Prevalence of celiac disease among first-degree relatives of Indian celiac disease patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, Asha; Prakash, Shyam; Kaur, Gurvinder; Sreenivas, Vishnubhatla; Ahuja, Vineet; Gupta, Siddhartha Datta; Makharia, Govind K

2016-03-01

Celiac disease, once thought to be uncommon in Asia, is now recognized in Asian nations as well. We investigated the prevalence of celiac disease in first-degree relatives of celiac disease patients followed in our centre. First-degree relatives were screened prospectively for celiac disease using questionnaire-based interview and anti-tissue transglutaminase antibody. Serology positive first-degree relatives underwent duodenal biopsies. Diagnosis of celiac disease was made based on positive serology and villous abnormality Marsh grade 2 or higher. Human leucocyte antigen DQ2/-DQ8 was also assessed in 127 first-degree relatives. 434 first-degree relatives of 176 celiac disease patients were prospectively recruited; 282 were symptomatic (64.9%), 58 were positive for serology (13.3%). Seroprevalence was higher in female than in males (19% vs 8.5%; p=0.001) and highest in siblings (16.9%) than parents (13.6%) and children (5.9%) of celiac patients (p=0.055); 87.4% first-degree relatives were human leucocyte antigen-DQ2/-DQ8 positive. Overall prevalence of celiac disease was 10.9% amongst first-degree relatives. The prevalence of celiac disease in first-degree relatives of celiac disease patients was 10.9% in our cohort, and 87% had human leucocyte antigen-DQ2 or -DQ8 haplotype. All first-degree relatives of celiac disease patients should be screen for celiac disease even if asymptomatic or with atypical manifestations. Copyright © 2015 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nuclear-related training and education offered by academic institutions (less than baccalaureate degree) (preliminary)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howard, L.

1981-11-01

This study presents the results of a survey of academic institutions offering nuclear-related training and education at the less than baccalaureate degree level. The scope of the survey includes only those programs which have a nuclear power industry application, and excludes all programs which are affiliated with nuclear medicine. The survey instrument was distributed by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations to 262 academic institutions. The survey universe was compiled from a number of publications that listed nuclear-related academic programs. Since the initial mailing in May 1981, ten of the institutions have been determined to no longer exist and eight other listings have been identified as duplications, thus reducing the universe to 244 institutions. Fifty-five percent of the survey population (134 institutions) responded to the questionnaire, of which 45 percent (109) were out of the survey scope and 10 percent (25) indicated they offered less than baccalaureate degree, nuclear-related programs

The current impact of entry-level associate and baccalaureate degree education on the diversity of respiratory therapists.

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, Ellen A; Nguyen, Xuan T

2014-12-01

Transitioning from an associate degree to a baccalaureate degree for respiratory therapists has been suggested as a new entry-level educational standard. One potential risk for this change is that it may limit the diversity of potential applicants for entry-level education. A diverse workforce is important to achieve the goal of reducing healthcare disparities. This study evaluated characteristics of therapists who completed associate and baccalaureate degree entry-level education. A secondary analysis of data collected from the 2009 AARC Respiratory Therapist Human Resource Survey explored relationships between the choice of entry-level associate or baccalaureate education and variables of gender, race, salary, career advancement, and job satisfaction. There were no differences between therapists with entry-level associate and baccalaureate degrees in gender, race, number of additional healthcare credentials, numbers of life support credentials, wages, delivering respiratory care by protocol, and job satisfaction. There were significantly higher percentages of advanced academic degrees, desire to pursue a higher academic degree, registered respiratory therapist credentials, total National Board for Respiratory Care credentials, and leadership roles for therapists with baccalaureate entry-level degrees. Current entry-level associate and baccalaureate degree graduates have similar gender and race proportions. This finding challenges concerns that an entry-level baccalaureate degree would decrease the diversity of the respiratory therapist workforce. Copyright © 2014 by Daedalus Enterprises.

