Oxley, Melissa

    2013-01-01

    Yersinia enterocolitica is a human pathogen that is ubiquitous in livestock, especially pigs. The bacteria are able to colonize the intestinal tract of a variety of mammalian hosts, but the severity of induced gut-associated diseases (yersiniosis) differs significantly between hosts. To gain more information about the individual virulence determinants that contribute to colonization and induction of immune responses in different hosts, we analyzed and compared the interactions of different human- and animal-derived isolates of serotypes O:3, O:5,27, O:8, and O:9 with murine, porcine, and human intestinal cells and macrophages. The examined strains exhibited significant serotype-specific cell binding and entry characteristics, but adhesion and uptake into different host cells were not host specific and were independent of the source of the isolate. In contrast, survival and replication within macrophages and the induced proinflammatory response differed between murine, porcine, and human macrophages, suggesting a host-specific immune response. In fact, similar levels of the proinflammatory cytokine macrophage inflammatory protein 2 (MIP-2) were secreted by murine bone marrow-derived macrophages with all tested isolates, but the equivalent interleukin-8 (IL-8) response of porcine bone marrow-derived macrophages was strongly serotype specific and considerably lower in O:3 than in O:8 strains. In addition, all tested Y. enterocolitica strains caused a considerably higher level of secretion of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 by porcine than by murine macrophages. This could contribute to limiting the severity of the infection (in particular of serotype O:3 strains) in pigs, which are the primary reservoir of Y. enterocolitica strains pathogenic to humans. PMID:23959720

  20. Mean centering helps alleviate "micro" but not "macro" multicollinearity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iacobucci, Dawn; Schneider, Matthew J; Popovich, Deidre L; Bakamitsos, Georgios A

    2016-12-01

    There seems to be confusion among researchers regarding whether it is good practice to center variables at their means prior to calculating a product term to estimate an interaction in a multiple regression model. Many researchers use mean centered variables because they believe it's the thing to do or because reviewers ask them to, without quite understanding why. Adding to the confusion is the fact that there is also a perspective in the literature that mean centering does not reduce multicollinearity. In this article, we clarify the issues and reconcile the discrepancy. We distinguish between "micro" and "macro" definitions of multicollinearity and show how both sides of such a debate can be correct. To do so, we use proofs, an illustrative dataset, and a Monte Carlo simulation to show the precise effects of mean centering on both individual correlation coefficients as well as overall model indices. We hope to contribute to the literature by clarifying the issues, reconciling the two perspectives, and quelling the current confusion regarding whether and how mean centering can be a useful practice.

  1. Age distribution of human gene families shows significant roles of both large- and small-scale duplications in vertebrate evolution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gu, Xun; Wang, Yufeng; Gu, Jianying

    2002-06-01

    The classical (two-round) hypothesis of vertebrate genome duplication proposes two successive whole-genome duplication(s) (polyploidizations) predating the origin of fishes, a view now being seriously challenged. As the debate largely concerns the relative merits of the 'big-bang mode' theory (large-scale duplication) and the 'continuous mode' theory (constant creation by small-scale duplications), we tested whether a significant proportion of paralogous genes in the contemporary human genome was indeed generated in the early stage of vertebrate evolution. After an extensive search of major databases, we dated 1,739 gene duplication events from the phylogenetic analysis of 749 vertebrate gene families. We found a pattern characterized by two waves (I, II) and an ancient component. Wave I represents a recent gene family expansion by tandem or segmental duplications, whereas wave II, a rapid paralogous gene increase in the early stage of vertebrate evolution, supports the idea of genome duplication(s) (the big-bang mode). Further analysis indicated that large- and small-scale gene duplications both make a significant contribution during the early stage of vertebrate evolution to build the current hierarchy of the human proteome.

  2. Implementasi Pendekatan Rule-Of-Thumb untuk Optimasi Algoritma K-Means Clustering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M Nishom

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available In the big data era, the clustering of data or so-called clustering has attracted great interest or attention from researchers in conducting various studies, many grouping algorithms have been proposed in recent times. However, as technology evolves, data volumes continue to grow and data formats are increasingly varied, thus making massive data grouping into a huge and challenging task. To overcome this problem, various research related methods for data grouping have been done, among them is K-Means. However, this method still has some shortcomings, among them is the sensitivity issue in determining the value of cluster (K. In this paper we discuss the implementation of the rule-of-thumb approach and the normalization of data on the K-Means method to determine the number of clusters or K values dynamically in the data groupings. The results show that the implementation of the approach has a significant impact (related to time, number of iterations, and no outliers in the data grouping.

  3. Continuing educattion by means of the internet

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jurasszovich, H.; Lischka, M.

    2000-01-01

    A world wide homogenous level of knowledge for all members of an expert community is the proposed aim of academic education. The potential of the World Wide Web (WWW) with respect to under- and postgraduate education maybe accomplished if its use will become a definite part of cultural skills. Additionally, the process of simple collection of information should be added by the process of gaining knowledge and experience. Adaptation to the target group and a high degree of interactivity are the two main characteristics of high-quality technology-based learning materials. Considering both most of the web-ressources show deficits. Instructional design as well as information technology have means to overcome these deficits. With respect to the didactic principles of materials for beginners and advanced students, the architecture of computerised learning programs plays a significant role. However, costs to develop high-level learning materials is extremely high. Therefore it is necessary, to use synergetic effects with other digitized clinical and scientific materials. (orig.) [de

  4. Mean Field Game for Marriage

    KAUST Repository

    Bauso, Dario; Dia, Ben Mansour; Djehiche, Boualem; Tembine, Hamidou; Tempone, Raul

    2014-01-01

    The myth of marriage has been and is still a fascinating historical societal phenomenon. Paradoxically, the empirical divorce rates are at an all-time high. This work describes a unique paradigm for preserving relationships and marital stability from mean-field game theory. We show that optimizing the long-term well-being via effort and society feeling state distribution will help in stabilizing relationships.

  5. Mean Field Game for Marriage

    KAUST Repository

    Bauso, Dario

    2014-01-06

    The myth of marriage has been and is still a fascinating historical societal phenomenon. Paradoxically, the empirical divorce rates are at an all-time high. This work describes a unique paradigm for preserving relationships and marital stability from mean-field game theory. We show that optimizing the long-term well-being via effort and society feeling state distribution will help in stabilizing relationships.

  6. The Effect of Word Meaning Deriving Strategy Instruction: The Case of EFL Students in Taiwan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chin Min Lin

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available This study intends to find out the effect of teaching word meaning deriving strategies to EFL Students in Taiwan. The subjects were one class of the first year students attending a junior college in Taiwan. They were given a pre-test, which contained a passage, 10 vocabulary test items and 10 strategy questions. The researchers then began a two-month experiment. During the experimental period, the researcher, who was the instructor of the subjects, taught word meaning deriving strategies to students. The post-test, which was exactly the same as the pre-test, was given at the end of the experimental period. The results show significant differences of students' correct guessing rates and the strategy choice between the pre-test and the post-test. This suggests that it is worthwhile teaching EFL students word meaning deriving strategies.

  7. Trends in Mean Annual Minimum and Maximum Near Surface Temperature in Nairobi City, Kenya

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    George Lukoye Makokha

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the long-term urban modification of mean annual conditions of near surface temperature in Nairobi City. Data from four weather stations situated in Nairobi were collected from the Kenya Meteorological Department for the period from 1966 to 1999 inclusive. The data included mean annual maximum and minimum temperatures, and was first subjected to homogeneity test before analysis. Both linear regression and Mann-Kendall rank test were used to discern the mean annual trends. Results show that the change of temperature over the thirty-four years study period is higher for minimum temperature than maximum temperature. The warming trends began earlier and are more significant at the urban stations than is the case at the sub-urban stations, an indication of the spread of urbanisation from the built-up Central Business District (CBD to the suburbs. The established significant warming trends in minimum temperature, which are likely to reach higher proportions in future, pose serious challenges on climate and urban planning of the city. In particular the effect of increased minimum temperature on human physiological comfort, building and urban design, wind circulation and air pollution needs to be incorporated in future urban planning programmes of the city.

  8. From Chains for Mean Value Inequalities to Mitrinovic's Problem II

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Ling

    2005-01-01

    In this note, an integrated form of some significant means with two variables is provided, and some chains for mean value inequalities are obtained. At the same time, a concise family of algebraic functions appears, which satisfy Mitrinovic's requirements.

  9. A comprehensive study on the relationship between meaning and spirituality at work with job happiness, positive affect and job satisfaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohsen Golparvar

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Positive affectivity and affective management are among important issues for the most desirable effectiveness of employees in the workplace. Accordingly, in this research, the role of meaning and spirituality at workplace is considered for job happiness, positive affect and job satisfaction. To this end, within a correlation study, with the selection of two hundred and four employees of two custom organizations in Esfahan and Tehran, in Iran, who answer meaning and spirituality at work, job happiness, positive affect and job satisfaction questionnaires, the research hypotheses have been tested through Pearson's correlation and structural equation modeling. The results show that there were significant relationships between meaning and spirituality at work, job happiness, positive affect and job satisfaction. Results of structure equation modeling reveal that during two chain models, at first meaning and spirituality at work are linked to job happiness and positive effect. Then job happiness and positive effect cause reinforcement of job satisfaction. The results of this study showed that meaning and spirituality at work cause positive affective spillover from job happiness and positive affect to job satisfaction.

  10. Gastroesophageal reflux after esophageal surgery. Evaluation by means of esophageal transit scintigram

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nishimura, Osamu; Yokoi, Hideki; Maebeya, Shinji and others

    1989-04-01

    By means of esophageal transit scintigram using /sup 99m/Tc-DTPA, 15 patients (13 esophageal carcinomas and 2 cardia carcinomas) were studied, in whom esophagogastric anastomosis was done according to the posterior invagination anastomosis technique we had devised. In all 8 patients with anastomosis at cervical region, gastroesophageal reflux was not seen on both scintigrams before and after meals, and the average pressure gradient of high pressure zone at anastomosis was 39.8 cmH/sub 2/O. In 2 of 7 patients with intrathoracic anastomosis, the scintigram before meals showed severe reflux. and the endoscopic findings showed diffuse and moderate erosion in the esophageal mucosa. The average pressure gradient across the anastomosis was 6.5 cmH/sub 2/O. In these 2 patients, the new fornix with a sharp angle of His was not formed. In the remaining 5 patients with intrathoracic anastomosis, reflux was not seen on the scintigram before meals. However, in 2 of them, the scintigram after meal and endoscopic examination revealed mild reflux and mild esophagitis respectively. Furthermore in one patient very mild reflux was observed only on the scintigram after meals but the endoscopic findings showed the normal esophageal mucosa. In these 5 patients, the average pressure gradient across the anastomosis was 17.0 cmH/sub 2/O, which was significantly higher (p<0.01) than that in 2 patients with severe reflux and was significantly lower (p<0.01) than the mean value of high pressure zone in 8 patients with cervical anastomosis. In conclusion, it is presumed that the formation of a large fornix enough to store food and a sharp angle of His are important factors in maintaining an anti-reflux mechanism. The esophageal transit scintigram was proved to be an excellent technique in detecting and evaluating quantitatively gastroesophageal reflux. (author).

  11. Key-Phenomenon and Religious Meaning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lomuscio Vincenzo

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available In this paper I develop a phenomenology of religious experience through the notion of keyphenomenon. My analysis moves from a general phenomenology of situation, in which we have to relate different phenomena according to a sense. What does “according to a sense” mean? My suggestion is that we should look for a relationship among these data when we find a key-phenomenon (among a series of phenomena that would enlighten all the others. This key-phenomenon would show a non-phenomenal meaning which would make all the others understandable. Each other datum, therefore, becomes the witness of invisible meaning through a key-witness. The key-phenomenon we choose determines the role (i.e., the truth of each datum within its situation. This phenomenological relationship belongs to both the sense of day-life situations, and that one of possible religious situations. If the religious interpretation of a situation depends on our choice of key-phenomenon, or key-witness, we have to define what kind of keyphenomenon constitutes a religious intuition.

  12. What Are We Drinking? Beverages Shown in Adolescents' Favorite Television Shows.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eisenberg, Marla E; Larson, Nicole I; Gollust, Sarah E; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne

    2017-05-01

    Media use has been shown to contribute to poor dietary intake; however, little attention has been paid to programming content. The portrayal of health behaviors in television (TV) programming contributes to social norms among viewers, which have been shown to influence adolescent behavior. This study reports on a content analysis of beverages shown in a sample of TV shows popular with a large, diverse group of adolescents, with attention to the types of beverages and differences across shows and characters. Favorite TV shows were assessed in an in-school survey in 2010. Three episodes of each of the top 25 shows were analyzed, using a detailed coding instrument. Beverage incidents (ie, beverage shown or described) were recorded. Beverage types included milk, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), diet beverages, juice, water, alcoholic drinks, and coffee. Characters were coded with regard to gender, age group, race, and weight status. Shows were rated for a youth, general, or adult audience. χ 2 tests were used to compare the prevalence of each type of beverage across show ratings (youth, general, adult), and to compare characteristics of those involved in each type of beverage incident. Beverage incidents were common (mean=7.4 incidents/episode, range=0 to 25). Alcohol was the most commonly shown (38.8%); milk (5.8%) and juice (5.8%) were least common; 11.0% of incidents included SSBs. Significant differences in all types of beverage were found across characters' age groups. Almost half of young adults' (49.2%) or adults' (42.0%) beverage incidents included alcohol. Beverages are often portrayed on TV shows viewed by adolescents, and common beverages (alcohol, SSBs) may have adverse consequences for health. The portrayal of these beverages likely contributes to social norms regarding their desirability; nutrition and health professionals should talk with youth about TV portrayals to prevent the adoption of unhealthy beverage behaviors. Copyright © 2017 Academy of

  13. What are we drinking? Beverages shown in adolescents’ favorite TV shows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eisenberg, Marla E.; Larson, Nicole I.; Gollust, Sarah E.; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne

    2016-01-01

    Background Media use has been shown to contribute to poor dietary intake; however, little attention has been paid to programming content. The portrayal of health behaviors in television (TV) programming contributes to social norms among viewers, which have been shown to influence adolescent behavior. Objective This study reports on a content analysis of beverages shown in a sample of TV shows popular with a large, diverse group of adolescents, with attention to the types of beverages and differences across shows and characters. Design Favorite TV shows were assessed in an in-school survey in 2010. Three episodes of each of the top 25 shows were analyzed using a detailed coding instrument. Key measures Beverage incidents (i.e. beverage shown or described) were recorded. Beverage types included milk, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB), diet beverages, juice, water, alcoholic drinks and coffee. Characters were coded with regards to gender, age group, race, and weight status. Shows were rated for a youth, general or adult audience. Statistical analyses Chi-square tests were used to compare the prevalence of each type of beverage across show ratings (youth, general, adult), and to compare characteristics of those involved in each type of beverage incident. Results Beverage incidents were common (mean=7.4 incidents/episode, range=0–25). Alcohol was the most commonly shown (38.8%); milk (5.8%) and juice (5.8%) were least common; 11.0% of incidents included SSB. Significant differences in all types of beverage were found across age groups. Almost half of young adults’ (49.2%) or adults’ (42.0%) beverage incidents included alcohol. Conclusions Beverages are often portrayed on TV shows viewed by adolescents, and common beverages (alcohol, SSB) may have adverse consequences for health. The portrayal of these beverages likely contributes to social norms regarding their desirability; nutrition and health professionals should talk with youth about TV portrayals to prevent the

  14. Moderate running and plyometric training during off-season did not show a significant difference on soccer-related high-intensity performances compared with no-training controls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakamura, Daisuke; Suzuki, Tomohiro; Yasumatsu, Mikinobu; Akimoto, Takayuki

    2012-12-01

    Several investigators have reported the effects of reduced training and interrupted training on athletic performance, but few reports are available for soccer players. The purpose of this study was to examine, using the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 2 (YoYoIR2) test and sprint performance, the effects on soccer players of a reduced training program consisting of either moderate running training, plyometric training. After the completion of a competitive season, 29 male soccer players were divided into 3 groups: the running group (n = 13), the plyometric group (n = 11), and the control group (n = 5). Both training groups completed either running or plyometric training sessions 2 d·wk(-1) for 3 weeks, whereas the control group was not allowed to perform any training. The subjects performed YoYoIR2 and 20-m sprint tests before (pre) and after (post) the experimental period. Neither training group showed any significant training effects on the YoYoIR2 performance or 20-m sprint times compared with the control group. This study suggests that neither endurance running nor plyometric training 2 d·wk(-1) for 3 weeks has a significant effect on high-intensity performance compared with a nontraining regimen. However, our results do not support complete inactivity. These results may have important implications for the management of training cessation for a few weeks.

  15. Students' meaning making in classroom discussions: the importance of peer interaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rudsberg, Karin; Östman, Leif; Aaro Östman, Elisabeth

    2017-09-01

    The aim is to investigate how encounters with peers affect an individual's meaning making in argumentation about socio-scientific issues, and how the individual's meaning making influences the argumentation at the collective level. The analysis is conducted using the analytical method "transactional argumentation analysis" (TAA) which enables in situ studies. TAA combines a transactional perspective on meaning making based on John Dewey's pragmatic philosophy with an argument analysis based on Toulmin's argument pattern. Here TAA is developed further to enable analysis that in detail clarifies the dynamic interplay between the individual and the collective—the intra- and the inter-personal dimensions—and the result of this interplay in terms of meaning making and learning. The empirical material in this study consists of a video-recorded lesson in a Swedish upper secondary school. The results show that the analysed student is influenced by peers when construing arguments, and thereby acts on others' reasoning when making meaning. Further, the results show that most of the additions made by the analysed student are taken further by peers in the subsequent discussion. This study shows how an individual's earlier experiences, knowledge and thinking contribute to the collective meaning making in the classroom.

  16. Significance of abnormal myocardial perfusion scintigraphy in young adult patients with SLE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zakavi, S.R.; Kakhki, V.R.D.; Sadeghi, R.; Jokar, M.H.; Khazaei, G.

    2009-01-01

    Detection of subclinical coronary artery disease (CAD) is a potential challenge in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and it is suggested that myocardial perfusion single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) is more sensitive than exercise test in this setting. However, the significance of perfusion abnormalities in SLE patients is not well known. In this study, we evaluated the prognostic significance of myocardial perfusion defects in patients with SLE. Patients with proven diagnosis of SLE admitted to the hospital due to noncardiac problems with no history of CAD were studied. All patients underwent 99m Tc-methoxyisobutylisonitrile (MIBI) myocardial perfusion scan using dipyridamole as pharmacological stress. All patients were followed up by reviewing patients file in lupus clinic and any minor or major cardiac events were recorded. Eighteen female and two male patients with mean age of 28.2±12.05 years were included. Six patients had mild reversible perfusion defects with mean summed difference score of 2.5±1.0. Pattern of reverse redistribution (reverse fill-in) was noted in three patients. Eleven patients had normal myocardial perfusion. Hypokinesia was noted in three patients on gated images. One patient with abnormal perfusion died 21 days after imaging due to on-cardiac cause. Nineteen patients were followed for a mean time of 39.2±16.0 months. No major or minor cardiac events were noted during follow-up. Three patients (one with abnormal perfusion) had at least one readmission during follow-up period. Our study showed that myocardial perfusion abnormalities are fairly frequent in SLE patients but the defects are generally mild and do not advocate an adverse prognosis. (author)

  17. Symbolic meanings of sex in relationships: Developing the Meanings of Sexual Behavior Inventory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaw, Amanda M; Rogge, Ronald D

    2017-10-01

    Consistent with symbolic interactionism and motivation research, the study explored the meanings of sexual behavior in romantic relationships in a sample of 3,003 online respondents. Starting with a pool of 104 respondent-generated items, Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor analyses in separate sample halves revealed a stable set of 9 dimensions within that item pool that formed 2 higher-order factors representing positive (to share pleasure, to bond, to de-stress, to energize the relationship, to learn more about each other) and negative (to manage conflict, as an incentive, to express anger, and to control partner) meanings of sexual behavior within relationships. Item Response Theory analyses helped select the 4-5 most effective items of each dimension for inclusion in the Meanings of Sexual Behavior Inventory (MoSBI). Generalizability analyses suggested that the MoSBI subscale scores continued to show high levels of internal consistency across a broad range of demographic subgroups (e.g., racial/ethnic groups, gay and lesbian respondents, and various levels of education). The MoSBI subscales demonstrated moderate and distinct patterns of association with a range of conceptual boundary scales (e.g., relationship and sexual satisfaction, emotional support, negative conflict behavior, and frequency of sexual behavior) suggesting that these scales represent novel relationship processes. Consistent with this, analyses in the 862 respondents completing a 2-month follow-up assessment suggested that the meanings of sexual behavior predicted residual change in relationship satisfaction, even after controlling for frequency of sexual behavior within the relationships. Implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  18. The impact of stack geometry and mean pressure on cold end temperature of stack in thermoacoustic refrigeration systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wantha, Channarong

    2018-02-01

    This paper reports on the experimental and simulation studies of the influence of stack geometries and different mean pressures on the cold end temperature of the stack in the thermoacoustic refrigeration system. The stack geometry was tested, including spiral stack, circular pore stack and pin array stack. The results of this study show that the mean pressure of the gas in the system has a significant impact on the cold end temperature of the stack. The mean pressure of the gas in the system corresponds to thermal penetration depth, which results in a better cold end temperature of the stack. The results also show that the cold end temperature of the pin array stack decreases more than that of the spiral stack and circular pore stack geometry by approximately 63% and 70%, respectively. In addition, the thermal area and viscous area of the stack are analyzed to explain the results of such temperatures of thermoacoustic stacks.

  19. Understanding Latina/o Students' Meaning in Life, Spirituality, and Subjective Happiness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cavazos Vela, Javier; Castro, Veronica; Cavazos, Leticia; Cavazos, Michelle; Gonzalez, Stacey Lee

    2015-01-01

    One-hundred nineteen Latina/o college students provided perceptions of presence of meaning in life, search for meaning in life, daily spiritual experiences, and subjective happiness. Perceptions of meaning in life and daily spiritual experiences were significant predictors of subjective happiness. A discussion regarding the importance of these…

  20. Long-term orbit prediction for Tiangong-1 spacecraft using the mean atmosphere model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Jingshi; Liu, Lin; Cheng, Haowen; Hu, Songjie; Duan, Jianfeng

    2015-03-01

    China is planning to complete its first space station by 2020. For the long-term management and maintenance, the orbit of the space station needs to be predicted for a long period of time. Since the space station is expected to work in a low-Earth orbit, the error in the a priori atmosphere model contributes significantly to the rapid increase of the predicted orbit error. When the orbit is predicted for 20 days, the error in the a priori atmosphere model, if not properly corrected, could induce a semi-major axis error of up to a few kilometers and an overall position error of several thousand kilometers respectively. In this work, we use a mean atmosphere model averaged from NRLMSISE00. The a priori reference mean density can be corrected during the orbit determination. For the long-term orbit prediction, we use sufficiently long period of observations and obtain a series of the diurnal mean densities. This series contains the recent variation of the atmosphere density and can be analyzed for various periodic components. After being properly fitted, the mean density can be predicted and then applied in the orbit prediction. Here we carry out the test with China's Tiangong-1 spacecraft at the altitude of about 340 km and we show that this method is simple and flexible. The densities predicted with this approach can serve in the long-term orbit prediction. In several 20-day prediction tests, most predicted orbits show semi-major axis errors better than 700 m and overall position errors better than 400 km.

  1. Comparative Study Showing The Application Of Three Dimensional Oct And Ffa Correlation After Combined Bevacizumab/Laser And Triamcinolone/Laser In The Management Of Diabetic Macular Edema

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Helal, N.; Afahmoud, A.F.; Eliwa, T.F.; Omar, O.A.A.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: to compare combined therapy by intravitreal triamicinolone acetonide and laser versus intravitreal bevacizumab and laser by three dimensional OCT in the management of diabetic macular edema regarding, the efficacy, duration of action, side effects, and complications of both regimens. Patients and methods: 40 eyes of 32 patients with type II diabetes mellitus, with clinically significant macular edema were enrolled into the study. They were divided equally into two groups, the first group was treated with intravitreal triamicinolone acetonide (4 mg/0.1 ml) followed 6 weeks later by focal Laser and the other group was treated by intravitreal bevacizumab (1.25 mg) followed 4 weeks later by focal Laser. Complete ophthalmological examination including BCVA, OCT and FFA were done preoperative and postoperative at 1, 3, 6, and 9 months. Results: the IVTA/Laser group showed an earlier improvement of BCVA by one line at the 3 month visit (p value 0.025 <0.05), compared to the IVA/Laser group that showed this change to be statistically significant at the 6 month visit (p value 0.048) with a one line improvement in BCVA. Regarding CMT and decrease of CMT than IVA/Laser although in both groups the improvement was transient, and relapses in both parameters occurred. There was a high incidence of cataract and steroid induced glaucoma in susceptible subjects in the IVTA/laser group than the IVA/Laser group. IVA/Laser may have a detrimental effect on FAZ integrity, and progression of the stage of diabetic retinopathy. Regarding mean change in CMT the IVTA/Laser has a stronger effect in reducing CMT, which is statistically significant at three months (p value <0.05). On the other hand IVA/Laser group, statistically significant change in mean CMT was at 1 month. Mean change in CMT between the 2 groups was not statistically significant throughout the study, although IVTA/Laser had a more powerful effect on the metric reduction of CMT, this difference was transient in both

  2. Reduction in mean cerebral blood flow measurements using 99mTc-ECD-SPECT during normal aging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kawahata, Nobuya; Daitoh, Nobuyuki; Shirai, Fumie; Hara, Shigeru

    1997-01-01

    Mean cerebral blood flow (mCBF) was measured by SPECT using the 99m Tc-ECD-Patlak-Plot method in a selected group of 61 normal non-hospitalized subjects aged 51 to 91 years. The mCBF values showed 48.4±4.7 ml/100 g/min in aged 50-59 years group, 49.9±5.9 ml/100 g/min in aged 60-69 years group, 46.4 ±6.5 ml/100 g/min in aged 70-79 group, 38.0±3.7 ml/100 g/min in aged 80-89 years group, 38.9 ml/100 g/min in aged 90-99 years group. There was a statistically significant reduction of mCBF with advancing age (R=-0.41; p=0.001). Women have significantly higher mCBF values than men up to aged 70 years group. In this study, there was no significant laterality in the mCBF between right and left hemispheres in all decade groups. The history of hypertension, alcohol consumption, and cigarette smoking failed to show significant difference in the mCBF values. The present study shows that normal aging is associated with mCBF reduction. (author)

  3. Golden mean Siegel disk universality and renormalization

    OpenAIRE

    Gaidashev, Denis; Yampolsky, Michael

    2016-01-01

    We provide a computer-assisted proof of one of the central open questions in one-dimensional renormalization theory -- universality of the golden-mean Siegel disks. We further show that for every function in the stable manifold of the golden-mean renormalization fixed point the boundary of the Siegel disk is a quasicircle which coincides with the closure of the critical orbit, and that the dynamics on the boundary of the Siegel disk is rigid. Furthermore, we extend the renormalization from on...

  4. Ways and means of attaining minimal deterrence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boden, D.

    1993-01-01

    Means for attaining minimum nuclear deterrence include negotiations, unilateral measures, changes of doctrines, priorities with respect to armaments concerned, co-management of deterrence. Deterrence is a positive relationship related to non-proliferation. It is helpful because it has to be seen in the context of overall international security. Nuclear weapons have a significance which is real. The treat they pose should be dealt with in order to develop a better and safer world, and in that context the security needs of the nations should be provided, meaning truly improved security situation

  5. Clinical significance of anismus in encopresis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Catto-Smith, A G; Nolan, T M; Coffey, C M

    1998-09-01

    Treatments designed to relieve paradoxical contraction of the anal sphincters during defecation (anismus) have had limited success in children with encopresis. This has raised doubts as to the clinical relevance of this diagnosis in childhood as anorectal dysfunction. Our aim was to determine whether, in patients who had treatment-resistant encopresis, the presence of electromyographic anismus was associated with increased faecal retention. Sixty-eight children with soiling (mean age 8.7+/-2.06 years) were assessed by clinical examination, abdominal radiography and then with anorectal manometry. Patients with electromyographic anismus (n=32; 47%) had significantly increased radiographic rectal faecal retention and were significantly less likely to be able to defecate water-filled balloons. There were no significant differences in response to prior therapy, history of primary encopresis, behavioural adjustment or in sociodemographic data. Our results suggest that electromyographic anismus is associated with obstructed defecation and faecal retention.

  6. Continuous-Time Mean-Variance Portfolio Selection under the CEV Process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hui-qiang Ma

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available We consider a continuous-time mean-variance portfolio selection model when stock price follows the constant elasticity of variance (CEV process. The aim of this paper is to derive an optimal portfolio strategy and the efficient frontier. The mean-variance portfolio selection problem is formulated as a linearly constrained convex program problem. By employing the Lagrange multiplier method and stochastic optimal control theory, we obtain the optimal portfolio strategy and mean-variance efficient frontier analytically. The results show that the mean-variance efficient frontier is still a parabola in the mean-variance plane, and the optimal strategies depend not only on the total wealth but also on the stock price. Moreover, some numerical examples are given to analyze the sensitivity of the efficient frontier with respect to the elasticity parameter and to illustrate the results presented in this paper. The numerical results show that the price of risk decreases as the elasticity coefficient increases.

  7. Plastic Deformation as a Means to Achieve Stretchable Polymer Semiconductors

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Connor, Brendan

    Developing intrinsically stretchable semiconductors will seamlessly transition traditional devices into a stretchable platform. Polymer semiconductors are inherently soft materials due to the weak van der Waal intermolecular bonding allowing for flexible devices. However, these materials are not typically stretchable and when large strains are applied they either crack or plastically deform. Here, we study the use of repeated plastic deformation as a means of achieving stretchable films. In this talk, critical aspects of polymer semiconductor material selection, morphology and interface properties will be discussed that enable this approach of achieving stretchable films. We show that one can employ high performance donor-acceptor polymer semiconductors that are typically brittle through proper polymer blending to significantly increase ductility to achieve stretchable films. We demonstrate a polymer blend film that can be repeatedly deformed over 65%, while maintaining charge mobility consistently above 0.15 cm2/Vs. During the stretching process we show that the films follow a well-controlled repeated deformation pattern for over 100 stretching cycles.

  8. MP3 the meaning of a format

    CERN Document Server

    Sterne, Jonathan

    2012-01-01

    Jonathan Sterne shows that understanding the historical meaning of the MP3, the world's most common format for recorded audio, involves rethinking the place of digital technologies in the broader universe of twentieth-century communication history.

  9. The Diagnostic Significances of Serum Carcinoembryonic Antigen in Gastrointestinal Tract Cancers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Jong Tae; Won, Kyung Hee; Kim, Yul Ja; Lee, Chong Suk; Lee, Hak Choong [National Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    1983-03-15

    Carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA) levels were measured in the serum of 35 normal control subjects and 179 cases of various benign and malignant gastrointestinal diseases. Malignant gastrointestinal tumors include 69 cases of stomach cancer, 24 cases of hepatoma and 33 cases of colorectal cancer. Benign gastrointestinal diseases include 29 cases of peptic ulcer and 24 cases of liver cirrhosis. The results were as followings: 1) Mean serum CEA level in normal control subjects was 6.9+-3.3 ng/ml and there was no difference in mean serum CEA level between age and sex difference. 2) In malignant gastrointestinal tumors, mean serum CEA level in colorectal cancer, hepatoma and stomach cancer, were 54.3+-88.9 ng/ml, 62.1+-99.7 ng/ml respectively. Serum CEA level showed positive rate of 67% in colorectal cancer, 63% in hepatoma and 625 in stomach cancer. There was no difference in mean levels and positivity of serum CEA between these 3 malignant tumor groups. 3) Positivity of serum CEA was 61% in malignant gastrointestinal tumor group in spite of 37% in benign gastrointestinal disease group. In both mean level and positivity of serum CEA, stomach cancer was much higher than peptic ulcer. But there was no difference in mean level and positivity of serum CEA level between hepatoma and liver cirrhosis. 4) In hepatoma serum CEA level showed positive rate of 62.5% and alpha-feto protein showed a rate of 58.3%. 5) Mean serum CEA levels in patients with cancer in rectal, cecal, sigmoid colon, ascending colon and descending colon were 73.7+-106.7 ng/ml, 69+-84.8 ng/ml, 15.7+-9.1 ng/ml, 7.5+-10.6 ng/ml and 4.0 ng/ml respectively. Positive rate of serum CEA showed 86% in sigmoid colon cancer, 68% in rectal cancer and 66% in cecal cancer. 6) In considering of histological background, there was no collelation between the degree of differentiation of tumor cell and the serum CEA level in colorectal cancer. According to Duke's classification, the mean serum levels of CEA were 8.8+-11.4 ng

  10. The Diagnostic Significances of Serum Carcinoembryonic Antigen in Gastrointestinal Tract Cancers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jong Tae; Won, Kyung Hee; Kim, Yul Ja; Lee, Chong Suk; Lee, Hak Choong

    1983-01-01

    Carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA) levels were measured in the serum of 35 normal control subjects and 179 cases of various benign and malignant gastrointestinal diseases. Malignant gastrointestinal tumors include 69 cases of stomach cancer, 24 cases of hepatoma and 33 cases of colorectal cancer. Benign gastrointestinal diseases include 29 cases of peptic ulcer and 24 cases of liver cirrhosis. The results were as followings: 1) Mean serum CEA level in normal control subjects was 6.9±3.3 ng/ml and there was no difference in mean serum CEA level between age and sex difference. 2) In malignant gastrointestinal tumors, mean serum CEA level in colorectal cancer, hepatoma and stomach cancer, were 54.3±88.9 ng/ml, 62.1±99.7 ng/ml respectively. Serum CEA level showed positive rate of 67% in colorectal cancer, 63% in hepatoma and 625 in stomach cancer. There was no difference in mean levels and positivity of serum CEA between these 3 malignant tumor groups. 3) Positivity of serum CEA was 61% in malignant gastrointestinal tumor group in spite of 37% in benign gastrointestinal disease group. In both mean level and positivity of serum CEA, stomach cancer was much higher than peptic ulcer. But there was no difference in mean level and positivity of serum CEA level between hepatoma and liver cirrhosis. 4) In hepatoma serum CEA level showed positive rate of 62.5% and alpha-feto protein showed a rate of 58.3%. 5) Mean serum CEA levels in patients with cancer in rectal, cecal, sigmoid colon, ascending colon and descending colon were 73.7±106.7 ng/ml, 69±84.8 ng/ml, 15.7±9.1 ng/ml, 7.5±10.6 ng/ml and 4.0 ng/ml respectively. Positive rate of serum CEA showed 86% in sigmoid colon cancer, 68% in rectal cancer and 66% in cecal cancer. 6) In considering of histological background, there was no collelation between the degree of differentiation of tumor cell and the serum CEA level in colorectal cancer. According to Duke's classification, the mean serum levels of CEA were 8.8±11.4 ng

  11. The Diagnostic Significances of Serum Carcinoembryonic Antigen in Gastrointestinal Tract Cancers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Jong Tae; Won, Kyung Hee; Kim, Yul Ja; Lee, Chong Suk; Lee, Hak Choong [National Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    1983-03-15

    Carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA) levels were measured in the serum of 35 normal control subjects and 179 cases of various benign and malignant gastrointestinal diseases. Malignant gastrointestinal tumors include 69 cases of stomach cancer, 24 cases of hepatoma and 33 cases of colorectal cancer. Benign gastrointestinal diseases include 29 cases of peptic ulcer and 24 cases of liver cirrhosis. The results were as followings: 1) Mean serum CEA level in normal control subjects was 6.9+-3.3 ng/ml and there was no difference in mean serum CEA level between age and sex difference. 2) In malignant gastrointestinal tumors, mean serum CEA level in colorectal cancer, hepatoma and stomach cancer, were 54.3+-88.9 ng/ml, 62.1+-99.7 ng/ml respectively. Serum CEA level showed positive rate of 67% in colorectal cancer, 63% in hepatoma and 625 in stomach cancer. There was no difference in mean levels and positivity of serum CEA between these 3 malignant tumor groups. 3) Positivity of serum CEA was 61% in malignant gastrointestinal tumor group in spite of 37% in benign gastrointestinal disease group. In both mean level and positivity of serum CEA, stomach cancer was much higher than peptic ulcer. But there was no difference in mean level and positivity of serum CEA level between hepatoma and liver cirrhosis. 4) In hepatoma serum CEA level showed positive rate of 62.5% and alpha-feto protein showed a rate of 58.3%. 5) Mean serum CEA levels in patients with cancer in rectal, cecal, sigmoid colon, ascending colon and descending colon were 73.7+-106.7 ng/ml, 69+-84.8 ng/ml, 15.7+-9.1 ng/ml, 7.5+-10.6 ng/ml and 4.0 ng/ml respectively. Positive rate of serum CEA showed 86% in sigmoid colon cancer, 68% in rectal cancer and 66% in cecal cancer. 6) In considering of histological background, there was no collelation between the degree of differentiation of tumor cell and the serum CEA level in colorectal cancer. According to Duke's classification, the mean serum levels of CEA were 8

  12. The efficacy of adult christian support groups in coping with the death of a significant loved one.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodman, Herbert; Stone, Mark H

    2009-09-01

    Psychologists sometimes minimize important resources such as religion and spiritual beliefs for coping with bereavement. Alienation of therapeutic psychology from religious values contrasts to professional and public interest in religious experience and commitment. A supportive viewpoint has come about partially as a result of recognizing important values which clinicians have found absent in many of their clients. Until spiritual belief systems become integrated into the work of clinicians, clients may not be fully integrative in coping with loss. The key finding of this study was that individuals who participated in Christian and secular support groups showed no statistically significant difference in their mean endorsement of negative criteria on the BHS, and no statistically significant difference for their mean score endorsement of positive criteria on the RCOPE. However, a Christian-oriented approach was no less effective than a psychological-oriented one. In both groups, a spiritual connection to a specific or generalized higher power was frequently identified which clients ascribed to facilitating the management of their coping.

  13. Bedtime Blood Pressure Chronotherapy Significantly Improves Hypertension Management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hermida, Ramón C; Ayala, Diana E; Fernández, José R; Mojón, Artemio; Crespo, Juan J; Ríos, María T; Smolensky, Michael H

    2017-10-01

    Consistent evidence of numerous studies substantiates the asleep blood pressure (BP) mean derived from ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) is both an independent and a stronger predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk than are daytime clinic BP measurements or the ABPM-determined awake or 24-hour BP means. Hence, cost-effective adequate control of sleep-time BP is of marked clinical relevance. Ingestion time, according to circadian rhythms, of hypertension medications of 6 different classes and their combinations significantly improves BP control, particularly sleep-time BP, and reduces adverse effects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Mean-field approximations of fixation time distributions of evolutionary game dynamics on graphs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ying, Li-Min; Zhou, Jie; Tang, Ming; Guan, Shu-Guang; Zou, Yong

    2018-02-01

    The mean fixation time is often not accurate for describing the timescales of fixation probabilities of evolutionary games taking place on complex networks. We simulate the game dynamics on top of complex network topologies and approximate the fixation time distributions using a mean-field approach. We assume that there are two absorbing states. Numerically, we show that the mean fixation time is sufficient in characterizing the evolutionary timescales when network structures are close to the well-mixing condition. In contrast, the mean fixation time shows large inaccuracies when networks become sparse. The approximation accuracy is determined by the network structure, and hence by the suitability of the mean-field approach. The numerical results show good agreement with the theoretical predictions.

  15. Prevalence of significant bacteriuria among symptomatic and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, Ill). Results: A total of 100 consenting participants were recruited into the study. The mean age was: 23.42 ± 8.31 years and a range of 14‑50 years. Only 9% (9/100) had significant bacteriuria while 44.4% (4/9) ...