Students' Desired and Experienced Levels of Connectivity to an Asynchronous, Online, Distance Degree Program

Science.gov (United States)

Schroeder, Shawnda; Baker, Mary; Terras, Katherine; Mahar, Patti; Chiasson, Kari

2016-01-01

This study examined graduate students' desired and experienced levels of connectivity in an online, asynchronous distance degree program. Connectivity was conceptualized as the students' feelings of community and involvement, not their level of access to the Internet. Graduate students enrolled in a distance degree program were surveyed on both…

Risk of ovarian cancer in women with first-degree relatives with cancer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Soegaard, Marie; Frederiksen, Kirsten; Jensen, Allan

2009-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To assess the risk of ovarian cancer in women with first-degree relatives with cancer at one of the four most frequent hereditary sites based on validated cancer diagnoses and to examine the association according to age at diagnosis of ovarian cancer and histology. DESIGN: Case......-control study. SETTING AND POPULATION: First-degree relatives of 554 women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer and 1,564 controls were included. METHODS: Analyses were performed using multiple logistic regression models. RESULTS: Ovarian cancer in a first-degree relative was significantly associated...... with increased risk of ovarian cancer (OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.4-4.1 (mother or sister)). Ovarian cancer in a first-degree relative appeared to be a stronger risk factor for early-onset (cancer than late-onset (OR, 5.3; 95% CI, 2.0-14.1 vs. OR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.0-3.4). The positive association...

Dietary habits of colorectal neoplasia patients in comparison to their first-degree relatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Kajzrlikova, Ivana Mikoviny; Vitek, Petr; Chalupa, Josef; Dite, Petr

2014-05-07

To compare the dietary habits between colorectal neoplasia patients, their first-degree relatives, and unrelated controls. From July 2008 to April 2011, we collected epidemiological data relevant to colorectal cancer from patients with colorectal neoplasias, their first-degree relatives, and also from a control group consisting of people referred for colonoscopy with a negative family history of colorectal cancer and without evidence of neoplasia after colonoscopic examination. The first-degree relatives were divided into two groups following the colonoscopic examination: (1) patients with neoplasia or (2) patients without neoplasia. Dietary habits of all groups were compared. A χ (2) test was used to assess the association between two dichotomous categorical variables. The study groups consisted of 242 patients with colorectal neoplasias (143 men, 99 women; mean age: 64 ± 12 years) and 160 first-degree relatives (66 men, 94 women; mean age: 48 ± 11 years). Fifty-five of the first-degree relatives were found to have a neoplastic lesion upon colonoscopy, while the remaining 105 were without neoplasia. The control group contained 123 individuals with a negative family history for neoplastic lesions (66 men, 57 women; mean age: 54 ± 12 years). Two hypotheses were tested. In the first, the dietary habits of first-degree relatives with neoplasia were more similar to those of patients with neoplasia, while the dietary habits of first-degree relatives without neoplasia were similar to those of the control group. In the second, no sex-related differences in dietary habits were expected between the particular groups. Indeed, no significant differences were observed in the dietary habits between the groups of patients, controls and first-degree relatives with/without neoplastic lesions. Nevertheless, statistically significant sex-related differences were observed in all groups, wherein women had healthier dietary habits than men. In all groups examined, women had

Does the level of emotional intelligence affect the degree of success in nursing studies?

Science.gov (United States)

Sharon, Dganit; Grinberg, Keren

2018-05-01

Emotional intelligence (EI) reflects the general capacity to comprehend emotions (in ourselves and in others), to regulate emotions, and to cope effectively with emotional situations. The study program in nursing is varied, and includes theoretical and practical aspects, but teaching EI is not part of the core curriculum. We argue that teaching EI should not only be included in the curriculum, but that EI tests should be included in the admissions process. This study reviews the relationship between EI level and the degree of success in nursing studies, and its importance. A convenience sample of 110 academic nursing students was examined. Three data collection methods were employed: 1) A socio-demographic questionnaire; 2) Schutte Self-Report Inventory (SSRI); 3) Psychometric scores and grade transcripts. A positive correlation between the level of EI and the degree of success in nursing studies among nursing students was found. EI levels improved during the second year of learning. Among nursing students, the annual average grade was related to emotional intelligence rather than psychometric scores at the time of admission. There is a need to increase the importance of EI in the terms of nursing student's admission and basic nursing curriculums. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prevalence of open angle glaucoma in accompanying first degree relatives of patients with glaucoma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franciele Vegini