  16. Authentication and traceability of Italian extra-virgin olive oils by means of stable isotopes techniques.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Portarena, S; Gavrichkova, O; Lauteri, M; Brugnoli, E

    2014-12-01

    Authentication of food origin is relevant to avoid food fraud. This work aimed to explore the variation of isotopic compositions (δ(13)C, δ(18)O) of extra-virgin olive oils from Italy growing in different environmental conditions. A total of 387 oil samples from nine different regions (from North to South), produced on 2009, 2010 and 2011, were analysed. Statistical analysis showed correlations among oil isotope compositions and latitude, mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation and xerothermic index. No correlation was found comparing isotope compositions with elevation and longitude. An observed shift of the oil δ(18)O per centigrade degree of the mean annual temperature is congruent with literature. The year effect was significant for both δ(18)O and δ(13)C. Samples from Sicilia and Sardegna were higher in (13)C and (18)O than oils from northern regions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. The Last Gender Picture Show to Closure Buffy the Vampire Slayer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sven Grampp

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available This work presents in (and especially on one detail what it means to practice gender analysis as formal image analysis in the context of television shows. The chosen example for that is the closing scene of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (USA 1997-2003. This television show engages in a highly self-reflexive manner with common pop cultural representations of gender, which becomes particularly prevalent and radically condensed in the series finale.

  18. Simple pulmonary eosinophilia evaluated by means of FDG PET: the findings of 14 cases

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Tae Jung; Lee, Kyung Won [Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Bundang (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Hyae Young; Lee, Joo Hyuk; Kim, Eun A; Kim, Seok Ki; Kang, Keon Wook [National Cancer Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2005-12-15

    We wanted to describe the findings of simple pulmonary eosinophilia with using 18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET). We analysed the findings of 14 patients who underwent thoracic computed tomography (CT) and PET, and then they were subsequently proven to have simple pulmonary eosinophilia. PET studies were performed in four patients with malignancy to evaluate for cancer metastasis, and PET scans were also done in 10 healthy subjects who underwent volunteer cancer screening. The PET scans were evaluated by using the maximum standardized uptake values (SUVs). The subjects' CT findings also were reviewed and correlated with the PET findings. A total of 42 nodules were detected on the CT scans. There were single nodules in three patients and multiple nodules in 11 patients (mean number of nodules: 3, range: 1-10, mean diameter: 9.5 mm {+-} 4.7). Twelve of 42 (28.6%) nodules showed FDG uptake and their mean maximum SUV was 2.5 {+-} 1.6 (range: 0.6-5.3). Five of six solid nodules showed FDG uptake (2.2 {+-} 1.1, range: 0.9-3.6), six of 11 semisolid nodules showed FDG uptake (3.1 {+-} 1.8, range: 0.6-5.3) and one of 25 pure ground-glass opacity nodule showed a maximum SUV of 0.8. The maximum SUVs of seven nodules in five patients were greater than 2.5. The maximum SUVs were significantly different according to the nodule types ({rho} < 0.001). Simple pulmonary eosinophilia commonly causes an increase in FDG uptake. Therefore, correlation of the PET findings with the CT findings or the peripheral eosinophil counts can help physicians arrive at the correct diagnosis of simple pulmonary eosinophilia.

  19. Show-Bix &

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2014-01-01

    The anti-reenactment 'Show-Bix &' consists of 5 dias projectors, a dial phone, quintophonic sound, and interactive elements. A responsive interface will enable the Dias projectors to show copies of original dias slides from the Show-Bix piece ”March på Stedet”, 265 images in total. The copies are...

  20. Crisis of Meaning Predicts Suicidality in Youth Independently of Depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schnell, Tatjana; Gerstner, Rebekka; Krampe, Henning

    2018-02-23

    At times, the question for meaning comes to nothing and a crisis of meaning ensues. This state is very painful, but difficult to account. Both those who suffer from it and care professionals find themselves at a loss for words. This study introduces an operationalization of a crisis of meaning. It aims to distinguish the concept from depression, and to investigate whether a crisis of meaning can explain suicidality beyond the known protective and risk factors self-esteem, family functioning, life-event load, and depression. Final-year school pupils in Ecuador (N = 300) completed questionnaires assessing the above variables. Data were analyzed using chi-square, hierarchic multiple regression, serial mediation, and moderator analyses. Crisis of meaning was distinguished from depression. It explained a significant amount of variance in suicidality beyond the mentioned protective and risk factors. For males, crisis of meaning was the only significant risk factor, and the strongest predictor overall. The acute risk factors depression and crisis of meaning mediated the effects of the baseline factors self-esteem, family functioning, and life-event load on suicidality. The study was cross-sectional; assessed factors predicted variance in suicidal thoughts, plans, and past suicide attempts, while their relevance cannot be generalized to actual future suicide attempts. A crisis of meaning is an important factor to take into account in further research on the prevention and treatment of people at risk of suicide.

  1. Significant blockade of multiple receptor tyrosine kinases by MGCD516 (Sitravatinib), a novel small molecule inhibitor, shows potent anti-tumor activity in preclinical models of sarcoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patwardhan, Parag P; Ivy, Kathryn S; Musi, Elgilda; de Stanchina, Elisa; Schwartz, Gary K

    2016-01-26

    Sarcomas are rare but highly aggressive mesenchymal tumors with a median survival of 10-18 months for metastatic disease. Mutation and/or overexpression of many receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) including c-Met, PDGFR, c-Kit and IGF1-R drive defective signaling pathways in sarcomas. MGCD516 (Sitravatinib) is a novel small molecule inhibitor targeting multiple RTKs involved in driving sarcoma cell growth. In the present study, we evaluated the efficacy of MGCD516 both in vitro and in mouse xenograft models in vivo. MGCD516 treatment resulted in significant blockade of phosphorylation of potential driver RTKs and induced potent anti-proliferative effects in vitro. Furthermore, MGCD516 treatment of tumor xenografts in vivo resulted in significant suppression of tumor growth. Efficacy of MGCD516 was superior to imatinib and crizotinib, two other well-studied multi-kinase inhibitors with overlapping target specificities, both in vitro and in vivo. This is the first report describing MGCD516 as a potent multi-kinase inhibitor in different models of sarcoma, superior to imatinib and crizotinib. Results from this study showing blockade of multiple driver signaling pathways provides a rationale for further clinical development of MGCD516 for the treatment of patients with soft-tissue sarcoma.

  2. Parallel k-means++

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2017-04-04

    A parallelization of the k-means++ seed selection algorithm on three distinct hardware platforms: GPU, multicore CPU, and multithreaded architecture. K-means++ was developed by David Arthur and Sergei Vassilvitskii in 2007 as an extension of the k-means data clustering technique. These algorithms allow people to cluster multidimensional data, by attempting to minimize the mean distance of data points within a cluster. K-means++ improved upon traditional k-means by using a more intelligent approach to selecting the initial seeds for the clustering process. While k-means++ has become a popular alternative to traditional k-means clustering, little work has been done to parallelize this technique. We have developed original C++ code for parallelizing the algorithm on three unique hardware architectures: GPU using NVidia's CUDA/Thrust framework, multicore CPU using OpenMP, and the Cray XMT multithreaded architecture. By parallelizing the process for these platforms, we are able to perform k-means++ clustering much more quickly than it could be done before.

  3. [Biopiracy: about its legal meanings].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramírez García, Hugo Saúl

    2009-01-01

    This article explores the legal meanings of biopiracy concept, linked to subjects such as intellectual property rights on genetic resources, bioprospecting contracts, right to food, and food security. It overcomes the critical function of biopiracy concept related to world-wide extended tendencies: privatization and technification. Likewise, protectionism shows the opportunity that biopiracy concept represents for the enrichment of the legal interpretation related to the bioethical statue of biotech developments.

  4. Dolphin shows and interaction programs: benefits for conservation education?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, L J; Zeigler-Hill, V; Mellen, J; Koeppel, J; Greer, T; Kuczaj, S

    2013-01-01

    Dolphin shows and dolphin interaction programs are two types of education programs within zoological institutions used to educate visitors about dolphins and the marine environment. The current study examined the short- and long-term effects of these programs on visitors' conservation-related knowledge, attitude, and behavior. Participants of both dolphin shows and interaction programs demonstrated a significant short-term increase in knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. Three months following the experience, participants of both dolphin shows and interaction programs retained the knowledge learned during their experience and reported engaging in more conservation-related behaviors. Additionally, the number of dolphin shows attended in the past was a significant predictor of recent conservation-related behavior suggesting that repetition of these types of experiences may be important in inspiring people to conservation action. These results suggest that both dolphin shows and dolphin interaction programs can be an important part of a conservation education program for visitors of zoological facilities. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. i=0 (Information has no intrinsic meaning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F.J. Miller

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper was written mainly to help identify some contradictions that can be found in the notion of knowledge management though its application is wider-ranging. The author suggests that knowledge - that is to say 'what we know' - can scarcely be understood and managed even by ourselves, much less by means of sophisticated information and communications (ie groupware and shareware technologies. We have progressed from the industrial age through the information age into what is being promoted as the 'golden age' of knowledge and, in the process, we've been led to believe that information contains meaning - rather than just standing for, provoking or evoking meaning in others. The paper argues that unless we take the trouble to face and understand the significance and implications of i=0 (ie that information has no intrinsic meaning and that knowledge is the uniquely human capability of making meaning from information - ideally in face-to-face relationships with other human beings - we may never emerge into any 'golden' age at all! The consequences of i=0 for communications, learning, safety, quality, management (itself, and winning work are also discussed.

  6. Statistical Tests for Frequency Distribution of Mean Gravity Anomalies

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The hypothesis that a very large number of lOx 10mean gravity anomalies are normally distributed has been rejected at 5% Significance level based on the X2 and the unit normal deviate tests. However, the 50 equal area mean anomalies derived from the lOx 10data, have been found to be normally distributed at the same ...

  7. Musculoskeletal disorders among preschool teachers: analyzing the relationships among relational demands, work meaning, and intention to leave the job.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Converso, Daniela; Viotti, Sara; Sottimano, Ilaria; Cascio, Vincenza; Guidetti, Gloria

    2018-05-22

    Based on the conservation of resource (COR) theory by Hobfoll, the aim of the present study was to test whether the relationships among relational demands, work meaning, and intention to leave vary as a function of the presence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). The study was cross-sectional and non-randomized. Analyses were carried out on a dataset consisting of 429 preschool teachers, who filled out a self-report questionnaire. Of them, 238 reported a MSD diagnosis and 191 were free form MSDs. As expected, among those who reported MSDs, relational demands were significantly associated to intention to leave, and this relationship was mediated by work meaning; moreover, among those free from MSDs, no significant paths among the three variables were found. In general, results showed that suffering from MSDs impairs workers' ability to face to relational demands, thus activating a spiral that encompasses diminished work meaning and intention to leave. Practical implications of results will be discussed in the paper.

  8. Prognosis of non-significant coronary atherosclerotic disease detected by coronary artery tomography

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barros, Marcio Vinicius Lins; Siqueira, Bruna Pinto; Guimaraes, Carolina Camargos Braichi; Cruz, David Filipe Silva; Guimaraes, Leiziane Assuncao Alves; Lima, Maicom Marcio Perigolo, E-mail: marciovlbarros@gmail.com [Faculdade de Saude e Ecologia Humana, Vespasiano, MG (Brazil); Nunes, Maria do Carmo Pereira [Universidade de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil). Faculdade de Medicina; Siqueira, Maria Helena Albernaz [Hospital Materdei, Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil)

    2015-07-15

    Introduction: Although studies have shown high diagnostic accuracy of coronary tomography (CT) in detecting coronary artery disease (CAD), data on the prognostic value of this method in patients with no significant coronary obstruction are limited. Objective: To evaluate the value of CT in predicting adverse events in patients with suspected CAD and no significant coronary obstruction. Methods: We prospectively evaluated 440 patients between January 2008 and July 2013 by MDCT, diagnosed with no significant obstruction or no atherosclerotic coronary obstruction with an average follow-up of 33 months. The outcomes evaluated were: cardiac death, myocardial infarction, unstable angina associated with hospitalization or coronary artery bypass grafting. Results: Of the 440 patients studied, 295 (67%) were men with mean age 55.9 ± 12.0 years. Non-significant obstruction was found in 152 (35%) of the patients and there were 49 (11%) outcomes. In the multivariate analysis using the Cox regression model, the predictors of clinical outcomes were non-significant obstruction on CT (hazard ratio 3.51; 95% CI 1.73 - 7.8; p <0.01), age and hypertension. Non-significant obstruction on CT was associated with adverse clinical outcomes and survival analysis showed a significant difference (log-rank 24.6; p <0.01) in predicting these outcomes. Conclusion: The detection of non-significant atherosclerotic obstruction by CT was associated with the presence of adverse events in patients with suspected CAD, which may prove useful in the risk stratification of these patients. (author)

  9. Satisfaction with Life, Meaning in Life, Sad Childhood Experiences, and Psychological Symptoms among Turkish Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cömert, Itır Tarı; Özyeşil, Zümra Atalay; Burcu Özgülük, S

    2016-02-01

    The aim of the current study was to investigate the contributions of sad childhood experiences, depression, anxiety, and stress, existence of a sense of meaning, and pursuit of meaning in explaining life satisfaction of young adults in Turkey. The sample comprised 400 undergraduate students ( M age = 20.2 yr.) selected via random cluster sampling. There were no statistically significant differences between men and women in terms of their scores on depression, existence of meaning, pursuit of meaning, and life satisfaction scores. However, there were statistically significant differences between men and women on the sad childhood experiences, anxiety and stress. In heirarchical regression analysis, the model as a whole was significant. Depression and existence of meaning in life made unique significant contributions to the variance in satisfaction in life. Students with lower depression and with a sense of meaning in life tended to be more satisfied with life.

  10. Mean Blood Pressure Difference among Adolescents Based on Dyssomnia Types.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sembiring, Krisnarta; Ramayani, Oke Rina; Lubis, Munar

    2018-02-15

    Dyssomnia is the most frequent sleep disturbance and associated with increased blood pressure. There has been no study determining the difference in mean blood pressure based on dyssomnia types among adolescents. To determine the difference in mean blood pressure among adolescents based on dyssomnia types. Cross-sectional study was conducted in SMP Negeri 1 Muara Batang Gadis in April 2016. Samples were students having sleep disturbance based on Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) questionnaire. Stature and blood pressure data were collected along with demographic data and sleep disorder questionnaire. Analyses were done with Kruskal-Wallis test and logistic regression. P - value blood pressure (DBP) was 111.1 (SD 16.46) mmHg and 70.3 (SD 11.98) mmHg respectively. Mean SDSC score was 49.7 (SD 8.96), and the most frequent dyssomnia type was disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep. Age and sex were not the risk factors of hypertension in dyssomnia. There was a significant difference in mean SBP (P = 0.006) and DBP (P = 0.022) based on dyssomnia types. Combination dyssomnia type had the highest mean blood pressure among dyssomnia types. There is a significant difference in mean blood pressure among adolescents based on dyssomnia types.

  11. Internalized Meaning Factualism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hohwy, Jakob

    2006-01-01

    The normative character of meaning creates deep problems for the attempt to give a reductive explanation of the constitution of meaning. I identify and critically examine an increasingly popular Carnap-style position, which I call Internalized Meaning Factualism (versions of which I argue...... are defended by, e.g., Robert Brandom, Paul Horwich and Huw Price), that promises to solve the problems. According to this position, the problem of meaning can be solved by prohibiting an external perspective on meaning constituting properties. The idea is that if we stick to a perspective on meaning...

  12. Catch-up growth or regression to the mean? Recovery from stunting revisited.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cameron, Noël; Preece, Michael A; Cole, Tim J

    2005-01-01

    An important question for policy is the extent to which catch-up growth can ease the impact of early stunting. Martorell et al. (1992) showed that stunted Guatemalan infants remain stunted into adulthood, whereas Adair (1999) found appreciable catch-up growth in Filipino children from 2-12 years. Both groups defined catch-up as an inverse correlation between early height and subsequent growth, but Martorell based the correlation on height, whereas Adair used height z scores. The statistical phenomenon of regression to the mean is much like catch-up growth, an inverse correlation between initial height and later height gain. The objective of this study was to reexamine the relationship between stunting and later catch-up growth in the context of regression to the mean. The design was a theoretical analysis showing that catch-up growth is more evident based on height z scores than on height, validated using data on 495 stunted South African children seen at 2 and 5 years of age. The correlation between height at 2 and height change from 2 to 5 was small based on height (-0.11) but large and highly significant based on height z score (-0.58), providing strong evidence of catch-up growth. We argue that catch-up growth should be estimated using height z score not height and that catch-up is present only when the change in z score exceeds that predicted by regression to the mean. This leads to a compact definition of catch-up growth: if z1 and z2 are the initial and final (mean) height z scores, and r is the correlation between them, then catch-up growth for groups or individuals is given by (z2 - rz1). Copyright 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc

  13. Heidegger and the source of meaning | Knowles | South African ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Sandra Lee Bartky criticises the account of meaning contained in Heidegger's ontology in Being and Time. In her view, Heidegger must choose between the claim that meaning is received and the claim that it is created, but is unable to do so. This paper argues that Bartky's criticism is misconceived, by showing that ...

  14. Analisis Perbandingan Algoritma Fuzzy C-Means dan K-Means

    OpenAIRE

    Yohannes, Yohannes

    2016-01-01

    Klasterisasi merupakan teknik pengelompokkan data berdasarkan kemiripan data. Teknik klasterisasi ini banyak digunakan pada bidang ilmu komputer khususnya pengolahan citra, pengenalan pola, dan data mining. Banyak sekali algoritma yang digunakan untuk klasterisasi data. Algoritma yang sering digunakan untuk klasterisasi data pada umumnya adalah Fuzzy C-Means dan K-Means. Algoritma Fuzzy C-Means merupakan algoritma klasterisasi dimana data dikelompokkan ke dalam suatu pusat cluster data denga...

  15. Neutrophil: Lymphocyte Ratio and Mean Platelet Volume in Patients with Gout

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ayse Balkarli

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Aim: Gout is a clinical syndrome with increased uric acid concentration, which is caused by inflammatory response against monosodium urate (MSU crystals. In gout, neutrophils are involved in inflammatory response and neutrophil activation is dependent on local cytokine production. Mean platelet volume (MPV and neutrophillymphocyte ratio (NLR are considered as inflammatory markers in several diseases and it is reported that they may have prognostic significance. Inthe current literature, there is no study evaluating MPV and NLR in gout. In this retrospective study, we investigated the role of MPV and NLR in determining inflammation in gout disease. Material and Method: In this retrospective study, 106 patients with gout (91 men and 15 women meeting the inclusion criteria based on patient records and 148 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (128 men and 20 women were included. Laboratory data during attacks (group I and intercritical period (group II were collected for the patient group. Results: Mean age was 59.46±12.93 years in the patient group and 59.00±11.33 years in the control group. Age at first attack was 52.00±12.77 years and mean time interval between first 2 attacks was 6.00±5.52 months. There was tophus in 9 patients (8.5% and family history of gout in 17 patients (16.0%. Compared to groupII (intercritical period and the control, no significant difference in MPV levels was found in groupI (during attack. MPV was similar among the three groups. C-reactive protein (CRP and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR were found to be significantly higher in group I compared to group II. There was significant difference in NLR among three groups. When classified according to the presence of tophus, it was seen that MPV and NLR were similar in both groups. Discussion: The finding of increased NLR during attacks and intercritical period show that patients with gout are subjected to chronic inflammation. Thus, NLR can be a simple, inexpensive

  16. The diagnostic significance of thickening of extrapleural fat

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao Weifeng; Pan Jixu; Liu Fugeng

    1999-01-01

    Objective: To determine the role of thickening of extrapleural fat (EPF) in the diagnosis of pleural and/or para-pleural lung disease. Methods: 166 patients with pleural and/or para-pleural lung disease were studied by CT. Any EPF demonstrated would be near the diseased area, its thickness, and CT number were measured and compared with the CT number of the subcutaneous fat. The anterior thoracic wall of 50 normal subjects were also observed for the normal EPF appearances. Results: In normal group 28(56%) cases showed EPF, its thickness being 1-2 mm. In patient group 106(63.9%) cases showed EPF, among these 88 cases showed the thickness of EPF>2 mm. The mean thickness of the thickened EPF was 5.6 mm. Its mean CT number was -90.3 HU. Higher than that of the subcutaneous fat, the latter's mean CT number was -116.8HU. In this group, the causative disease included radiation lung injury, empyema, chronic lung tuberculosis, thickened and calcified pleura, calcified tuberculoma and lung injury, empyema, chronic lung tuberculosis, thickened and calcified pleura, calcified tuberculoma and lung fibrosis. In the remaining 18 cases, the thickness of EPF was less than 2 mm. No EPF was demonstrated in the other 60 patients. In the latter group the disease included carcinomatous effusion, pleural transudates, peripheral lung caner, thickened pleura, pleural metastasis, tuberculous pleural effusion, acute pneumonia and pleural fibroma. Conclusions: The thickening of EPF was mostly seen in chronic inflammatory and tuberculous diseases. This sign was helpful in differential diagnosis of pleural and/or parapleural lung disease

  17. A Classroom View of Negotiation of Meaning With EFL Adult Mexican Pupils

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gildardo Palma

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The present article reports on an approximate replication of D. Foster’s (1998 study on the negotiation of meaning. D. Foster investigated the interactional adjustments produced by L2 English learners working on different types of language learning tasks in a classroom setting. This replication study duplicates the methods of data collection and data analysis of the original study, but alters the conditions by exploring interactional modifications in the language production of English as a foreign language (EFL students. It followed the three parameters set originally by D. Foster: speech production, comprehensible input, and modified output. It was thus carried out within the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP. The participants’ differences were seen as affecting the results of this replication where a corpus shows participants conducting significant amounts of meaning negotiation and producing modified output. This disparity in results is interpreted as deriving from a closer examination of interaction as suggested by Pica, Holliday, Lewis, and Morgenthaler.

  18. Clinical Significance of Diffuse {sup 18F} FDG Uptake in Residual Thyroid Gland after Unilateral Thyroid Lobectomy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Song, Hee Sung; Lee, Su Jin; Yoon, Seok Ho; Lee, Jandee; Soh, Euy Young; An, Young Sil; Yoon, Joon Kee [Ajou Univ. School of Medicine, Suwon (Korea, Republic of)

    2011-09-15

    We investigated the clinical significance of diffuse uptake in remaining thyroid after unilateral lobectomy for thyroid cancer. A total of 144 thyroid cancer patients who underwent {sup 18F} FDG PET/CT after lobectomy were evaluated for the presence of diffuse {sup 18F} FDG uptake with maximum SUV (SUVmax)>2.0 in the residual thyroid and placed into one of two groups: with diffuse uptake and without diffuse uptake group. Clinical, laboratory, and PET/CT parameters in both groups were compared. Correlations between SUVmax of thyroid and available parameters were analyzed. Forty two of 144 patients (29.2%) had diffuse thyroid uptake (mean SUVmax: 3.2{+-}1.1). All patients with diffuse uptake and 96 (94.1%) without diffuse uptake were receiving thyroxine therapy (P=0.09). Thyroid function tests showed that most patients were euthyroid status (78.6 vs. 85.3%, P=0.36). TgAb levels were significantly higher in patients with diffuse uptake (338.0{+-}664.6 vs. 57.3{+-}46.4, P<0.0001). Mean attenuation values in the diffuse uptake group were significantly lower (72.2{+-}15. vs. 97.0{+-}16.0, P<0.0001). An inverse correlation was found between SUVmax and mean attenuation values of residual thyroid in all patients (r=-0.57, P<0.0001) and subgroup with diffuse uptake (r=-0.31, P<0.05). In this study, diffuse {sup 18F} FDG uptake in the residual thyroid after unilateral lobectomy was a relatively frequent finding and may be associated with chronic thyroiditis. This uptake is not influenced by thyroid status or thyroxine therapy. The {sup 18F} FDG uptake is inversely correlated with mean attenuation value of thyroid.

  19. Multi-Period Mean-Variance Portfolio Selection with Uncertain Time Horizon When Returns Are Serially Correlated

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ling Zhang

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available We study a multi-period mean-variance portfolio selection problem with an uncertain time horizon and serial correlations. Firstly, we embed the nonseparable multi-period optimization problem into a separable quadratic optimization problem with uncertain exit time by employing the embedding technique of Li and Ng (2000. Then we convert the later into an optimization problem with deterministic exit time. Finally, using the dynamic programming approach, we explicitly derive the optimal strategy and the efficient frontier for the dynamic mean-variance optimization problem. A numerical example with AR(1 return process is also presented, which shows that both the uncertainty of exit time and the serial correlations of returns have significant impacts on the optimal strategy and the efficient frontier.

  20. Budesonide/formoterol and formoterol provide similar rapid relief in patients with acute asthma showing refractoriness to salbutamol

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lombardi DM

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background To compare the efficacy and safety of budesonide/formoterol (Symbicort® with formoterol (Oxis® in the treatment of patients with acute asthma who showed evidence of refractoriness to short-acting β2-agonist therapy. Methods In a 3 hour, randomized, double-blind study, a total of 115 patients with acute asthma (mean FEV1 40% of predicted normal and a refractory response to salbutamol (mean reversibility 2% of predicted normal after inhalation of 400 μg, were randomized to receive either budesonide/formoterol (320/9 μg, 2 inhalations at t = -5 minutes and 2 inhalations at 0 minutes [total dose 1280/36 μg] or formoterol (9 μg, 2 inhalations at t = -5 minutes and 2 inhalations at 0 minutes [total dose 36 μg]. The primary efficacy variable was the average FEV1 from the first intake of study medication to the measurement at 90 minutes. Secondary endpoints included changes in FEV1 at other timepoints and change in respiratory rate at 180 minutes. Treatment success, treatment failure and patient assessment of the effectiveness of the study medication were also measured. Results FEV1 increased after administration of the study medication in both treatment groups. No statistically significant difference between the treatment groups was apparent for the primary outcome variable, or for any of the other efficacy endpoints. There were no statistically significant between-group differences for treatment success, treatment failure or patient assessment of medication effectiveness. Both treatments were well tolerated. Conclusion Budesonide/formoterol and formoterol provided similarly rapid relief of acute bronchoconstriction in patients with asthma who showed evidence of refractoriness to a short-acting β2-agonist.

  1. Issues of Meaning and Interpretation Raised by Diagetic versus Non-diagetic Use of Music in Television and Film

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grund, Cynthia M.

    2008-01-01

    Issues of Meaning and Interpretation Rasied by Diagetic versus Non-diagetic Use of Music in Television and Film. When music occurs in the soundtrack of a film or television show, it can either be attributed to a source within the narrative, so that the characters can hear it, or it can...... be "background" music, available to the viewer, but not to the characters. In this presentation, we will explore the complex of issues related to meaning and interpretaiton raised by diagetic v non-diagetic use of music in television and film. Matters to be addressed include: How is it of significance...

  2. Noisy mean field game model for malware propagation in opportunistic networks

    KAUST Repository

    Tembine, Hamidou

    2012-01-01

    In this paper we present analytical mean field techniques that can be used to better understand the behavior of malware propagation in opportunistic large networks. We develop a modeling methodology based on stochastic mean field optimal control that is able to capture many aspects of the problem, especially the impact of the control and heterogeneity of the system on the spreading characteristics of malware. The stochastic large process characterizing the evolution of the total number of infected nodes is examined with a noisy mean field limit and compared to a deterministic one. The stochastic nature of the wireless environment make stochastic approaches more realistic for such types of networks. By introducing control strategies, we show that the fraction of infected nodes can be maintained below some threshold. In contrast to most of the existing results on mean field propagation models which focus on deterministic equations, we show that the mean field limit is stochastic if the second moment of the number of object transitions per time slot is unbounded with the size of the system. This allows us to compare one path of the fraction of infected nodes with the stochastic trajectory of its mean field limit. In order to take into account the heterogeneity of opportunistic networks, the analysis is extended to multiple types of nodes. Our numerical results show that the heterogeneity can help to stabilize the system. We verify the results through simulation showing how to obtain useful approximations in the case of very large systems. © 2012 ICST Institute for Computer Science, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering.

  3. Climatology and trends in the forcing of the stratospheric zonal-mean flow

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Monier

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The momentum budget of the Transformed Eulerian-Mean (TEM equation is calculated using the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF reanalysis (ERA-40 and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP Reanalysis 2 (R-2. This study outlines the considerable contribution of unresolved waves, deduced to be gravity waves, to the forcing of the zonal-mean flow. A trend analysis, from 1980 to 2001, shows that the onset and break down of the Northern Hemisphere (NH stratospheric polar night jet has a tendency to occur later in the season in the more recent years. This temporal shift follows long-term changes in planetary wave activity that are mainly due to synoptic waves, with a lag of one month. In the Southern Hemisphere (SH, the polar vortex shows a tendency to persist further into the SH summertime. This also follows a statistically significant decrease in the intensity of the stationary EP flux divergence over the 1980–2001 period. Ozone depletion is well known for strengthening the polar vortex through the thermal wind balance. However, the results of this work show that the SH polar vortex does not experience any significant long-term changes until the month of December, even though the intensification of the ozone hole occurs mainly between September and November. This study suggests that the decrease in planetary wave activity in November provides an important feedback to the zonal wind as it delays the breakdown of the polar vortex. In addition, the absence of strong eddy feedback before November explains the lack of significant trends in the polar vortex in the SH early spring. A long-term weakening in the Brewer-Dobson (B-D circulation in the polar region is identified in the NH winter and early spring and during the SH late spring and is likely driven by the decrease in planetary wave activity previously mentioned. During the rest of the year, there are large discrepancies in the representation of the B

  4. Reduction in mean cerebral blood flow measurements using {sup 99m}Tc-ECD-SPECT during normal aging

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kawahata, Nobuya; Daitoh, Nobuyuki; Shirai, Fumie; Hara, Shigeru [Narita Memorial Hospital, Toyohashi, Aichi (Japan)

    1997-10-01

    Mean cerebral blood flow (mCBF) was measured by SPECT using the {sup 99m}Tc-ECD-Patlak-Plot method in a selected group of 61 normal non-hospitalized subjects aged 51 to 91 years. The mCBF values showed 48.4{+-}4.7 ml/100 g/min in aged 50-59 years group, 49.9{+-}5.9 ml/100 g/min in aged 60-69 years group, 46.4 {+-}6.5 ml/100 g/min in aged 70-79 group, 38.0{+-}3.7 ml/100 g/min in aged 80-89 years group, 38.9 ml/100 g/min in aged 90-99 years group. There was a statistically significant reduction of mCBF with advancing age (R=-0.41; p=0.001). Women have significantly higher mCBF values than men up to aged 70 years group. In this study, there was no significant laterality in the mCBF between right and left hemispheres in all decade groups. The history of hypertension, alcohol consumption, and cigarette smoking failed to show significant difference in the mCBF values. The present study shows that normal aging is associated with mCBF reduction. (author)

  5. The thresholds for statistical and clinical significance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jakobsen, Janus Christian; Gluud, Christian; Winkel, Per

    2014-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Thresholds for statistical significance are insufficiently demonstrated by 95% confidence intervals or P-values when assessing results from randomised clinical trials. First, a P-value only shows the probability of getting a result assuming that the null hypothesis is true and does...... not reflect the probability of getting a result assuming an alternative hypothesis to the null hypothesis is true. Second, a confidence interval or a P-value showing significance may be caused by multiplicity. Third, statistical significance does not necessarily result in clinical significance. Therefore...... of the probability that a given trial result is compatible with a 'null' effect (corresponding to the P-value) divided by the probability that the trial result is compatible with the intervention effect hypothesised in the sample size calculation; (3) adjust the confidence intervals and the statistical significance...

  6. Mushrooms: significant source of internal contamination by radiocaesium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Randa, Zdenek; Benada, Jaroslav; Horyna, Jan; Klan, Jaroslav

    1990-01-01

    Various species of mushrooms and soils were analyzed for alkali elements (Rb, K) by means of Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) and for radiocaesium by means of gamma-ray spectrometry. There are differences between uptake of non-radioactive Cs and radiocaesium. Concentration factors for radiocaesium were higher than those for non-radioactive Cs. The highest accumulation of radio-caesium was observed in some species of the Boletus genus, Laccaria spp., Paxillus involutus, Cortinarius spp., Tylopilus felleus and in some species of the Lactarius genus. The consumption of some wild-growing mushrooms can be the most significant contribution to the exposure of population from Chernobyl fallout. (author)

  7. Bringing the Meaning Back In: Exploring Existentially Motivated Terrorism

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-06-01

    and even tourism and sport studies offer significant contributions to our understandings of meaning-in-life, its importance, and its development...meaning. Activities as varied as quilting circles, parenting, extreme sports , high-stakes wall street trading, and enlistment in the military all...creation with modernity’s individual and societal influences is at its most visible in the growing industry of extreme sports . Situated within the

  8. CPR in medical TV shows: non-health care student perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alismail, Abdullah; Meyer, Nicole C; Almutairi, Waleed; Daher, Noha S

    2018-01-01

    There are over a dozen medical shows airing on television, many of which are during prime time. Researchers have recently become more interested in the role of these shows, and the awareness on cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Several cases have been reported where a lay person resuscitated a family member using medical TV shows as a reference. The purpose of this study is to examine and evaluate college students' perception on cardiopulmonary resuscitation and when to shock using an automated external defibrillator based on their experience of watching medical TV shows. A total of 170 students (nonmedical major) were surveyed in four different colleges in the United States. The survey consisted of questions that reflect their perception and knowledge acquired from watching medical TV shows. A stepwise regression was used to determine the significant predictors of "How often do you watch medical drama TV shows" in addition to chi-square analysis for nominal variables. Regression model showed significant effect that TV shows did change students' perception positively ( p <0.001), and they would select shock on asystole as the frequency of watching increases ( p =0.023). The findings of this study show that high percentage of nonmedical college students are influenced significantly by medical shows. One particular influence is the false belief about when a shock using the automated external defibrillator (AED) is appropriate as it is portrayed falsely in most medical shows. This finding raises a concern about how these shows portray basic life support, especially when not following American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines. We recommend the medical advisors in these shows to use AHA guidelines and AHA to expand its expenditures to include medical shows to educate the public on the appropriate action to rescue an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patient.

  9. Functional significance of cardiac reinnervation in heart transplant recipients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwaiblmair, M; von Scheidt, W; Uberfuhr, P; Ziegler, S; Schwaiger, M; Reichart, B; Vogelmeier, C

    1999-09-01

    There is accumulating evidence of structural sympathetic reinnervation after human cardiac transplantation. However, the functional significance of reinnervation in terms of exercise capacity has not been established as yet; we therefore investigated the influence of reinnervation on cardiopulmonary exercise testing. After orthotopic heart transplantation 35 patients (mean age, 49.1 +/- 8.4 years) underwent positron emission tomography with scintigraphically measured uptake of C11-hydroxyephedrine (HED), lung function testing, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Two groups were defined based on scintigraphic findings, indicating a denervated group (n = 15) with a HED uptake of 5.45%/min and a reinnervated group (n = 20) with a HED uptake of 10.59%/min. The two study groups did not show significant differences with regard to anthropometric data, number of rejection episodes, preoperative hemodynamics, and postoperative lung function data. The reinnervated group had a significant longer time interval from transplantation (1625 +/- 1069 versus 800 +/- 1316 days, p exercise (137 +/- 15 versus 120 +/- 20 beats/min, p = .012), peak oxygen uptake (21.0 +/- 4 versus 16.1 +/- 5 mL/min/kg, p = .006), peak oxygen pulse (12.4 +/- 2.9 versus 10.2 +/- 2.7 mL/min/beat, p = .031), and anaerobic threshold (11.2 +/- 1.8 versus 9.5 +/- 2.1 mL/min, p = .046) were significantly increased in comparison to denervated transplant recipients. Additionally, a decreased functional dead space ventilation (0.24 +/- 0.05 versus 0.30 +/- 0.05, p = .004) was observed in the reinnervated group. Our study results support the hypothesis that partial sympathetic reinnervation after cardiac transplantation is of functional significance. Sympathetic reinnervation enables an increased peak oxygen uptake. This is most probably due to partial restoration of the chronotropic and inotropic competence of the heart as well as an improved oxygen delivery to the exercising muscles and a reduced ventilation

  10. Statistical significance of trends in monthly heavy precipitation over the US

    KAUST Repository

    Mahajan, Salil

    2011-05-11

    Trends in monthly heavy precipitation, defined by a return period of one year, are assessed for statistical significance in observations and Global Climate Model (GCM) simulations over the contiguous United States using Monte Carlo non-parametric and parametric bootstrapping techniques. The results from the two Monte Carlo approaches are found to be similar to each other, and also to the traditional non-parametric Kendall\\'s τ test, implying the robustness of the approach. Two different observational data-sets are employed to test for trends in monthly heavy precipitation and are found to exhibit consistent results. Both data-sets demonstrate upward trends, one of which is found to be statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. Upward trends similar to observations are observed in some climate model simulations of the twentieth century, but their statistical significance is marginal. For projections of the twenty-first century, a statistically significant upwards trend is observed in most of the climate models analyzed. The change in the simulated precipitation variance appears to be more important in the twenty-first century projections than changes in the mean precipitation. Stochastic fluctuations of the climate-system are found to be dominate monthly heavy precipitation as some GCM simulations show a downwards trend even in the twenty-first century projections when the greenhouse gas forcings are strong. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.

  11. Dynamical Predictability of Monthly Means.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shukla, J.

    1981-12-01

    We have attempted to determine the theoretical upper limit of dynamical predictability of monthly means for prescribed nonfluctuating external forcings. We have extended the concept of `classical' predictability, which primarily refers to the lack of predictability due mainly to the instabilities of synoptic-scale disturbances, to the predictability of time averages, which are determined by the predictability of low-frequency planetary waves. We have carded out 60-day integrations of a global general circulation model with nine different initial conditions but identical boundary conditions of sea surface temperature, snow, sea ice and soil moisture. Three of these initial conditions are the observed atmospheric conditions on 1 January of 1975, 1976 and 1977. The other six initial conditions are obtained by superimposing over the observed initial conditions a random perturbation comparable to the errors of observation. The root-mean-square (rms) error of random perturbations at all the grid points and all the model levels is 3 m s1 in u and v components of wind. The rms vector wind error between the observed initial conditions is >15 m s1.It is hypothesized that for a given averaging period, if the rms error among the time averages predicted from largely different initial conditions becomes comparable to the rms error among the time averages predicted from randomly perturbed initial conditions, the time averages are dynamically unpredictable. We have carried out the analysis of variance to compare the variability, among the three groups, due to largely different initial conditions, and within each group due to random perturbations.It is found that the variances among the first 30-day means, predicted from largely different initial conditions, are significantly different from the variances due to random perturbations in the initial conditions, whereas the variances among 30-day means for days 31-60 are not distinguishable from the variances due to random initial

  12. Mean square stabilization and mean square exponential stabilization of stochastic BAM neural networks with Markovian jumping parameters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ye, Zhiyong; Zhang, He; Zhang, Hongyu; Zhang, Hua; Lu, Guichen

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: •This paper introduces a non-conservative Lyapunov functional. •The achieved results impose non-conservative and can be widely used. •The conditions are easily checked by the Matlab LMI Tool Box. The desired state feedback controller can be well represented by the conditions. -- Abstract: This paper addresses the mean square exponential stabilization problem of stochastic bidirectional associative memory (BAM) neural networks with Markovian jumping parameters and time-varying delays. By establishing a proper Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional and combining with LMIs technique, several sufficient conditions are derived for ensuring exponential stabilization in the mean square sense of such stochastic BAM neural networks. In addition, the achieved results are not difficult to verify for determining the mean square exponential stabilization of delayed BAM neural networks with Markovian jumping parameters and impose less restrictive and less conservative than the ones in previous papers. Finally, numerical results are given to show the effectiveness and applicability of the achieved results

  13. Bringing Technology and Meaning into Institutional Work

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Raviola, Elena; Nörbäck, Maria

    2013-01-01

    In this article we investigate the role of technology and meaning in the institutional work of newsmakers. By analysing ethnographic data from an Italian business newspaper undertaking a project integrating the print and online newsrooms, we show how technology makes certain actions possible...