2008-01-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of open angle glaucoma in first-degree relatives accompanying POAG patients during routine examination in a reference hospital. METHOD: First-degree relatives of primary open angle glaucoma patients who accompanied their relatives to the glaucoma service of a reference hospital were screened for glaucoma. RESULTS: One-hundred and one first-degree relatives were examined, of which 56.4% had never had their intraocular pressure measured. 10.9% had previously been diagnosed with glaucoma, and 5.9% were newly diagnosed during this study. CONCLUSIONS: The eye examination of first-degree relatives identified a significant percentage of individuals with glaucoma. Despite being first-degree relatives of glaucoma patients, 56.4% of the companions had never had their eye pressure measured, demonstrating a lack of awareness about this disease.

Exploring the Relation between the Degree of Novelty of Innovations and User-producer Interaction across Different Income Regions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harirchi, Gouya; Chaminade, Cristina

2014-01-01

User–producer interactions have been recognized as important for innovation. With the rapid growth of emerging economies’ markets, and an increasing degree of technological sophistication of both users and producers in those markets, user–producer interaction is becoming global. Using original firm......-level data, this paper explores how collaboration with users in different income regions affects the degree of innovations’ novelty. We find that collaborating with international users is positively related to higher degrees of novelty. Furthermore, firms in low- and middle income countries will benefit more...... from south–south user collaboration than a south–north one....

Increased UV-induced sister-chromatid exchange in cultured fibroblasts of first-degree relatives of melanoma patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knees-Matzen, S.; Roser, M.; Reimers, U.; Ehlert, U.; Weichenthal, M.; Breitbart, E.W.; Ruediger, H.W.

1991-01-01

Cultured fibroblasts of 17 first-degree relatives of familial melanoma patients and six first-degree relatives of cutaneous melanoma (CMM) patients with multiple CMM primaries were tested for in vitro sensitivity to UV light. Fibroblasts of nine familial CMM patients with a known UV-sensitivity and 19 healthy probands served as a control. Sister chromatid exchange (SCE) was used as a parameter to detect UV-induced genotoxic damage. The authors found significantly (p less than 0.001) increased UV-induced SCE levels in familial melanoma patients, as well as in first-degree relatives of familial melanoma patients (p less than 0.001) after UV-A,B irradiation (375 J/m2), compared to the healthy probands without a family history of CMM. A significant (p less than 0.001) increase of UV-induced SCE was also observed in the relatives of CMM patients with multiple CMM primaries. In addition, the spontaneous SCE were significantly increased (p less than 0.05) in familial CMM patients. This study shows that increased UV sensitivity is a familial phenomenon. It is consistent with the concept of a genetic predisposition to CMM, which is based on increased UV sensitivity and may help to define groups with an elevated risk of developing cutaneous malignant melanoma

Identification of entry-level competencies for associate degree radiographers as perceived by primary role definers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thorpe, R.L.

1981-01-01

The primary purpose of this study was to identify those competencies needed by Associate Degree Radiographers when they assume employment as entry-level practitioners. A second purpose of the study was to rank order the identified competencies within the role delineations recognized by the Essentials and Guidelines of an Accredited Educational Program for the Radiographer. These role delineations include: radiation protection, exercise discretion and judgment, emergency and life saving techniques, patient care and interpersonal communication, and role as professional member. A third purpose of the study was to examine the degree of consensus on role definition of entry-level competencies needed by Associate Degree Radiographers as perceived by primary role definers (such as employers, employees, and educators), and by other selected variables: age, sex, length of experience in radiologic technology, level of formal education, and place of employment. A major finding of this study was that respondents did not differ significantly in their ranking of entry-level competencies needed by Associate Degree Radiographers when the responses were analyzed according to position, age, sex, length of experience, level of education, or place of employment. Another important finding was that respondents considered all of the 63 competencies as important and needed by Associate Degree Radiographers upon initial employment.A major conclusion and recommendation of this study, in view of the high agreement on the rank ordering of competencies, was that these competencies should be included in a competency-based education model. It was further recommended that a three-way system of communication between employers, employees, and educators be considered in order to pool resources and to increase understanding of each position group's contribution and influence on entry-level Associate Degree Radiographers