  14. Clinical significance of serum laminin in the patients with diabetic nephropathy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Lu; Qian Caifeng; Lu Aibin

    2002-01-01

    The concentration of serum LN is determined by radioimmunoassay in 78 diabetic patients and 30 normal subjects as control. The mean concentration of LN in total 78 diabetic patients [(132.54 +- 31.05) μg/L] is higher than that of control [(97.63 +- 19.31) μg/L, P<0.01], especially in group B [(134.25 +- 29.12)μg/L] and group C [(158.51 +- 37.82)μg/L] are remarkably higher as comparable with control (P<0.01). There is significantly positive correlation between serum LN and diabetic duration, UAE, FBG. The results show that abnormal laminin metabolism exists in diabetic patients. The increased serum LN level in diabetic patients related to the severity of diabetic renal lesion and could be an early and sensitive marker of DN

  15. Long-term orbit prediction for China's Tiangong-1 spacecraft based on mean atmosphere model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Jingshi; Liu, Lin; Miao, Manqian

    Tiangong-1 is China's test module for future space station. It has gone through three successful rendezvous and dockings with Shenzhou spacecrafts from 2011 to 2013. For the long-term management and maintenance, the orbit sometimes needs to be predicted for a long period of time. As Tiangong-1 works in a low-Earth orbit with an altitude of about 300-400 km, the error in the a priori atmosphere model contributes significantly to the rapid increase of the predicted orbit error. When the orbit is predicted for 10-20 days, the error in the a priori atmosphere model, if not properly corrected, could induce the semi-major axis error and the overall position error up to a few kilometers and several thousand kilometers respectively. In this work, we use a mean atmosphere model averaged from NRLMSIS00. The a priori reference mean density can be corrected during precise orbit determination (POD). For applications in the long-term orbit prediction, the observations are first accumulated. With sufficiently long period of observations, we are able to obtain a series of the diurnal mean densities. This series bears the recent variation of the atmosphere density and can be analyzed for various periods. After being properly fitted, the mean density can be predicted and then applied in the orbit prediction. We show that the densities predicted with this approach can serve to increase the accuracy of the predicted orbit. In several 20-day prediction tests, most predicted orbits show semi-major axis errors better than 700m and overall position errors better than 600km.

  16. Differences in mean arterial pressure of young and elderly people measured by oscilometry during inflation and deflation of the arm cuff.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fabian, Vratislav; Havlik, Jan; Dvorak, Jan; Kremen, Vaclav; Sajgalik, Pavol; Bellamy, Valentin; Schirger, John A; Sovka, Pavel; Johnson, Bruce D

    2016-12-01

    Systemic arterial blood pressure (BP) is one of the most important parameters of the cardiovascular system. An oscillometric NIBP monitor was specifically designed to measure oscillometric pulsations and mean arterial pressure (MAP) during inflation and deflation of the cuff. Nineteen healthy young (age 23.1±1.7 years; mean±SD) and 35 elderly (83.9±7.9 years; mean±SD) subjects were studied. Differential analysis of MAP during inflation and deflation show mean |ΔMAP|=2.9±2.6 mm Hg in the young group (mean±SD) and |ΔMAP|=6.3±5.2 mm Hg for seniors (mean±SD). There was a significant difference (pdeflation between both groups. In about 50% of elderly subjects |ΔMAP| was higher than 5 mm Hg. Potential clinical relevance of the method needs to be further evaluated.

  17. Azimuth cut-off model for significant wave height investigation along coastal water of Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marghany, Maged; Ibrahim, Zelina; Van Genderen, Johan

    2002-11-01

    The present work is used to operationalize the azimuth cut-off concept in the study of significant wave height. Three ERS-1 images have been used along the coastal waters of Terengganu, Malaysia. The quasi-linear transform was applied to map the SAR wave spectra into real ocean wave spectra. The azimuth cut-off was then used to model the significant wave height. The results show that azimuth cut-off varied with the different period of the ERS-1 images. This is because of the fact that the azimuth cut-off is a function of wind speed and significant wave height. It is of interest to find that the significant wave height modeled from azimuth cut-off is in good relation with ground wave conditions. It can be concluded that ERS-1 can be used as a monitoring tool in detecting the significant wave height variation. The azimuth cut-off can be used to model the significant wave height. This means that the quasi-linear transform could be a good application to significant wave height variation during different seasons.

  18. Meaning through Things

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Marilynn

    2017-01-01

    Interpretation is the process by which we find meaning in the things in the world around us: clouds on the horizon, bones, street signs, hairbrushes, uniforms, paintings, letters, and utterances. But where does that meaning come from and on what basis are we justified in saying a particular meaning is the right meaning? Drawing from debates in the…

  19. Significant population genetic structure detected in the rock bream Oplegnathus fasciatus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1844) inferred from fluorescent-AFLP analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Yongshuang; Ma, Daoyuan; Xu, Shihong; Liu, Qinghua; Wang, Yanfeng; Xiao, Zhizhong; Li, Jun

    2016-05-01

    Oplegnathus fasciatus (rock bream) is a commercial rocky reef fish species in East Asia that has been considered for aquaculture. We estimated the population genetic diversity and population structure of the species along the coastal waters of China using fluorescent-amplified fragment length polymorphisms technology. Using 53 individuals from three populations and four pairs of selective primers, we amplified 1 264 bands, 98.73% of which were polymorphic. The Zhoushan population showed the highest Nei's genetic diversity and Shannon genetic diversity. The results of analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that 59.55% of genetic variation existed among populations and 40.45% occurred within populations, which indicated that a significant population genetic structure existed in the species. The pairwise fixation index F st ranged from 0.20 to 0.63 and were significant after sequential Bonferroni correction. The topology of an unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean tree showed two significant genealogical branches corresponding to the sampling locations of North and South China. The AMOVA and STRUCTURE analyses suggested that the O. fasciatus populations examined should comprise two stocks.

  20. Overestimation of Knowledge about Word Meanings: The "Misplaced Meaning" Effect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kominsky, Jonathan F.; Keil, Frank C.

    2014-01-01

    Children and adults may not realize how much they depend on external sources in understanding word meanings. Four experiments investigated the existence and developmental course of a "Misplaced Meaning" (MM) effect, wherein children and adults overestimate their knowledge about the meanings of various words by underestimating how much…

  1. Kernel density surface modelling as a means to identify significant concentrations of vulnerable marine ecosystem indicators.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ellen Kenchington

    Full Text Available The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 61/105, concerning sustainable fisheries in the marine ecosystem, calls for the protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems (VME from destructive fishing practices. Subsequently, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO produced guidelines for identification of VME indicator species/taxa to assist in the implementation of the resolution, but recommended the development of case-specific operational definitions for their application. We applied kernel density estimation (KDE to research vessel trawl survey data from inside the fishing footprint of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO Regulatory Area in the high seas of the northwest Atlantic to create biomass density surfaces for four VME indicator taxa: large-sized sponges, sea pens, small and large gorgonian corals. These VME indicator taxa were identified previously by NAFO using the fragility, life history characteristics and structural complexity criteria presented by FAO, along with an evaluation of their recovery trajectories. KDE, a non-parametric neighbour-based smoothing function, has been used previously in ecology to identify hotspots, that is, areas of relatively high biomass/abundance. We present a novel approach of examining relative changes in area under polygons created from encircling successive biomass categories on the KDE surface to identify "significant concentrations" of biomass, which we equate to VMEs. This allows identification of the VMEs from the broader distribution of the species in the study area. We provide independent assessments of the VMEs so identified using underwater images, benthic sampling with other gear types (dredges, cores, and/or published species distribution models of probability of occurrence, as available. For each VME indicator taxon we provide a brief review of their ecological function which will be important in future assessments of significant adverse impact on these habitats here

  2. Semantic Meaning in Attitudinal Lexemes in the Domain of Kesenangan (Joy in Indonesian: An Analysis of Meaning Components and Lexical Relation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prima Gusti Yanti

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The attitudinal lexeme on the domain of kesenangan in Indonesia language has not shown such clear meaning relationship, for both the common and diagnostic meaning of the lexemes. Those lexemes have such circular definitions, confusing upon their use. This study is conducted using a qualitative research approach employing content analysis technique. The aim of this study is to find out lexical relation and semantic meaning in attitudinal lexeme in the domain of kesenangan (joy in Indonesian language. Data is collected from seven Indonesian dictionaries, two magazines, five newspapers, and six literary works. All data is analyzed using a component analysis in the semantic theory. The research findings show that fourteen (14 lexemes (senang, nikmat, enak, puas, asyik, sukacita, ria, bangga, lega, bahagia, gembira, girang, riang, and ceria of attitudinal lexemes are related with the domain of kesenangan. The result shows that hyponymy and synonymy lexical relations occur in the domain of kesenangan. Synonymy relation consists of near-synonymy and propositional synonymy. In this case, absolute synonymy is not found.

  3. Matrix inequalities for the difference between arithmetic mean and harmonic mean

    OpenAIRE

    Liao, Wenshi; Wu, Junliang

    2015-01-01

    Motivated by the refinements and reverses of arithmetic-geometric mean and arithmetic-harmonic mean inequalities for scalars and matrices, in this article, we generalize the scalar and matrix inequalities for the difference between arithmetic mean and harmonic mean. In addition, relevant inequalities for the Hilbert-Schmidt norm and determinant are established.

  4. EFL Learners’ Negotiation of Meaning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samira Saeed Rashid Al Hosni

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed at investigating EFL learners’ frequency of negotiation of meaning when performing focused and unfocused communication tasks. The sample consists of thirty learners divided into ten groups. Three research instruments were used to collect data; communication tasks, field notes and interviews. Data analysis revealed that there is no significant difference in the frequency of negotiation of meaning between the two task types. This is due to the fact that, learners performed both task types as unfocused tasks and they were able to use some communication strategies to keep communication flowing and to go round the target structure. Amazingly, despite the existence of the trigger of negotiation, the indicator of misunderstanding, an important negotiation phase, was absent in many cases from the conversations in both task types. Subsequently, the research findings suggest providing learners with opportunities that urge them to perform as language users rather than language learners.

  5. Assessment of hemodynamic significance of isolated stenoses of the left anterior descending coronary artery using thallium-201 myocardial scintigraphy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kalff, V.; Kelly, M.J.; Soward, A.; Harper, R.W.; Currie, P.J.; Lim, Y.L.; Pitt, A.

    1985-01-01

    This study tests the hypothesis that the results of stress thallium-201 myocardial perfusion scans (TI-201) are related to the mean transstenotic pressure gradient of coronary stenoses independent of the percent luminal diameter narrowing seen at angiography. The 22 study patients (20 men, 2 women, mean age 47 years, range 30 to 62) had no previous myocardial infarction. Each underwent a symptom-limited, erect bicycle TI-201 test off antianginal therapy, shortly before percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty for isolated left anterior descending coronary artery stenosis. The percent narrowing, mean gradient at percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and presence of a visually apparent TI-201 defect were independently evaluated and results compared. All 4 patients with 90% or greater diameter narrowing had positive TI-201 responses, and the mean gradient was 72 +/- 11 mm Hg. Among the 18 patients with less than 90% diameter narrowing, the mean gradient was higher (p less than 0.001) in the 11 with a positive TI-201 (63 +/- 15 mm Hg) than in the 7 with a negative TI-201 (33 +/- 20 mm Hg), but their percent narrowing did not differ significantly (72 +/- 14% vs 66 +/- 19%). Multiple regression analysis showed that the presence of a TI-201 defect was a strong (p . 0.003) and percent narrowing (p . 0.048) a weak independent predictor for gradient. When the mean gradient was normalized for the prestenotic pressure, both percent narrowing (p . 0.003) and TI-201 defects (p . 0.006) were significant independent predictors

  6. The Meaning of Career Success among Job-Hopper in The Boundaryless Career (Phenomenological Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcham Darokah

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract This phenomenology qualitative research was conducted in order to examine the dynamics of career success among job hopper and how did job hoppers interpret the meaning career success in boundaryless career. This research used in-depth interview for collecting the data and supported by the data from the documents. The respondents involved in this research were fours job hoppers in the level of manager, five significant others, such as family, workmate, and a steady career. The findings revealed that: the job-hoppers individuals who frequently movement of job from one place to another place because of intrinsic factors (financial, interpersonal conflict, alternative employment opportunities, etc., extrinsic factors (challenges, willing to learn, personal characteristics, family, etc., proponent factors (networking, family support, and media. The meanings of career success among job-hopper in the boundaryless career namely; self-fulfillment (job satisfaction, life satisfaction, meeting personal goals, adding value to others, and work/life balance (family satisfaction and quality time with family. This study showed that being a job-hopper was a tool for pursuing the meaning of career success

  7. External mean flow influence on sound transmission through finite clamped double-wall sandwich panels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yu; Catalan, Jean-Cédric

    2017-09-01

    This paper studies the influence of an external mean flow on the sound transmission through finite clamped double-wall sandwich panels lined with poroelastic materials. Biot's theory is employed to describe wave propagation in poroelastic materials and various configurations of coupling the poroelastic layer to the facing plates are considered. The clamped boundary of finite panels are dealt with by the modal superposition theory and the weighted residual (Garlekin) method, leading to a matrix equation solution for the sound transmission loss (STL) through the structure. The theoretical model is validated against existing theories of infinite sandwich panels with and without an external flow. The numerical results of a single incident wave show that the external mean flow has significant effects on the STL which are coupled with the clamped boundary effect dominating in the low-frequency range. The external mean flow also influences considerably the limiting incidence angle of the panel system and the effect of the incidence angle on the STL. However, the influences of the azimuthal angle and the external flow orientation are negligible.

  8. Gastrointestinal mean transit times in young and middle-aged healthy subjects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Graff, J; Brinch, K; Madsen, Jan Lysgård

    2001-01-01

    To investigate the effects of age and gender on gastric, small intestinal and colonic mean transit times, a study was conducted in 32 healthy volunteers: eight young women (22-30 years), eight young men (20-28 years), eight middle-aged women (43-51 years) and eight middle-aged men (38-53 years......). After ingestion of a meal containing 111Indium-labelled water and 99mTechnetium-labelled omelette imaging of the abdomen was performed at intervals of 30 min until all radioactivity was located in the colon and henceforth at intervals of 24 h until all radioactivity had cleared from the colon. Gastric......, small intestinal and colonic mean transit times were calculated. The gastric, small intestinal and colonic mean transit times were significantly longer in women. Ageing was shown to accelerate the gastric and small intestinal transit significantly. In the group of men the colonic mean transit time...

  9. Development of Embodied Word Meanings: Sensorimotor Effects in Children's Lexical Processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inkster, Michelle; Wellsby, Michele; Lloyd, Ellen; Pexman, Penny M

    2016-01-01

    Previous research showed an effect of words' rated body-object interaction (BOI) in children's visual word naming performance, but only in children 8 years of age or older (Wellsby and Pexman, 2014a). In that study, however, BOI was established using adult ratings. Here we collected ratings from a group of parents for children's BOI experience (child-BOI). We examined effects of words' child-BOI and also words' imageability on children's responses in an auditory word naming task, which is suited to the lexical processing skills of younger children. We tested a group of 54 children aged 6-7 years and a comparison group of 25 adults. Results showed significant effects of both imageability and child-BOI on children's auditory naming latencies. These results provide evidence that children younger than 8 years of age have richer semantic representations for high imageability and high child-BOI words, consistent with an embodied account of word meaning.

  10. Mean esophageal radiation dose is predictive of the grade of acute esophagitis in lung cancer patients treated with concurrent radiotherapy and chemotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ozgen, A.; Hayran, M.; Kahraman, F.

    2012-01-01

    The intention of this research was to define the predictive factors for acute esophagitis (AE) in lung cancer patients treated with concurrent chemotherapy and three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy. The data for 72 lung cancer patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy between 2008 and 2010 were prospectively evaluated. Mean lung dose, mean dose of esophagus, volume of esophagus irradiated and percentage of esophagus volume treated were analysed according to esophagitis grades. The mean esophageal dose was associated with an increased risk of esophageal toxicity (Kruskal-Wallis test, P<0.001). However, the mean lung dose and the volume of esophagus irradiated were not associated with an increased risk of esophageal toxicity (Kruskal-Wallis test, P=0.50 and P=0.41, respectively). The mean radiation dose received by the esophagus was found to be highly correlated with the duration of Grade 2 esophagitis (Spearman test, r=0.82, P<0.001). The mean dose of esophagus ≥28 Gy showed statistical significance with respect to AE Grade 2 or worse (receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.929-1.014). In conclusion, the mean esophageal dose was significantly associated with a risk of esophageal toxicity in patients with lung cancer treated with concurrent radiotherapy and chemotherapy. (author)

  11. Ambient environment analysis by means of perception

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bitterman, M.S.; Ciftcioglu, O.; Bhatt, M.; Schultz, C.

    2013-01-01

    Analysis of an ambient environment by means of perception is described. The surveillance of an object by human, who watches a scene via a monitor that shows camera sensed information, is investigated. Although the camera sensing process is a deterministic process, human perception of a scene via

  12. Brand Meaning Cocreation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tierney, Kieran D.; Karpen, Ingo; Westberg, Kate

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to consolidate and advance the understanding of brand meaning and the evolving process by which it is determined by introducing and explicating the concept of brand meaning cocreation (BMCC). Design/methodology/approach: In-depth review and integration...... of literature from branding, cocreation, service systems, and practice theory. To support deep theorizing, the authors also examine the role of institutional logics in the BMCC process in framing interactions and brand meaning outcomes. Findings: Prior research is limited in that it neither maps the process...... of cocreation within which meanings emerge nor provides theoretical conceptualizations of brand meaning or the process of BMCC. While the literature acknowledges that brand meaning is influenced by multiple interactions, their nature and how they contribute to BMCC have been overlooked. Research limitations...

  13. Comparisons and Characterizations of the Mean-Variance, Mean-VaR, Mean-CVaR Models for Portfolio Selection With Background Risk

    OpenAIRE

    Xu, Guo; Wing-Keung, Wong; Lixing, Zhu

    2013-01-01

    This paper investigates the impact of background risk on an investor’s portfolio choice in a mean-VaR, mean-CVaR and mean-variance framework, and analyzes the characterizations of the mean-variance boundary and mean-VaR efficient frontier in the presence of background risk. We also consider the case with a risk-free security.

  14. Affix Meaning Knowledge in First Through Third Grade Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Apel, Kenn; Henbest, Victoria Suzanne

    2016-04-01

    We examined grade-level differences in 1st- through 3rd-grade students' performance on an experimenter-developed affix meaning task (AMT) and determined whether AMT performance explained unique variance in word-level reading and reading comprehension, beyond other known contributors to reading development. Forty students at each grade level completed an assessment battery that included measures of phonological awareness, receptive vocabulary, word-level reading, reading comprehension, and affix meaning knowledge. On the AMT, 1st-grade students were significantly less accurate than 2nd- and 3rd-grade students; there was no significant difference in performance between the 2nd- and 3rd-grade students. Regression analyses revealed that the AMT accounted for 8% unique variance of students' performance on word-level reading measures and 6% unique variance of students' performance on the reading comprehension measure, after age, phonological awareness, and receptive vocabulary were explained. These results provide initial information on the development of affix meaning knowledge via an explicit measure in 1st- through 3rd-grade students and demonstrate that affix meaning knowledge uniquely contributes to the development of reading abilities above other known literacy predictors. These findings provide empirical support for how students might use morphological problem solving to read unknown multimorphemic words successfully.

  15. Paternal age related schizophrenia (PARS): Latent subgroups detected by k-means clustering analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Hyejoo; Malaspina, Dolores; Ahn, Hongshik; Perrin, Mary; Opler, Mark G; Kleinhaus, Karine; Harlap, Susan; Goetz, Raymond; Antonius, Daniel

    2011-05-01

    Paternal age related schizophrenia (PARS) has been proposed as a subgroup of schizophrenia with distinct etiology, pathophysiology and symptoms. This study uses a k-means clustering analysis approach to generate hypotheses about differences between PARS and other cases of schizophrenia. We studied PARS (operationally defined as not having any family history of schizophrenia among first and second-degree relatives and fathers' age at birth ≥ 35 years) in a series of schizophrenia cases recruited from a research unit. Data were available on demographic variables, symptoms (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale; PANSS), cognitive tests (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised; WAIS-R) and olfaction (University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test; UPSIT). We conducted a series of k-means clustering analyses to identify clusters of cases containing high concentrations of PARS. Two analyses generated clusters with high concentrations of PARS cases. The first analysis (N=136; PARS=34) revealed a cluster containing 83% PARS cases, in which the patients showed a significant discrepancy between verbal and performance intelligence. The mean paternal and maternal ages were 41 and 33, respectively. The second analysis (N=123; PARS=30) revealed a cluster containing 71% PARS cases, of which 93% were females; the mean age of onset of psychosis, at 17.2, was significantly early. These results strengthen the evidence that PARS cases differ from other patients with schizophrenia. Hypothesis-generating findings suggest that features of PARS may include a discrepancy between verbal and performance intelligence, and in females, an early age of onset. These findings provide a rationale for separating these phenotypes from others in future clinical, genetic and pathophysiologic studies of schizophrenia and in considering responses to treatment. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Mean Lagrangian drift in continental shelf waves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drivdal, M.; Weber, J. E. H.

    2012-04-01

    The time- and depth-averaged mean drift induced by barotropic continental shelf waves (CSW's) is studied theoretically for idealized shelf topography by calculating the mean volume fluxes to second order in wave amplitude. The waves suffer weak spatial damping due to bottom friction, which leads to radiation stress forcing of the mean fluxes. In terms of the total wave energy density E¯ over the shelf region, the radiation stress tensor component S¯11 for CSW's is found to be different from that of shallow water surface waves in a non-rotating ocean. For CSW's, the ratio ¯S11/¯E depends strongly on the wave number. The mean Lagrangian flow forced by the radiation stress can be subdivided into a Stokes drift and a mean Eulerian drift current. The magnitude of the latter depends on the ratio between the radiation stress and the bottom stress acting on the mean flow. When the effect of bottom friction acts equally strong on the waves and the mean current, calculations for short CSW's show that the Stokes drift and the friction-dependent wave-induced mean Eulerian current varies approximately in anti-phase over the shelf, and that the latter is numerically the largest. For long CSW's they are approximately in phase. In both cases the mean Lagrangian current, which is responsible for the net particle drift, has its largest numerical value at the coast on the shallow part of the shelf. Enhancing the effect of bottom friction on the Eulerian mean flow, results in a general current speed reduction, as well as a change in spatial structure for long waves. Applying realistic physical parameters for the continental shelf west of Norway, calculations yield along-shelf mean drift velocities for short CSW's that may be important for the transport of biological material, neutral tracers, and underwater plumes of dissolved oil from deep water drilling accidents.

  17. Statistical Network Analysis for Functional MRI: Mean Networks and Group Comparisons.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cedric E Ginestet

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Comparing networks in neuroscience is hard, because the topological properties of a given network are necessarily dependent on the number of edges of that network. This problem arises in the analysis of both weighted and unweighted networks. The term density is often used in this context, in order to refer to the mean edge weight of a weighted network, or to the number of edges in an unweighted one. Comparing families of networks is therefore statistically difficult because differences in topology are necessarily associated with differences in density. In this review paper, we consider this problem from two different perspectives, which include (i the construction of summary networks, such as how to compute and visualize the mean network from a sample of network-valued data points; and (ii how to test for topological differences, when two families of networks also exhibit significant differences in density. In the first instance, we show that the issue of summarizing a family of networks can be conducted by either adopting a mass-univariate approach, which produces a statistical parametric network (SPN, or by directly computing the mean network, provided that a metric has been specified on the space of all networks with a given number of nodes. In the second part of this review, we then highlight the inherent problems associated with the comparison of topological functions of families of networks that differ in density. In particular, we show that a wide range of topological summaries, such as global efficiency and network modularity are highly sensitive to differences in density. Moreover, these problems are not restricted to unweighted metrics, as we demonstrate that the same issues remain present when considering the weighted versions of these metrics. We conclude by encouraging caution, when reporting such statistical comparisons, and by emphasizing the importance of constructing summary networks.

  18. Effects of Surface Nonuniformities on the Mean Transverse Energy from Photocathodes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karkare, Siddharth; Bazarov, Ivan

    2015-08-01

    The performance of photoinjectors is limited by the lowest value of the mean transverse energy of the electrons obtained from photocathodes. The factors that influence the mean transverse energy are poorly understood. In this paper, we develop models to calculate the effect of spatial work-function variations and subnanometer-scale roughness and surface defects on the mean transverse energy. We show that these can limit the lowest value of mean transverse energy achieved and that atomically perfect surfaces will be required to further reduce the mean transverse energy obtained from photocathodes.

  19. Clinical significance of bone metabolic parameters and serum thyroid hormone levels in patients with hyperthyroidism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xiao Jinhua; Wang Yaping; Sun Junming; Hua Wenjing

    2002-01-01

    To study the changes in bone metabolic parameters and serum thyroid hormone levels in patients with hyperthyroidism, seventy patients with hyperthyroidism and sixty healthy controls were investigated by means of radioimmunoassay (RIA) for serum ICTP, chemiluminescent immunoassay for BAP and serum thyroid hormone and meanwhile bone mineral density was measured. The results showed that the levels of serum BAP, ICTP and thyroid hormone in patients with hyperthyroidism were dramatically higher than those in control group (all P<0.01), BMD was significantly decreased in the study group (P<0.01). The correlation analysis showed that both BAP and ICTP were negatively correlated with BMD (all P<0.05). The results from this investigation indicated that increased bone turnover is significantly associated with an increased thyroid hormone in patients with hyperthyroidism, and bone resorption is greater than formation resulting in a bone mass loss. Measurement of serum BAP and ICTP levels may be of help to judge the severity of bone metabolism, study the state of an illness in hyperthyroidism

  20. Peptide Fractions Obtained from Rice By-Products by Means of an Environment-Friendly Process Show In Vitro Health-Related Bioactivities.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maura Ferri

    Full Text Available Recently, the isolation of new health-related bioactive molecules derived from agro-food industrial by-products by means of environment-friendly extraction processes has become of particular interest. In the present study, a protein by-product from the rice starch industry was hydrolysed with five commercial proteolytic enzymes, avoiding the use of solvents or chemicals. The digestion processes were optimised, and the digestates were separated in fractions with four different molecular weight ranges by using a cross-flow membrane filtration technique. Total hydrolysates and fractions were tested in vitro for a wide range of biological activities. For the first time rice-derived peptides were assayed for anti-tyrosinase, anti-inflammatory, cytotoxicity and irritation capacities. Antioxidant and anti-hypertensive activities were also evaluated. Protamex, Alcalase and Neutrase treatments produced peptide fractions with valuable bioactivities without resulting cytotoxic or irritant. Highest levels of bioactivity were detected in Protamex-derived samples, followed by samples treated with Alcalase. Based on the present results, a future direct exploitation of isolated peptide fractions in the nutraceutical, functional food and cosmetic industrial fields may be foreseen.

  1. Peptide Fractions Obtained from Rice By-Products by Means of an Environment-Friendly Process Show In Vitro Health-Related Bioactivities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferri, Maura; Graen-Heedfeld, Jürgen; Bretz, Karlheinz; Guillon, Fabien; Michelini, Elisa; Calabretta, Maria Maddalena; Lamborghini, Matteo; Gruarin, Nicolò; Roda, Aldo; Kraft, Axel; Tassoni, Annalisa

    2017-01-01

    Recently, the isolation of new health-related bioactive molecules derived from agro-food industrial by-products by means of environment-friendly extraction processes has become of particular interest. In the present study, a protein by-product from the rice starch industry was hydrolysed with five commercial proteolytic enzymes, avoiding the use of solvents or chemicals. The digestion processes were optimised, and the digestates were separated in fractions with four different molecular weight ranges by using a cross-flow membrane filtration technique. Total hydrolysates and fractions were tested in vitro for a wide range of biological activities. For the first time rice-derived peptides were assayed for anti-tyrosinase, anti-inflammatory, cytotoxicity and irritation capacities. Antioxidant and anti-hypertensive activities were also evaluated. Protamex, Alcalase and Neutrase treatments produced peptide fractions with valuable bioactivities without resulting cytotoxic or irritant. Highest levels of bioactivity were detected in Protamex-derived samples, followed by samples treated with Alcalase. Based on the present results, a future direct exploitation of isolated peptide fractions in the nutraceutical, functional food and cosmetic industrial fields may be foreseen.

  2. An Exploratory Study Of The Meaning And Perception Of Names ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In Nigeria, personal names particularly indigenous names are not arbitrarily given, they bear significant connotative meanings, reflecting the circumstance surrounding the birth of the bearer and the belief and philosophy of the name giver. The significance placed on names gives it immense psychological undertones.

  3. Modeling of the Case Grammatical Meaning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Алексей Львович Новиков

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The article raises the problem of constructing a semantic model to describe the meaning of the grammatical category of case in the languages of different types. The main objective of this publication - to provide an overview of different points of view on the semantic structure of the category of case and to compare different models of case semantics. Initial impulse to the development of problems of case semantics became the grammar and typological ideas of A.A. Potebnya and R. Jakobson. The basis of these models, which differ from each other in the number and nature of the allocation of features is the idea of the possibility of representing grammatical meaning as a structured set of semantic features. The analysis shows that the construction of formal models of grammatical categories is impossible without referring to the content of the dominant semantic features in the structure of grammatical meaning. Despite all the difficulties of modeling grammatical semantics, to construct a semantic model of case is an interesting and promising task of general morphology and typological linguistics.

  4. Iconic Meaning in Music: An Event-Related Potential Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cai, Liman; Huang, Ping; Luo, Qiuling; Huang, Hong; Mo, Lei

    2015-01-01

    Although there has been extensive research on the processing of the emotional meaning of music, little is known about other aspects of listeners' experience of music. The present study investigated the neural correlates of the iconic meaning of music. Event-related potentials (ERP) were recorded while a group of 20 music majors and a group of 20 non-music majors performed a lexical decision task in the context of implicit musical iconic meaning priming. ERP analysis revealed a significant N400 effect of congruency in time window 260-510 ms following the onset of the target word only in the group of music majors. Time-course analysis using 50 ms windows indicated significant N400 effects both within the time window 410-460 ms and 460-510 ms for music majors, whereas only a partial N400 effect during time window 410-460 ms was observed for non-music majors. There was also a trend for the N400 effects in the music major group to be stronger than those in the non-major group in the sub-windows of 310-360 ms and 410-460 ms. Especially in the sub-window of 410-460 ms, the topographical map of the difference waveforms between congruent and incongruent conditions revealed different N400 distribution between groups; the effect was concentrated in bilateral frontal areas for music majors, but in central-parietal areas for non-music majors. These results imply probable neural mechanism differences underlying automatic iconic meaning priming of music. Our findings suggest that processing of the iconic meaning of music can be accomplished automatically and that musical training may facilitate the understanding of the iconic meaning of music.

  5. The Significance Ultrasonography on the Evaluation of Ovarian Follicular Maturity and Growth

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Kab Tae; Kim, Ok Keun; Lee, Seok Hong; Kim, Tae Seon; Kim, Byung Soo [Pusan National University College of Medicine, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

    1987-12-15

    Ovarian follicular diameter was measured using real time ultrasound in 21 hyperstimulated patients from April to September 1986. And we analyzed the relation between the size measured with ultrasonography and maturity observed under the phased microscopy, the correlation between aspirated dominant follicular volume and the dominant follicular volume calculated by the size measured with ultrasonography. Also we experienced the conditions which showed the ultrasonographic finding similar to that of follicle. The results were as follows: 1. The mean follicular diameter increased in a linear fashion from 7 days after LMP (9.4mm+2.8)to the one day before ovum pick up(18.2+2.8). 2. The mean diameter of the most appropriate dominant follicle was 19.08+1.23mm 3. The correlation between the dominant follicular volume measured with ultrasonography and aspirated follicular volume during ovum pick up was highly significant(r=0.94;0<0.001). 4. during follicular growth and maturity monitoring the conditions which misdiagnosed of follicle were simple ovarian cyst(1 case), hydrosalpinx (1 case), endometriosis(1 case), tubo-ovarian abscess(1 case), Hydatid of Morgagni(1 case)

  6. What Does an IRR (or Two) Mean?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnstone, David

    2008-01-01

    Defined mathematically, the internal rate of return (IRR) of a cash-flow stream is the discount rate at which its net present value is 0. What is the significance or meaning of such a measure? Using simple example problems and illustrative calculations, the author explains a technically correct but, at the same time, intuitively meaningful…

  7. Delineating Concept Meanings: The Case of Terrorism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kleg, Milton; Mahlios, Marc

    1990-01-01

    Presents a teacher-initiated model for reaching class consensus on the meaning of confusing or interchangeable concepts in social studies classrooms. Illustrates the model by delineating terrorism. Shows procedural steps that involve students in self and small group interviews where definitions are clarified until consensus is reached. Suggests…

  8. Singular mean-filed games

    KAUST Repository

    Cirant, Marco; Gomes, Diogo A.; Pimentel, Edgard A.; Sá nchez-Morgado, Hé ctor

    2016-01-01

    Here, we prove the existence of smooth solutions for mean-field games with a singular mean-field coupling; that is, a coupling in the Hamilton-Jacobi equation of the form $g(m)=-m^{-\\alpha}$. We consider stationary and time-dependent settings. The function $g$ is monotone, but it is not bounded from below. With the exception of the logarithmic coupling, this is the first time that MFGs whose coupling is not bounded from below is examined in the literature. This coupling arises in models where agents have a strong preference for low-density regions. Paradoxically, this causes the agents to spread and prevents the creation of solutions with a very-low density. To prove the existence of solutions, we consider an approximate problem for which the existence of smooth solutions is known. Then, we prove new a priori bounds for the solutions that show that $\\frac 1 m$ is bounded. Finally, using a limiting argument, we obtain the existence of solutions. The proof in the stationary case relies on a blow-up argument and in the time-dependent case on new bounds for $m^{-1}$.

  9. Singular mean-filed games

    KAUST Repository

    Cirant, Marco

    2016-11-22

    Here, we prove the existence of smooth solutions for mean-field games with a singular mean-field coupling; that is, a coupling in the Hamilton-Jacobi equation of the form $g(m)=-m^{-\\\\alpha}$. We consider stationary and time-dependent settings. The function $g$ is monotone, but it is not bounded from below. With the exception of the logarithmic coupling, this is the first time that MFGs whose coupling is not bounded from below is examined in the literature. This coupling arises in models where agents have a strong preference for low-density regions. Paradoxically, this causes the agents to spread and prevents the creation of solutions with a very-low density. To prove the existence of solutions, we consider an approximate problem for which the existence of smooth solutions is known. Then, we prove new a priori bounds for the solutions that show that $\\\\frac 1 m$ is bounded. Finally, using a limiting argument, we obtain the existence of solutions. The proof in the stationary case relies on a blow-up argument and in the time-dependent case on new bounds for $m^{-1}$.

  10. Meaning and Posttraumatic Growth Among Survivors of the September 2013 Colorado Floods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dursun, Pinar; Steger, Michael F; Bentele, Christoph; Schulenberg, Stefan E

    2016-12-01

    In the wake of significant adversity, a range of recovery outcomes are possible, from prolonged distress to minimal effects on functioning and even psychological growth. Finding meaning in one's life is thought to facilitate optimal recovery from such adversity. Research on psychological growth and recovery often focuses on the daily hassles or significant traumas of convenience samples or on people's psychological recovery from medical illness. A small body of research is developing to test theories of growth among survivors of natural disasters. The present study of 57 survivors of the 2013 Colorado floods tested the incremental relations between posttraumatic growth (PTG) and dimensions of meaning in life, vitality, and perceived social support. The most consistent relations observed were among the one dimension of meaning-search for meaning-perceived social support, and PTG. Despite the limitations of this study, we conclude that search for meaning in life may be an important part of recovery from natural disasters, floods being one example. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  11. Meaning as a Mission: Making sense of war and peacekeeping

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schok, M.L.

    2009-01-01

    The objective of this thesis was to examine the significance of meaning in a sample of veterans who were deployed during various war and peacekeeping operations. A cognitive perspective was chosen to explore how veterans make sense of their war zone experiences and find personal significance in

  12. Life, Science, And Meaning Some Logical Considerations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Louis Caruana

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Both science and theology involve philosophy. They both involve reasoned argument, evaluation of possible explanations, clarification of concepts, ways of interpreting experience, understanding the present significance of what has gone before us, and other such eminently philosophical tasks. They both involve philosophy especially when they enter into dialogue with each other. In fact, they involve philosophical thinking even when they may not be aware of it. In this paper I will explore a specific area of philosophy that is particularly important as a bridge between theology and science. I am referring to the area of meaning. Questions regarding meaning are fundamental because whatever is said about the nature of life, by scientists, by theologians, or by anyone else, must be expressed in meaningful words. Meaning is like the ground we walk on. It constitutes what we need so as to proceed with our activity. Without solid ground under our feet, we cannot go anywhere.

  13. A science of meaning. Can behaviorism bring meaning to psychological science?

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeGrandpre, R J

    2000-07-01

    An argument is presented for making meaning a central dependent variable in psychological science. Principles of operant psychology are then interpreted as providing a basic foundation for a science of meaning. The emphasis here is on the generality of basic operant concepts, where learning is a process of meaning making that is governed largely by natural contingencies; reinforcement is an organic process in which environment-behavior relations are selected, defined here as a dialectical process of meaning making; and reinforcers are experiential consequences with acquired, ecologically derived meanings. The author concludes with a call for a more interdisciplinary science of psychology, focusing on the individual in society.

  14. Regularity theory for mean-field game systems

    CERN Document Server

    Gomes, Diogo A; Voskanyan, Vardan

    2016-01-01

    Beginning with a concise introduction to the theory of mean-field games (MFGs), this book presents the key elements of the regularity theory for MFGs. It then introduces a series of techniques for well-posedness in the context of mean-field problems, including stationary and time-dependent MFGs, subquadratic and superquadratic MFG formulations, and distinct classes of mean-field couplings. It also explores stationary and time-dependent MFGs through a series of a-priori estimates for solutions of the Hamilton-Jacobi and Fokker-Planck equation. It shows sophisticated a-priori systems derived using a range of analytical techniques, and builds on previous results to explain classical solutions. The final chapter discusses the potential applications, models and natural extensions of MFGs. As MFGs connect common problems in pure mathematics, engineering, economics and data management, this book is a valuable resource for researchers and graduate students in these fields.

  15. Regularity Theory for Mean-Field Game Systems

    KAUST Repository

    Gomes, Diogo A.

    2016-09-14

    Beginning with a concise introduction to the theory of mean-field games (MFGs), this book presents the key elements of the regularity theory for MFGs. It then introduces a series of techniques for well-posedness in the context of mean-field problems, including stationary and time-dependent MFGs, subquadratic and superquadratic MFG formulations, and distinct classes of mean-field couplings. It also explores stationary and time-dependent MFGs through a series of a-priori estimates for solutions of the Hamilton-Jacobi and Fokker-Planck equation. It shows sophisticated a-priori systems derived using a range of analytical techniques, and builds on previous results to explain classical solutions. The final chapter discusses the potential applications, models and natural extensions of MFGs. As MFGs connect common problems in pure mathematics, engineering, economics and data management, this book is a valuable resource for researchers and graduate students in these fields.

  16. Regularity Theory for Mean-Field Game Systems

    KAUST Repository

    Gomes, Diogo A.; Pimentel, Edgard A.; Voskanyan, Vardan K.

    2016-01-01

    Beginning with a concise introduction to the theory of mean-field games (MFGs), this book presents the key elements of the regularity theory for MFGs. It then introduces a series of techniques for well-posedness in the context of mean-field problems, including stationary and time-dependent MFGs, subquadratic and superquadratic MFG formulations, and distinct classes of mean-field couplings. It also explores stationary and time-dependent MFGs through a series of a-priori estimates for solutions of the Hamilton-Jacobi and Fokker-Planck equation. It shows sophisticated a-priori systems derived using a range of analytical techniques, and builds on previous results to explain classical solutions. The final chapter discusses the potential applications, models and natural extensions of MFGs. As MFGs connect common problems in pure mathematics, engineering, economics and data management, this book is a valuable resource for researchers and graduate students in these fields.

  17. Variance-in-Mean Effects of the Long Forward-Rate Slope

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, Charlotte

    2005-01-01

    This paper contains an empirical analysis of the dependence of the long forward-rate slope on the long-rate variance. The long forward-rate slope and the long rate are described by a bivariate GARCH-in-mean model. In accordance with theory, a negative long-rate variance-in-mean effect for the long...... forward-rate slope is documented. Thus, the greater the long-rate variance, the steeper the long forward-rate curve slopes downward (the long forward-rate slope is negative). The variance-in-mean effect is both statistically and economically significant....

  18. Embracing Psychosis: A Cognitive Insight Intervention Improves Personal Narratives and Meaning-Making in Patients With Schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moritz, Steffen; Mahlke, Candelaria I; Westermann, Stefan; Ruppelt, Friederike; Lysaker, Paul H; Bock, Thomas; Andreou, Christina

    2018-02-15

    Schizophrenia is a complex psychiatric disorder with unknown and presumably heterogeneous etiology. While the disorder can have various outcomes, research is predominantly "deficit-oriented" emphasizing the hardship that the disorder inflicts on sufferers as well as their families and society. Beyond symptom reduction, imparting patients with hope and meaning in life is increasingly considered an important treatment target, which may raise self-esteem, and reduce self-stigma and suicidal ideation. The present study compared a psychotherapeutic treatment aimed at improving cognitive insight, individualized metacognitive intervention (MCT+), with an active control in order to elucidate if personal meaning-making and hope can be improved in patients with psychosis across time. A total of 92 patients were randomized to either individualized metacognitive therapy (MCT+) or CogPack (neuropsychological training) and followed up for up to 6 months. The "Subjective Sense in Psychosis Questionnaire" (SUSE) was administered which covers different salutogenetic vs pathogenetic views of the disorder, valence of symptom experiences and the consequences of psychosis. Patients in the MCT+ group showed a significant positive shift in attitudes towards the consequences of their illness over time relative to patients in the active control condition. There was some evidence that MCT+ also enhanced meaning-making. The perceived negative consequences of psychosis were highly correlated with depression and low self-esteem, as well as suicidality. The study shows that a cognitive insight training can improve meaning-making in patients and help them come to terms with their diagnosis.

  19. Meaning identification and meaning selection for general language monolingual dictionaries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bergenholtz, Henning; Agerbo, Heidi

    2014-01-01

    The traditional way for lexicographers to deal with polysemy in dictionaries is by applying the terms lumping and splitting. We will not follow this tradition. Instead, we argue that the identification and selection of meaning items (= polysems) should be treated in the same way as the identifica......The traditional way for lexicographers to deal with polysemy in dictionaries is by applying the terms lumping and splitting. We will not follow this tradition. Instead, we argue that the identification and selection of meaning items (= polysems) should be treated in the same way...... to references in the world (in this contribution called things), followed by a formulation of the identified meaning items which can be used for reception situations. Not always – as in the case of lemma selection – will all the identified meaning items be included in the dictionary. The selection of identified...... meaning items will depend on the genuine purpose of the dictionary....

  20. Personal Meaning Orientations and Psychosocial Adaptation in Older Adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gary T. Reker

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available This study examined how different patterns of sources of meaning in life impact the psychosocial adaptation of older adults. A total of 120 (62 women and 58 men community-residing older adults completed self-report measures of sources of meaning in life, physical health, life satisfaction, depression, personality, existential regrets, attitudes toward aging, and attitudes toward life. Cluster analysis of sources of meaning revealed four distinct meaning orientations: self-transcendent (n = 32, collectivistic (n = 24, individualistic (n = 34, and self-preoccupied (n = 30. MANCOVA analysis of the four groups, controlling for age, marital status, education, and financial satisfaction, revealed a strong multivariate main effect for meaning orientation. No statistically significant gender and Gender × Meaning orientation interaction effects were found. Older adults, who derive meaning from self-transcendent sources, are more extraverted, open to experience, agreeable, and conscientious; perceive greater purpose and coherence in life; feel more in control in directing their lives; express a stronger desire to get more out of life; and are less depressed compared with those who derive meaning through pursuing self-serving interests without any real commitment to personal, interpersonal, or societal development. The implications of the findings for positive aging are discussed.

  1. Mean cortical curvature reflects cytoarchitecture restructuring in mild traumatic brain injury

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jace B. King

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In the United States alone, the number of persons living with the enduring consequences of traumatic brain injuries is estimated to be between 3.2 and 5 million. This number does not include individuals serving in the United States military or seeking care at Veterans Affairs hospitals. The importance of understanding the neurobiological consequences of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI has increased with the return of veterans from conflicts overseas, many of who have suffered this type of brain injury. However, identifying the neuroanatomical regions most affected by mTBI continues to prove challenging. The aim of this study was to assess the use of mean cortical curvature as a potential indicator of progressive tissue loss in a cross-sectional sample of 54 veterans with mTBI compared to 31 controls evaluated with MRI. It was hypothesized that mean cortical curvature would be increased in veterans with mTBI, relative to controls, due in part to cortical restructuring related to tissue volume loss. Mean cortical curvature was assessed in 60 bilateral regions (31 sulcal, 29 gyral. Of the 120 regions investigated, nearly 50% demonstrated significantly increased mean cortical curvature in mTBI relative to controls with 25% remaining significant following multiple comparison correction (all, pFDR < .05. These differences were most prominent in deep gray matter regions of the cortex. Additionally, significant relationships were found between mean cortical curvature and gray and white matter volumes (all, p < .05. These findings suggest potentially unique patterns of atrophy by region and indicate that changes in brain microstructure due to mTBI are sensitive to measures of mean curvature.

  2. A joint model of word segmentation and meaning acquisition through cross-situational learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Räsänen, Okko; Rasilo, Heikki

    2015-10-01

    Human infants learn meanings for spoken words in complex interactions with other people, but the exact learning mechanisms are unknown. Among researchers, a widely studied learning mechanism is called cross-situational learning (XSL). In XSL, word meanings are learned when learners accumulate statistical information between spoken words and co-occurring objects or events, allowing the learner to overcome referential uncertainty after having sufficient experience with individually ambiguous scenarios. Existing models in this area have mainly assumed that the learner is capable of segmenting words from speech before grounding them to their referential meaning, while segmentation itself has been treated relatively independently of the meaning acquisition. In this article, we argue that XSL is not just a mechanism for word-to-meaning mapping, but that it provides strong cues for proto-lexical word segmentation. If a learner directly solves the correspondence problem between continuous speech input and the contextual referents being talked about, segmentation of the input into word-like units emerges as a by-product of the learning. We present a theoretical model for joint acquisition of proto-lexical segments and their meanings without assuming a priori knowledge of the language. We also investigate the behavior of the model using a computational implementation, making use of transition probability-based statistical learning. Results from simulations show that the model is not only capable of replicating behavioral data on word learning in artificial languages, but also shows effective learning of word segments and their meanings from continuous speech. Moreover, when augmented with a simple familiarity preference during learning, the model shows a good fit to human behavioral data in XSL tasks. These results support the idea of simultaneous segmentation and meaning acquisition and show that comprehensive models of early word segmentation should take referential word

  3. Iconic Meaning in Music: An Event-Related Potential Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Qiuling; Huang, Hong; Mo, Lei

    2015-01-01

    Although there has been extensive research on the processing of the emotional meaning of music, little is known about other aspects of listeners’ experience of music. The present study investigated the neural correlates of the iconic meaning of music. Event-related potentials (ERP) were recorded while a group of 20 music majors and a group of 20 non-music majors performed a lexical decision task in the context of implicit musical iconic meaning priming. ERP analysis revealed a significant N400 effect of congruency in time window 260-510 ms following the onset of the target word only in the group of music majors. Time-course analysis using 50 ms windows indicated significant N400 effects both within the time window 410-460 ms and 460-510 ms for music majors, whereas only a partial N400 effect during time window 410-460 ms was observed for non-music majors. There was also a trend for the N400 effects in the music major group to be stronger than those in the non-major group in the sub-windows of 310-360ms and 410-460ms. Especially in the sub-window of 410-460 ms, the topographical map of the difference waveforms between congruent and incongruent conditions revealed different N400 distribution between groups; the effect was concentrated in bilateral frontal areas for music majors, but in central-parietal areas for non-music majors. These results imply probable neural mechanism differences underlying automatic iconic meaning priming of music. Our findings suggest that processing of the iconic meaning of music can be accomplished automatically and that musical training may facilitate the understanding of the iconic meaning of music. PMID:26161561

  4. Mean Velocity vs. Mean Propulsive Velocity vs. Peak Velocity: Which Variable Determines Bench Press Relative Load With Higher Reliability?

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Ramos, Amador; Pestaña-Melero, Francisco L; Pérez-Castilla, Alejandro; Rojas, Francisco J; Gregory Haff, G

    2018-05-01

    García-Ramos, A, Pestaña-Melero, FL, Pérez-Castilla, A, Rojas, FJ, and Haff, GG. Mean velocity vs. mean propulsive velocity vs. peak velocity: which variable determines bench press relative load with higher reliability? J Strength Cond Res 32(5): 1273-1279, 2018-This study aimed to compare between 3 velocity variables (mean velocity [MV], mean propulsive velocity [MPV], and peak velocity [PV]): (a) the linearity of the load-velocity relationship, (b) the accuracy of general regression equations to predict relative load (%1RM), and (c) the between-session reliability of the velocity attained at each percentage of the 1-repetition maximum (%1RM). The full load-velocity relationship of 30 men was evaluated by means of linear regression models in the concentric-only and eccentric-concentric bench press throw (BPT) variants performed with a Smith machine. The 2 sessions of each BPT variant were performed within the same week separated by 48-72 hours. The main findings were as follows: (a) the MV showed the strongest linearity of the load-velocity relationship (median r = 0.989 for concentric-only BPT and 0.993 for eccentric-concentric BPT), followed by MPV (median r = 0.983 for concentric-only BPT and 0.980 for eccentric-concentric BPT), and finally PV (median r = 0.974 for concentric-only BPT and 0.969 for eccentric-concentric BPT); (b) the accuracy of the general regression equations to predict relative load (%1RM) from movement velocity was higher for MV (SEE = 3.80-4.76%1RM) than for MPV (SEE = 4.91-5.56%1RM) and PV (SEE = 5.36-5.77%1RM); and (c) the PV showed the lowest within-subjects coefficient of variation (3.50%-3.87%), followed by MV (4.05%-4.93%), and finally MPV (5.11%-6.03%). Taken together, these results suggest that the MV could be the most appropriate variable for monitoring the relative load (%1RM) in the BPT exercise performed in a Smith machine.

  5. Mean stress effects on high-cycle fatigue of Alloy 718

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Korth, G.E.

    1980-07-01

    This report covers an investigation of the effects of tensile mean stress on the high-cycle fatigue properties of Alloy 718. Three test temperatures (24, 427, and 649 degree C) were employed, and there were tests in both strain and load control. Results were compared with three different models: linear Modified-Goodman, Peterson cubic, and stress-strain parameter. The linear Modified-Goodman model gave good correlation with actual test data for low and moderate mean stress values, but the stress-strain parameter showed excellent correlation over the entire range of possible mean stresses and therefore is recommended for predicting mean stress effects of Alloy 718. 13 refs., 12 figs

  6. Using Relational Histogram Features and Action Labelled Data to Learn Preconditions for Means-End Actions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fichtl, Severin; Kraft, Dirk; Krüger, Norbert

    2015-01-01

    The outcome of many complex manipulation ac- tions is contingent on the spatial relationships among pairs of objects, e.g. if an object is “inside” or “on top” of another. Recognising these spatial relationships requires a vision system which can extract appropriate features from the vision input...... that capture and represent the spatial relationships in an easily accessible way. We are interested in learning to predict the success of “means end” actions that manipulate two objects at once, from exploratory actions, and the observed sensorimo- tor contingencies. In this paper, we use relational histogram...... features and illustrate their effect on learning to predict a variety of “means end” actions’ outcomes. The results show that our vision features can make the learning problem significantly easier, leading to increased learning rates and higher maximum performance. This work is in particular important...

  7. An extended k-means technique for clustering moving objects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Omnia Ossama

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available k-means algorithm is one of the basic clustering techniques that is used in many data mining applications. In this paper we present a novel pattern based clustering algorithm that extends the k-means algorithm for clustering moving object trajectory data. The proposed algorithm uses a key feature of moving object trajectories namely, its direction as a heuristic to determine the different number of clusters for the k-means algorithm. In addition, we use the silhouette coefficient as a measure for the quality of our proposed approach. Finally, we present experimental results on both real and synthetic data that show the performance and accuracy of our proposed technique.

  8. Back-reaction beyond the mean field approximation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kluger, Y.

    1993-01-01

    A method for solving an initial value problem of a closed system consisting of an electromagnetic mean field and its quantum fluctuations coupled to fermions is presented. By tailoring the large N f expansion method to the Schwinger-Keldysh closed time path (CTP) formulation of the quantum effective action, causality of the resulting equations of motion is ensured, and a systematic energy conserving and gauge invariant expansion about the electromagnetic mean field in powers of 1/N f is developed. The resulting equations may be used to study the quantum nonequilibrium effects of pair creation in strong electric fields and the scattering and transport processes of a relativistic e + e - plasma. Using the Bjorken ansatz of boost invariance initial conditions in which the initial electric mean field depends on the proper time only, we show numerical results for the case in which the N f expansion is truncated in the lowest order, and compare them with those of a phenomenological transport equation

  9. Dante, psychoanalysis, and the (erotic) meaning of meaning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatcher, E R

    1990-01-01

    The author observes a resemblance between (1) the "polysemous" technique of imputing meaning to reality practiced in medieval biblical studies and in Dante's writing and (2) the technique of interpretation in contemporary psychoanalysis. She explores the roots of this resemblance in the development of intellectual history and provides examples of polysemous meanings in Dante's Divine Comedy, which is in part an autobiographical journey of self-reflection and self-realization (like psychoanalysis). She then suggests some implications of this resemblance for contemporary psychiatry.

  10. The Dynamic of Work Meaning on the Privatization Imminence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcia Prezotti Palassi

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to show the dynamic of the work meaning on the privatization imminence of a Brazilian sanitation company. The discussion is based on the (MOW, 1987 ideas about construction of work meaning and Tajfel (1981 about to belong to social groups. The emphasis on imminence is based on the Figueiredo and Viana (1982 understanding that the continuous expectation of frustration generates a differentiated impact related to a previously defined situation. Data collection procedure was carried out through participant observation and questionnaires. Quantitative data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and qualitative data by using content analysis. The results revealed a dynamic that fragments the work meanings on the imminence of privatization and presents itself associated with different meanings and aspects of the situation. It is proposed that the fragmentation of work meaning on the imminence of certain situations can be repeated in other contemporary contexts.

  11. A Cloud Greenhouse Effect on Mars: Significant Climate Change in the Recent Past

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haberle, Robert M.; Kahre, Melinda A.; Schaeffer, James R.; Montmessin, Frank; Phillips, R J.

    2012-01-01

    The large variations in Mars orbit parameters are known to be significant drivers of climate change on the Red planet. The recent discovery of buried CO2 ice at the South Pole adds another dimension to climate change studies. In this paper we present results from the Ames GCM that show within the past million years it is possible that clouds from a greatly intensified Martian hydrological cycle may have produced a greenhouse effect strong enough to raise global mean surface temperatures by several tens of degrees Kelvin. It is made possible by the ability of the Martian atmosphere to transport water to high altitudes where cold clouds form, reduce the outgoing longwave radiation, and drive up surface temperatures to maintain global energy balance.

  12. Development of Embodied Word Meanings: Sensorimotor Effects in Children’s Lexical Processing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michelle eInkster

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Previous research showed an effect of words’ rated body-object interaction (BOI in children’s visual word naming performance, but only in children 8 years of age or older (Wellsby & Pexman, 2014a. In that study, however, BOI was established using adult ratings. Here we collected ratings from a group of parents for children’s body-object interaction experience (child-BOI. We examined effects of words’ child-BOI and also words’ imageability on children’s responses in an auditory word naming task, which is suited to the lexical processing skills of younger children. We tested a group of 54 children aged 6-7 years and a comparison group of 25 adults. Results showed significant effects of both imageability and child-BOI on children’s auditory naming latencies. These results provide evidence that children younger than 8 years of age have richer semantic representations for high imageability and high child-BOI words, consistent with an embodied account of word meaning.

  13. Economically Significant Sites - OSPR [ds356

    Data.gov (United States)

    California Natural Resource Agency — This point data set shows locations of Economically Significant Sites along the California coast from Del Norte to San Diego counties. Data for locating these points...

  14. Clinical significance of the fabella

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dodevski, A.; Lazarova-Tosovska, D.; Zhivadinovik, J.; Lazareska, M.

    2012-01-01

    Full text: Introduction: There is variable number of sesamoid bones in the human body; one of them is fabella, located in the tendon of the gastrocnemius muscle. Aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of occurrence of fabella in the Macedonian population and to discuss about clinical importance of this bone. Materials and methods: We retrospectively examined radiographs of 53 patients who had knee exams undertaken for a variety of clinical reasons, performed as a part of their medical treatment. Over a time span of six months, 53 patients (38 males and 15 females, age range 19-60 years, mean age of 36.7±12.3 years) were examined. Results: In seven (13.2%) patients of 53 analyzed reports, fabella was found in the lateral tendon of gastrocnemius muscle. We did not find a significant gender or side difference in the appearance of fabella. Conclusion: Although anatomic studies emphasized a lack of significance of the fabella, this bone has been associated with a spectrum of pathology affecting the knee as fabellar syndrome, perineal nerve injury and fracture. We should think of this sesamoid bone while performing diagnostic and surgical procedures

  15. Mass dispersions in a time-dependent mean-field approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Balian, R.; Bonche, P.; Flocard, H.; Veneroni, M.

    1984-05-01

    Characteristic functions for single-particle (s.p.) observables are evaluated by means of a time-dependent variational principle, which involves a state and an observable as conjugate variables. This provides a mean-field expression for fluctuations of s.p. observables, such as mass dispersions. The result differs from TDHF, it requires only the use of existing codes, and it presents attractive theoretical features. First numerical tests are encouraging. In particular, a calculation for 16 O + 16 O provides a significant increase of the predicted mass dispersion

  16. Identification of Water Quality Significant Parameter with Two Transformation/Standardization Methods on Principal Component Analysis and Scilab Software

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jovan Putranda

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Water quality monitoring is prone to encounter error on its recording or measuring process. The monitoring on river water quality not only aims to recognize the water quality dynamic, but also to evaluate the data to create river management policy and water pollution in order to maintain the continuity of human health or sanitation requirement, and biodiversity preservation. Evaluation on water quality monitoring needs to be started by identifying the important water quality parameter. This research objected to identify the significant parameters by using two transformation or standardization methods on water quality data, which are the river Water Quality Index, WQI (Indeks Kualitas Air, Sungai, IKAs transformation or standardization method and transformation or standardization method with mean 0 and variance 1; so that the variability of water quality parameters could be aggregated with one another. Both of the methods were applied on the water quality monitoring data which its validity and reliability have been tested. The PCA, Principal Component Analysis (Analisa Komponen Utama, AKU, with the help of Scilab software, has been used to process the secondary data on water quality parameters of Gadjah Wong river in 2004-2013, with its validity and reliability has been tested. The Scilab result was cross examined with the result from the Excel-based Biplot Add In software. The research result showed that only 18 from total 35 water quality parameters that have passable data quality. The two transformation or standardization data methods gave different significant parameter type and amount result. On the transformation or standardization mean 0 variances 1, there were water quality significant parameter dynamic to mean concentration of each water quality parameters, which are TDS, SO4, EC, TSS, NO3N, COD, BOD5, Grease Oil and NH3N. On the river WQI transformation or standardization, the water quality significant parameter showed the level of

  17. Agency, Context and Meaning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Folkmann, Mads Nygaard

    2014-01-01

    The paper is a meta-discursive contribution to the discussion of how design can be understood as a medium of meaning formation and questioning of meaning. Further, the paper builds on plea for the role of humanities in relation to formulate relevant questions in design through conceptualizing the...... of meaning formulation and cultural contexts and, by this, contest design. In reflecting the foundational ground of design in terms of its agency, contexts and meaning constituents, design and its questioning of meaning can be critically reframed.......The paper is a meta-discursive contribution to the discussion of how design can be understood as a medium of meaning formation and questioning of meaning. Further, the paper builds on plea for the role of humanities in relation to formulate relevant questions in design through conceptualizing...... history, 2) the question of context in and of design, i.e. which contexts give meaning to design; this question calls for interpretive models of cultural analysis of the circuit of design in acknowledging phases and aspects of production, mediation and consumption, and 3) the question of the meaning...

  18. Idioms and mental imagery: the metaphorical motivation for idiomatic meaning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibbs, R W; O'Brien, J E

    1990-07-01

    We conducted three experiments to investigate the mental images associated with idiomatic phrases in English. Our hypothesis was that people should have strong conventional images for many idioms and that the regularity in people's knowledge of their images for idioms is due to the conceptual metaphors motivating the figurative meanings of idioms. In the first study, subjects were asked to form and describe their mental images for different idiomatic expressions. Subjects were then asked a series of detailed questions about their images regarding the causes and effects of different events within their images. We found high consistency in subjects' images of idioms with similar figurative meanings despite differences in their surface forms (e.g., spill the beans and let the cat out of the bag). Subjects' responses to detailed questions about their images also showed a high degree of similarity in their answers. Further examination of subjects' imagery protocols supports the idea that the conventional images and knowledge associated with idioms are constrained by the conceptual metaphors (e.g., the MIND IS A CONTAINER and IDEAS ARE ENTITIES) which motivate the figurative meanings of idioms. The results of two control studies showed that the conventional images associated with idioms are not solely based on their figurative meanings (Experiment 2) and that the images associated with literal phrases (e.g., spill the peas) were quite varied and unlikely to be constrained by conceptual metaphor (Experiment 3). These findings support the view that idioms are not "dead" metaphors with their meanings being arbitrarily determined. Rather, the meanings of many idioms are motivated by speakers' tacit knowledge of the conceptual metaphors underlying the meanings of these figurative phrases.

  19. ER, p53 and MIB-1 are significantly associated with malignant phyllodes tumor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munawer, Nurhayati H; Md Zin, Reena; Md Ali, Siti-Aishah; Muhammad, Rohaizak; Ali, Jasmi; Das, Srijit

    2012-01-01

    Fibroadenomas (FA) are common while phyllodes tumors (PT) are rare and both tumors are composed of epithelial and stromal components. We evaluated the expression status of ER, Bc12, p53, and MIB-1 protein in these tumors. One hundred and ninety-three tumors comprising of 117 FAs and 76 PTs were examined using immunohistochemistry on tissue microarray. The mean age of patients with FA was 28.5 years while the mean ages of patients with benign, borderline and malignant PTs were 41.7, 48.6 and 42.1 years, respectively. Also all types of PTs were large (>Scm). ER showed a strong nuclear staining in the epithelial component of all tumors while ER/3 immunoreactivity was detected in both the epithelial and stromal components ofF A and PT. ER/β (pcomponent were associated with tumor size. p53 expression was significantly associated with both the epithelial and stromal components of malignant PTs (pcomponent (p=0.000). In addition, MIB-1 was also found to be associated with ER and ER/3 in the stromal component (p=0.000). The expression of p53 with tumor size and histological grade in PT may increase the risk for malignancy.

  20. Meaning in life and physical health: systematic review and meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Czekierda, Katarzyna; Banik, Anna; Park, Crystal L; Luszczynska, Aleksandra

    2017-12-01

    This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to clarify the associations between meaning in life and physical health using random-effects models. Conceptualisation of meaning (order in world vs. purpose in life), type of health indicators, participants' health status, and age issues were investigated as moderators. Systematic searches of six databases resulted in inclusion of k = 66 studies (total N = 73,546). Findings indicated that meaning in life and physical health formed weak-to-moderate associations (the overall estimate of the average effect = 0.258). Conceptualisation of meaning, participants' health status, and their age did not moderate these associations. Operationalisation of health moderated the relationship between meaning in life and health. The strongest associations were found for subjective indicators of physical health. Significant albeit weak associations between meaning in life and objective indices of health were found. Furthermore, stronger effects were observed when the measures of meaning combined items referring to meaning in life and meaning-related sense of harmony, peace, and well-being, compared to measures focusing solely on meaning in life. Overall, the results point to the potential role of meaning in life in explaining physical health.

  1. Identify Web-page Content meaning using Knowledge based System for Dual Meaning Words

    OpenAIRE

    Sinha, Sukanta; Dattagupta, Rana; Mukhopadhyay, Debajyoti

    2012-01-01

    Meaning of Web-page content plays a big role while produced a search result from a search engine. Most of the cases Web-page meaning stored in title or meta-tag area but those meanings do not always match with Web-page content. To overcome this situation we need to go through the Web-page content to identify the Web-page meaning. In such cases, where Webpage content holds dual meaning words that time it is really difficult to identify the meaning of the Web-page. In this paper, we are introdu...

  2. Android Malware Classification Using K-Means Clustering Algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamid, Isredza Rahmi A.; Syafiqah Khalid, Nur; Azma Abdullah, Nurul; Rahman, Nurul Hidayah Ab; Chai Wen, Chuah

    2017-08-01

    Malware was designed to gain access or damage a computer system without user notice. Besides, attacker exploits malware to commit crime or fraud. This paper proposed Android malware classification approach based on K-Means clustering algorithm. We evaluate the proposed model in terms of accuracy using machine learning algorithms. Two datasets were selected to demonstrate the practicing of K-Means clustering algorithms that are Virus Total and Malgenome dataset. We classify the Android malware into three clusters which are ransomware, scareware and goodware. Nine features were considered for each types of dataset such as Lock Detected, Text Detected, Text Score, Encryption Detected, Threat, Porn, Law, Copyright and Moneypak. We used IBM SPSS Statistic software for data classification and WEKA tools to evaluate the built cluster. The proposed K-Means clustering algorithm shows promising result with high accuracy when tested using Random Forest algorithm.

  3. Lecture notes on mean curvature flow, barriers and singular perturbations

    CERN Document Server

    Bellettini, Giovanni

    2013-01-01

    The aim of the book is to study some aspects of geometric evolutions, such as mean curvature flow and anisotropic mean curvature flow of hypersurfaces. We analyze the origin of such flows and their geometric and variational nature. Some of the most important aspects of mean curvature flow are described, such as the comparison principle and its use in the definition of suitable weak solutions. The anisotropic evolutions, which can be considered as a generalization of mean curvature flow, are studied from the view point of Finsler geometry. Concerning singular perturbations, we discuss the convergence of the Allen–Cahn (or Ginsburg–Landau) type equations to (possibly anisotropic) mean curvature flow before the onset of singularities in the limit problem. We study such kinds of asymptotic problems also in the static case, showing convergence to prescribed curvature-type problems.

  4. Textual meaning and its place in a theory of language

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeffries Lesley

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Following the development of a framework for critical stylistics (Jeffries 2010 and the explication of some of the theoretical assumptions behind this framework (Jeffries 2014a, 2014b, 2015a, 2015b, the present article attempts to put this framework into a larger theoretical context as a way to approach textual meaning. Using examples from the popular U.S. television show, The Big Bang Theory, I examine the evidence that there is a kind of textual meaning which can be distinguished from the core propositional meaning on the one hand and from contextual, interpersonal meaning on the other. The specific aim, to demonstrate a layer of meaning belonging to text specifically, is set within an argument which claims that progress in linguistics can better be served by adherence to a rigorous scientific discipline.

  5. Perceptual Literacy and the Construction of Significant Meanings within Art Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cerkez, Beatriz Tomsic

    2014-01-01

    In order to verify how important the ability to process visual images and sounds in a holistic way can be, we developed an experiment based on the production and reception of an art work that was conceived as a multi-sensorial experience and implied a complex understanding of visual and auditory information. We departed from the idea that to…

  6. Major life events: their personal meaning, resolution, and mental health significance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynolds, John R; Turner, R Jay

    2008-06-01

    Researchers have employed varying strategies in an effort to better understand variation in responses to stress. This article argues that crisis theory makes a useful contribution to these efforts, particularly when studying variable response to major life events that are of high threat potential. Regression analyses of depressive symptomatology, mastery, and self-esteem in a community sample of adults (n = 1,542) provide preliminary support for the central tenets of crisis theory that specify the conditions under which experienced events are minimally and maximally hazardous. The results also offer mixed support for the proposition that successfully resolved crises can even yield emotional and coping benefits. Longitudinal models and further development of survey-based measures for distinguishing the occurrence of a crisis and assessing the adequacy of its resolution are needed to more thoroughly test crisis theory.

  7. Means-end chains - A means to which end?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grunert, Klaus G.

    2010-01-01

    This paper describes the development of the means-end chain concept in consumer behaviour research, starting from the original proposal by Gutman in 1982. A lack of theoretical development - as opposed to a refinement of methodology - is argued to by the main reason why the concept, after....... This reinterpretation leads to three goals for research that could establish means-end chains as a useful theoretical concept in consumer behaviour research....

  8. Filaments of Meaning in Word Space

    OpenAIRE

    Karlgren, Jussi; Holst, Anders; Sahlgren, Magnus

    2008-01-01

    Word space models, in the sense of vector space models built on distributional data taken from texts, are used to model semantic relations between words. We argue that the high dimensionality of typical vector space models lead to unintuitive effects on modeling likeness of meaning and that the local structure of word spaces is where interesting semantic relations reside. We show that the local structure of word spaces has substantially different dimensionality and character than the global s...

  9. Ratio of geometric means to analyze continuous outcomes in meta-analysis: comparison to mean differences and ratio of arithmetic means using empiric data and simulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friedrich, Jan O; Adhikari, Neill K J; Beyene, Joseph

    2012-07-30

    Meta-analyses pooling continuous outcomes can use mean differences (MD), standardized MD (MD in pooled standard deviation units, SMD), or ratio of arithmetic means (RoM). Recently, ratio of geometric means using ad hoc (RoGM (ad hoc) ) or Taylor series (RoGM (Taylor) ) methods for estimating variances have been proposed as alternative effect measures for skewed continuous data. Skewed data are suggested for summary measures of clinical parameters restricted to positive values which have large coefficients of variation (CV). Our objective was to compare performance characteristics of RoGM (ad hoc) and RoGM (Taylor) to MD, SMD, and RoM. We used empiric data from systematic reviews reporting continuous outcomes and selected from each the meta-analysis with the most and at least 5 trials (Cochrane Database [2008, Issue 1]). We supplemented this with simulations conducted with representative parameters. Pooled results were calculated using each effect measure. Of the reviews, 232/5053 met the inclusion criteria. Empiric data and simulation showed that RoGM (ad hoc) exhibits more extreme treatment effects and greater heterogeneity than all other effect measures. Compared with MD, SMD, and RoM, RoGM (Taylor) exhibits similar treatment effects, more heterogeneity when CV ≤0.7, and less heterogeneity when CV > 0.7. In conclusion, RoGM (Taylor) may be considered for pooling continuous outcomes in meta-analysis when data are skewed, but RoGM (ad hoc) should not be used. However, clinicians' lack of familiarity with geometric means combined with acceptable performance characteristics of RoM in most situations suggests that RoM may be the preferable ratio method for pooling continuous outcomes in meta-analysis. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  10. Calculating and reporting effect sizes on scientific papers (1: p < 0.05 limitations in the analysis of mean differences of two groups

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Helena Espirito Santo

    2015-02-01

    Since p-values from the results of the statistical tests do not indicate the magnitude or importance of a difference, then effect sizes (ES should reported. In fact, ES give meaning to statistical tests; emphasize the power of statistical tests; reduce the risk of interpret mere sampling variation as real relationship; can increase the reporting of “non-significant"results, and allow the accumulation of knowledge from several studies using meta-analysis. Thus, the objectives of this paper are to present the limits of the significance level; describe the foundations of presentation of ES of statistical tests to analyze differences between two groups; present the formulas to calculate directly ES, providing examples of our own previous studies; show how to calculate confidence intervals; provide the conversion formulas for the review of the literature; indicate how to interpret the ES; and show that, although interpretable, the meaning (small, medium or large effect for an arbitrary metric could be inaccurate, requiring that interpretation should be made in the context of the research area and in the context of real world variables.

  11. The DTU12MDT global mean dynamic topography and ocean circulation model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knudsen, Per; Andersen, Ole B.

    2013-01-01

    combined with the DTU10MSS mean sea surface model to construct a global mean dynamic topography model named DTU10MDT. The results of analyses clearly demonstrated the value of the GOCE mission. Both the resolution and the estimation of the surface currents have been improved significantly compared...

  12. Evaluation of the retentive means, opacifiers and veneering materials for veneered crowns using 137 Cs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nour, A.M.; El-Sadeek; M.E.; Ramadan, F.A.; Eskander, M.

    1991-01-01

    The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate the best plastic veneering material, which affords initial sealing and adaptation to the metal backing. Cs chloride is used for this purpose. The effect of different retentive means, namely, under cuts, wire loops, stainless steel grills, and acrylic beads, as well as the effect of different opaquers were studied. The influence of time factor and changing temperature was considered as well. The results obtained showed the following: 1- A quantitative method for the evaluation of micro leakage is essential parallel to the semiquantitative one. 2- The tested opaquer exhibits a better sealing ability. 3- The leakage increases significantly by temperature cycling, and by time duration with all the veneering materials tested. Composite is the least leak-sensitive material to changes in temperature. 4- Beads offered the best means of retention, to obtain the best sealing qualities.1 tab., 2 fig

  13. The ratio of nurse consultation and physician efficiency index of senior rheumatologists is significantly higher than junior physicians in rheumatology residency training

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Emamifar, Amir; van Bui Hansen, Morten Hai; Jensen Hansen, Inger Marie

    2017-01-01

    To elucidate the difference between ratios of nurse consultation sought by senior rheumatologists and junior physicians in rheumatology residency training, and also to evaluate physician efficiency index respecting patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Data regarding outpatient visits for RA...... patients between November 2013 and 2015 were extracted. The mean interval (day) between consultations, the nurse/physician visits ratio, and physician efficiency index (nurse/physician visits ratio × mean interval) for each senior and junior physicians were calculated. Disease Activity Score in 28 joints....../physician visits ratio (P = .01) and mean efficiency index (P = .04) of senior rheumatologists were significantly higher than that of junior physicians. Regression analysis showed a positive correlation between physician postgraduate experience and physician efficiency index adjusted for DAS28 at baseline...

  14. Significance of Internet in Development of Graphic Communications

    OpenAIRE

    Tajana Koren

    2000-01-01

    It is impossible to think of development of graphic communications - even based on traditional principles - without knowledge and application of new technologies, which are enabling a new conception of graphic design. First of all, here is the significant role of Internet, as a means of communications, interactive source of information and a way of expression. New possibilities are urging a new creativity. Social aspects of new technologies should not be neglected. Only permanent education wi...

  15. Why 'piss' is ruder than 'pee'? The role of sound in affective meaning making.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arash Aryani

    Full Text Available Most language users agree that some words sound harsh (e.g. grotesque whereas others sound soft and pleasing (e.g. lagoon. While this prominent feature of human language has always been creatively deployed in art and poetry, it is still largely unknown whether the sound of a word in itself makes any contribution to the word's meaning as perceived and interpreted by the listener. In a large-scale lexicon analysis, we focused on the affective substrates of words' meaning (i.e. affective meaning and words' sound (i.e. affective sound; both being measured on a two-dimensional space of valence (ranging from pleasant to unpleasant and arousal (ranging from calm to excited. We tested the hypothesis that the sound of a word possesses affective iconic characteristics that can implicitly influence listeners when evaluating the affective meaning of that word. The results show that a significant portion of the variance in affective meaning ratings of printed words depends on a number of spectral and temporal acoustic features extracted from these words after converting them to their spoken form (study1. In order to test the affective nature of this effect, we independently assessed the affective sound of these words using two different methods: through direct rating (study2a, and through acoustic models that we implemented based on pseudoword materials (study2b. In line with our hypothesis, the estimated contribution of words' sound to ratings of words' affective meaning was indeed associated with the affective sound of these words; with a stronger effect for arousal than for valence. Further analyses revealed crucial phonetic features potentially causing the effect of sound on meaning: For instance, words with short vowels, voiceless consonants, and hissing sibilants (as in 'piss' feel more arousing and negative. Our findings suggest that the process of meaning making is not solely determined by arbitrary mappings between formal aspects of words and

  16. Why 'piss' is ruder than 'pee'? The role of sound in affective meaning making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aryani, Arash; Conrad, Markus; Schmidtke, David; Jacobs, Arthur

    2018-01-01

    Most language users agree that some words sound harsh (e.g. grotesque) whereas others sound soft and pleasing (e.g. lagoon). While this prominent feature of human language has always been creatively deployed in art and poetry, it is still largely unknown whether the sound of a word in itself makes any contribution to the word's meaning as perceived and interpreted by the listener. In a large-scale lexicon analysis, we focused on the affective substrates of words' meaning (i.e. affective meaning) and words' sound (i.e. affective sound); both being measured on a two-dimensional space of valence (ranging from pleasant to unpleasant) and arousal (ranging from calm to excited). We tested the hypothesis that the sound of a word possesses affective iconic characteristics that can implicitly influence listeners when evaluating the affective meaning of that word. The results show that a significant portion of the variance in affective meaning ratings of printed words depends on a number of spectral and temporal acoustic features extracted from these words after converting them to their spoken form (study1). In order to test the affective nature of this effect, we independently assessed the affective sound of these words using two different methods: through direct rating (study2a), and through acoustic models that we implemented based on pseudoword materials (study2b). In line with our hypothesis, the estimated contribution of words' sound to ratings of words' affective meaning was indeed associated with the affective sound of these words; with a stronger effect for arousal than for valence. Further analyses revealed crucial phonetic features potentially causing the effect of sound on meaning: For instance, words with short vowels, voiceless consonants, and hissing sibilants (as in 'piss') feel more arousing and negative. Our findings suggest that the process of meaning making is not solely determined by arbitrary mappings between formal aspects of words and concepts they

  17. Hausdorff dimension of the multiplicative golden mean shift

    OpenAIRE

    Kenyon, Richard; Peres, Yuval; Solomyak, Boris

    2011-01-01

    We compute the Hausdorff dimension of the "multiplicative golden mean shift" defined as the set of all reals in $[0,1]$ whose binary expansion $(x_k)$ satisfies $x_k x_{2k}=0$ for all $k\\ge 1$, and show that it is smaller than the Minkowski dimension.

  18. Gas-ion laser with gas pressure maintenance means

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thatcher, J.B.

    1975-01-01

    A gas-ion laser is described including means to maintain the ionizable gas in the laser cavity at a rather constant pressure over an extended period of time to significantly increase the useful life of the gas-ion laser. The gas laser includes a gas makeup system having a high pressure source or storage container and a regulating valve. The valve has a permeable solid state orifice member through which the gas flows from the high pressure source to the laser cavity to replenish the gas in the laser cavity and maintain the gas pressure in the cavity rather constant. The permeable orifice member is selected from a solid state material having a permeability that is variable in relation to the magnitude of the energy applied to the orifice member. The gas-ion laser has a valve operating means such as a heater for varying the applied energy such as thermal energy to the member to regulate the gas flow. Additionally, the gas-ion laser has a valve control means that is responsive to the gas pressure in the laser cavity for controlling the valve control means to maintain the pressure at a desired level. (U.S.)

  19. Determining the k in k-means with MapReduce

    OpenAIRE

    Debatty , Thibault; Michiardi , Pietro; Mees , Wim; Thonnard , Olivier

    2014-01-01

    International audience; In this paper we propose a MapReduce implementation of G-means, a variant of k-means that is able to automatically determine k, the number of clusters. We show that our implementation scales to very large datasets and very large values of k, as the computation cost is proportional to nk. Other techniques that run a clustering algorithm with different values of k and choose the value of k that provides the " best " results have a computation cost that is proportional to...