SoTL and Students' Experiences of Their Degree-Level Programs: An Empirical Investigation

Science.gov (United States)

Matthews, Kelly E.; Divan, Aysha; John-Thomas, Nicole; Lopes, Valerie; Ludwig, Lynn O.; Martini, Tanya S.; Motley, Phillip; Tomljenovic-Berube, Ana M.

2013-01-01

In the global higher education sector, government accountability initiatives are increasingly focused on degree-level competencies that may be expected from university graduates. The purpose of this paper was to examine the extent to which SoTL reflects this increased interest in student learning across the degree program. Articles (N = 136)…

Autoimmune Disease in First-Degree Relatives and Spouses of Individuals With Celiac Disease

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Emilsson, Louise; Wijmenga, Cisca; Murray, Joseph A.; Ludvigsson, Jonas F.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: First-degree relatives of individuals with celiac disease are at increased risk for this disorder, but little is known about their risk for other autoimmune diseases. We assessed the risk of nonceliac autoimmune disease in first-degree relatives and spouses of people with celiac

Serum TNF-α, IL-8, VEGF Levels in Helicobacter pylori Infection and Their Association with Degree of Gastritis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gontar A Siregar

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Aim: to investigate the serum levels of TNF-α, IL-8, VEGF in Helicobacter pylori infection, and their association with the degrees of gastritis histopathology. Methods: a cross-sectional study was done on 80 consecutive gastritis patients admitted to endoscopy units at Adam Malik General Hospital and Permata Bunda Hospital, Medan, Indonesia from July-December 2014. The Rapid Urease test was used for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection. The severity of chronic inflammation, neutrophil infiltration, atrophy, and intestinal metaplasia were assessed. Serum samples were obtained to determine circulating TNF-α, IL-8, and VEGF. Univariate and bivariate analysis (chi square, fisher’s exact, and mann-whitney test were done using SPSS version-22. Results: there were 41.25% of 80 patients infected with Helicobacter pylori. Serum TNF-α and VEGF levels in the infected group were significantly higher compared to H. pylori negative, but there were no significant differences between serum levels of IL-8 in H. pylori positive and negative. There were significant associations between serum level of TNF-α and IL-8 with degree of chronic inflammation, and also between serum level of IL-8 and degree of neutrophil infiltration. There were significant associations between serum level of VEGF and degree of atrophy, and also between serum level of VEGF and degree of intestinal metaplasia. Conclusion: High levels of TNF-α were associated with severe degree of chronic inflammation, high levels of IL-8 associated with severe degree of chronic inflammation and neutrophil infiltration, and high levels of VEGF associated with severe degree of premalignant gastric lesion. Key words: cytokine, neoangiogenesis, Helicobacter pylori, atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia.

Policy-level interventions and work-related psychosocial risk management in the European Union

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leka, S.; Jain, A.; Zwetsloot, G.I.J.M.; Cox, T.

2010-01-01

There exists a substantial degree of diversity across strategies to prevent and manage work- related psychosocial risks and their associated health effects. Whereas it is common to distinguish between organizational and individual interventions, the important level of policy- level interventions has

The discontent degree in relations with the proximal social environment and adolescent personality features in Timis County, Romania.