  20. Non-equilibrium mean-field theories on scale-free networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caccioli, Fabio; Dall'Asta, Luca

    2009-01-01

    Many non-equilibrium processes on scale-free networks present anomalous critical behavior that is not explained by standard mean-field theories. We propose a systematic method to derive stochastic equations for mean-field order parameters that implicitly account for the degree heterogeneity. The method is used to correctly predict the dynamical critical behavior of some binary spin models and reaction–diffusion processes. The validity of our non-equilibrium theory is further supported by showing its relation with the generalized Landau theory of equilibrium critical phenomena on networks

  1. Arsenic removal in water by means of coagulation-flocculation processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Franco, M. F.; Carro P, M. E.

    2014-01-01

    Arsenic and arsenical compounds are considered as carcinogenic and risky for humans according to epidemiological evidence related with the ingestion of arsenical water during a long period. In many places the only source of drinking water contains arsenic and, therefore, removal strategies have to be investigated. This work shows experimental results of coagulation-flocculation processes implemented to evaluate the efficiency in the removal of arsenic from drinking water. The main objectives include the evaluation of the relevant aspect that controls the removal efficiency. Experimental tests were performed with coagulant concentrations from 5 to 500 mg/L, solid particle concentrations from 0 to 6000 mg/L, and initial arsenic concentrations from 0.5 to 5 mg/L. These variables were simultaneously varied in more than 100 experiments. The efficiency in remediation ranged from 0% to 95%. Removal efficiency near 95% was obtained when using ferric chloride as coagulant, and was close to 80% when using aluminium sulfate as coagulant in arsenate solutions. The remediation efficiency decreased significantly when the ferric chloride concentration was higher than 50 mg/L in relation to the obtained results for aluminum sulfate for different type and concentration of soil particles. The highest removal efficiency were obtained at ph between 3 and 5 in oxidized solutions. Obtained results simulated by means of multiple linear regression analysis (R>0.90) allow determining that the main parameters that control the removal of arsenic from drinking water are coagulant concentration, ph, and solid particles concentration. Conversely, particle mineralogy and coagulant type have less significant effect on the removal by means of coagulation-flocculation mechanisms. Obtained results are relevant for the removal of As in water treatment plants as well as for the development of small scale filters. The samples were studied by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X

  2. Clinical significance of pneumatosis intestinalis - correlation of MDCT-findings with treatment and outcome

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Treyaud, Marc-Olivier; Duran, Rafael; Knebel, Jean-Francois; Meuli, Reto A.; Schmidt, Sabine [Lausanne University Hospital, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Lausanne (Switzerland); Zins, Marc [Fondation Hopital St Joseph, Department of Radiology, Paris (France)

    2017-01-15

    To evaluate the clinical significance of pneumatosis intestinalis (PI) including the influence on treatment and outcome. Two radiologists jointly reviewed MDCT-examinations of 149 consecutive emergency patients (53 women, mean age 64, range 21-95) with PI of the stomach (n = 4), small (n = 68) and/or large bowel (n = 96). PI extension, distribution and possibly associated porto-mesenteric venous gas (PMVG) were correlated with other MDCT-findings, risk factors, clinical management, laboratory, histopathology, final diagnosis and outcome. The most frequent cause of PI was intestinal ischemia (n = 80,53.7 %), followed by infection (n = 18,12.1 %), obstructive (n = 12,8.1 %) and non-obstructive (n = 10,6.7 %) bowel dilatation, unknown aetiologies (n = 8,5.4 %), drugs (n = 8,5.4 %), inflammation (n = 7,4.7 %), and others (n = 6,4 %). Neither PI distribution nor extension significantly correlated with underlying ischemia. Overall mortality was 41.6 % (n = 62), mostly related to intestinal ischemia (p = 0.003). Associated PMVG significantly correlated with underlying ischemia (p = 0.009), as did the anatomical distribution of PMVG (p = 0.015). Decreased mural contrast-enhancement was the only other MDCT-feature significantly associated with ischemia (p p < 0.001). Elevated white blood count significantly correlated with ischemia (p = 0.03). In emergency patients, ischemia remains the most common aetiology of PI, showing the highest mortality. PI with associated PMVG is an alerting sign. PI together with decreased mural contrast-enhancement indicates underlying ischemia. (orig.)

  3. Effects of Compression by Means of Sports Socks on the Ankle Kinesthesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatsuya Hayami

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of compression by means of sports socks (CG socks on the ankle knesthesia. Thirteen subjects were participated. In order to accomplish the purpose, we assessed a position sense, movement sense, force sense, and sensorymotor function during under three different conditions: subjects wore the normal socks that are distributed generally (normal socks condition, wore the CG socks (CG socks condition, and did not wear any socks (barefoot condition. The position sense and force sense were assessed in a reproduction task of ankle joint angle and force output during plantar/dorsiflexion, respectively. The movement sense was assessed by the threshold of detection for passive movement. The sensory motor function was assessed during our original Kinetic–Equilibrating task. The results showed that the movement sense, force sense, and sensorymotor function significantly improved in the CG socks condition compared to the other two conditions. These results suggested that the compression by means of the CG socks might improve the perception of the changes of joint angle and the extent of force output. Therefore, improvement of these senses enhanced the sensorymotor function based on these senses.

  4. DNSC08 mean sea surface and mean dynamic topography models

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Ole Baltazar; Knudsen, Per

    2009-01-01

    -2004. It is the first global MSS without a polar gap including all of the Arctic Ocean by including laser altimetry from the ICESat mission. The mean dynamic topography (MDT) is the quantity that bridges the geoid and the mean sea surface constraining large-scale ocean circulation. Here we present a new high...

  5. Effect of Reynolds number and inflow parameters on mean and turbulent flow over complex topography

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kilpatrick, Ryan; Hangan, Horia; Siddiqui, Kamran

    2016-01-01

    inflow conditions were tested in order to isolate the impact of key parameters such as Reynolds number, inflow shear profile, and effective roughness, on flow behaviour over the escarpment. The results show that the mean flow behaviour was generally not affected by the Reynolds number; however, a slight...... (TKE) over the escarpment was found be a strong function of inflow roughness and a weak function of the Reynolds number. The local change in the inflow wind shear was found to have the most significant influence on the TKE magnitude, which more closely approximated the full-scale TKE data, a result...

  6. Meaning in mathematics education

    CERN Document Server

    Valero, Paola; Hoyles, Celia; Skovsmose, Ole

    2005-01-01

    What does it mean to know mathematics? How does meaning in mathematics education connect to common sense or to the meaning of mathematics itself? How are meanings constructed and communicated and what are the dilemmas related to these processes? There are many answers to these questions, some of which might appear to be contradictory. Thus understanding the complexity of meaning in mathematics education is a matter of huge importance. There are twin directions in which discussions have developed - theoretical and practical - and this book seeks to move the debate forward along both dimensions while seeking to relate them where appropriate. A discussion of meaning can start from a theoretical examination of mathematics and how mathematicians over time have made sense of their work. However, from a more practical perspective, anybody involved in teaching mathematics is faced with the need to orchestrate the myriad of meanings derived from multiple sources that students develop of mathematical knowledge.

  7. [Meaning in life and mental health: personal meaning systems of psychotherapists and psychotherapy patients].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Löffler, Sabine; Knappe, Rainer; Joraschky, Peter; Pöhlmann, Karin

    2010-01-01

    This study investigated differences in the personal meaning systems of psychotherapists and psychotherapy patients as well as correlations between meaning in life and mental health. We qualitatively assessed the content and structure of the personal meaning systems of 41 psychotherapists and 77 psychotherapy patients. In addition, the participants completed questionnaires measuring meaning in life (LRI-r-d), sense of coherence (SOC-9L), self-esteem (RSES), satisfaction with life (SWLS), self-efficacy (SWK), and depression (BDI). The personal meaning systems of psychotherapists were more complex and coherent compared to psychotherapy patients. In the group of psychotherapy patients, a more elaborate structure of the personal meaning system correlated with the subjective sense of meaning. We were able to confirm correlations between meaning in life and mental health for most of the instances. Psychotherapists had more elaborate and coherent meaning systems than psychotherapy patients. Especially for psychotherapy patients elaborate and coherent meaning systems turned out to be important for mental health.

  8. Virtual-site correlation mean field approach to criticality in spin systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sen, Aditi; Sen, Ujjwal

    2013-01-01

    We propose a virtual-site correlation mean field theory for dealing with interacting many-body systems. It involves a coarse-graining technique that terminates a step before the mean field theory: While mean field theory deals with only single-body physical parameters, the virtual-site correlation mean field theory deals with single- as well as two-body ones, and involves a virtual site for every interaction term in the Hamiltonian. We generalize the theory to a cluster virtual-site correlation mean field, that works with a fundamental unit of the lattice of the many-body system. We apply these methods to interacting Ising spin systems in several lattice geometries and dimensions, and show that the predictions of the onset of criticality of these models are generally much better in the proposed theories as compared to the corresponding ones in mean field theories

  9. Tomato Fruits Show Wide Phenomic Diversity but Fruit Developmental Genes Show Low Genomic Diversity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vijee Mohan

    Full Text Available Domestication of tomato has resulted in large diversity in fruit phenotypes. An intensive phenotyping of 127 tomato accessions from 20 countries revealed extensive morphological diversity in fruit traits. The diversity in fruit traits clustered the accessions into nine classes and identified certain promising lines having desirable traits pertaining to total soluble salts (TSS, carotenoids, ripening index, weight and shape. Factor analysis of the morphometric data from Tomato Analyzer showed that the fruit shape is a complex trait shared by several factors. The 100% variance between round and flat fruit shapes was explained by one discriminant function having a canonical correlation of 0.874 by stepwise discriminant analysis. A set of 10 genes (ACS2, COP1, CYC-B, RIN, MSH2, NAC-NOR, PHOT1, PHYA, PHYB and PSY1 involved in various plant developmental processes were screened for SNP polymorphism by EcoTILLING. The genetic diversity in these genes revealed a total of 36 non-synonymous and 18 synonymous changes leading to the identification of 28 haplotypes. The average frequency of polymorphism across the genes was 0.038/Kb. Significant negative Tajima'D statistic in two of the genes, ACS2 and PHOT1 indicated the presence of rare alleles in low frequency. Our study indicates that while there is low polymorphic diversity in the genes regulating plant development, the population shows wider phenotype diversity. Nonetheless, morphological and genetic diversity of the present collection can be further exploited as potential resources in future.

  10. A geometric approach to multiperiod mean variance optimization of assets and liabilities

    OpenAIRE

    Leippold, Markus; Trojani, Fabio; Vanini, Paolo

    2005-01-01

    We present a geometric approach to discrete time multiperiod mean variance portfolio optimization that largely simplifies the mathematical analysis and the economic interpretation of such model settings. We show that multiperiod mean variance optimal policies can be decomposed in an orthogonal set of basis strategies, each having a clear economic interpretation. This implies that the corresponding multi period mean variance frontiers are spanned by an orthogonal basis of dynamic returns. Spec...

  11. Prevalence and Significance of Haemoparasitic Infections of Cattle in North- Central, Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J.Kamani.

    Full Text Available The prevalence and significance of hemoparasites of cattle from north-central Nigeria was determined using diagnostic records from Parasitology Division, National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI Vom, from May 2006 to April 2008. A total of 637 blood samples from cattle from four states (Plateau, Bauchi, Nasarawa and Kaduna of Nigeria in anticoagulant were submitted to the laboratory for parasitological diagnosis. Giemsa stained thin blood smears were examined for hemoparasites. Packed cell volume (PCV for each sample was determined and Hematocrit centrifuge technique (HCT was used to determine the presence of motile parasites. An overall prevalence of 25.7% was recorded for all samples examined. Babesia bigemina and B.bovis accounted for 16.0%, followed by Theileria mutans (3.1%, Trypanosoma spp (T.vivax and T. congolense (2.8%, Anaplasma marginale (1.9%, Microfilaria (1.4%. The hemoparasites identified alone or in combination with others had a significant (P<0.05 effect on the mean PCV of infected animals. Similarly, hemoparasites infection in young animals as well as during the dry season resulted in significant (P<0.05 reduction of PCV values. The result of this study shows these hemoparasites are endemic in cattle in the study area which may result in serious disease conditions when such animals are subjected to stressful condition. [Veterinary World 2010; 3(10.000: 445-448

  12. MEANING AND FORM IN NURSERY RHYMES TRANSLATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ikke Dewi Pratama

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract MAKNA DAN BENTUK DALAM PENERJEMAHAN LAGU-LAGU ANAK Abstract Translating nursery rhymes is not an easy task. The problems of equivalence in meaning and form as well as in the harmony between the translated lyrics and the music are aspects that need to be considered by the translators. By considering nursery rhyme lyric as poetry text, this research analyzes the equivalence of meaning and form in nursery rhymes translation. This research focuses on five nursery rhymes. The meaning analysis was done by conducting particular procedures on translation quality assessment. Meanwhile, the analysis of the form was conducted by comparing the two versions of the nursery rhymes focusing on the sound values. From the equivalence of meaning, the result shows that most nursery rhymes are translated less accurately. On the other hand, the finding of the equivalence in form shows that most of the auditory devices are deleted while most of the rhymes are shifted. This research is expected to give a contribution to song translation activities especially those involving children as the target listeners. Keywords: equivalence, accuracy, sound values, auditory devices, rhymes Abstrak Menerjemahkan lagu anak bukanlah hal yang mudah. Masalah kesepadanan makna dan bentuk, serta harmonisasi antara lirik terjemahan dan musik adalah aspek-aspek yang harus dipertimbangkan oleh penerjemah. Dengan mempertimbangkan lirik lagu anak sebagai teks puisi, penelitian ini menganalisis kesepadanan antara makna dan bentuk dalam terjemahan lagu anak. Dengan menggunakan teknik sampling, penelitian ini berfokus kepada lima lagu anak. Analisis makna dilakukan dengan prosedur penelitian kualitas terjemahan sedangkan analisis bentuk dilakukan dengan membandingkan dua versi lagu anak dengan fokus kepada sound values (bunyi. Analisis kesepadanan makna menunjukkan bahwa sebagian besar lagu anak diterjemahkan dengan kurang akurat. Dari segi bentuk, sebagian besar auditory devices

  13. On the significance of the noise model for the performance of a linear MPC in closed-loop operation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hagdrup, Morten; Boiroux, Dimitri; Mahmoudi, Zeinab

    2016-01-01

    This paper discusses the significance of the noise model for the performance of a Model Predictive Controller when operating in closed-loop. The process model is parametrized as a continuous-time (CT) model and the relevant sampled-data filtering and control algorithms are developed. Using CT...... models typically means less parameters to identify. Systematic tuning of such controllers is discussed. Simulation studies are conducted for linear time-invariant systems showing that choosing a noise model of low order is beneficial for closed-loop performance. (C) 2016, IFAC (International Federation...

  14. A genome-wide association scan (GWAS) for mean telomere length within the COGS project: identified loci show little association with hormone-related cancer risk

    OpenAIRE

    Pooley, K. A.; Bojesen, S. E.; Weischer, M.; Nielsen, S. F.; Thompson, D.; Amin Al Olama, A.; Michailidou, K.; Tyrer, J. P.; Benlloch, S.; Brown, J.; Audley, T.; Luben, R.; Khaw, K.-T.; Neal, D. E.; Hamdy, F. C.

    2013-01-01

    Mean telomere length (TL) in blood cells is heritable and has been reported to be associated with risks of several diseases, including cancer. We conducted a meta-analysis of three GWAS for TL (total n=2240) and selected 1629 variants for replication via the ?iCOGS? custom genotyping array. All ?200 000 iCOGS variants were analysed with TL, and those displaying associations in healthy controls (n = 15 065) were further tested in breast cancer cases (n = 11 024). We found a novel TL associatio...

  15. Generalized mean detector for collaborative spectrum sensing

    KAUST Repository

    Shakir, Muhammad Zeeshan

    2013-04-01

    In this paper, a unified generalized eigenvalue based spectrum sensing framework referred to as Generalized mean detector (GMD) has been introduced. The generalization of the detectors namely (i) the eigenvalue ratio detector (ERD) involving the ratio of the largest and the smallest eigenvalues; (ii) the Geometric mean detector (GEMD) involving the ratio of the largest eigenvalue and the geometric mean of the eigenvalues and (iii) the Arithmetic mean detector (ARMD) involving the ratio of the largest and the arithmetic mean of the eigenvalues is explored. The foundation of the proposed unified framework is based on the calculation of exact analytical moments of the random variables of test statistics of the respective detectors. In this context, we approximate the probability density function (PDF) of the test statistics of the respective detectors by Gaussian/Gamma PDF using the moment matching method. Finally, we derive closed-form expressions to calculate the decision threshold of the eigenvalue based detectors by exchanging the derived exact moments of the random variables of test statistics with the moments of the Gaussian/Gamma distribution function. The performance of the eigenvalue based detectors is compared with the traditional detectors such as energy detector (ED) and cyclostationary detector (CSD) and validate the importance of the eigenvalue based detectors particularly over realistic wireless cognitive environments. Analytical and simulation results show that the GEMD and the ARMD yields considerable performance advantage in realistic spectrum sensing scenarios. Moreover, our results based on proposed simple and tractable approximation approaches are in perfect agreement with the empirical results. © 1972-2012 IEEE.

  16. Relativistic mean-field mass models

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pena-Arteaga, D.; Goriely, S.; Chamel, N. [Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Institut d' Astronomie et d' Astrophysique, CP-226, Brussels (Belgium)

    2016-10-15

    We present a new effort to develop viable mass models within the relativistic mean-field approach with density-dependent meson couplings, separable pairing and microscopic estimations for the translational and rotational correction energies. Two interactions, DD-MEB1 and DD-MEB2, are fitted to essentially all experimental masses, and also to charge radii and infinite nuclear matter properties as determined by microscopic models using realistic interactions. While DD-MEB1 includes the σ, ω and ρ meson fields, DD-MEB2 also considers the δ meson. Both mass models describe the 2353 experimental masses with a root mean square deviation of about 1.1 MeV and the 882 measured charge radii with a root mean square deviation of 0.029 fm. In addition, we show that the Pb isotopic shifts and moments of inertia are rather well reproduced, and the equation of state in pure neutron matter as well as symmetric nuclear matter are in relatively good agreement with existing realistic calculations. Both models predict a maximum neutron-star mass of more than 2.6 solar masses, and thus are able to accommodate the heaviest neutron stars observed so far. However, the new Lagrangians, like all previously determined RMF models, present the drawback of being characterized by a low effective mass, which leads to strong shell effects due to the strong coupling between the spin-orbit splitting and the effective mass. Complete mass tables have been generated and a comparison with other mass models is presented. (orig.)

  17. Non-invasive prediction of hemodynamically significant coronary artery stenoses by contrast density difference in coronary CT angiography

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hell, Michaela M., E-mail: michaela.hell@uk-erlangen.de [Department of Cardiology, University of Erlangen (Germany); Dey, Damini [Department of Biomedical Sciences, Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Taper Building, Room A238, 8700 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90048 (United States); Marwan, Mohamed; Achenbach, Stephan; Schmid, Jasmin; Schuhbaeck, Annika [Department of Cardiology, University of Erlangen (Germany)

    2015-08-15

    . Differences in lesion characteristics between hemodynamically significant (invasively measured FFR ≤0.80) and non-significant lesions (FFR >0.80) were determined. Results: Mean patient age was 64 ± 11 years with 44 males (75%). 21 out of 72 coronary artery lesions (29%) were hemodynamically significant according to invasive FFR. Mean invasive FFR was 0.66 ± 0.12 vs. 0.91 ± 0.05 for hemodynamically significant versus non-significant lesions. Hemodynamically significant lesions showed a significantly greater percentage of non-calcified plaque compared to non-hemodynamically relevant lesions (51.3 ± 15.3% vs. 43.6 ± 16.5%, p = 0.021). Contrast density difference was significantly increased in hemodynamically relevant lesions (26.0 ± 20.2% vs. 16.6 ± 10.9% for non-significant lesions; p = 0.013). At a threshold of ≥24%, the contrast density difference predicted hemodynamically significant lesions with a specificity of 75%, sensitivity of 33%, PPV of 35% and NPV of 73%. The transluminal attenuation gradient showed no significant difference between hemodynamically significant and non-significant lesions (−1.4 ± 1.4 HU/mm vs. −1.1 ± 1.3 HU/mm, p = n.s.). Conclusions: Quantitative contrast density difference across coronary lesions in coronary CTA data sets may be applied as a non-invasive tool to identify hemodynamically significant stenoses.

  18. Are Korean Industry-Sorted Portfolios Mean Reverting?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seongman Moon

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper tests the weak-form efficient market hypothesis for Korean industry-sorted portfolios. Based on a panel variance ratio approach, we find significant mean reversion of stock returns over long horizons in the pre Asian currency crisis period but little evidence in the post-crisis period. Our empirical findings are consistent with the fact that Korea accelerated its integration with international financial market by implementing extensive capital liberalization since the crisis.

  19. Regime shifts in mean-variance efficient frontiers: some international evidence

    OpenAIRE

    Massimo Guidolin; Federica Ria

    2010-01-01

    Regime switching models have been assuming a central role in financial applications because of their well-known ability to capture the presence of rich non-linear patterns in the joint distribution of asset returns. This paper examines how the presence of regimes in means, variances, and correlations of asset returns translates into explicit dynamics of the Markowitz mean-variance frontier. In particular, the paper shows both theoretically and through an application to international equity po...

  20. Socio-economic applications of finite state mean field games

    KAUST Repository

    Gomes, Diogo A.

    2014-10-06

    In this paper, we present different applications of finite state mean field games to socio-economic sciences. Examples include paradigm shifts in the scientific community or consumer choice behaviour in the free market. The corresponding finite state mean field game models are hyperbolic systems of partial differential equations, for which we present and validate different numerical methods. We illustrate the behaviour of solutions with various numerical experiments,which show interesting phenomena such as shock formation. Hence, we conclude with an investigation of the shock structure in the case of two-state problems.

  1. Radiation stress and mean drift in continental shelf waves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weber, Jan Erik H.; Drivdal, Magnus

    2012-03-01

    The time- and depth-averaged mean drift induced by barotropic continental shelf waves (CSW's) is studied theoretically for idealized shelf topography by calculating the mean volume fluxes to second order in wave amplitude. The waves suffer weak spatial damping due to bottom friction, which leads to radiation stress forcing of the mean fluxes. In terms of the total wave energy density E̅̅ over the shelf region, the radiation stress tensor component S̅11 for CSW's is found to be different from that of shallow water surface waves in a non-rotating ocean. For CSW's, the ratio S̅11/E̅ depends strongly on the wave number. The mean Lagrangian flow forced by the radiation stress can be subdivided into a Stokes drift and a mean Eulerian drift current. The magnitude of latter depends on ratio between the radiation stress and the bottom stress acting on the mean flow. When the effect of bottom friction acts equally strong on the waves and the mean current, calculations for short CSW's show that the Stokes drift and the friction-dependent wave-induced mean Eulerian current varies approximately in anti-phase over the shelf, and that the latter is numerically the largest. For long CSW's they are approximately in phase. In both cases the mean Lagrangian current, which is responsible for the net particle drift, has its largest numerical value at the coast on the shallow part of the shelf. Enhancing the effect of bottom friction on the Eulerian mean flow, results in a general current speed reduction, as well as a change in spatial structure for long waves. Applying realistic physical parameters for the continental shelf west of Norway, calculations yield along-shelf mean drift velocities for short CSW's that may be important for the transport of biological material, neutral tracers, and underwater plumes of dissolved oil from deepwater drilling accidents.

  2. Carotid endarterectomy significantly improves postoperative laryngeal sensitivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hammer, Georg Philipp; Tomazic, Peter Valentin; Vasicek, Sarah; Graupp, Matthias; Gugatschka, Markus; Baumann, Anneliese; Konstantiniuk, Peter; Koter, Stephan Herwig

    2016-11-01

    Iatrogenic injury of the vagus nerve or its branches during carotid endarterectomy (CEA) can result in globus sensation, dysphagia, and even vocal fold immobility. Knowledge of morphologic and functional laryngopharyngeal outcomes after CEA is poor. The present study was performed to determine potential iatrogenic damage to the laryngeal innervation after CEA. An area of particular interest was the supraglottic sensory threshold, which was examined by Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing With Sensory Testing (FEESST; Pentax Medical Company, Montvale, NJ), a validated and safe method for the determination of the motor and sensory components of swallowing. FEESST was used preoperatively in 32 patients scheduled to undergo CEA and twice postoperatively to examine the motor and sensory components of swallowing. In this endolaryngeal examination, laryngopharyngeal sensory thresholds (in mm Hg) were defined as normal at 6.0 mm Hg APP, with a value >10.0 mm Hg APP indicating abolished laryngeal adductor reflex. Acoustic voice parameters were also analyzed for further functional changes of the larynx. The mean ± standard deviation preoperative FEESST measures showed no significant differences (P = .065) between the operated-on side (6.73 ± 1.73 mm Hg) and the opposite side (5.83 ± 1.68 mm Hg). At 2 days postoperatively, the threshold increased (P = .001) to 7.62 ± 1.98 mm Hg on the operated-on side. A laryngopharyngeal mucosal hematoma on the operated side was endoscopically detectable in eight patients (30.8%); in these patients, we found a markedly elevated (P = .021) measure of 9.50 ± 0.93 mm Hg. On the opposite (nonoperated-on) side of the laryngopharynx, the thresholds remained at the same level as preoperatively over all assessments (P >.05), whereas the differences between the operated and nonoperated-on sides and the hematoma and nonhematoma groups were highly significant (P = .004 and P = .001, respectively). Surprisingly, the

  3. Confusion in the Classroom: Does "Logos" Mean Logic?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Little, Joseph

    1999-01-01

    Traces the term "logos" from the ninth to the fourth century B.C. to distinguish between its general meaning and its technical definition within classical rhetoric. Shows that Aristotle's "pistis" of "logos" refers, not to an appeal to logic, but to the argument or speech itself, which reinstates all three proofs of…

  4. Clinical significance of plasma lysophosphatidic acid levels in the differential diagnosis of ovarian cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yun-Jie Zhang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To investigate the value of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Materials and Methods: We first performed a hospital-based, case-control study involving 123 ovarian cancer patients and 101 benign ovarian tumor patients, and then conducted a meta-analysis with 19 case-control studies to assess the correlation between ovarian cancer and plasma LPA levels. Results: The case-control study results demonstrated that ovarian cancer patients have increased LPA and cancer antigen (CA-125 levels compared to patients with benign ovarian tumor (LPA: Ovarian cancer vs benign ovarian tumor: 5.28 ± 1.52 vs 1.82 ± 0.77 μmol/L; CA-125: Ovarian cancer vs benign ovarian tumor: 87.17 ± 45.81 vs. 14.03 ± 10.14 U/mL, which showed statistically significant differences (both P < 0.05. LPA with advanced sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy rate of diagnosis excelled CA-125 in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer (both P < 0.05. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC curve in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer (LPA: 0.983; CA-125: 0.910 were statistically significant compared with the reference (both P < 0.001 and the difference of the areas of ROC curve between LPA and CA-125 in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer showed statistically significant difference (P < 0.05. The meta-analysis results suggested that plasma LPA levels were higher in ovarian cancer tissues than in benign tissues (standardized mean difference (SMD =2.36, 95% confidence interval (CI: 1.61-3.11, P < 0.001 and normal tissues (SMD = 2.32, 95% CI: 1.77-2.87, P < 0.001. Conclusion: LPA shows greater value in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer compared to CA-125 and may be employed as a biological index to diagnose ovarian cancer.

  5. Reference Curve for the Mean Uterine Artery Pulsatility Index in Singleton Pregnancies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weichert, Alexander; Hagen, Andreas; Tchirikov, Michael; Fuchs, Ilka B; Henrich, Wolfgang; Entezami, Michael

    2017-05-01

    the UA can all change the flow pattern. The mean pulsatility index (Mean PI) showed a continuous decrease over time. There were significant differences between our data and alternative reference curves. A system of classifying Doppler studies and a reference curve adapted to the current technology are urgently required to differentiate better between physiological and pathological findings.

  6. Does cognitive-behavioural therapy promote meaning making? A preliminary test in the context of geriatric depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holland, Jason M; Chong, Gabriella; Currier, Joseph M; O'Hara, Ruth; Gallagher-Thompson, Dolores

    2015-03-01

    This study examined the extent to which cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for geriatric depression promoted meaning made of stress. Fifty-one participants received CBT and were assessed at pre- and post-treatment. The primary outcome was the Integration of Stressful Life Experiences Scale (ISLES) and demographic factors were examined as moderators of changes over time. Those with more education showed improvement in their ability to regain positive values, worldviews, and purpose in life after a stressor. It appears that CBT promotes some forms of meaning made of stress for those with higher education. Cognitive-behavioural therapy as it is routinely practiced may help highly educated older adults regain their Footing in the World (e.g., maintain positive values, worldviews, and purpose in life) in the aftermath of a stressful life event. Cognitive-behavioural therapy appears to offer fewer gains for less educated older adults (in terms of Footing in the World) as well as for other aspects of meaning-making, such as the ability to 'make sense' of a significant stressor. Although more empirical work is necessary, meaning-oriented interventions (e.g., 're-authoring' a fragmented self-narrative; Neimeyer, 2009, p. 97) hold promise as useful adjuncts to routine therapy that could augment outcomes. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

  7. The Significance of Living Together and Importance of Marriage in Same-Sex Couples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haas, Stephen M; Whitton, Sarah W

    2015-01-01

    Because marriage has been denied to same-sex couples, it is likely that the meaning and significance ascribed to non-marital cohabitation may be unique. Further, it is unclear whether same-sex couples view marriage as important to their relationships, and if they do, why. Using qualitative data from 526 individuals in cohabiting same-sex relationships across 47 states, we explored (1) the meaning and significance of cohabitation and (2) the perceived importance of legal marriage to the relationship. Participants viewed cohabitation as significant, most commonly because it indicates long-term commitment, provides emotional support, makes the couple a family, and allows them to share life together. Marriage was perceived as important to a majority (90%), most commonly because it confers financial and legal benefits, relational legitimacy, and demonstrates the same commitment as different-sex couples. Overall, findings highlight the symbolic significance of cohabitation and importance of access to legal marriage to adults in same-sex relationships.

  8. The Significant of Model School in Pluralistic Society of the Three Southern Border Provinces of Thailand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haji-Awang Faisol

    2016-01-01

    The result of the study show that, a significant traits of the model schools in the multi-cultural society are not merely performed well in administrative procedure, teaching and learning process, but these schools also able to reveal the real social norm and religious believe into communities’ practical life as a truly “Malay-Muslim” society. It is means that, the school able to run the integrated programs under the shade of philosophy of Islamic education paralleled the National Education aims to ensure that the productivities of the programs able to serve both sides, national education on the one hand and the Malay Muslim communities’ satisfaction on the other hand.

  9. Neutron mean annihilation time and inverse of the mean annihilation rate in nuclear reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hayashi, Masatoshi

    1999-01-01

    There is a dogma in nuclear reactor theory that in a critical reactor the mean annihilation time of neutron is equal to the mean generation time. The author insists that this is a dogma from the basic reexamination of the mean annihilation time of neutron. There are two kinds of neutrons, one participating in chain reactions and the other not participating in chain reactions. The mean annihilation time of neutron is the mean time of the time to annihilation of all neutrons generated in the reactor. The 'prompt neutron life' as a dynamic characteristic parameter proper to nuclear reactor can not be understood as the mean time of neutron to annihilation. The author explains the logic quantitatively with two kinds of nuclear reactors, a bare reactor and an infinite reactor, for which two different mean neutron annihilation times can be defined. Thus, (1) the inverse of the annihilation rate can not simply be considered as the mean annihilation time, (2) the mean annihilation time of a critical reactor is not necessarily equal to the mean generation time, and (3) the prompt neutron life used as a dynamic characteristic parameter of a nuclear reactor can not be understood as the mean time of neutron to annihilation. (M.M.)

  10. What Do Monkey Calls Mean?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schlenker, Philippe; Chemla, Emmanuel; Zuberbühler, Klaus

    2016-12-01

    A field of primate linguistics is gradually emerging. It combines general questions and tools from theoretical linguistics with rich data gathered in experimental primatology. Analyses of several monkey systems have uncovered very simple morphological and syntactic rules and have led to the development of a primate semantics that asks new questions about the division of semantic labor between the literal meaning of monkey calls, additional mechanisms of pragmatic enrichment, and the environmental context. We show that comparative studies across species may validate this program and may in some cases help in reconstructing the evolution of monkey communication over millions of years. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  11. Linking Strategy-As-Practice Knowledge and Multi-Stakeholder Brand Meaning Co-Creation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vallaster, Christine; von Wallpach, Sylvia

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, we adopt a strategy-as-practice perspective and establish a link to the practices of brand meaning cocreation. We contribute empirical insights gained in the context of a small, non-commercial institution. The results show that brand meaning co-creation is a fluid, social phenomenon...

  12. Introduction to Psychology Students' Parental Status Predicts Learning Preferences and Life Meaning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lovell, Elyse D'nn; Munn, Nathan

    2017-01-01

    This study explores Introduction to Psychology students' learning preferences and their personal search for meaning while considering their parental status. The findings suggest that parents show preferences for project-based learning and have lower levels of searching for meaning than non-parents. When parental status, age, and finances were…

  13. Means of escape provisions and evacuation simulation of public building in Malaysia and Singapore

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samad, Muna Hanim Abdul; Taib, Nooriati; Ying, Choo Siew

    2017-10-01

    The Uniform Building By-law 1984 of Malaysia is the legal document governing fire safety requirements in buildings. Its prescriptive nature has made the requirements out dated from the viewpoint of current performance based approach in most developed countries. The means of escape provisions is a critical requirement to safeguard occupants' safety in fire especially in public buildings. As stipulated in the UBBL 1984, the means of escape provisions includes sufficient escape routes, travel distance, protection of escape routes, etc. designated as means to allow occupants to escape within a safe period of time. This research aims at investigating the effectiveness of those provisions in public buildings during evacuation process involving massive crowd during emergencies. This research includes a scenario-based study on evacuation processes using two software i.e. PyroSim, a crowd modelling software to conduct smoke study and Pathfinder to stimulate evacuation model of building in Malaysia and Singapore as comparative study. The results show that the buildings used as case study were designed according to Malaysian UBBL 1984 and Singapore Firecode, 2013 respectively provide relative safe means of escape. The simulations of fire and smoke and coupled with simulation of evacuation have demonstrated that although there are adequate exits designated according to fire requirements, the impact of the geometry of atriums on the behavior of fire and smoke have significant effect on escape time especially for unfamiliar user of the premises.

  14. THE LEXICOGRAFIC PRINCIPLES OF WORD MEANINGS IN THE MULTILINGUAL SYNONYMIC DICTIONARIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Siddikova, I.A.

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available This article is dedicated to study of principles of description of the meaning of words in the multilingual synonymic dictionaries. The dictionary of synonyms must have full enough and absolutely explicit description of their semantic similarity and distinctions. The description can be full if it includes all existing features of the words, adequately denote every meaning and help the language learners and speakers in choosing possible meanings of synonyms owing to situation. The synonymic dictionary must include all synonyms, their meanings, lexico-semantic combination, distribution, grammatical constructions and stylistic features showing their usage in certain contexts and situations. In some cases according to their contextual meanings synonyms may be substituted depending on situation. The article is based on examples of English, Uzbek and Russian languages.

  15. Meaning and death-thought accessibility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Tongeren, Daryl R; Green, Jeffrey D

    2018-01-01

    Meaning is a central feature in human life, but death can disrupt a sense of meaning. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that meaning in life and meaning in death are distinct types of meaning when mortality is salient and differentially affect death-thought accessibility (DTA). In Experiment 1, imagining a specific scenario in which meaning is preserved beyond death reduced DTA relative to a standard mortality salience prime; moreover, these effects were not due to changes in self-esteem. In Experiment 2, imagining a meaningful life when mortality is salient elicited greater DTA, whereas imagining meaning in death elicited less DTA. Imbuing death with meaning attenuates DTA, whereas meaning in life increases DTA. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

  16. Retinal image restoration by means of blind deconvolution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marrugo, Andrés G.; Šorel, Michal; Šroubek, Filip; Millán, María S.

    2011-11-01

    Retinal imaging plays a key role in the diagnosis and management of ophthalmologic disorders, such as diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration. Because of the acquisition process, retinal images often suffer from blurring and uneven illumination. This problem may seriously affect disease diagnosis and progression assessment. Here we present a method for color retinal image restoration by means of multichannel blind deconvolution. The method is applied to a pair of retinal images acquired within a lapse of time, ranging from several minutes to months. It consists of a series of preprocessing steps to adjust the images so they comply with the considered degradation model, followed by the estimation of the point-spread function and, ultimately, image deconvolution. The preprocessing is mainly composed of image registration, uneven illumination compensation, and segmentation of areas with structural changes. In addition, we have developed a procedure for the detection and visualization of structural changes. This enables the identification of subtle developments in the retina not caused by variation in illumination or blur. The method was tested on synthetic and real images. Encouraging experimental results show that the method is capable of significant restoration of degraded retinal images.

  17. Culture as meaning-making

    OpenAIRE

    Lenkauskienė, Rūta; Liubinienė, Vilmantė

    2002-01-01

    The present paper analyses the role of social and cultural background knowledge in the cognition of meaning. Language and culture integrated studies have long been in the focus of attention. In order to study the language of a target culture, one should understand how human beings construct meanings, understand processes of meaning-making, account for different meanings, and examine their effects in social life. The language cannot be interpreted in the right way without taking the target cul...

  18. Detection by means of CT of inferior vena cava filters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zurera Tendero, L.J.; Canis Lopez, M.; Oteros Fernandez, R.; Ramos Gomez, M.; Garcia Revillo, J.; Roman Rios, G.

    1995-01-01

    Vena cava filters are an excellent tool for the prevention of pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) of the lower limbs. However, these devices are not entirely free of complications as thrombi can develop inside them, threatening to occlude them completely. The objective of this report is to study the incidence of thrombosis in vena cava filters, as well as their impact on prognosis. We also mention the importance of CT as an imaging technique in the study of this complication. We present 30 patients in whom different filters were implanted and their prospective follow-up by means of CT over a mean follow-up period of 36 months. Chi-square analysis was used to determine whether there was a significant relationship among the complications encountered (p<0,05), and their course over time was studied by means of Kaplan-Meyer curves. Five cases (16%) of complete thrombosis of the filter were observed among patients in whom the Gunther model had been implanted, yielding an index of probability of complete permeability of the inferior vena cava at 13 months of 82%. Thrombi of different degrees (between 5% and 60%) were also observed inside the filter in ten patients (33%) with Gunther, Simon-Nitional and LGM models. Filter thrombosis was not significantly associated with the onset of recurrent PE or of venous disorders involving lower limbs, the relationship between PE and preimplantation presence of inferior vena cava thrombosis was significant (p<0.01). It was also observed that post implantation anti coagulation did not significantly prevent later onset of filter thrombosis. (Author)

  19. Music, Meaning and Culture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard Widdess

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper situates musical meaning in culture, addressing music as social symbol and as ongoing process of meaning creation. Three examples of non- Western musical practice are used to illustrate the embedding of musical meaning in cultural context. The performance of an Australian Aboriginal song is shown to exemplify the interdependence of song style and social structure as a matrix for the emergence of cultural meanings; an example of North Indian performance is adduced to demonstrate the multi-layered nature of meaning as embodied in musical performance; and an example of collective festival performance from Nepal illustrates ways in which the structure of musical performance can mirror local cultural forms. Each of the three examples lends weight to the idea that music's meanings are often non-linguistic and reflect foundational schemas that are specific to the cultures from the musics are drawn.

  20. Balance disorder and increased risk of falls in osteoporosis and kyphosis: significance of kyphotic posture and muscle strength.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sinaki, Mehrsheed; Brey, Robert H; Hughes, Christine A; Larson, Dirk R; Kaufman, Kenton R

    2005-08-01

    This controlled trial was designed to investigate the influence of osteoporosis-related kyphosis (O-K) on falls. Twelve community-dwelling women with O-K (Cobb angle, 50-65 degrees measured from spine radiographs) and 13 healthy women serving as controls were enrolled. Mean age of the O-K group was 76 years (+/-5.1), height 158 cm (+/-5), and weight 61 kg (+/-7.9), and mean age of the control group was 71 years (+/-4.6), height 161 cm (+/-3.8), and weight 66 kg (+/-11.7). Quantitative isometric strength data were collected. Gait was monitored during unobstructed level walking and during stepping over an obstacle of four different heights randomly assigned (2.5%, 5%, 10%, and 15% of the subject's height). Balance was objectively assessed with computerized dynamic posturography consisting of the sensory organization test. Back extensor strength, grip strength, and all lower extremity muscle groups were significantly weaker in the O-K group than the control group (P controls for all conditions of unobstructed and obstructed level walking. Obstacle height had a significant effect on all center-of-mass variables. The O-K subjects had significantly greater balance abnormalities on computerized dynamic posturography than the control group (P =0.002). Data show that thoracic hyperkyphosis on a background of reduced muscle strength plays an important role in increasing body sway, gait unsteadiness, and risk of falls in osteoporosis.

  1. Prevalence and prognostic significance of malnutrition in chronic renal insufficiency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawson, J A; Lazarus, R; Kelly, J J

    2001-01-01

    Malnutrition is present in a significant proportion of patients commencing dialysis. However, the prevalence and prognostic significance of malnutrition within the chronic renal insufficiency (CRI) population before the initiation of dialysis is poorly characterized. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and prognostic significance of malnutrition in an unselected group of patients with CRI. Cohort analytic study. Ambulatory care practice of a university teaching hospital. Fifty patients with CRI (serum creatinine concentration > or = 1.7 mg/dL) were enrolled. Patients with a recent acute illness, nephrotic syndrome, intercurrent steroid therapy, gastrointestinal disease, or other severe organ failure that may have independently influenced nutritional status were excluded. At baseline, patients had a nutritional assessment consisting of subjective global assessment (SGA), measurement of body mass index (BMI), midarm circumference (MAC), serum albumin concentration, total lymphocyte count, and single frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis. Patients received standard medical care and were followed prospectively at quarterly intervals for 12 months. At baseline assessment, 28% of patients had evidence of malnutrition by SGA criteria. The malnourished group of patients had a significantly lower creatinine clearance (18.9 +/- 9.8 v 36.5 +/- 14.0 mL/min/1.73 m(2), mean +/- SD, P renal failure. These data suggest that SGA provides a useful means of assessing nutritional status and is helpful in identifying patients with increased risk of morbidity and mortality in the setting of CRI.

  2. Quantum mean-field theory of collective dynamics and tunneling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Negele, J.W.; Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge

    1981-01-01

    In collaboration with Shimon Levit and Zvi Paltiel, significant progress has been made recently in formulating the quantum many-body problem in terms of an expansion about solutions to time-dependent mean-field equations. The essential ideas, principal results, and illustrative examples will be summarized here. (orig./HSI)

  3. Exploring the meaning of home and its implications for the care of older people.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Board, Michele; McCormack, Brendan

    2018-04-20

    To explore the meaning of home for six baby boomers and consider how this insight can be used when caring for older people in hospital or residential settings. Feeling at home is important to help retain a sense of autonomy, security and well-being, but home is a complex concept to understand. The baby boomers are a large cohort entering later life and understanding their sense of home is not only an example of anticipatory gerontology but it could also provide the tools to explore home with the current older population, who may be in a variety of care settings. A qualitative hermeneutic approach was adopted to explore the meaning of home of six baby boomers. The participants were asked to take photographs showing what home meant to them and interpret these in a recorded photo-elicitation interview. Small teams then reviewed the images to provide further insight. Finally, all the data was reviewed to provide an overall analysis of the revealed meaning of home. Having possessions or stuff was important for the meaning of home; being familiar with the local environment was also 'homely', as well as certain textures and familiar sounds and smells; relationships with others and the ability to have choice in where and how the participants live were also significant for their meaning of home. The meaning of home is complex. Nevertheless, in this study an evocative sense of home was revealed and these insights could be used in discussions with older people in care settings to help increase their sense of autonomy, security and well-being. Furthermore these insights could also be used to develop a framework to help nursing staff guide these discussions. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

  4. Dark-Bright Soliton Dynamics Beyond the Mean-Field Approximation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katsimiga, Garyfallia; Koutentakis, Georgios; Mistakidis, Simeon; Kevrekidis, Panagiotis; Schmelcher, Peter; Theory Group of Fundamental Processes in Quantum Physics Team

    2017-04-01

    The dynamics of dark bright solitons beyond the mean-field approximation is investigated. We first examine the case of a single dark-bright soliton and its oscillations within a parabolic trap. Subsequently, we move to the setting of collisions, comparing the mean-field approximation to that involving multiple orbitals in both the dark and the bright component. Fragmentation is present and significantly affects the dynamics, especially in the case of slower solitons and in that of lower atom numbers. It is shown that the presence of fragmentation allows for bipartite entanglement between the distinguishable species. Most importantly the interplay between fragmentation and entanglement leads to the decay of each of the initial mean-field dark-bright solitons into fast and slow fragmented dark-bright structures. A variety of excitations including dark-bright solitons in multiple (concurrently populated) orbitals is observed. Dark-antidark states and domain-wall-bright soliton complexes can also be observed to arise spontaneously in the beyond mean-field dynamics. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) in the framework of the SFB 925 ``Light induced dynamics and control of correlated quantum systems''.

  5. Body image and weight perceptions in relation to actual measurements by means of a new index and level of physical activity in Italian university students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaccagni, Luciana; Masotti, Sabrina; Donati, Roberta; Mazzoni, Gianni; Gualdi-Russo, Emanuela

    2014-02-11

    Body image perception depends on anthropometric and psychological factors. Body dissatisfaction is influenced by the socio-cultural environment and is associated with eating disorders and low self-esteem. This study examined the body image perception, the degree of dissatisfaction and the weight status perception inconsistency in relation to sex, weight status and amount of physical activity in a sample of university students. The participants were 734 university students (354 females aged 21.5 ± 2.9 yrs and 380 males aged 22.1 ± 3.6 yrs) recruited from the second year of the Sport Sciences degree program. A self-administered questionnaire was used to acquire socio-demographic and sport participation information. Height, weight, BMI and weight status were considered for each subject. Body image perception was assessed by a silhouette matching technique. A new index, FAI (Feel status minus Actual status Inconsistency), was used to assess weight status perception inconsistency. A large proportion of the sample had normal weight status. On average, females chose as feel status a significantly higher figure than the males (4.7 versus 3.8) and they would have liked to have a significantly thinner figure than the males (3.4 versus 3.6). Therefore, the mean FID (Feel minus Ideal Discrepancy) values (positive in both sexes) were significantly higher in females than in males, meaning higher dissatisfaction. The mean FAI values were positive in females and negative in males, indicating a tendency of the women to overestimate their weight status and of the men to underestimate it. Men were more physically active than women. Less active women showed significantly lower body weight and BMI than more active women. Men less engaged in physical activity showed significantly higher FID than more active men. These results show greater dissatisfaction and higher weight status perception consistency in females than in males among Italian university students examined. Our findings

  6. Experimental study on the mean flow characteristics of forward-curved centrifugal fans

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kwon, Eui Yong; Cho, Nam Hyo

    2001-01-01

    Measurements have been made in an automotive HVAC blower for two different centrifugal fans. This work is directed at improving the performance of a conventional forward-curved centrifugal fan for a given small blower casing. Mean velocities and pressure have been measured using a miniature five-hole probe and a pressure scanning unit connected to an online data acquisition system. First, we obtained the fan performance curves versus flow rates showing a significant attenuation of unstable nature achieved with the new fan rotor in the surging operation range. Second, aerodynamic characterizations were carried out by investigating the velocity and pressure fields in the casing flow passage for different fan operating conditions. The measurements showed that performance coefficients are strongly influnced by flow characteristics at the throat region. The main flow features were common in both fans, but improved performance is achieved with the new fan rotor, particularly in lower flow rate regions. Based on the measured results, design improvements were carried out in an acceptable operation range, which gave considerable insight into what features of flow behavior were most important

  7. SUPERVISION OF CREDIT INSTITUTIONS SIGNIFICANT RISKS TO FINANCIAL STABILITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    LUCIAN-ION MEDAR

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Financial stability of Romanian banking system is determined by the constant supervision of credit institutions significant risks. Accession of Romania to Union Banking requires the signing of a linked protocol between the central bank and European Central Bank regarding prudential supervision to ensure financial stability. This means that from the next year, the central bank will impose a new supervision of credit institutions in our country. And especially to those credit institutions that do not fall under European supervisors, according to the procedures of the ECB. Through this study we propose to specify the main elements of management of significant risks to ensure financial stability.

  8. The Hematologic Definition of Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance in Relation to Paraproteinemic Keratopathy (An American Ophthalmological Society Thesis).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lisch, Walter; Wasielica-Poslednik, Joanna; Kivelä, Tero; Schlötzer-Schrehardt, Ursula; Rohrbach, Jens M; Sekundo, Walter; Pleyer, Uwe; Lisch, Christina; Desuki, Alexander; Rossmann, Heidi; Weiss, Jayne S

    2016-08-01

    To determine if paraproteinemic keratopathy (PPK) in the setting of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) causes distinct patterns of corneal opacification that can be distinguished from hereditary, immunologic, or inflammatory causes. A retrospective, interventional study of patients showed distinct bilateral opacity patterns of the cornea at the eye clinics of Hanau, Mainz, Helsinki, Marburg, and Berlin between 1993 and 2015. Data on patient characteristics and clinical features on ophthalmic examination were collected, and serum protein profiles were evaluated. A literature review and analysis of all published studies of MGUS with PPK is also presented. The largest group of patients diagnosed with MGUS-induced PPK is analyzed in this study. We studied 22 eyes of 11 patients (6 male, aged 43 to 65, mean age 54; 5 female, aged 49 to 76, mean age 61) with distinct corneal opacities and visual impairment who were first suspected of having hereditary, inflammatory, or immunologic corneal entities. Subsequently, serum protein electrophoresis revealed MGUS to be the cause of the PPK. Literature review revealed 72 patients with bilateral PPK (34 male, mean age 57; 38 female, mean age 58) in 51 studies of MGUS published from 1934 to 2015 and disclosed six additional corneal opacity patterns. This thesis shows that MGUS is not always an asymptomatic disorder, in contrast to the hematologic definition, which has no hint of PPK. The MGUS-induced PPK can mimic many other diseases of the anterior layer of the eye. A new clinical classification for PPK in MGUS is proposed.

  9. Markov switching mean-variance frontier dynamics: theory and international evidence

    OpenAIRE

    M. Guidolin; F. Ria

    2010-01-01

    It is well-known that regime switching models are able to capture the presence of rich non-linear patterns in the joint distribution of asset returns. After reviewing key concepts and technical issues related to specifying, estimating, and using multivariate Markov switching models in financial applications, in this paper we map the presence of regimes in means, variances, and covariances of asset returns into explicit dynamics of the Markowitz mean-variance frontier. In particular, we show b...

  10. Workplace attachment and meaning of work in a French secondary school.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rioux, Liliane; Pignault, Anne

    2013-01-01

    This research aims to gain a better understanding of the attachment of teachers to their workplace by identifying the areas to which they become attached and which give meaning to their work. Based on the belief that place attachment is an affective bond between a person and his or her environment (Bonnes & Secchiaroli, 1995), its aim is to identify the attachment of secondary school teachers to their workplace, which is viewed as a whole but also as a combination of specific places, and to show that the places that predict overall workplace attachment are also those that give meaning to work. A Workplace Attachment Scale was completed by 158 teachers in a secondary school in the Paris region (France). This questionnaire contained items evaluating attachment to each specific place of work and others adapted from the meaning-of-work scale evaluating the meaning given to each of these places. The results show that all the teachers were more closely attached to places that provide opportunities for informal communication than to those directly related to teaching. The main workplace attachment predictors also concern places constituting the essence of the profession and/or places where teachers can manage their organizational stress.

  11. DNA entropy reveals a significant difference in complexity between housekeeping and tissue specific gene promoters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, David; Finan, Chris; Newport, Melanie J; Jones, Susan

    2015-10-01

    The complexity of DNA can be quantified using estimates of entropy. Variation in DNA complexity is expected between the promoters of genes with different transcriptional mechanisms; namely housekeeping (HK) and tissue specific (TS). The former are transcribed constitutively to maintain general cellular functions, and the latter are transcribed in restricted tissue and cells types for specific molecular events. It is known that promoter features in the human genome are related to tissue specificity, but this has been difficult to quantify on a genomic scale. If entropy effectively quantifies DNA complexity, calculating the entropies of HK and TS gene promoters as profiles may reveal significant differences. Entropy profiles were calculated for a total dataset of 12,003 human gene promoters and for 501 housekeeping (HK) and 587 tissue specific (TS) human gene promoters. The mean profiles show the TS promoters have a significantly lower entropy (pentropy distributions for the 3 datasets show that promoter entropies could be used to identify novel HK genes. Functional features comprise DNA sequence patterns that are non-random and hence they have lower entropies. The lower entropy of TS gene promoters can be explained by a higher density of positive and negative regulatory elements, required for genes with complex spatial and temporary expression. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. [Tattooing and its significance in Switzerland. A representative study of 2177 20-year-old Swiss subjects].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haefeli, W E

    1990-03-03

    To investigate the incidence, significance and symbolism of tattooing in Switzerland, a representative group of 2177 young males (all liable for military service, age 19-21 years) were examined in 1988. All tattoos were sketched, the location was recorded and the individual meaning was discussed with the bearer. 135 subjects (6.2%) had 1-9 tattoos per person, showing 155 different marks. Only 13% of all tattoos were professional, moderate to large in size and most often located in the area of the upper arm and the shoulder. 87% of tattoos were self-inflicted or placed by a friend and the left side was therefore preferred (66%). In general, these were small to moderate in size, simple in design, and usually located on the forearm and the hand. The dominant significance of all tattoos was related to mental attitude (29%) and love affairs (14%). 13% were pictorial. Some were related to drug abuse, criminality of gangs, or contained magic symbolism or personal data such as zodiac signs and initials (about 4% each). Only 20% had no conventional or private meaning or involved concealed symbolism. For further understanding of the individuals' social history, it should be noted that some tattoos were characterized by minor differences of meaning, such as the "man-in-4-walls" mark (= prison), the "fuck-the-police" mark, the leaf of cannabis sativa or different cross motifs. Even greater consistency related to tattoos located in the web space between the thumb and the forefinger or on the back of the fingers. The location in itself may therefore provide additional personal information on individual circumstances at the time of tattooing.

  13. Derivation of mean-field dynamics for fermions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Petrat, Soeren

    2014-01-01

    the form vertical stroke x vertical stroke -s , with 0mean-field dynamics developed by Pickl in [Lett. Math. Phys., 97(2):151-164, 2011]. This method has been applied successfully in quantum mechanics for deriving the bosonic Hartree and Gross-Pitaevskii equations. Its application to fermions in this work is new. The method is based on a functional that ''counts the number of particles outside the condensate'', i.e., in the case of fermions, it measures those parts of the Schroedinger wave function that are not in the antisymmetric product of the Hartree states. We show that convergence of the functional to zero (which means that the mean-field equations approximate the dynamics well) is equivalent to convergence of the corresponding reduced one-particle density matrices in trace norm and in Hilbert-Schmidt norm. Finally, we show how also the recently treated semiclassical mean-field limits can be derived with this method.

  14. Quantifying thresholds for significant dune erosion along the Sefton Coast, Northwest England

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esteves, Luciana S.; Brown, Jennifer M.; Williams, Jon J.; Lymbery, Graham

    2012-03-01

    Field and model hindcast data are used to establish a critical dune erosion threshold for the Sefton Coast (NW England). Events are classified as causing significant erosion if they result in: (a) a mean dune retreat along the entire study area of > 2 m; (b) a dune retreat of ≥ 5 m along a coastal segment ≥ 2 km in length; and (c) an eroded area ≥ 20,000 m2. For the period 1996 to 2008, individual storms were characterised using hindcast results from a POLCOMS-WAM model and measured data from the Liverpool Bay Coastal Observatory. Results show that combined extreme surge levels (> 1.5 m) and wave heights (> 4 m), or tidal water levels above 9.0 m Chart Datum (CD), do not always result in significant dune erosion. Evidence suggests that erosion is more likely to occur when wave heights are > 2.6 m, peak water level is > 10.2 m CD at Liverpool and when consecutive tidal cycles provide 10 h or more of water levels above 9.4 m CD. However, lower water levels and wave heights, and shorter events of sustained water levels, can cause significant erosion in the summer. While the return period for events giving rise to the most severe erosion in the winter is > 50 years, significant erosion in the summer can be caused by events with return periods dune toe elevation c. 30 cm. Although the study shows it might be possible to characterise objectively storm events based on oceanographic conditions, the resultant morphological change at the coast is demonstrated to depend on the time and duration of events, and on other variables which are not so easy to quantify. Further investigation is needed to understand the influence of alongshore and seasonal variability in beach/dune morphology in determining the response to the hydrodynamic and meteorological conditions causing significant erosion. Improved monitoring pre- and post-storm of changes in beach/dune morphology is required to develop reliable proxies that can be used to establish early warning systems to mitigate the

  15. Truth or meaning: Ricoeur versus Frei on biblical narrative ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Truth or meaning: Ricoeur versus Frei on biblical narrative. Of the theologians and philosophers now writing on biblical narrative, Hans Frei and Paul Ricoeur are probably the most prominent. It is significant that their views converge on important issues. Both are uncomfortable with hermeneutic theories that convert the text ...

  16. Language, Style and Meaning in Wole Soyinka's Poetry | Elimimian ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper examines Wole Soyinka's lyricism along the axis of language, style and meaning and arrives at the significant conclusion that, through his exploitation of various linguistic and rhetorical devices and strategies, he gives voice, range and scope to his poetic art. Much as Soyinka's themes are eclectic and diverse ...

  17. Increased mean platelet volume in type 2 diabetes mellitus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ezgi Coşkun Yenigün

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Platelet functions have important roles in the development of vascular complications in diabetic patients. Platelets with increased volume have increased activity compared to smaller ones; therefore, mean platelet volume (MPV is used as a marker for platelet activity. In the present study, we evaluated MPV in patients with type II diabetes mellitus (DM and its associations with diabetic microvascular and macrovascular complications. Methods: Consecutive type II diabetic patients were screened from outpatient clinic of Internal Medicine Department of Diskapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Education and Researsch Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. A total of 48 patients with type II DM and 30 age and gender matched healthy subjects constituted the study population. For all subjects a complete blood count including MPV, fasting blood glucose level and lipid parameters were studied. In diabetic patients, duration of diabetes and HbA1C level, presence of microvascular and macrovascular complications were noted additively. Mean platelet volume was compared between diabetic patients and healthy counterparents. Then, among diabetic patients, MPV was compared between the ones with and without microvascular and macrovascular complications. Results: Mean platelet volume was found significantly higher in diabetic patients compared to non-diabetic healthy subjects. Diabetic patients with at least one of the microvascular complications had significantly higher MPV than those without microvascular damage.Higher MPV levels have also been shown in diabetics with macrovascular complications compared to the ones without macrovascular disease. Conclusion: Mean platelet volume was found to be higher in type II diabetics and those having any of microvascular or macrovascular diabetic complications.

  18. Magnetic moments in present relativistic nuclear theories: a mean-field problem

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Desplanques, B.

    1986-07-01

    We show that the magnetic moments of LS closed shell nuclei plus or minus one nucleon derived from non-relativistic Hartree-Fock mean-fields are as bad as those obtained in relativistic approaches of nuclear structure. Deviations with respect to more complete results in both cases are ascribed to the mean-field approximation which neglects some degrees of freedom in the nucleus description. 18 refs

  19. Adaptive and self-averaging Thouless-Anderson-Palmer mean-field theory for probabilistic modeling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Opper, Manfred; Winther, Ole

    2001-01-01

    We develop a generalization of the Thouless-Anderson-Palmer (TAP) mean-field approach of disorder physics. which makes the method applicable to the computation of approximate averages in probabilistic models for real data. In contrast to the conventional TAP approach, where the knowledge...... of the distribution of couplings between the random variables is required, our method adapts to the concrete set of couplings. We show the significance of the approach in two ways: Our approach reproduces replica symmetric results for a wide class of toy models (assuming a nonglassy phase) with given disorder...... distributions in the thermodynamic limit. On the other hand, simulations on a real data model demonstrate that the method achieves more accurate predictions as compared to conventional TAP approaches....

  20. 47 CFR 76.54 - Significantly viewed signals; method to be followed for special showings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... located, in whole or in part, and on all other system community units, franchisees, and franchise.... 339(d). (j) Notwithstanding the requirements of this section, the signal of a television broadcast...

  1. A double inequality for bounding Toader mean by the centroidal mean

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    A double inequality for bounding Toader mean by the centroidal mean. YUN HUA1,∗ and FENG QI2. 1Department of Information Engineering, Weihai Vocational College, Weihai City,. Shandong Province 264210, China. 2College of Mathematics, Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities, Tongliao City,. Inner Mongolia ...

  2. "Meaning is Use" and Wittgenstein’s Treatment of Philosophical Problems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefan Giesewetter

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available What is the relation between later Wittgenstein’s method of dissolving philosophical problems by reminding us of how we would actually use words, and his famous statement that “meaning is use” in Investigations §43? The idea is widespread among readers of Wittgenstein that a close relation obtains between the two. This paper addresses a specific type of answer to this question: answers which have drawn on remarks of Wittgenstein’s where he explicitly establishes a connection between this method and certain misconceptions about meaning – remarks such as Investigations §117. The paper will discuss answers which have advanced the following claim: Since it is places such as §43 which play a main role in debunking misconceptions of this kind, Wittgenstein’s statement that “meaning is use” must be taken as directly related to the method of asking for the use of words. Drawing on so-called “therapeutic” readings of Wittgenstein, what I intend to show is that this seemingly straightforward answer fails to fully accommodate the fact that §43 is itself a reminder of how we would actually use a word. The paper sets out to show how truly acknowledging this forces us to rethink the relation between “meaning is use” and this method of Wittgenstein’s.

  3. Change of mean platelet volume values in asthmatic children as an inflammatory marker.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuncel, T; Uysal, P; Hocaoglu, A B; Erge, D O; Karaman, O; Uzuner, N

    2012-01-01

    Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood in industrialised countries. T helper-2 (Th-2) cells, mast cells and eosinophils have a role in inflammation of asthma. Recently it was shown that platelets also play a role in asthma. Mean platelet volume shows platelet size and reflects platelet activation. The aim of this retrospective study is to evaluate levels of mean platelet volume in asthmatic patients during asymptomatic periods and exacerbations compared with healthy controls. The study consisted of 100 asthmatic patients (male/female: 55/45, mean age: 8.2±3.3) and 49 age and sex matched healthy children as a control group. Mean platelet volume values of asthmatic patients during asymptomatic period were 7.7±0.8fL while mean platelet volume values in asthmatics during exacerbation were 7.8±0.9fL. Comparison of mean platelet volume values of asthmatic patients and healthy controls both in acute asthmatic attack and asymptomatic period showed no difference (p>0.05). Comparison of mean platelet volume values at asthmatic attack and asymptomatic period also had no difference (p>0.05). The presence of atopy, infection, eosinophilia, elevated immunoglobulin E, and severity of acute asthmatic attack did not influence mean platelet volume values. The results of our study suggest that mean platelet volume values may not be used as a marker in bronchial asthma, although prospective studies with larger number of patients are needed to evaluate the role of mean platelet volume in asthma. Copyright © 2011 SEICAP. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  4. Defibrillator charging before rhythm analysis significantly reduces hands-off time during resuscitation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, L. K.; Folkestad, L.; Brabrand, M.

    2013-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Our objective was to reduce hands-off time during cardiopulmonary resuscitation as increased hands-off time leads to higher mortality. METHODS: The European Resuscitation Council (ERC) 2005 and ERC 2010 guidelines were compared with an alternative sequence (ALT). Pulseless ventricular...... physicians were included. All had prior experience in advanced life support. Chest compressions were shorter interrupted using ALT (mean, 6.7 vs 13.0 seconds). Analyzing data for ventricular tachycardia scenarios only, hands-off time was shorter using ALT (mean, 7.1 vs 18.2 seconds). In ERC 2010 vs ALT, 12...... physicians were included. Two physicians had not prior experience in advanced life support. Hands-off time was reduced using ALT (mean, 3.9 vs 5.6 seconds). Looking solely at ventricular tachycardia scenarios, hands-off time was shortened using ALT (mean, 4.5 vs 7.6 seconds). No significant reduction...

  5. Photocoagulation treatment for clinically significant radiation macular oedema

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kinyoun, J.L.; Zamber, R.W.; Lawrence, B.S.; Barlow, W.E.; Arnold, A.M. [Washington Univ., Seattle, WA (United States)

    1995-02-01

    Macular oedema is a leading cause of vision loss in patients with radiation retinopathy. In an effort to find an effective treatment for this vision threatening complication, 12 eyes (eight patients) were treated with photocoagulation for clinically significant radiation macular oedema (CSRMO) defined as central macular thickening, exudates threatening the macular centre, or one disc area of thickening in the macula. Median visual acuity improved from 20/100 pre-operatively to 20/90 at the initial post-operative examination (mean follow up 5 months) and to 20/75 at the final post-operative examination (mean follow up 39 months). At the final post-operative examination, visual acuity had improved in eight (67%) eyes and six (50%) eyes had complete resolution of the CSRMO; two (17%) other eyes had improved anatomically in that fewer CSRMO criteria were present. These results suggest that macular photocoagulation is effective in decreasing macular oedema and improving vision in eyes with CSRMO. (author).

  6. Photocoagulation treatment for clinically significant radiation macular oedema

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kinyoun, J.L.; Zamber, R.W.; Lawrence, B.S.; Barlow, W.E.; Arnold, A.M.

    1995-01-01

    Macular oedema is a leading cause of vision loss in patients with radiation retinopathy. In an effort to find an effective treatment for this vision threatening complication, 12 eyes (eight patients) were treated with photocoagulation for clinically significant radiation macular oedema (CSRMO) defined as central macular thickening, exudates threatening the macular centre, or one disc area of thickening in the macula. Median visual acuity improved from 20/100 pre-operatively to 20/90 at the initial post-operative examination (mean follow up 5 months) and to 20/75 at the final post-operative examination (mean follow up 39 months). At the final post-operative examination, visual acuity had improved in eight (67%) eyes and six (50%) eyes had complete resolution of the CSRMO; two (17%) other eyes had improved anatomically in that fewer CSRMO criteria were present. These results suggest that macular photocoagulation is effective in decreasing macular oedema and improving vision in eyes with CSRMO. (author)

  7. Supportive College Environment for Meaning Searching and Meaning in Life among American College Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Joo Yeon; Steger, Michael F.

    2016-01-01

    We examined whether American college students who perceive their college environment as supportive for their meaning searching report higher levels of meaning in life. We also examined whether students' perception of college environmental support for meaning searching moderates the relation between the presence of and search for meaning. Students'…

  8. Significance of Bias Correction in Drought Frequency and Scenario Analysis Based on Climate Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aryal, Y.; Zhu, J.

    2015-12-01

    Assessment of future drought characteristics is difficult as climate models usually have bias in simulating precipitation frequency and intensity. To overcome this limitation, output from climate models need to be bias corrected based on the specific purpose of applications. In this study, we examine the significance of bias correction in the context of drought frequency and scenario analysis using output from climate models. In particular, we investigate the performance of three widely used bias correction techniques: (1) monthly bias correction (MBC), (2) nested bias correction (NBC), and (3) equidistance quantile mapping (EQM) The effect of bias correction in future scenario of drought frequency is also analyzed. The characteristics of drought are investigated in terms of frequency and severity in nine representative locations in different climatic regions across the United States using regional climate model (RCM) output from the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP). The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) is used as the means to compare and forecast drought characteristics at different timescales. Systematic biases in the RCM precipitation output are corrected against the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) data. The results demonstrate that bias correction significantly decreases the RCM errors in reproducing drought frequency derived from the NARR data. Preserving mean and standard deviation is essential for climate models in drought frequency analysis. RCM biases both have regional and timescale dependence. Different timescale of input precipitation in the bias corrections show similar results. Drought frequency obtained from the RCM future (2040-2070) scenarios is compared with that from the historical simulations. The changes in drought characteristics occur in all climatic regions. The relative changes in drought frequency in future scenario in relation to

  9. A double inequality for bounding Toader mean by the centroidal mean

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Annual Meetings · Mid Year Meetings · Discussion Meetings · Public Lectures · Lecture Workshops · Refresher Courses · Symposia · Live Streaming. Home; Journals; Proceedings – Mathematical Sciences; Volume 124; Issue 4. A double inequality for bounding Toader mean by the centroidal mean. Yun Hua Feng Qi.

  10. Prediction of liver-related events using fibroscan in chronic hepatitis B patients showing advanced liver fibrosis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seung Up Kim

    Full Text Available Liver stiffness measurement (LSM using transient elastography (FibroScan® can assess liver fibrosis noninvasively. This study investigated whether LSM can predict the development of liver-related events (LREs in chronic hepatitis B (CHB patients showing histologically advanced liver fibrosis.Between March 2006 and April 2010, 128 CHB patients with who underwent LSM and liver biopsy (LB before starting nucleot(side analogues and showed histologically advanced fibrosis (≥F3 with a high viral loads [HBV DNA ≥2,000 IU/mL] were enrolled. All patients were followed regularly to detect LRE development, including hepatic decompensation (variceal bleeding, ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, hepatorenal syndrome and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC.The mean age of the patient (72 men, 56 women was 52.2 years. During the median follow-up period [median 27.8 (12.6-61.6 months], LREs developed in 19 (14.8% patients (five with hepatic decompensation, 13 with HCC, one with both. Together with age, multivariate analysis identified LSM as an independent predictor of LRE development [P19 kPa were at significantly greater risk than those with LSM≤19 kPa for LRE development (HR, 7.176; 95% CI, 2.257-22.812; P = 0.001.LSM can be a useful predictor of LRE development in CHB patients showing histologically advanced liver fibrosis.

  11. Airline Overbooking Problem with Uncertain No-Shows

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chunxiao Zhang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper considers an airline overbooking problem of a new single-leg flight with discount fare. Due to the absence of historical data of no-shows for a new flight, and various uncertain human behaviors or unexpected events which causes that a few passengers cannot board their aircraft on time, we fail to obtain the probability distribution of no-shows. In this case, the airlines have to invite some domain experts to provide belief degree of no-shows to estimate its distribution. However, human beings often overestimate unlikely events, which makes the variance of belief degree much greater than that of the frequency. If we still regard the belief degree as a subjective probability, the derived results will exceed our expectations. In order to deal with this uncertainty, the number of no-shows of new flight is assumed to be an uncertain variable in this paper. Given the chance constraint of social reputation, an overbooking model with discount fares is developed to maximize the profit rate based on uncertain programming theory. Finally, the analytic expression of the optimal booking limit is obtained through a numerical example, and the results of sensitivity analysis indicate that the optimal booking limit is affected by flight capacity, discount, confidence level, and parameters of the uncertainty distribution significantly.

  12. Mean field games

    KAUST Repository

    Gomes, Diogo A.

    2014-01-06

    In this talk we will report on new results concerning the existence of smooth solutions for time dependent mean-field games. This new result is established through a combination of various tools including several a-priori estimates for time-dependent mean-field games combined with new techniques for the regularity of Hamilton-Jacobi equations.

  13. Mean field games

    KAUST Repository

    Gomes, Diogo A.

    2014-01-01

    In this talk we will report on new results concerning the existence of smooth solutions for time dependent mean-field games. This new result is established through a combination of various tools including several a-priori estimates for time-dependent mean-field games combined with new techniques for the regularity of Hamilton-Jacobi equations.

  14. Electronic monitoring in combination with direct observation as a means to significantly improve hand hygiene compliance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boyce, John M

    2017-05-01

    Monitoring hand hygiene compliance among health care personnel (HCP) is an essential element of hand hygiene promotion programs. Observation by trained auditors is considered the gold standard method for establishing hand hygiene compliance rates. Advantages of observational surveys include the unique ability to establish compliance with all of the World Health Organization "My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene" initiative Moments and to provide just-in-time coaching. Disadvantages include the resources required for observational surveys, insufficient sample sizes, and nonstandardized methods of conducting observations. Electronic and camera-based systems can monitor hand hygiene performance on all work shifts without a Hawthorne effect and provide significantly more data regarding hand hygiene performance. Disadvantages include the cost of installation, variable accuracy in estimating compliance rates, issues related to acceptance by HCP, insufficient data regarding their cost-effectiveness and influence on health care-related infection rates, and the ability of most systems to monitor only surrogates for Moments 1, 4, and 5. Increasing evidence suggests that monitoring only Moments 1, 4, and 5 provides reasonable estimates of compliance with all 5 Moments. With continued improvement of electronic monitoring systems, combining electronic monitoring with observational methods may provide the best information as part of a multimodal strategy to improve and sustain hand hygiene compliance rates among HCP. Copyright © 2017 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Spelling and Meaning of Compounds in the Early School Years through Classroom Games: An Intervention Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsesmeli, Styliani N

    2017-01-01

    The study aimed to evaluate the intervention effects on spelling and meaning of compounds by Greek students via group board games in classroom settings. The sample consisted of 60 pupils, who were attending the first and second grade of two primary schools in Greece. Each grade-class was divided into an intervention ( N = 29 children) and a control group ( N = 31 children). Before intervention, groups were evaluated by standardized tests of reading words/pseudowords, spelling words, and vocabulary. Students were also assessed on compound knowledge by a word analogy task, a meaning task and a spelling task. The experimental design of the intervention included a pre-test, a training program, and a post-test. The pre- and post-assessments consisted of the spelling and the meaning tasks entailing equally morphologically transparent and opaque compounds. The training program was based on word families ( N = 10 word families, 56 trained items, 5 sessions) and aimed to offer instruction of morphological decomposition and meaning of words. The findings showed that training was effective in enhancing the spelling and most notably the meaning of compounds. A closer inspection of intervention data in terms of morphological transparency, revealed that training group of first graders improved significantly both on transparent and opaque compounds, while the degree of gains was larger on opaque items for the second graders. These findings are consistent with the experimental literature and particularly optimistic for the literacy enhancement of typically developing children in regular classrooms.

  16. Mean--variance portfolio optimization when means and covariances are unknown

    OpenAIRE

    Tze Leung Lai; Haipeng Xing; Zehao Chen

    2011-01-01

    Markowitz's celebrated mean--variance portfolio optimization theory assumes that the means and covariances of the underlying asset returns are known. In practice, they are unknown and have to be estimated from historical data. Plugging the estimates into the efficient frontier that assumes known parameters has led to portfolios that may perform poorly and have counter-intuitive asset allocation weights; this has been referred to as the "Markowitz optimization enigma." After reviewing differen...

  17. Global Trend Analysis of Multi-decade Soil Temperature Records Show Soils Resistant to Warming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frey, S. D.; Jennings, K.

    2017-12-01

    Soil temperature is an important determinant of many subterranean ecological processes including plant growth, nutrient cycling, and carbon sequestration. Soils are expected to warm in response to increasing global surface temperatures; however, despite the importance of soil temperature to ecosystem processes, less attention has been given to examining changes in soil temperature over time. We collected long-term (> 20 years) soil temperature records from approximately 50 sites globally, many with multiple depths (5 - 100 cm), and examined temperature trends over the last few decades. For each site and depth we calculated annual summer means and conducted non-parametric Mann Kendall trend and Sen slope analysis to assess changes in summer soil temperature over the length of each time series. The mean summer soil temperature trend across all sites and depths was not significantly different than zero (mean = 0.004 °C year-1 ± 0.033 SD), suggesting that soils have not warmed over the observation period. Of the subset of sites that exhibit significant increases in temperature over time, site location, depth of measurement, time series length, and neither start nor end date seem to be related to trend strength. These results provide evidence that the thermal regime of soils may have a stronger buffering capacity than expected, having important implications for the global carbon cycle and feedbacks to climate change.

  18. The dance of meaning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Ole Elstrup

    2005-01-01

    competence, qualifications, sense making, reasoning, meaning, intentionality, interpersonal relationship......competence, qualifications, sense making, reasoning, meaning, intentionality, interpersonal relationship...

  19. Estimation of group means when adjusting for covariates in generalized linear models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qu, Yongming; Luo, Junxiang

    2015-01-01

    Generalized linear models are commonly used to analyze categorical data such as binary, count, and ordinal outcomes. Adjusting for important prognostic factors or baseline covariates in generalized linear models may improve the estimation efficiency. The model-based mean for a treatment group produced by most software packages estimates the response at the mean covariate, not the mean response for this treatment group for the studied population. Although this is not an issue for linear models, the model-based group mean estimates in generalized linear models could be seriously biased for the true group means. We propose a new method to estimate the group mean consistently with the corresponding variance estimation. Simulation showed the proposed method produces an unbiased estimator for the group means and provided the correct coverage probability. The proposed method was applied to analyze hypoglycemia data from clinical trials in diabetes. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  20. [Hygienic significance of patulin in food. 2. Occurrence of patulin in fruit and vegetables].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thurm, V; Paul, P; Koch, C E

    1979-01-01

    The analyses of more than 200 samples of various foods of plant origin showed that patulin was contained in 36% of the fresh and canned fruits infested with mould, and in 7% of the vegetables. Besides apples, pears, plums, peaches and tomatoes contained also patulin. In organoleptically impeccable fruit juices, the contamination rates were 40% (for apple juice) and 16% (for the other juices, such as sour cherry, currant, sea buckthorn juices). The patulin content varied from 20 to 200 microgram/l, the mean value being 80 microgram/l. It ranged from 0.1 to 5 microgram/g in apples and sterile apple preserves. The authors discuss the hygienic-toxicologic significance of these findings, and suggest to include patulin in the examination of foods for mycotoxins, stipulating a permissible value.

  1. Diagnostic significance of adenosine deaminase in pleural tuberculosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khurshid, R.; Shore, N.; Saleem, M.; Zameer, N.

    2009-01-01

    Tuberculosis (TB) is a major cause of pleural effusion, which in TB usually has lymphocytic and exudative characteristics. Analysis of adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity is a very useful diagnostic approach to achieve a more rapid and precise diagnosis in cases of Pleural TB (pTB). Fifty male and fifty female patients presenting with tuberculosis pleural effusion was included in the study. The patients were taken from the medical ward of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital between September 2001 and September 2002. Activity of Adenosine Deaminase (ADA) was estimated by the technique of Sodium dodecyl sulphate electrophoresis (SDS-EF) using 10% polyacrylamide gel. Mean age of males was 45.72+-19.22 years and of female was 43.74+-16.09 years. Mean protein level was 3.39+-0.24 g/dl in males, and it was 3.02+-0.26 g/dl in females. Mean specific gravity both in males and females was 1.020+-0.01. The results show an increased level of enzyme ADA in patients as compared to normal subjects. Estimation of ADA activity may provide basis for rapid and efficient diagnosis of pleural TB in different clinical settings. However study should be extended to larger number of patients to reach a better conclusion. (author)

  2. Measurement of mean cardiac dose for various breast irradiation techniques and corresponding risk of major cardiovascular event.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomas Rodrigo Merino Lara

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available After breast conserving surgery, early stage breast cancer patients are currently treated with a wide range of radiation techniques including whole breast irradiation (WBI, accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI using high dose rate (HDR brachytherapy, or 3D conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT. This study compares the mean heart’s doses for a left breast irradiated with different breast techniques.An anthropomorphic Rando phantom was modified with gelatin-based breast of different sizes and tumors located medially or laterally. The breasts were treated with WBI, 3D-CRT or HDR APBI. The heart’s mean doses were measured with Gafchromic films and controlled with optically stimulated luminescent dosimeters (OSLDs. Following the model reported by Darby (16, major cardiac were estimated assuming a linear risk increase with the mean dose to the heart of 7.4% per gray.Whole breast irradiation lead to the highest mean heart dose (2.99 Gy compared to 3D-CRT APBI, (0.51 Gy, multicatheter (1.58 Gy and balloon HDR (2.17 Gy for a medially located tumor. This translated into long-term coronary event increases of 22%, 3.8%, 11.7%, and 16% respectively. The sensitivity analysis showed that the tumor location had almost no effect on the mean heart dose for 3D-CRT APBI and a minimal impact for HDR APBI. For WBI large breast size and set-up errors lead to sharp increases of the mean heart dose. Its value reached 10.79 Gy for women with large breast and a set-up error of 1.5 cm. Such a high value could increase the risk of having long-term coronary events by 80%.Comparison among different irradiation techniques demonstrates that 3D-CRT APBI appears the safest one with less probability of having cardiovascular events in the future. A sensitivity analysis showed that WBI is the most challenging technique for patients with large breasts or when significant set-up errors are anticipated. In those cases additional heart shielding techniques are required.