Science.gov (United States)

Petrescu, Cristina; Vlaicu, Brigitha

2015-01-01

In our study we investigated whether there is a relation between the degree of discontent in relations with the proximal social environment (family and peer groups) and adolescent personality features. The study was conducted on a statistical representative and homogenous sample consisting of 2908 teenagers (51.5% girls and 48.5 % boys, aged between 15 and 19 years). It was an observational (case) study and it consisted in 2 questionnaires applying: Freiburg Personality Inventory (212 items) and CORT 2004 questionnaire (116 items, 6 referring to the discontent levels created by proximal social environment). Cronbach's alpha index was 0.802 for FPI and 0,910 for CORT 2004. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS 16 program applying Chi square (χ2) and gamma (γ) correlation. Depression and Emotional lability correlated positively and powerfully with q15 (discontent degree of relations with present friend-peers) (γ = 0.471, Sig. 0.000, and γ = 0.383, Sig. 0.000, respectively) and q5 (discontent degree of the relation with parents) (γ = 0.380, Sig. 0.000, and γ = 0.337, Sig. 0.000, respectively). Sociability and calm correlated negative with q5 (γ = -0.14, Sig. 0.000, and γ = -0.35, Sig. 0.000, respectively), q15 (γ = -0.33, Sig. 000 and γ = -0.18, Sig. 000, respectively). In conclusion, there is direct proportional relation between the discontent degree of relations with friend-peers and parents and depression and emotional lability, and inverse proportional relation of friend-peers and parents with sociability and calm.

Evaluating the level of degree programmes in higher education: The case of nursing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rexwinkel, G.B.; Haenen, J.P.P.; Pilot, A.

2013-01-01

The European Quality Assurance system demands that the degree programme level is represented in terms of quantitative outcomes to be valid and reliable. To meet this need the Educational Level Evaluator (ELE) was devised. This conceptually designed procedure with instrumentation aiming to evaluate

Evaluation of Hs-CRP levels and interleukin 18 (-137G/C promoter polymorphism in risk prediction of coronary artery disease in first degree relatives.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rajesh Kumar G

Full Text Available Coronary Artery Disease (CAD is clearly a multifactorial disease that develops from childhood and ultimately leads to death. Several reports revealed having a First Degree Relatives (FDRS with premature CAD is a significant autonomous risk factor for CAD development. C - reactive protein (CRP is a member of the pentraxin family and is the most widely studied proinflammatory biomarker. IL-18 is a pleiotrophic and proinflammatory cytokine which is produced mainly by macrophages and plays an important role in the inflammatory cascade.Hs-CRP levels were estimated by ELISA and Genotyping of IL-18 gene variant located on promoter -137 (G/C by Allele specific PCR in blood samples of 300 CAD patients and 300 controls and 100 FDRS. Promoter Binding sites and Protein interacting partners were identified by Alibaba 2.1 and Genemania online tools respectively. Hs-CRP levels were significantly high in CAD patients followed by FDRS when compared to controls. In IL-18 -137 (G/C polymorphism homozygous GG is significantly associated with occurrence of CAD and Hs-CRP levels were significantly higher in GG genotype subjects when compared to GC and CC. IL-18 was found to be interacting with 100 protein interactants.Our results indicate that Hs-CRP levels and IL-18-137(G/C polymorphism may help to identify risk of future events of CAD in asymptomatic healthy FDRS.

Evaluation of Hs-CRP levels and interleukin 18 (-137G/C) promoter polymorphism in risk prediction of coronary artery disease in first degree relatives.

Science.gov (United States)

G, Rajesh Kumar; K, Mrudula Spurthi; G, Kishore Kumar; Kurapati, Mohanalatha; M, Saraswati; T, Mohini Aiyengar; P, Chiranjeevi; G, Srilatha Reddy; S, Nivas; P, Kaushik; K, Sanjib Sahu; H, Surekha Rani