  3. What can a string of letters possibly mean when it is not a word? Speech sounds as one answer to the search for meaning in Finnegans Wake.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whissell, Cynthia

    2015-02-01

    In his last novel, Finnegans Wake, James Joyce attempted to redirect readers' search for meaning away from traditional paths by using many non-words (combinations, foreign words, neologisms, and onomatopoeic words). Words and non-words in the novel were analyzed in terms of the emotional meanings of their constituent sounds using the model developed by Whissell where motor responses involved in enunciating sounds are associated with their emotional meaning. Significant sound-emotion differences were identified among and within chapters. "Smiling" pleasant long e (as in "tee") was used at higher rates in successive chapters and "sighing" passive AO (as in "Shaun") was used at especially high rates in Chapters 8 ("Anna Livia Plurabelle") and 12 ("Mamalujo"). Sound emotionality is one of the alternative paths to meaning in the novel.

  4. Thyroid Autoimmunity and Behçet’s Disease: Is There a Significant Association?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Filiz Cebeci

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. Behcet’s disease (BD could be regarded as an autoimmune disease in many aspects. Autoimmune thyroid disease (ATD is frequently accompanied by other various autoimmune diseases. Nevertheless, there is not still enough data showing the association between BD and ATD. In addition, no controlled study is present in the PubMed, which evaluates thyroidal autoimmunity using antithyroid peroxidase antibody in a large series of patients with BD. Methods. We aimed to investigate the frequency of ATD in patients with BD. The study included 124 patients with BD and 99 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. Results. Autoimmune thyroiditis was noted in 21 cases (16.9% with BD. In the control group, 22 cases (22.22% were diagnosed as autoimmune thyroiditis. There was no difference between the groups in respect to thyroid autoantibodies (. There were no statistically significant differences between baseline TSH levels of the BD patients and of the controls (. Statistically, the mean serum free T4 levels of the patients with BD were higher than those of the controls (. Conclusions. No association could be found between BD and ATD. Therefore, it is not of significance to investigate thyroid autoimmunity in BD.

  5. The significance of end-of-life dreams and visions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grant, Pei; Wright, Scott; Depner, Rachel; Luczkiewicz, Debra

    End-of-life dreams and visions (ELDVs) have been well documented through history and across cultures. They appear to affect both dying people and their families deeply, and may be a source of profound meaning and comfort. The aims of the study were to; document hospice patients' ELDV experiences over time using a daily survey, examine the content and subjective significance of ELDVs, and relate the prevalence, content and significance of end-of-life experiences over time until death. Patients (n = 66) in a hospice inpatient unit, between January 2011 and July 2012, were interviewed daily. The interview contained closed questions about the content, frequency and level of comfort or distress of dreams and visions. Most participants reported at least one dream or vision and almost half of the dreams and visions occurred during sleep. Nearly all patients reported that their experience felt real. The most common content featured deceased friends and relatives, followed by living friends and relatives. As participants approached death, comforting dreams and visions of the deceased became more prevalent. End-of-life dreams and visions are commonly experienced during dying. These dreams and visions may be a profound source of potential meaning and comfort to the dying.

  6. The global kernel k-means algorithm for clustering in feature space.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tzortzis, Grigorios F; Likas, Aristidis C

    2009-07-01

    Kernel k-means is an extension of the standard k -means clustering algorithm that identifies nonlinearly separable clusters. In order to overcome the cluster initialization problem associated with this method, we propose the global kernel k-means algorithm, a deterministic and incremental approach to kernel-based clustering. Our method adds one cluster at each stage, through a global search procedure consisting of several executions of kernel k-means from suitable initializations. This algorithm does not depend on cluster initialization, identifies nonlinearly separable clusters, and, due to its incremental nature and search procedure, locates near-optimal solutions avoiding poor local minima. Furthermore, two modifications are developed to reduce the computational cost that do not significantly affect the solution quality. The proposed methods are extended to handle weighted data points, which enables their application to graph partitioning. We experiment with several data sets and the proposed approach compares favorably to kernel k -means with random restarts.

  7. Consensus and stratification in the affective meaning of human sociality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ambrasat, Jens; von Scheve, Christian; Conrad, Markus; Schauenburg, Gesche; Schröder, Tobias

    2014-06-03

    We investigate intrasocietal consensus and variation in affective meanings of concepts related to authority and community, two elementary forms of human sociality. Survey participants (n = 2,849) from different socioeconomic status (SES) groups in German society provided ratings of 909 social concepts along three basic dimensions of affective meaning. Results show widespread consensus on these meanings within society and demonstrate that a meaningful structure of socially shared knowledge emerges from organizing concepts according to their affective similarity. The consensus finding is further qualified by evidence for subtle systematic variation along SES differences. In relation to affectively neutral words, high-status individuals evaluate intimacy-related and socially desirable concepts as less positive and powerful than middle- or low-status individuals, while perceiving antisocial concepts as relatively more threatening. This systematic variation across SES groups suggests that the affective meaning of sociality is to some degree a function of social stratification.

  8. Religiousness, spirituality, and coping with stress among late adolescents: A meaning-making perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krok, Dariusz

    2015-12-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between religiousness, spirituality (R/S), and coping among late adolescents within a meaning-making perspective. Specifically, global meaning and situational meaning were examined as potential mediators. Two hundred and twenty one Polish participants (115 women and 106 men) completed the Religious Meaning System Questionnaire, the Self-description Questionnaire of Spirituality, the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, and the Situational Meaning Scale. Results of SEM analysis showed that R/S had both direct and indirect effects on coping, suggesting that global meaning and situational meaning served as partial mediators among late adolescents. The mediating role of global meaning and situational meaning may be more fully understood within the framework of the meaning-making model. Consistent with the model, individuals with higher levels of R/S had a propensity to experience stronger global meaning in life and situational meaning, which in turn contributed to more frequent using coping styles. Copyright © 2015 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Identifying meaning and perceived level of satisfaction within the context of work.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Angie; Kitchell, Molly; O'Neill, Tiffany; Lockliear, Jennifer; Vosler, Alyson; Kubek, Dayna; Dale, Lucinda

    2001-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: The primary objectives of this study were to identify sources of meaning for individuals within the context of a work environment, and to compare varied sources of meaning for individuals with high and low work satisfaction levels. METHOD: Participants were chosen based on satisfaction levels in employment, full-time employment status within an organization for at least one year, and diversity in the work setting. Data were gathered through a series of interviews and observations of the participants' workplaces. A comparative analysis of transcribed interviews was conducted by the researchers and with an expert occupational therapy faculty panel. From these analyses, the researchers developed work narratives for a mechanical engineer, a high school teacher, an employee of mechanical services, and a career service counselor. RESULTS: Emerging themes from the work narratives indicated that the various meanings employees found in work had an effect on their perceived levels of job satisfaction. Participants conveyed that organization identification, financial benefits, independent decision-making, reciprocal respect, opportunities for creativity, and maintaining significant relationships outside of work enhanced meaning and satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: The worker role is a significant source of an individual's identity, meaning, and satisfaction in life. Professionals in various fields can work with employers to develop meaningful work environments for increased job satisfaction, greater motivation for work, increased productivity, and decreased employee turnover.

  10. Ritual Significance in Mycenaean Hairstyles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hsu, Florence Sheng-chieh

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Although the frescoes excavated from Bronze Age sites on the Greek mainland provide evidence for female figures in the Mycenaean society, the hairstyles of these figures have not been studied in detail. As in many other ancient cultures, hairstyles were not only an exhibition of beauty and fashion, but they also represented certain age groups or a person’s social status. The Mycenaeans inherited many of their hairstyles from their Minoan predecessors, although differences existed as well. It is also possible there may have been a shift in meaning for seemingly similar looking hairstyles from the Minoan to the Mycenaean periods. Female figures, which compose most of the Mycenaean figures in frescoes known to date, are fine examples for discussing the artistic representation and potential significance of Mycenaean hairstyles. By comparing with Minoan hairstyles, discussions of Mycenaean examples lead to conclusions in the relationship between hairstyles and ritual activities in the Mycenaean society.

  11. Beyond rational imitation: learning arbitrary means actions from communicative demonstrations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Király, Ildikó; Csibra, Gergely; Gergely, György

    2013-10-01

    The principle of rationality has been invoked to explain that infants expect agents to perform the most efficient means action to attain a goal. It has also been demonstrated that infants take into account the efficiency of observed actions to achieve a goal outcome when deciding whether to reenact a specific behavior or not. It is puzzling, however, that they also tend to imitate an apparently suboptimal unfamiliar action even when they can bring about the same outcome more efficiently by applying a more rational action alternative available to them. We propose that this apparently paradoxical behavior is explained by infants' interpretation of action demonstrations as communicative manifestations of novel and culturally relevant means actions to be acquired, and we present empirical evidence supporting this proposal. In Experiment 1, we found that 14-month-olds reenacted novel arbitrary means actions only following a communicative demonstration. Experiment 2 showed that infants' inclination to reproduce communicatively manifested novel actions is restricted to behaviors they can construe as goal-directed instrumental acts. The study also provides evidence that infants' reenactment of the demonstrated novel actions reflects epistemic motives rather than purely social motives. We argue that ostensive communication enables infants to represent the teleological structure of novel actions even when the causal relations between means and end are cognitively opaque and apparently violate the efficiency expectation derived from the principle of rationality. This new account of imitative learning of novel means shows how the teleological stance and natural pedagogy--two separate cognitive adaptations to interpret instrumental versus communicative actions--are integrated as a system for learning socially constituted instrumental knowledge in humans. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Using Garch-in-Mean Model to Investigate Volatility and Persistence at Different Frequencies for Bucharest Stock Exchange during 1997-2012

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iulian PANAIT

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available In our paper we use data mining to compare the volatility structure of high (daily and low (weekly, monthly frequencies for seven Romanian companies traded on Bucharest Stock Exchange and three market indices, during 1997-2012. For each of the 10 time series and three frequencies we fit a GARCH-in-mean model and we find that persistency is more present in the daily returns as compared with the weekly and monthly series. On the other hand, the GARCH-in-mean failed to confirm (on our data the theoretical hypothesis that an increase in volatility leads to a rise in future returns, mainly because the variance coefficient from the mean equation of the model was not statistically significant for most of the time series analyzed and on most of the frequencies. The diagnosis that we ran in order the verify the goodness of fit for the model showed that GARCH-in-mean was well fitted on the weekly and monthly time series but behaved less well on the daily time series.

  13. Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall: Implications of Contrasting Trends in the Spatial Variability of Means and Extremes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghosh, Subimal; Vittal, H.; Sharma, Tarul; Karmakar, Subhankar; Kasiviswanathan, K. S.; Dhanesh, Y.; Sudheer, K. P.; Gunthe, S. S.

    2016-01-01

    India’s agricultural output, economy, and societal well-being are strappingly dependent on the stability of summer monsoon rainfall, its variability and extremes. Spatial aggregate of intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall events over Central India are significantly increasing, while at local scale they are spatially non-uniform with increasing spatial variability. The reasons behind such increase in spatial variability of extremes are poorly understood and the trends in mean monsoon rainfall have been greatly overlooked. Here, by using multi-decadal gridded daily rainfall data over entire India, we show that the trend in spatial variability of mean monsoon rainfall is decreasing as exactly opposite to that of extremes. The spatial variability of extremes is attributed to the spatial variability of the convective rainfall component. Contrarily, the decrease in spatial variability of the mean rainfall over India poses a pertinent research question on the applicability of large scale inter-basin water transfer by river inter-linking to address the spatial variability of available water in India. We found a significant decrease in the monsoon rainfall over major water surplus river basins in India. Hydrological simulations using a Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model also revealed that the water yield in surplus river basins is decreasing but it is increasing in deficit basins. These findings contradict the traditional notion of dry areas becoming drier and wet areas becoming wetter in response to climate change in India. This result also calls for a re-evaluation of planning for river inter-linking to supply water from surplus to deficit river basins. PMID:27463092

  14. Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall: Implications of Contrasting Trends in the Spatial Variability of Means and Extremes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Subimal Ghosh

    Full Text Available India's agricultural output, economy, and societal well-being are strappingly dependent on the stability of summer monsoon rainfall, its variability and extremes. Spatial aggregate of intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall events over Central India are significantly increasing, while at local scale they are spatially non-uniform with increasing spatial variability. The reasons behind such increase in spatial variability of extremes are poorly understood and the trends in mean monsoon rainfall have been greatly overlooked. Here, by using multi-decadal gridded daily rainfall data over entire India, we show that the trend in spatial variability of mean monsoon rainfall is decreasing as exactly opposite to that of extremes. The spatial variability of extremes is attributed to the spatial variability of the convective rainfall component. Contrarily, the decrease in spatial variability of the mean rainfall over India poses a pertinent research question on the applicability of large scale inter-basin water transfer by river inter-linking to address the spatial variability of available water in India. We found a significant decrease in the monsoon rainfall over major water surplus river basins in India. Hydrological simulations using a Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC model also revealed that the water yield in surplus river basins is decreasing but it is increasing in deficit basins. These findings contradict the traditional notion of dry areas becoming drier and wet areas becoming wetter in response to climate change in India. This result also calls for a re-evaluation of planning for river inter-linking to supply water from surplus to deficit river basins.

  15. Clinical significance of measurement of hepatic volume by computed tomography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sato, Hiroyuki; Matsuda, Yoshiro; Takada, Akira

    1984-01-01

    Hepatic volumes were measured by computed tomography (CT) in 91 patients with chronic liver diseases. Mean hepatic volume in alcoholic liver disease was significantly larger than that in non-alcoholic liver disease. Hepatic volumes in the majority of decompensated liver cirrhosis were significantly smaller than those of compensated liver cirrhosis. In liver cirrhosis, significant correlations between hepatic volume and various hepatic tests which reflect the total functioning hepatic cell masses were found. Combinations of hepatic volume with ICG maximum removal rate and with serum cholinesterase activity were most useful for the assessment of prognosis in liver cirrhosis. These results indicated that estimation of hepatic volume by CT is useful for analysis of pathophysiology and prognosis of chronic liver diseases, and for diagnosis of alcoholic liver diseases. (author)

  16. A Parametric k-Means Algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarpey, Thaddeus

    2007-01-01

    Summary The k points that optimally represent a distribution (usually in terms of a squared error loss) are called the k principal points. This paper presents a computationally intensive method that automatically determines the principal points of a parametric distribution. Cluster means from the k-means algorithm are nonparametric estimators of principal points. A parametric k-means approach is introduced for estimating principal points by running the k-means algorithm on a very large simulated data set from a distribution whose parameters are estimated using maximum likelihood. Theoretical and simulation results are presented comparing the parametric k-means algorithm to the usual k-means algorithm and an example on determining sizes of gas masks is used to illustrate the parametric k-means algorithm. PMID:17917692

  17. The influence of mean climate trends and climate variance on beaver survival and recruitment dynamics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, Ruairidh D; Nouvellet, Pierre; Newman, Chris; Macdonald, David W; Rosell, Frank

    2012-09-01

    Ecologists are increasingly aware of the importance of environmental variability in natural systems. Climate change is affecting both the mean and the variability in weather and, in particular, the effect of changes in variability is poorly understood. Organisms are subject to selection imposed by both the mean and the range of environmental variation experienced by their ancestors. Changes in the variability in a critical environmental factor may therefore have consequences for vital rates and population dynamics. Here, we examine ≥90-year trends in different components of climate (precipitation mean and coefficient of variation (CV); temperature mean, seasonal amplitude and residual variance) and consider the effects of these components on survival and recruitment in a population of Eurasian beavers (n = 242) over 13 recent years. Within climatic data, no trends in precipitation were detected, but trends in all components of temperature were observed, with mean and residual variance increasing and seasonal amplitude decreasing over time. A higher survival rate was linked (in order of influence based on Akaike weights) to lower precipitation CV (kits, juveniles and dominant adults), lower residual variance of temperature (dominant adults) and lower mean precipitation (kits and juveniles). No significant effects were found on the survival of nondominant adults, although the sample size for this category was low. Greater recruitment was linked (in order of influence) to higher seasonal amplitude of temperature, lower mean precipitation, lower residual variance in temperature and higher precipitation CV. Both climate means and variance, thus proved significant to population dynamics; although, overall, components describing variance were more influential than those describing mean values. That environmental variation proves significant to a generalist, wide-ranging species, at the slow end of the slow-fast continuum of life histories, has broad implications for

  18. The Meaning of Touch to Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leonard, Katherine E; Kalman, Melanie

    2015-09-01

    To explore the experience of being touched in people diagnosed with cancer and undergoing IV chemotherapy.
 Qualitative, phenomenologic.
 Central New York and northern Pennsylvania, both in the northeastern United States
. 11 Caucasian, English-speaking adults.
. Individual interviews used open-ended questions to explore the meaning of being touched to each participant. Meanings of significant statements, which pertained to the phenomenon under investigation, were formulated hermeneutically. Themes were derived from immersion in the data and extraction of similar and divergent concepts among all interviews, yielding a multidimensional understanding of the meaning of being touched in this sample of participants
. Participants verbalized awareness of and sensitivity to the regard of others who were touching them, including healthcare providers, family, and friends. Patients do not classify a provider's touch as either task or comfort oriented. Meanings evolved in the context of three primary themes. The experience of being touched encompasses the quality of presence of providers, family, or friends. For touch to be regarded as positive, patients must be regarded as inherently whole and equal. The quality of how touch is received is secondary to and flows from the relationship established between patient and provider
. This study adds to the literature in its finding that the fundamental quality of the relationship between patient and provider establishes the perceived quality of touch. Previous studies have primarily divided touch into two categories.

  19. Novel nonlinear knowledge-based mean force potentials based on machine learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Qiwen; Zhou, Shuigeng

    2011-01-01

    The prediction of 3D structures of proteins from amino acid sequences is one of the most challenging problems in molecular biology. An essential task for solving this problem with coarse-grained models is to deduce effective interaction potentials. The development and evaluation of new energy functions is critical to accurately modeling the properties of biological macromolecules. Knowledge-based mean force potentials are derived from statistical analysis of proteins of known structures. Current knowledge-based potentials are almost in the form of weighted linear sum of interaction pairs. In this study, a class of novel nonlinear knowledge-based mean force potentials is presented. The potential parameters are obtained by nonlinear classifiers, instead of relative frequencies of interaction pairs against a reference state or linear classifiers. The support vector machine is used to derive the potential parameters on data sets that contain both native structures and decoy structures. Five knowledge-based mean force Boltzmann-based or linear potentials are introduced and their corresponding nonlinear potentials are implemented. They are the DIH potential (single-body residue-level Boltzmann-based potential), the DFIRE-SCM potential (two-body residue-level Boltzmann-based potential), the FS potential (two-body atom-level Boltzmann-based potential), the HR potential (two-body residue-level linear potential), and the T32S3 potential (two-body atom-level linear potential). Experiments are performed on well-established decoy sets, including the LKF data set, the CASP7 data set, and the Decoys “R”Us data set. The evaluation metrics include the energy Z score and the ability of each potential to discriminate native structures from a set of decoy structures. Experimental results show that all nonlinear potentials significantly outperform the corresponding Boltzmann-based or linear potentials, and the proposed discriminative framework is effective in developing knowledge

  20. Two-sample discrimination of Poisson means

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lampton, M.

    1994-01-01

    This paper presents a statistical test for detecting significant differences between two random count accumulations. The null hypothesis is that the two samples share a common random arrival process with a mean count proportional to each sample's exposure. The model represents the partition of N total events into two counts, A and B, as a sequence of N independent Bernoulli trials whose partition fraction, f, is determined by the ratio of the exposures of A and B. The detection of a significant difference is claimed when the background (null) hypothesis is rejected, which occurs when the observed sample falls in a critical region of (A, B) space. The critical region depends on f and the desired significance level, alpha. The model correctly takes into account the fluctuations in both the signals and the background data, including the important case of small numbers of counts in the signal, the background, or both. The significance can be exactly determined from the cumulative binomial distribution, which in turn can be inverted to determine the critical A(B) or B(A) contour. This paper gives efficient implementations of these tests, based on lookup tables. Applications include the detection of clustering of astronomical objects, the detection of faint emission or absorption lines in photon-limited spectroscopy, the detection of faint emitters or absorbers in photon-limited imaging, and dosimetry.

  1. Construct equivalence and latent means analysis of health behaviors between male and female middle school students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Jeong Mo; Han, Ae Kyung; Cho, Yoon Hee

    2011-12-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the construct equivalence of the five general factors (subjective health, eating habits, physical activities, sedentary lifestyle, and sleeping behaviors) and to compare the latent means between male and female middle school students in Incheon, Korea. The 2008 Korean Youth Risk Behavior Survey data was used for analysis. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was performed to test whether the scale has configural, metric, and scalar invariance across gender. Configural invariance, metric invariance, and factor invariance were satisfied for latent means analysis (LMA) between genders. Male and female students were significantly different in LMA of all factors. Male students reported better subjective health, consumed more fast food and carbonated drinks, participated in more physical activities, showed less sedentary behavior, and enjoyed better quality of sleep than female students. Health providers should consider gender differences when they develop and deliver health promotion programs aimed at adolescents. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  2. Means of Hilbert space operators

    CERN Document Server

    Hiai, Fumio

    2003-01-01

    The monograph is devoted to a systematic study of means of Hilbert space operators by a unified method based on the theory of double integral transformations and Peller's characterization of Schur multipliers. General properties on means of operators such as comparison results, norm estimates and convergence criteria are established. After some general theory, special investigations are focused on three one-parameter families of A-L-G (arithmetic-logarithmic-geometric) interpolation means, Heinz-type means and binomial means. In particular, norm continuity in the parameter is examined for such means. Some necessary technical results are collected as appendices.

  3. MENENTUKAN PORTOFOLIO OPTIMAL MENGGUNAKAN MODEL CONDITIONAL MEAN VARIANCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I GEDE ERY NISCAHYANA

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available When the returns of stock prices show the existence of autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity, then conditional mean variance models are suitable method to model the behavior of the stocks. In this thesis, the implementation of the conditional mean variance model to the autocorrelated and heteroscedastic return was discussed. The aim of this thesis was to assess the effect of the autocorrelated and heteroscedastic returns to the optimal solution of a portfolio. The margin of four stocks, Fortune Mate Indonesia Tbk (FMII.JK, Bank Permata Tbk (BNLI.JK, Suryamas Dutamakmur Tbk (SMDM.JK dan Semen Gresik Indonesia Tbk (SMGR.JK were estimated by GARCH(1,1 model with standard innovations following the standard normal distribution and the t-distribution.  The estimations were used to construct a portfolio. The portfolio optimal was found when the standard innovation used was t-distribution with the standard deviation of 1.4532 and the mean of 0.8023 consisting of 0.9429 (94% of FMII stock, 0.0473 (5% of  BNLI stock, 0% of SMDM stock, 1% of  SMGR stock.

  4. Assessment of dopamine metabolism in brain of patients with dementia by means of 18F-fluorodopa and PET

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Itoh, Masatoshi; Fujiwara, Takehiko; Meguro, Kenichi; Hatazawa, Jun; Iwata, Ren; Ishiwata, Kiichi; Takahashi, Toshihiro; Ido, Tatsuo; Sasaki, Hidetada.

    1994-01-01

    By means of positron emission tomography (PET) and 18 F-fluorodopa (FDOPA), a study was initiated to analyze the cerebral dopamine (DA) metabolism of 32 subjects including those with AD/SDAT and vascular dementia (VD, multi-infarct type). A semiautomated irregular ROI drawing routine to identify the striatum was developed that interactively defined the PET threshold pixels referring to the count histograms and location of the corresponding pixels. A comparative study by five examiners showed significant improvement in the area size definition and count linearity particularly for low contrast objects. The graphical plot was employed to calculate the FDOPA influx rate (Ki) for the ROI data with cerebellar radioactivity as an input function. The striatal Ki value was found to be relatively stable and did not show signs of a significant age-related change. The vascular patients had smaller Ki to the striatum than the aged control. Although the mean Ki of AD/SDAT was almost compatible with that of age-matched normals, their Ki was more scattered with higher and lower Ki cases. The multiple regression analysis revealed that the Ki could be predicted by age and the mini-mental state (MMS) performance (r 2 =0.590, p 2 =0.401, and p<0.05 for VD). MMS was found to be a more dominant factor than age. We conclude that dopamine metabolism became disturbed as dementia became progressively severe. (author)

  5. Continuous delivery of propranolol from liposomes-in-microspheres significantly inhibits infantile hemangioma growth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guo XN

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Xiaonan Guo,1,* Xiaoshuang Zhu,1,* Dakan Liu,1 Yubin Gong,1 Jing Sun,2 Changxian Dong1 1Department of Hemangioma and Vascular Malformation, Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: To reduce the adverse effects and high frequency of administration of propranolol to treat infantile hemangioma, we first utilized propranolol-loaded liposomes-in-microsphere (PLIM as a novel topical release system to realize sustained release of propranolol.Methods: PLIM was developed from encapsulating propranolol-loaded liposomes (PLs in microspheres made of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid-b-poly(ethylene glycol-b-poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid copolymers (PLGA-PEG-PLGA. The release profile of propranolol from PLIM was evaluated, and its biological activity was investigated in vitro using proliferation assays on hemangioma stem cells (HemSCs. Tumor inhibition was studied in nude mice bearing human subcutaneous infantile hemangioma.Results: The microspheres were of desired particle size (~77.8 µm and drug encapsulation efficiency (~23.9% and achieved sustained drug release for 40 days. PLIM exerted efficient inhibition of the proliferation of HemSCs and significantly reduced the expression of two angiogenesis factors (vascular endothelial growth factor-A [VEGF-A] and basic fibroblast growth factor [bFGF] in HemSCs. Notably, the therapeutic effect of PLIM in hemangioma was superior to that of propranolol and PL in vivo, as reflected by significantly reduced hemangioma volume, weight, and microvessel density. The mean hemangioma weight of the PLIM-treated group was significantly lower than that of other groups (saline =0.28 g, propranolol =0.21 g, PL =0.13 g, PLIM =0.03 g; PLIM vs saline: P<0.001, PLIM vs propranolol: P<0.001, PLIM vs PL: P<0.001. The mean microvessel density of

  6. The amblyopic eye in subjects with anisometropia show increased saccadic latency in the delayed saccade task

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maciej ePerdziak

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The term amblyopia is used to describe reduced visual function in one eye (or both eyes, though not so often which cannot be fully improved by refractive correction and explained by the organic cause observed during regular eye examination. This developmental disorder of spatial vision affects about 2-5% of the population and is associated with abnormal visual experience (e.g. anisometropia, strabismus during infancy or early childhood. Several studies have shown prolongation of saccadic latency time in amblyopic eye. In our opinion, study of saccadic latency in the context of central vision deficits assessment, should be based on central retina stimulation. For this reason, we proposed saccade delayed task. It requires inhibitory processing for maintaining fixation on the central target until it disappears – what constitutes the GO signal for saccade. The experiment consisted of 100 trials for each eye and was performed under two viewing conditions: monocular amblyopic / non-dominant eye and monocular dominant eye. We examined saccadic latency in 16 subjects (mean age 30±11 years with anisometropic amblyopia (two subjects had also microtropia and in 17 control subjects (mean age 28±8 years. Participants were instructed to look at central (fixation target and when it disappears, to make the saccade toward the periphery (10 deg as fast as possible, either left or the right target. The study results have proved the significant difference in saccadic latency between the amblyopic (mean 262±48 ms and dominant (mean 237±45 ms eye, in anisometropic group. In the control group, the saccadic latency for dominant (mean 226±32ms and non-dominant (mean 230±29 ms eye was not significantly different.By the use of LATER (Linear Approach to the Threshold with Ergodic Rate decision model we interpret our findings as a decrease in accumulation of visual information acquired by means of central (affected retina in subjects with anisometropic amblyopia.

  7. Dimensionality reduction based on distance preservation to local mean for symmetric positive definite matrices and its application in brain-computer interfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davoudi, Alireza; Shiry Ghidary, Saeed; Sadatnejad, Khadijeh

    2017-06-01

    Objective. In this paper, we propose a nonlinear dimensionality reduction algorithm for the manifold of symmetric positive definite (SPD) matrices that considers the geometry of SPD matrices and provides a low-dimensional representation of the manifold with high class discrimination in a supervised or unsupervised manner. Approach. The proposed algorithm tries to preserve the local structure of the data by preserving distances to local means (DPLM) and also provides an implicit projection matrix. DPLM is linear in terms of the number of training samples. Main results. We performed several experiments on the multi-class dataset IIa from BCI competition IV and two other datasets from BCI competition III including datasets IIIa and IVa. The results show that our approach as dimensionality reduction technique—leads to superior results in comparison with other competitors in the related literature because of its robustness against outliers and the way it preserves the local geometry of the data. Significance. The experiments confirm that the combination of DPLM with filter geodesic minimum distance to mean as the classifier leads to superior performance compared with the state of the art on brain-computer interface competition IV dataset IIa. Also the statistical analysis shows that our dimensionality reduction method performs significantly better than its competitors.

  8. Overestimation of Knowledge About Word Meanings: The “Misplaced Meaning” Effect

    OpenAIRE

    Kominsky, Jonathan F.; Keil, Frank C.

    2014-01-01

    Children and adults may not realize how much they depend on external sources in understanding word meanings. Four experiments investigated the existence and developmental course of a “Misplaced Meaning” (MM) effect, wherein children and adults overestimate their knowledge about the meanings of various words by underestimating how much they rely on outside sources to determine precise reference. Studies 1 & 2 demonstrate that children and adults show a highly consistent MM effect, and that it ...

  9. Mean field strategies induce unrealistic nonlinearities in calcium puffs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guillermo eSolovey

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Mean field models are often useful approximations to biological systems, but sometimes, they can yield misleading results. In this work, we compare mean field approaches with stochastic models of intracellular calcium release. In particular, we concentrate on calcium signals generated by the concerted opening of several clustered channels (calcium puffs. To this end we simulate calcium puffs numerically and then try to reproduce features of the resulting calcium distribution using mean field models were all the channels open and close simultaneously. We show that an unrealistic nonlinear relationship between the current and the number of open channels is needed to reproduce the simulated puffs. Furthermore, a single channel current which is five times smaller than the one of the stochastic simulations is also needed. Our study sheds light on the importance of the stochastic kinetics of the calcium release channel activity to estimate the release fluxes.

  10. Hemispheric Asymmetry of Visual Cortical Response by Means of Functional Transcranial Doppler

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roje-Bedeković, Marina; Lovrenčić-Huzjan, Arijana; Bosnar-Puretić, Marijana; Šerić, Vesna; Demarin, Vida

    2012-01-01

    We assessed the visual evoked response and investigated side-to-side differences in mean blood flow velocities (MBFVs) by means of functional transcranial Doppler (fTCD) in 49 right-handed patients with severe internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis and 30 healthy volunteers, simultaneously in both posterior cerebral arteries (PCAs) using 2 MHz probes, successively in the dark and during the white light stimulation. Statistically significant correlation (P = 0.001) was shown in healthy and in patients (P 0.05). The correlation between ipsilateral left PCA was significantly higher than the one with contralateral right PCA (P < 0.05). There is a clear trend towards the lateralisation of the visual evoked response in the right PCA. PMID:22135771

  11. K-means clustering versus validation measures: a data-distribution perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiong, Hui; Wu, Junjie; Chen, Jian

    2009-04-01

    K-means is a well-known and widely used partitional clustering method. While there are considerable research efforts to characterize the key features of the K-means clustering algorithm, further investigation is needed to understand how data distributions can have impact on the performance of K-means clustering. To that end, in this paper, we provide a formal and organized study of the effect of skewed data distributions on K-means clustering. Along this line, we first formally illustrate that K-means tends to produce clusters of relatively uniform size, even if input data have varied "true" cluster sizes. In addition, we show that some clustering validation measures, such as the entropy measure, may not capture this uniform effect and provide misleading information on the clustering performance. Viewed in this light, we provide the coefficient of variation (CV) as a necessary criterion to validate the clustering results. Our findings reveal that K-means tends to produce clusters in which the variations of cluster sizes, as measured by CV, are in a range of about 0.3-1.0. Specifically, for data sets with large variation in "true" cluster sizes (e.g., CV > 1.0), K-means reduces variation in resultant cluster sizes to less than 1.0. In contrast, for data sets with small variation in "true" cluster sizes (e.g., CV K-means increases variation in resultant cluster sizes to greater than 0.3. In other words, for the earlier two cases, K-means produces the clustering results which are away from the "true" cluster distributions.

  12. Socio-economic applications of finite state mean field games.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gomes, Diogo; Velho, Roberto M; Wolfram, Marie-Therese

    2014-11-13

    In this paper, we present different applications of finite state mean field games to socio-economic sciences. Examples include paradigm shifts in the scientific community or consumer choice behaviour in the free market. The corresponding finite state mean field game models are hyperbolic systems of partial differential equations, for which we present and validate different numerical methods. We illustrate the behaviour of solutions with various numerical experiments, which show interesting phenomena such as shock formation. Hence, we conclude with an investigation of the shock structure in the case of two-state problems. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

  13. Using the Binomial Series to Prove the Arithmetic Mean-Geometric Mean Inequality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Persky, Ronald L.

    2003-01-01

    In 1968, Leon Gerber compared (1 + x)[superscript a] to its kth partial sum as a binomial series. His result is stated and, as an application of this result, a proof of the arithmetic mean-geometric mean inequality is presented.

  14. A mean flow acoustic engine capable of wind energy harvesting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun Daming; Xu Ya; Chen Haijun; Wu, Ke; Liu Kaikai; Yu Yan

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► A mean flow acoustic engine for wind energy harvesting is designed and manufactured. ► Stable standing wave acoustic field is established at specific flow velocity. ► Experimental and computational results reveal the acoustic field characteristics. ► Acoustic field has monofrequency characteristic and remarkable energy density. - Abstract: Based on the mean flow induced acoustic oscillation effect, a mean flow acoustic engine (MFAE) converts wind energy and fluid energy in pipeline into acoustic energy which can be used to drive thermoacoustic refrigerators and generators without any mechanical moving parts. With natural wind simulated by a centrifugal air fan, a MFAE with a cross-junction configuration was designed and manufactured for experimental study. Stable standing wave acoustic fields were established in specific ranges of air flow velocity. Experimental and computational results reveal the acoustic field distribution in the engine and show the effect of the mean flow velocity and the Strouhal number on the acoustic field characteristics. With a mean flow velocity of 50.52 m/s and a mean pressure of 106.19 kPa, the maximum pressure amplitude of 6.20 kPa was achieved, which was about 5.8% of the mean pressure. It has laid a good foundation for driving power generation devices and thermoacoustic refrigerators by a MFAE.

  15. Servant Leadership and Constructive Development Theory: How Servant Leaders Make Meaning of Service

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phipps, Kelly A.

    2010-01-01

    A connection between servant leadership and constructive developmental theory is proposed. A theoretical framework is offered that examines the subject and object relationship for servant leaders at progressive stages of meaning making, showing how the way leaders make meaning of service evolves with their constructive development. The framework…

  16. Security and Correctness Analysis on Privacy-Preserving k-Means Clustering Schemes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Chunhua; Bao, Feng; Zhou, Jianying; Takagi, Tsuyoshi; Sakurai, Kouichi

    Due to the fast development of Internet and the related IT technologies, it becomes more and more easier to access a large amount of data. k-means clustering is a powerful and frequently used technique in data mining. Many research papers about privacy-preserving k-means clustering were published. In this paper, we analyze the existing privacy-preserving k-means clustering schemes based on the cryptographic techniques. We show those schemes will cause the privacy breach and cannot output the correct results due to the faults in the protocol construction. Furthermore, we analyze our proposal as an option to improve such problems but with intermediate information breach during the computation.

  17. Lifespan trends of autobiographical remembering: episodicity and search for meaning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Habermas, Tilmann; Diel, Verena; Welzer, Harald

    2013-09-01

    Autobiographical memories of older adults show fewer episodic and more non-episodic elements than those of younger adults. This semantization effect is attributed to a loss of episodic memory ability. However the alternative explanation by an increasing proclivity to search for meaning has not been ruled out to date. To test whether a decrease in episodicity and an increase in meaning-making in autobiographical narratives are related across the lifespan, we used different instructions, one focussing on specific episodes, the other on embedding events in life, in two lifespan samples. A continuous decrease of episodic quality of memory (memory specificity, narrative quality) was confirmed. An increase of search for meaning (interpretation, life story integration) was confirmed only up to middle adulthood. This non-inverse development of episodicity and searching for meaning in older age speaks for an autonomous semantization effect that is not merely due to an increase in interpretative preferences. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Terrorism--a (self) love story: redirecting the significance quest can end violence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kruglanski, Arie W; Bélanger, Jocelyn J; Gelfand, Michele; Gunaratna, Rohan; Hettiarachchi, Malkanthi; Reinares, Fernando; Orehek, Edward; Sasota, Jo; Sharvit, Keren

    2013-10-01

    Jean-Jacques Rousseau's concepts of self-love (amour propre) and love of self (amour de soi même) are applied to the psychology of terrorism. Self-love is concern with one's image in the eyes of respected others, members of one's group. It denotes one's feeling of personal significance, the sense that one's life has meaning in accordance with the values of one's society. Love of self, in contrast, is individualistic concern with self-preservation, comfort, safety, and the survival of self and loved ones. We suggest that self-love defines a motivational force that when awakened arouses the goal of a significance quest. When a group perceives itself in conflict with dangerous detractors, its ideology may prescribe violence and terrorism against the enemy as a means of significance gain that gratifies self-love concerns. This may involve sacrificing one's self-preservation goals, encapsulated in Rousseau's concept of love of self. The foregoing notions afford the integration of diverse quantitative and qualitative findings on individuals' road to terrorism and back. Understanding the significance quest and the conditions of its constructive fulfillment may be crucial to reversing the current tide of global terrorism. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved

  19. Clinical significance of three-dimensional measurement of tumour thickness on magnetic resonance imaging in patients with oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kwon, Minsu [Gyeongsang National University Hospital, School of Medicine, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Jinju (Korea, Republic of); Moon, Hyun; Nam, Soon Yuhl; Kim, Ji Won; Lee, Yoon-Se; Roh, Jong-Lyel; Choi, Seung-Ho [University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology, Asan Medical Centre, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Jeong Hyun [University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Asan Medical Centre, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Sang-Yoon [University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology, Asan Medical Centre, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-03-15

    To identify the clinical significance of primary tumour thickness (TT) and its direction in patients with oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC), we measured TT in all axial/coronal/sagittal views on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and evaluated their meaning. A total of 53 OTSCC patients were analysed who had undergone preoperative three-dimensional MRI and had been surgically treated. TT measured on axial (mediolateral direction), coronal (superoinferior direction), and sagittal (anteroposterior direction) views was compared to that in pathologic specimens. The association between TT on MRI and other pathologic parameters was also evaluated. TT on MRI in each plane showed relatively high concordance rates with the histological measurements. TT in all three planes was significantly correlated with lymph node (LN) metastasis. Occult LN metastasis was found in 15 of 39 (38.5 %) patients, and the cutoff value of TT in axial/coronal/sagittal MRI predicting occult LN metastasis was 6.7 mm, 7.2 mm, and 12.3 mm, respectively. TT on MRI did not show any significant association with recurrence and survival. TT on MRI in all three planes showed relatively high coincidence with TT on histopathology and presented a potential cut-off value as a predictive indicator for occult LN metastasis. (orig.)