2015-01-01

Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is clearly a multifactorial disease that develops from childhood and ultimately leads to death. Several reports revealed having a First Degree Relatives (FDRS) with premature CAD is a significant autonomous risk factor for CAD development. C - reactive protein (CRP) is a member of the pentraxin family and is the most widely studied proinflammatory biomarker. IL-18 is a pleiotrophic and proinflammatory cytokine which is produced mainly by macrophages and plays an important role in the inflammatory cascade. Hs-CRP levels were estimated by ELISA and Genotyping of IL-18 gene variant located on promoter -137 (G/C) by Allele specific PCR in blood samples of 300 CAD patients and 300 controls and 100 FDRS. Promoter Binding sites and Protein interacting partners were identified by Alibaba 2.1 and Genemania online tools respectively. Hs-CRP levels were significantly high in CAD patients followed by FDRS when compared to controls. In IL-18 -137 (G/C) polymorphism homozygous GG is significantly associated with occurrence of CAD and Hs-CRP levels were significantly higher in GG genotype subjects when compared to GC and CC. IL-18 was found to be interacting with 100 protein interactants. Our results indicate that Hs-CRP levels and IL-18-137(G/C) polymorphism may help to identify risk of future events of CAD in asymptomatic healthy FDRS.

Para- and Pre-Professionals in Student Development Services: Part Three. Training Paraprofessionals in Human Services at the AAS Degree Level.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, John C.

This presentation describes a program being developed at South Plains College (SPC) of Lubbock to train paraprofessional helpers at the two-year degree level. As an interface between the training of helpers at the four-year and graduate degree levels of preparation and the non-degree or extra-degree level of preparation in the helping professions,…

Risk of subarachnoid haemorrhage in first degree relatives of patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gaist, D; Vaeth, M; Tsiropoulos, I

2000-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the risk of occurrence of subarachnoid haemorrhage in first degree relatives (parents, siblings, children) of patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage. DESIGN: Population based cohort study using data from the Danish National Discharge Registry and the Central Person Registry......, standardised for age, sex, and calendar period. This process was repeated for patients discharged from neurosurgery units, as diagnoses from these wards had high validity (93%). RESULTS: 18 patients had a total of 19 first degree relatives with subarachnoid haemorrhage during the study period, corresponding...... to a standardised incidence ratio of 2.9 (95% confidence interval 1.9 to 4.6). Patients discharged from neurosurgery wards had a higher standardised incidence ratio (4.5, 2.7 to 7.3). CONCLUSIONS: First degree relatives of patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage have a threefold to fivefold increased risk...

Risk of Seizures in First Degree Relatives of Probands with Epilepsy ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objective: To determine the risk of seizures in first degree relatives of epileptic patients. To relate the risk to several clinical characteristics in the probands. Such information is useful for genetic counselling. Methods: A prospective case-control study of 648 FDR of 88 probands attending the neurology out-patient clinic of a ...

{sup 252}Cf spontaneous prompt fission neutron spectrum measured at 0 degree and 180 degree relative to the fragment motion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shanglian, Bao; Jinquan, Liu [Beijing Univ., BJ (China); Batenkov, O I; Blinov, M V; Smirnov, S N [V.G. Khlopin Radium Institute, ST. Petersburg (Russian Federation)

1994-09-01

The {sup 252}Cf spontaneous prompt fission neutron spectrum at 0 degree and 180 degree relative to the motion direction of corresponding fission fragments was measured. High angular resolution for fragment measurements and high energy resolution for neutron measurements were obtained using multi-parameter TOF spectrometer. The results showed that there is a symmetric distribution of `forward` and `backward` for low energy in C.M.S. neutrons, which was an evidence of nonequilibrium neutrons existed in fission process.

Endothelial dysfunction in normoglycaemic first-degree relatives of type 2 diabetes mellitus complicated with hyperuricaemia.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Junxia; Xiang, Lin; Zhang, Bilin; Cheng, Yangyang

2017-03-01

To reveal the effect of hyperuricaemia on endothelial function in normoglycaemic first-degree relatives of type 2 diabetes mellitus. In all, 40 first-degree relatives of type 2 diabetes mellitus with hyperuricaemia, 40 first-degree relatives of type 2 diabetes mellitus with normouricaemia and 35 healthy subjects without diabetic family history were recruited in this study. Anthropometric parameters as well as blood pressure, blood lipids, fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin, C-reactive protein, tumour necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 were measured. Insulin resistance was assessed with homoeostasis model assessment index-insulin resistance index. To assess endothelial function, high-resolution ultrasonography was used for measuring flow- and nitroglycerine-mediated brachial artery vasodilation. When compared with control, flow-mediated dilation was lower in first-degree relatives with or without hyperuricaemia (both p type 2 diabetes mellitus (β = -0.677, p type 2 diabetes mellitus complicated with hyperuricaemia.

Physical properties of peats as related to degree of decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

D.H. Boelter

1969-01-01

Important physical characteristics, such as water retention, water yield coefficient, and hydraulic conductivity, vary greatly for representative northern Minnesota peat materials. The differences are related to the degree of decomposition, which largely determines the porosity and pore size distribution. Fiber content (> 0.1 mm) and bulk density are properties...

Frontal alpha asymmetry in OCD patients and unaffected first-degree relatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Grützmann, Rosa; Riesel, Anja; Klawohn, Julia; Heinzel, Stephan; Kaufmann, Christian; Bey, Katharina; Lennertz, Leonard; Wagner, Michael; Kathmann, Norbert

2017-08-01

Frontal electroencephalographic alpha asymmetry as an indicator of trait approach and trait inhibition systems has previously been studied in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with mixed results. We explored frontal alpha asymmetry as a possible risk factor in OCD by investigating a large sample of OCD patients (n = 113), healthy control participants (n = 113), and unaffected 1st-degree relatives of OCD patients (n = 37). Additionally, the relationship between OCD symptom dimensions and frontal alpha asymmetry was explored. OCD patients and healthy control participants did not differ in alpha asymmetry scores. Hence, the current results do not support the notion that OCD as a diagnostic entity is associated with a shift in frontal cortical activity. Furthermore, alpha asymmetry scores were not statistically related to specific OCD symptom dimensions. Reasons for inconsistent results in OCD are discussed and should be explored in future studies. Compared to OCD patients and healthy control participants, unaffected 1st-degree relatives of OCD patients showed increased left frontal activity. Such asymmetry has previously been found to be associated with positive affect and adaptive emotion regulation under stress. Because stressful life events play an important role in the onset and exacerbation of OCD, increased left frontal activity might serve as a resilience factor in unaffected 1st-degree relatives. Future studies should follow up on these results with longitudinal risk studies and pre- and posttherapy assessments to further explore causality of this putative factor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

GPM Level 3 IMERG Monthly 0.1 x 0.1 degree V03

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This Directory Interchange Format (DIF) describes a collection of fields for the GPM Level 3 IMERG Final Monthly 0.1 x 0.1 degree V03 (GPM_3IMERGM) at the NASA...

Study of the relationship between the development level and degree of income inequality in the Russian regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marina Yuryevna Malkina

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The subject of this article is the types of relationship between economic development and degree of income inequality in the regions of the Russian Federation. Research methods: testing the modified Kuznets hypothesis; relative deflating of regional parameters; calculating the differentiation and localization coefficients; constructing the Lorentz curves; correlation and regression analysis. Obtained results: 1 for Russian regions author discovered significant direct statistical relationship between the Gini and funds coefficients and the level of real per capita income with increasing returns, as well as less strong direct relationship between coefficients of differentiation mentioned above and the real GDP per capita with diminishing returns; 2 the “social wellbeing” coefficient is proposed and calculated for the regions, which based on localization index of real per capita income relative to the differentiation coefficient, and 3 the degree of interregional disparities in the Russian Federation is evaluated on the basis of the Gini coefficient, coefficient of variation and relative entropy for the nominal and real income and GRP per capita, and Lorenz curves for them are constructed. In this paper, author concluded: 1 presently the level of economic development of the Russian Federation regions negatively affects their income equality due to most of them are on the ascending branch of the S. Kuznets curve, 2 “social welfare” coefficient changes the positions of the middle-income regions more, than that of other regions, and 3 two factors have a positive impact on reducing the regional disparities: more ratio of total personal income to GRP in poor regions relative to rich ones (i.e. greater “social orientation” of poor regions, and positive correlation between income and the cost of living in the regions. The obtained results can be used by researchers in further testing the modified Kuznets hypothesis, as well as by local