  20. Clinical significance of three-dimensional measurement of tumour thickness on magnetic resonance imaging in patients with oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kwon, Minsu; Moon, Hyun; Nam, Soon Yuhl; Kim, Ji Won; Lee, Yoon-Se; Roh, Jong-Lyel; Choi, Seung-Ho; Lee, Jeong Hyun; Kim, Sang-Yoon

    2016-01-01

    To identify the clinical significance of primary tumour thickness (TT) and its direction in patients with oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC), we measured TT in all axial/coronal/sagittal views on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and evaluated their meaning. A total of 53 OTSCC patients were analysed who had undergone preoperative three-dimensional MRI and had been surgically treated. TT measured on axial (mediolateral direction), coronal (superoinferior direction), and sagittal (anteroposterior direction) views was compared to that in pathologic specimens. The association between TT on MRI and other pathologic parameters was also evaluated. TT on MRI in each plane showed relatively high concordance rates with the histological measurements. TT in all three planes was significantly correlated with lymph node (LN) metastasis. Occult LN metastasis was found in 15 of 39 (38.5 %) patients, and the cutoff value of TT in axial/coronal/sagittal MRI predicting occult LN metastasis was 6.7 mm, 7.2 mm, and 12.3 mm, respectively. TT on MRI did not show any significant association with recurrence and survival. TT on MRI in all three planes showed relatively high coincidence with TT on histopathology and presented a potential cut-off value as a predictive indicator for occult LN metastasis. (orig.)

  1. STUDI SIMULASI MENGGUNAKAN FUZZY C-MEANS DALAM MENGKLASIFIKASI KONSTRUK TES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rukli Rukli

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Tulisan ini memperkenalkan metode fuzzy c-means dalam mengklasifikasi konstruk tes. Untuk memverifikasi sifat unidimensional suatu tes biasanya menggunakan analisis faktor sebagai bagian dari statistik parametrik dengan beberapa persyaratan yang ketat sedangkan metode fuzzy c-means termasuk metode heuristik yang tidak memerlukan persyaratan yang ketat. Studi simulasi penelitian ini menggunakan dua metode yakni analisis faktor menggunakan program SPSS dan fuzzy c-means menggunakan program Matlab. Data simulasi menggunakan tipe data dikotomi dan politomi yang dibangkitkan lewat prog-ram Microsoft Office Excel dengan desain 2 kategori, yakni: tiga butir soal dengan banyak peserta tes 10, dan 30 butir soal dengan banyak peserta tes 100. Hasil simulasi menunjukkan bahwa metode fuzzy c-means lebih memberikan gambaran pengelompokan secara deskriptif dan dinamis pada semua desain yang telah dibuat dalam memverifikasi unidimensional pada suatu tes. Kata kunci: fuzzy c-means, analisis faktor, unidimensional _____________________________________________________________ SIMULATION STUDY USING FUZZY C-MEANS FOR CLASIFYING TEST CONSTRUCTION Abstract This paper introduces the fuzzy c-means method for classifying the test constructs. To verify the unidimensional a test typically uses factor analysis as part of parametric statistics with some strict requirements, while fuzzy c-means methods including method heuristic that do not require strict require-ments. Simulation comparison between the method of factor analysis using SPSS program and fuzzy c-means methods using Matlab. Simulation data using data type dichotomy and politomus generated through Microsoft Office Excel programs each with a number of 3 items using the number of participants 10 tests, while the number of 30 test items using the number as many as 100 participants. The simulation results show that the fuzzy c-means method provides a more descriptive and dyna-mic grouping of all the designs that

  2. MRI shows thickening and altered diffusion in the median and ulnar nerves in multifocal motor neuropathy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haakma, Wieke [University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Radiology, Utrecht (Netherlands); Aarhus University, Department of Forensic Medicine and Comparative Medicine Lab, Aarhus (Denmark); Jongbloed, Bas A.; Goedee, H.S.; Berg, Leonard H. van den; Pol, W.L. van der [University Medical Center Utrecht, Brain Centre Rudolf Magnus, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Utrecht (Netherlands); Froeling, Martijn; Bos, Clemens; Hendrikse, Jeroen [University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Radiology, Utrecht (Netherlands); Leemans, Alexander [University Medical Center Utrecht, Image Sciences Institute, Utrecht (Netherlands)

    2017-05-15

    To study disease mechanisms in multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the median and ulnar nerves. We enrolled ten MMN patients, ten patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and ten healthy controls (HCs). Patients underwent MRI (in a prone position) and nerve conduction studies. DTI and fat-suppressed T2-weighted scans of the forearms were performed on a 3.0T MRI scanner. Fibre tractography of the median and ulnar nerves was performed to extract diffusion parameters: fractional anisotropy (FA), mean (MD), axial (AD) and radial (RD) diffusivity. Cross-sectional areas (CSA) were measured on T2-weighted scans. Forty-five out of 60 arms were included in the analysis. AD was significantly lower in MMN patients (2.20 ± 0.12 x 10{sup -3} mm{sup 2}/s) compared to ALS patients (2.31 ± 0.17 x 10{sup -3} mm{sup 2}/s; p < 0.05) and HCs (2.31± 0.17 x 10{sup -3} mm{sup 2}/s; p < 0.05). Segmental analysis showed significant restriction of AD, RD and MD (p < 0.005) in the proximal third of the nerves. CSA was significantly larger in MMN patients compared to ALS patients and HCs (p < 0.01). Thickening of nerves is compatible with changes in the myelin sheath structure, whereas lowered AD values suggest axonal dysfunction. These findings suggest that myelin and axons are diffusely involved in MMN pathogenesis. (orig.)

  3. An analysis of prediction skill of monthly mean climate variability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kumar, Arun; Chen, Mingyue; Wang, Wanqiu [Climate Prediction Center, National Centers for Environmental Prediction (CPC/NCEP), Camp Springs, MD (United States)

    2011-09-15

    In this paper, lead-time and spatial dependence in skill for prediction of monthly mean climate variability is analyzed. The analysis is based on a set of extensive hindcasts from the Climate Forecast System at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. The skill characteristics of initialized predictions is also compared with the AMIP simulations forced with the observed sea surface temperature (SST) to quantify the role of initial versus boundary conditions in the prediction of monthly means. The analysis is for prediction of monthly mean SST, precipitation, and 200-hPa height. The results show a rapid decay in skill with lead time for the atmospheric variables in the extratropical latitudes. Further, after a lead-time of approximately 30-40 days, the skill of monthly mean prediction is essentially a boundary forced problem, with SST anomalies in the tropical central/eastern Pacific playing a dominant role. Because of the larger contribution from the atmospheric internal variability to monthly time-averages (compared to seasonal averages), skill for monthly mean prediction associated with boundary forcing is also lower. The analysis indicates that the prospects of skillful prediction of monthly means may remain a challenging problem, and may be limited by inherent limits in predictability. (orig.)

  4. The mean visible labial length of maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth at rest

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khan, F.; Abbas, M.

    2014-01-01

    To determine the mean visible labial length of maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth at rest. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Prosthodontics, Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan Institute of Oral Health Sciences, Karachi, from October 2012 to March 2013. Methodology: A total of 200 subjects were included. Measurements were carried out using digital caliper from the border of the lip to the incisal edges of incisor and to the cusp tip for the canines. The length of the upper lip was measured from subnasale to stomion. Statistical analyses were performed by Mann Whitney-U test and Kruskal Walli's test. Results: The age of the participant ranged between 20 and 65 years. At rest, females significantly displayed more of the maxillary central incisor (2.93 +- 1.57 mm; p=0.003), lateral incisor (1.87 +- 1.12 mm; p=0.005) and canine (0.59 +- 0.62 mm; p=0.031). With increasing age, the amount of maxillary anterior teeth visible at rest significantly decreased (p < 0.001), and increased for the mandibular teeth (p < 0.001). Subjects with shorter upper lips significantly displayed more maxillary anterior incisor structure than subjects with longer upper lip (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Females displayed significantly more labial length of the maxillary anterior teeth. The mean visible labial length of maxillary anterior teeth significantly decreased with increasing age and increased for the mandibular teeth. As the upper lip length increased, the mean visible labial length of maxillary anterior teeth significantly decreased. (author)

  5. Effect of meaning on apraxic finger imitation deficits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Achilles, E I S; Fink, G R; Fischer, M H; Dovern, A; Held, A; Timpert, D C; Schroeter, C; Schuetz, K; Kloetzsch, C; Weiss, P H

    2016-02-01

    Apraxia typically results from left-hemispheric (LH), but also from right-hemispheric (RH) stroke, and often impairs gesture imitation. Especially in LH stroke, it is important to differentiate apraxia-induced gesture imitation deficits from those due to co-morbid aphasia and associated semantic deficits, possibly influencing the imitation of meaningful (MF) gestures. To explore this issue, we first investigated if the 10 supposedly meaningless (ML) gestures of a widely used finger imitation test really carry no meaning, or if the test also contains MF gestures, by asking healthy subjects (n=45) to classify these gestures as MF or ML. Most healthy subjects (98%) classified three of the 10 gestures as clearly MF. Only two gestures were considered predominantly ML. We next assessed how imitation in stroke patients (255 LH, 113 RH stroke) is influenced by gesture meaning and how aphasia influences imitation of LH stroke patients (n=208). All patients and especially patients with imitation deficits (17% of LH, 27% of RH stroke patients) imitated MF gestures significantly better than ML gestures. Importantly, meaningfulness-scores of all 10 gestures significantly predicted imitation scores of patients with imitation deficits. Furthermore, especially in LH stroke patients with imitation deficits, the severity of aphasia significantly influenced the imitation of MF, but not ML gestures. Our findings in a large patient cohort support current cognitive models of imitation and strongly suggest that ML gestures are particularly sensitive to detect imitation deficits while minimising confounding effects of aphasia which affect the imitation of MF gestures in LH stroke patients. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Potential ecotoxicological significance of elevated concentrations of strontium in eggshells of passerine birds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mora, Miguel A.; Taylor, Robert J.; Brattin, Bryan L.

    2007-01-01

    We investigated the occurrence and potential ecotoxicological significance of elevated concentrations of strontium (Sr) in eggshells of nine passerine birds from four regions in Arizona. Concentrations of Sr in eggshells ranged from 70 to 1360 µg g−1 dry weight (overall mean  =  684 ± 345 SD µg g−1 dw) for the four regions. 23% of the eggshells had Sr concentrations greater than 1000 µg g−1 dw. To our knowledge, these are among the highest levels of Sr that have been reported in bird eggshells in North America. Of the nine species, Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) had the greatest concentrations of Sr. There was a significant positive correlation between Sr and calcium (Ca), and between barium (Ba) and Ca. Ca, Sr, and Ba interact with each other and can exert similar chemical and pharmacological effects. Mean (n ≥ 3) eggshell∶egg ratios for Sr varied with species and ranged from 6.1∶1 to 40.2∶1; ratios for individual eggs reached 92.7∶1. Mean Sr/Ca values ranged from 1.3 × 10−3 to 3.0 × 10−3 and mean eggshell thickness ranged from 83 ± 6 to 120 ± 9 µm for all species. Eggshell thickness was not significantly correlated with Sr for any species but tended to increase with Sr concentrations. We postulate that high concentrations of Sr in the shell could affect later-stage embryos by possible interference with Ca metabolism and bone growth, resulting in reduced hatching success and potential minor beak deformities.

  7. The mean magnetic field of the sun - Method of observation and relation to the interplanetary magnetic field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scherrer, P. H.; Wilcox, J. M.; Kotov, V.; Severnyi, A. B.; Howard, R.

    1977-01-01

    The mean solar magnetic field as measured in integrated light has been observed since 1968. Since 1970 it has been observed both at Hale Observatories and at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory. The observing procedures at both observatories and their implications for mean field measurements are discussed. A comparison of the two sets of daily observations shows that similar results are obtained at both observatories. A comparison of the mean field with the interplanetary magnetic polarity shows that the IMF sector structure has the same pattern as the mean field polarity.

  8. Investigating the influence of anthropogenic forcing on observed mean and extreme sea level pressure trends over the Mediterranean Region.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barkhordarian, Armineh

    2012-01-01

    We investigate whether the observed mean sea level pressure (SLP) trends over the Mediterranean region in the period from 1975 to 2004 are significantly consistent with what 17 models projected as response of SLP to anthropogenic forcing (greenhouse gases and sulphate aerosols, GS). Obtained results indicate that the observed trends in mean SLP cannot be explained by natural (internal) variability. Externally forced changes are detectable in all seasons, except spring. The large-scale component (spatial mean) of the GS signal is detectable in all the 17 models in winter and in 12 of the 17 models in summer. However, the small-scale component (spatial anomalies about the spatial mean) of GS signal is only detectable in winter within 11 of the 17 models. We also show that GS signal has a detectable influence on observed decreasing (increasing) tendency in the frequencies of extremely low (high) SLP days in winter and that these changes cannot be explained by internal climate variability. While the detection of GS forcing is robust in winter and summer, there are striking inconsistencies in autumn, where analysis points to the presence of an external forcing, which is not GS forcing.

  9. "No One Ever Showed Me Nothing": Skill and Self-Making among Trinidadian Garment Workers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prentice, Rebecca

    2012-01-01

    This article examines the relationship between skill acquisition and the constitution of economic selfhood in Trinidad. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork among garment workers in a context of industrial decline, I show how their formal, informal, and illicit means of acquiring sewing skills are inextricably linked to the fragmented and unstable…

  10. MEANING TRANSFER ANALYSIS OF BALINESE ARTS TERMS INTO ENGLISH AND FRENCH: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Putu Weddha Savitri

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available In order to show and promote Balinese culture to the incoming tourists, many specific terms, especially in arts terms, must be well translated. This paper aims at analyzing the meaning transfer of Balinese Arts Terms into English and French found in Tourism Promotion Book published by Bali Government Tourism Department in two languages versions. The analysis focused on the techniques or procedures applied in transferring Balinese art terms into English (TL1 and French (TL2. Besides, it is also to figure out the most common technique used by the translator in transferring the meanings. The findings showed that there are three techniques used to transfer the meaning of the SL into the TL 1, those are descriptive, transcription, and functional equivalence, meanwhile, there are three translation techniques: transcription, functional equivalence, and formal equivalence and one translation procedure: cultural equivalence used in transferring the SL meaning to TL 2. Transcription technique, usually called borrowing was mostly used by the translator in the meaning transfer from the SL to both the target languages in order to retain the SL meaning in the TL.

  11. What is the Meaning of Public Sector Health?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Waldorff, Susanne Boch

    2013-01-01

    This study explores the dynamics involved in establishing discourses necessary for constructing organizational change within the public sector. Drawing upon critical discourse analysis, the study identifies two competing discourses – a ‘patient’ and a ‘healthy citizen’ discourse, which exist...... in the context of public sector change. First, the study shows that discourses not only provide different senses of meaning and warrant particular social actors a louder voice than others, but that these actors also develop discursive legitimizing strategies and translate particular meanings...... into the organization and organizational practices. Second, when the strategies make a discourse resonate with the local context, in this case a highly political context, then specific organizational practices become more legitimate than others, and the discourse is more inclined to become manifest. Finally...

  12. Condition monitoring with Mean field independent components analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pontoppidan, Niels Henrik; Sigurdsson, Sigurdur; Larsen, Jan

    2005-01-01

    We discuss condition monitoring based on mean field independent components analysis of acoustic emission energy signals. Within this framework it is possible to formulate a generative model that explains the sources, their mixing and also the noise statistics of the observed signals. By using...... a novelty approach we may detect unseen faulty signals as indeed faulty with high precision, even though the model learns only from normal signals. This is done by evaluating the likelihood that the model generated the signals and adapting a simple threshold for decision. Acoustic emission energy signals...... from a large diesel engine is used to demonstrate this approach. The results show that mean field independent components analysis gives a better detection of fault compared to principal components analysis, while at the same time selecting a more compact model...

  13. MEANING TO BE VOLLEYBALL PLAYER IN CAREER TRANSITION PHASE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adriana Justino

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study is to assess the meaning of being that a volleyball player for the under-19 players who are experiencing a transition in their in career. Sixteen male players aged 17 and 18 were evaluated, by being asked the triggering question “What does being a volleyball player mean to you?” The analysis of the discourses was carried out according to the procedures recommended by Miles & Huberman (2004. Four response categories resulted: psychoemotional and behavioral skills, emotions in sport, recognition and financial return, skills as an athlete/player. The athletes showed that the meaning of sport lies especially in the passion for practice, but also, in the improving of their tactics and techniques, in the development of psychoemotional and behavioral skills, in the professional recognition and, to a lesser degree, in the financial aspect. Most athletes state they intend to continue in the juvenile sports categories, therefore, understanding the meaning of this activity in their life can be the key to the elaboration of a plan of psychological preparation whose aim is to provide support to their needs in this moment of professional choice.

  14. Pedestrian Flow in the Mean Field Limit

    KAUST Repository

    Haji Ali, Abdul Lateef

    2012-11-01

    We study the mean-field limit of a particle-based system modeling the behavior of many indistinguishable pedestrians as their number increases. The base model is a modified version of Helbing\\'s social force model. In the mean-field limit, the time-dependent density of two-dimensional pedestrians satisfies a four-dimensional integro-differential Fokker-Planck equation. To approximate the solution of the Fokker-Planck equation we use a time-splitting approach and solve the diffusion part using a Crank-Nicholson method. The advection part is solved using a Lax-Wendroff-Leveque method or an upwind Backward Euler method depending on the advection speed. Moreover, we use multilevel Monte Carlo to estimate observables from the particle-based system. We discuss these numerical methods, and present numerical results showing the convergence of observables that were calculated using the particle-based model as the number of pedestrians increases to those calculated using the probability density function satisfying the Fokker-Planck equation.

  15. On some problems of meaning - polysemy between sense enumeration and core meaning paradigms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dobrić Nikola

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Polysemy is a semantic phenomenon which occurs when one lexical item has more meanings which can be seen as related to each other. It is to be distinguished from the other extreme pole of ambiguity, homonymy, which occurs when two or more unrelated meanings are by means of an etymological accident tied to the same orthographic and/or phonological form. Even though polysemy can be considered as a non-issue, since discourse easily solves all of the problems of possible ambiguity for use in everyday language use, accounting for it (in an systematic manner in terms of how polysemy is represented in the mental lexicon and how to account for the criteria governing the meaning distinctions and the interaction of meanings, for example, is a challenge still not fully met. The paper first gives an overview of the existing theoretical accounts of polysemy which arose over the course of the last two centuries to meet one of the said challenges, namely how polysemy is represented in our minds. The discussion is followed up by a conclusion of the predominant and most plausible theoretical view on multiple meanings stemming from the presented philosophical, semantic, and cognitive frameworks and models.

  16. On not showing scalps

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Marselis, Randi Lorenz

    2016-01-01

    makes. This article examines how the National Museum of Denmark attempted to inform and discuss with the Danish public the museum’s decision to not exhibit scalps in their temporary exhibition on Native American culture, Powwow: We Dance, We’re Alive. Building on the new, contingent museum ethics......Museums are increasingly taking the cultural values of source communities into account in their representational strategies, and that means that they now face the challenge of explaining to their publics how social responsibility toward distant source communities informs the choices each museum...

  17. Prediction on long-term mean and mean square pollutant concentrations in an urban atmosphere

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kumar, S; Lamb, R G; Seinfeld, J H

    1976-01-01

    The general problem of predicting long-term average (say yearly) pollutant concentrations in an urban atmosphere is formulated. The pollutant concentration can be viewed as a random process, the complete description of which requires knowledge of its probability density function, which is unknown. The mean concentration is the first moment of the concentration distribution, and at present there exist a number of models for predicting the long-term mean concentration of an inert pollutant. The second moment, or mean square concentration, indicates additional features of the distribution, such as the level of fluctuations about the mean. In the paper a model proposed by Lamb for the long-term mean concentration is reviewed, and a new model for prediction of the long-term mean square concentration of an inert air pollutant is derived. The properties and uses of the model are discussed, and the equations defining the model are presented in a form for direct application to an urban area.

  18. A human protein interaction network shows conservation of aging processes between human and invertebrate species.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Russell Bell

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available We have mapped a protein interaction network of human homologs of proteins that modify longevity in invertebrate species. This network is derived from a proteome-scale human protein interaction Core Network generated through unbiased high-throughput yeast two-hybrid searches. The longevity network is composed of 175 human homologs of proteins known to confer increased longevity through loss of function in yeast, nematode, or fly, and 2,163 additional human proteins that interact with these homologs. Overall, the network consists of 3,271 binary interactions among 2,338 unique proteins. A comparison of the average node degree of the human longevity homologs with random sets of proteins in the Core Network indicates that human homologs of longevity proteins are highly connected hubs with a mean node degree of 18.8 partners. Shortest path length analysis shows that proteins in this network are significantly more connected than would be expected by chance. To examine the relationship of this network to human aging phenotypes, we compared the genes encoding longevity network proteins to genes known to be changed transcriptionally during aging in human muscle. In the case of both the longevity protein homologs and their interactors, we observed enrichments for differentially expressed genes in the network. To determine whether homologs of human longevity interacting proteins can modulate life span in invertebrates, homologs of 18 human FRAP1 interacting proteins showing significant changes in human aging muscle were tested for effects on nematode life span using RNAi. Of 18 genes tested, 33% extended life span when knocked-down in Caenorhabditis elegans. These observations indicate that a broad class of longevity genes identified in invertebrate models of aging have relevance to human aging. They also indicate that the longevity protein interaction network presented here is enriched for novel conserved longevity proteins.

  19. How Ordinary Meaning Underpins the Meaning of Mathematics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ormell, Christopher

    1991-01-01

    Discusses the meaning of mathematics by looking at its uses in the real world. Offers mathematical modeling as a way to represent mathematical applications in real or potential situations. Presents levels of applicability, modus operandi, relationship to "pure mathematics," and consequences for education for mathematical modeling. (MDH)

  20. Using television shows to teach communication skills in internal medicine residency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Roger Y; Saber, Sadra S; Ma, Irene; Roberts, J Mark

    2009-02-03

    To address evidence-based effective communication skills in the formal academic half day curriculum of our core internal medicine residency program, we designed and delivered an interactive session using excerpts taken from medically-themed television shows. We selected two excerpts from the television show House, and one from Gray's Anatomy and featured them in conjunction with a brief didactic presentation of the Kalamazoo consensus statement on doctor-patient communication. To assess the efficacy of this approach a set of standardized questions were given to our residents once at the beginning and once at the completion of the session. Our residents indicated that their understanding of an evidence-based model of effective communication such as the Kalamazoo model, and their comfort levels in applying such model in clinical practice increased significantly. Furthermore, residents' understanding levels of the seven essential competencies listed in the Kalamazoo model also improved significantly. Finally, the residents reported that their comfort levels in three challenging clinical scenarios presented to them improved significantly. We used popular television shows to teach residents in our core internal medicine residency program about effective communication skills with a focus on the Kalamazoo's model. The results of the subjective assessment of this approach indicated that it was successful in accomplishing our objectives.

  1. Some Elementary Aspects of Means

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mowaffaq Hajja

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available We raise several elementary questions pertaining to various aspects of means. These questions refer to both known and newly introduced families of means, and include questions of characterizations of certain families, relations among certain families, comparability among the members of certain families, and concordance of certain sequences of means. They also include questions about internality tests for certain mean-looking functions and about certain triangle centers viewed as means of the vertices. The questions are accessible to people with no background in means, and it is also expected that these people can seriously investigate, and contribute to the solutions of, these problems. The solutions are expected to require no more than simple tools from analysis, algebra, functional equations, and geometry.

  2. A Modified MinMax k-Means Algorithm Based on PSO.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiaoyan; Bai, Yanping

    The MinMax k -means algorithm is widely used to tackle the effect of bad initialization by minimizing the maximum intraclustering errors. Two parameters, including the exponent parameter and memory parameter, are involved in the executive process. Since different parameters have different clustering errors, it is crucial to choose appropriate parameters. In the original algorithm, a practical framework is given. Such framework extends the MinMax k -means to automatically adapt the exponent parameter to the data set. It has been believed that if the maximum exponent parameter has been set, then the programme can reach the lowest intraclustering errors. However, our experiments show that this is not always correct. In this paper, we modified the MinMax k -means algorithm by PSO to determine the proper values of parameters which can subject the algorithm to attain the lowest clustering errors. The proposed clustering method is tested on some favorite data sets in several different initial situations and is compared to the k -means algorithm and the original MinMax k -means algorithm. The experimental results indicate that our proposed algorithm can reach the lowest clustering errors automatically.

  3. Operational Meanings of Orders of Observables Defined through Quantum Set Theories with Different Conditionals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masanao Ozawa

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In quantum logic there is well-known arbitrariness in choosing a binary operation for conditional. Currently, we have at least three candidates, called the Sasaki conditional, the contrapositive Sasaki conditional, and the relevance conditional. A fundamental problem is to show how the form of the conditional follows from an analysis of operational concepts in quantum theory. Here, we attempt such an analysis through quantum set theory (QST. In this paper, we develop quantum set theory based on quantum logics with those three conditionals, each of which defines different quantum logical truth value assignment. We show that those three models satisfy the transfer principle of the same form to determine the quantum logical truth values of theorems of the ZFC set theory. We also show that the reals in the model and the truth values of their equality are the same for those models. Interestingly, however, the order relation between quantum reals significantly depends on the underlying conditionals. We characterize the operational meanings of those order relations in terms of joint probability obtained by the successive projective measurements of arbitrary two observables. Those characterizations clearly show their individual features and will play a fundamental role in future applications to quantum physics.

  4. Lectures on mean curvature flows

    CERN Document Server

    Zhu, Xi-Ping

    2002-01-01

    "Mean curvature flow" is a term that is used to describe the evolution of a hypersurface whose normal velocity is given by the mean curvature. In the simplest case of a convex closed curve on the plane, the properties of the mean curvature flow are described by Gage-Hamilton's theorem. This theorem states that under the mean curvature flow, the curve collapses to a point, and if the flow is diluted so that the enclosed area equals \\pi, the curve tends to the unit circle. In this book, the author gives a comprehensive account of fundamental results on singularities and the asymptotic behavior of mean curvature flows in higher dimensions. Among other topics, he considers in detail Huisken's theorem (a generalization of Gage-Hamilton's theorem to higher dimension), evolution of non-convex curves and hypersurfaces, and the classification of singularities of the mean curvature flow. Because of the importance of the mean curvature flow and its numerous applications in differential geometry and partial differential ...

  5. An Extension of the Mean Value Theorem for Integrals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khalili, Parviz; Vasiliu, Daniel

    2010-01-01

    In this note we present an extension of the mean value theorem for integrals. The extension we consider is motivated by an older result (here referred as Corollary 2), which is quite classical for the literature of Mathematical Analysis or Calculus. We also show an interesting application for computing the sum of a harmonic series.

  6. The formation of means of agricultural family in Cuba

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vicente Eugenio León Hernández

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available This article presen ts a historical outline about the formation of technical means in the Specialty Agriculture in Cuba , and shows how these characteristics are present in Pinar del Río province. It also make s an analysis of the current strategies of the formation of this personnel at international level.

  7. Could patients' coughing have communicative significance?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bailey, Julia V

    2008-01-01

    Medical discourse positions patients with coughs and colds negatively, so consulting health services with 'minor' respiratory illness is therefore more accountable than for other medical problems. Patients face dilemmas since they must persuade doctors of the doctorability of their illness without being seen as hypochondriacal, and they risk losing face if doctors decide that there is nothing much wrong. It is known that the placement of non-lexical features of talk such as laughing or crying can have interactional meaning. Using a data set of video-recorded doctor-patient cough and cold consultations, this study explores whether patients' coughing could have communicative significance. The study is a qualitative analysis of 33 consultations drawing on a constructionist, sociolinguistic analytic approach. Coughing is co-ordinated with talk rather than occurring randomly. Coughing helps patients to demonstrate the doctorability of their symptoms and to legitimize their claims for medical attention. Coughing is also associated with resistance to 'no problem' diagnoses, resulting in changes in the trajectory of talk (for example, soliciting more explanation from doctors and/or re-negotiation of doctors' investigation or treatment plans). Coughing is undoubtedly a manifestation of respiratory illness, but also has communicative significance in consultations for coughs and colds.

  8. Meaning in couples relationships.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rodrigues T.F.

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Based on psycholinguistics and L. Vygotsky’s (2007 theories on sign, meaning and sense categories, as later discussed by A. Leontiev (2004, 2009, we present a case study that focuses on the intricacies of a love relationship for a woman who remained in a painful marriage. Interview material is presented in a Relational-Historical Psychology theoretical framework to provide central categories of meaning and sense. This is understood as a privileged method for apprehending the uniqueness of a human being. To segment the qualitative material, we used the “Analysis of the Nuclei of Meanings for the Apprehension of the Constitution of Sense,” by Aguiar and Ozella (2006, 2013. This approach seeks to discriminate the meanings and senses that constitute the content of a speech sample.

  9. Meaning in Matter

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brix, Anders

    2013-01-01

    When addressing present-day challenges, design discourse put faith mainly in design understood as a problem-solving activity, pertaining to innovation on functional, systems and technological level. The aesthetically founded fields, e.g. craft-based design, on the other hand, do not seem to play ...... - in particular those which carry _corporeal affordance_, such as clothing, blankets, chairs, tables and houses - perhaps even cities. Things that mean to us, what they mean, mainly _qua_ their physical properties....

  10. Stats means business

    CERN Document Server

    Buglear, John

    2010-01-01

    Stats Means Business is an introductory textbook written for Business, Hospitality and Tourism students who take modules on Statistics or Quantitative research methods. Recognising that most users of this book will have limited if any grounding in the subject, this book minimises technical language, provides clear definition of key terms, and gives emphasis to interpretation rather than technique.Stats Means Business enables readers to:appreciate the importance of statistical analysis in business, hospitality and tourism understand statis

  11. O trabalho e seus sentidos Work and it's meanings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Estelle Morin

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Desde meados dos anos 1950, pesquisadores têm buscado, por diferentes metodologias, compreender o significado atribuído ao trabalho pelas pessoas em diferentes países. Os resultados obtidos por pesquisadores do grupo Meaning of Work International Research Team ([MOW], 1987 mostraram que o trabalho pode assumir desde uma condição de neutralidade até de centralidade na identidade pessoal e social. O objetivo desta pesquisa é apresentar dados qualitativos sobre os sentidos do trabalho para jovens executivos brasileiros, a partir da abordagem desenvolvida por Morin (2002. Os resultados preliminares desta pesquisa indicam, para a amostra pesquisada, que o trabalho é essencial na vida das pessoas. O principal sentido apontado por este grupo é que o trabalho permite a sobrevivência. Além disso, os dados desta pesquisa indicam que valores como variedade na natureza das tarefas, aprendizagem, autonomia, reconhecimento e segurança também são fundamentais para que o trabalho tenha sentido.Many researches, since the 1950's, seek to comprehend the meaning of work using different methodological approaches. Results obtained by the Meaning of Work group International Research Team ([MOW] in 1987, in different countries, showed that work could assume different conditions from neutrality to centrality in relation to the subject's personal and social identity. The objective of this research is to present some qualitative data on the meanings of work for young Brazilian managers, using the approach developed by Morin (2002. Preliminary results of this research show that work is essential at the lives of this group, because work is related to survival. Results also indicate that values such as variations on the nature of the tasks, autonomy, recognition and security are also fundamental for a meaningful work.

  12. Testing for significance of phase synchronisation dynamics in the EEG.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daly, Ian; Sweeney-Reed, Catherine M; Nasuto, Slawomir J

    2013-06-01

    A number of tests exist to check for statistical significance of phase synchronisation within the Electroencephalogram (EEG); however, the majority suffer from a lack of generality and applicability. They may also fail to account for temporal dynamics in the phase synchronisation, regarding synchronisation as a constant state instead of a dynamical process. Therefore, a novel test is developed for identifying the statistical significance of phase synchronisation based upon a combination of work characterising temporal dynamics of multivariate time-series and Markov modelling. We show how this method is better able to assess the significance of phase synchronisation than a range of commonly used significance tests. We also show how the method may be applied to identify and classify significantly different phase synchronisation dynamics in both univariate and multivariate datasets.

  13. Court interpreting and pragmatic meaning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jacobsen, Bente

    In Denmark, court interpreters are required to deliver verbatim translations of speakers' originals and to refrain from transferring pragmatic meaning. Yet, as this paper demonstrates, pragmatic meaning is central to courtroom interaction.......In Denmark, court interpreters are required to deliver verbatim translations of speakers' originals and to refrain from transferring pragmatic meaning. Yet, as this paper demonstrates, pragmatic meaning is central to courtroom interaction....

  14. How Search for Meaning Interacts with Complex Categories of Meaning in Life and Subjective Well-Being?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damásio, Bruno Figueiredo; Koller, Sílvia Helena

    2015-03-03

    This study sought to assess how the search for meaning interacts with crisis of meaning and with different categories of meaning in life (meaningfulness, crisis of meaning, existential indifference, and existential conflict). Furthermore, the moderation role of search for meaning between the relation of categories of meaning and subjective well-being (SWB) was also evaluated. Participants included 3,034 subjects (63.9% women) ranging in age from 18 to 91 (M = 33.90; SD = 15.01) years old from 22 Brazilian states. Zero-order correlations and a factorial MANOVA were implemented. Positive low correlations were found for search for meaning and crisis of meaning (r = .258; p < .001). Search for meaning presented a small-effect size moderation effect on the relation of the different categories of meaning with subjective happiness, F(6, 3008) = 2.698, p < .05; η2 = .004, but not for satisfaction with life, F(6, 3008) = .935, p = .47; η2 = .002. The differences on the levels of subjective happiness of those inserted in existential indifferent and conflicting categories differ depending on the levels of search for meaning. Further directions for future studies are proposed.

  15. Soil data clustering by using K-means and fuzzy K-means algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Hot

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available A problem of soil clustering based on the chemical characteristics of soil, and proper visual representation of the obtained results, is analysed in the paper. To that aim, K-means and fuzzy K-means algorithms are adapted for soil data clustering. A database of soil characteristics sampled in Montenegro is used for a comparative analysis of implemented algorithms. The procedure of setting proper values for control parameters of fuzzy K-means is illustrated on the used database. In addition, validation of clustering is made through visualisation. Classified soil data are presented on the static Google map and dynamic Open Street Map.

  16. A Fast Exact k-Nearest Neighbors Algorithm for High Dimensional Search Using k-Means Clustering and Triangle Inequality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xueyi

    2012-02-08

    The k-nearest neighbors (k-NN) algorithm is a widely used machine learning method that finds nearest neighbors of a test object in a feature space. We present a new exact k-NN algorithm called kMkNN (k-Means for k-Nearest Neighbors) that uses the k-means clustering and the triangle inequality to accelerate the searching for nearest neighbors in a high dimensional space. The kMkNN algorithm has two stages. In the buildup stage, instead of using complex tree structures such as metric trees, kd-trees, or ball-tree, kMkNN uses a simple k-means clustering method to preprocess the training dataset. In the searching stage, given a query object, kMkNN finds nearest training objects starting from the nearest cluster to the query object and uses the triangle inequality to reduce the distance calculations. Experiments show that the performance of kMkNN is surprisingly good compared to the traditional k-NN algorithm and tree-based k-NN algorithms such as kd-trees and ball-trees. On a collection of 20 datasets with up to 10(6) records and 10(4) dimensions, kMkNN shows a 2-to 80-fold reduction of distance calculations and a 2- to 60-fold speedup over the traditional k-NN algorithm for 16 datasets. Furthermore, kMkNN performs significant better than a kd-tree based k-NN algorithm for all datasets and performs better than a ball-tree based k-NN algorithm for most datasets. The results show that kMkNN is effective for searching nearest neighbors in high dimensional spaces.

  17. Mean inactivation dose (D)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vijayakumar, S.; Ng, T.C.; Raudkivi, U.; Meaney, T.J.

    1990-01-01

    By predicting treatment outcome to radiotherapy from in vitro radiobiological parameters, not only individual patient treatments can be tailored, but also new promising treatment protocols can be tried in patients in whom unfavorable outcome is predicted. In this respect, choosing the right parameter can be very important. Unlike D 0 and N which provide information of the distal part of the survival curve, mean inactivation dose (D) estimates overall radiosensitivity. However, the parameters reflecting the response at the clinically relevant low-dose region are neglected in the literature. In a literature survey of 98 papers in which survival curves or D 0 /N were used, only in 2 D was used. In 21 papers the D 0 /n values were important in drawing conclusions. By calculating D in 3 of these 21 papers, we show that the conclusion drawn may be altered with the use of D. The importance of ''low-dose-region-parameters'' is reviewed. (orig.)

  18. Mean trombosit volume in patients with retinopathy of prematurity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harun Yüksel

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Objective: We aimed to evaluate the mean platelet volume (MPV in patients with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP with respect to development of type 1 ROP Methods: The medical records of the premature infants were evaluated. Babies with a birth weight under 1500 g and a gestational age under 32 weeks were enrolled to the study. Birth weight, gestational age, onset and grade of retinopathy, presence of plus disease were analyzed. At the time of type 1 ROP diagnosis, blood samples were obtained. In the patients without type 1 ROP the blood samples were also obtained at similar gestational age. Hemoglobin, hematocrit, platelet count, and MPV results were recorded. Results: Sixty-three infants were studied. 22 of them had type 1 ROP and 41 had not developed type 1 ROP. The mean gestational age and the mean birth weight between groups were not statistically significant. The mean MPV values in patients with type 1 ROP and without type 1 ROP was 9,1±2,0 fL and 9,4±1,8 fL, respectively (p=0.61. Conclusion: The results demonstrated that MPV values were not associated with severity of ROP in our study population. J Clin Exp Invest 2014; 5 (2: 443-446

  19. Aluminum phosphate shows more adjuvanticity than Aluminum hydroxide in recombinant hepatitis –B vaccine formulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    2008-08-01

    Full Text Available Background: Although a number of investigation have been carried out to find alternative adjuvants to aluminum salts in vaccine formulations, they are still extensively used due to their good track record of safety, low cost and proper adjuvanticity with a variety of antigens. Adsorption of antigens onto aluminum compounds depends heavily on electrostatic forces between adjuvant and antigen. Commercial recombinant protein hepatitis B vaccines containing aluminum hydroxide as adjuvant is facing low induction of immunity in some sections of the vaccinated population. To follow the current global efforts in finding more potent hepatitis B vaccine formulation, adjuvanticity of aluminum phosphate has been compared to aluminum hydroxide. Materials and methods: The adjuvant properties of aluminum hydroxide and aluminum phosphate in a vaccine formulation containing a locally manufactured hepatitis B (HBs surface antigen was evaluated in Balb/C mice. The formulations were administered intra peritoneally (i.p. and the titers of antibody which was induced after 28 days were determined using ELISA technique. The geometric mean of antibody titer (GMT, seroconversion and seroprotection rates, ED50 and relative potency of different formulations were determined. Results: All the adjuvanicity markers obtained in aluminum phosphate formulation were significantly higher than aluminum hydroxide. The geometric mean of antibody titer of aluminum phosphate was approximately three folds more than aluminum hydroxide. Conclusion: Aluminum phosphate showed more adjuvanticity than aluminum hydroxide in hepatitis B vaccine. Therefore the use of aluminum phosphate as adjuvant in this vaccine may lead to higher immunity with longer duration of effects in vaccinated groups.

  20. Means on scattered compacta

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Banakh T.

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available We prove that a separable Hausdor_ topological space X containing a cocountable subset homeomorphic to [0, ω1] admits no separately continuous mean operation and no diagonally continuous n-mean for n ≥ 2.