Identification of vulnerability among first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Solanki, R K; Swami, M K; Singh, P; Gupta, S

2012-09-01

To evaluate the status of schizotypy, neurological soft signs, and cognitive functions as vulnerability markers for schizophrenia and to investigate the potential value of their combination for early identification of people at high risk for schizophrenia. A cross-sectional study was conducted. Subjects were drawn from first-degree relatives of inpatients and outpatients with schizophrenia (n = 50). Controls (n = 30) were recruited by word-of-mouth from hospital staff and attendants of hospitalised patients. Subjects who met inclusion criteria on screening were subjected to selected measures for assessment, including Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief Version, the Cambridge Neurological Inventory, digit span test, paired associate learning test, and visuospatial working memory matrix. Statistical analysis was completed using the independent t test and significance (p value), as well as calculation of effect size (Cohen's d). Discriminant function analysis was used to determine the effect of combining assessment measures. First-degree relatives showed higher schizotypy scores (Cohen's d = 0.88) and neurological soft signs (Cohen's d = 1.55). They scored significantly worse on all neurocognitive measures (Cohen's d = -1.27). Discriminant function analysis showed that Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief Version, neurological soft signs, and total cognitive index (the sum of weighted scores on individual cognitive scales) in combination better discriminated between the first-degree relative and control groups (Wilks' λ = 0.54). Use of multiple vulnerability markers could enhance the specificity of measures used to determine risk for schizophrenia.

PSYCHIATRIC MORBIDITY PATTERN OF THE FIRST-DEGREE RELATIVES OF SCHIZOPHRENICS: CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

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Alexander Gnana Durai

2015-11-01

Full Text Available : CONTEXT: Family, Twin and Adoption studies show the inheritance patterns of schizophrenia. The findings from these studies provide support to the claim that familial clustering of schizophrenia is a combined expression of genetic and environmental factors. AIMS: Following the line of previous research, this study attempts to find out any difference in the psychiatric morbidity pattern among the first-degree relatives of familial and sporadic schizophrenics. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among a convenience sample of 100 first-degree relatives (age between 18 to 55 years of familial (n=22 and sporadic (n=29 schizophrenics from psychiatric outpatient clinic, of a Government Hospital, India. The schizophrenics satisfied the DSM-IV criteria and all the first degree relatives interviewed never had any psychiatric consultation before or were abusing alcohol or other substances or having any organic pathology. METHODS AND MATERIAL: Informed consent from the patients and relatives was obtained. Survey questionnaires were administered and no personal identifying information was collected. Middle Sex Hospital Questionnaire (MHQ, Eysenck's Personality Questionnaire (EPQ, Multi-Phasic Personality Questionnaire (MPQ and Screening Test for Co-Morbid Personality Disorders (STCPD were administered to the participants.

Noise levels, noise annoyance, and hearing-related problems in a dental college.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, Hafiz Omer; Ali, Wesal Jasim

2017-05-04

Through a cross-sectional survey and integrated sound level meter, this research examined noise exposure and auditory- and nonauditory-related problems experienced by students of a dentistry college located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A structured interview questionnaire was used to examine hearing-related problems, noise annoyance, and awareness of 114 students toward noise. The results showed that maximum noise levels were between 65 and 79 dB(A) with peak levels (high and low frequencies) ranging between 89 and 93 dB(A). Around 80% of the students experienced a certain degree of noise annoyance; 54% reported one of the hearing-related problems; and about 10% claimed to have hearing loss to a certain extent. It is recommended that sound-absorbent materials be used during the construction of dental clinics and laboratories to reduce the noise levels.

Relationship between degree of risk, cost and level of compliance to occupational health and safety regulations in construction

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Abimbola Olukemi Windapo

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the role of statutory health and safety (H&S regulations in managing construction project risks. The study examines whether the decision made by contractors to comply with the regulations, the cost of compliance and savings of H&S regulatory requirements is influenced by the degree or level of risk, which the regulations are trying to prevent. The rationale for the examination stems from previous studies which establish that building designers and contractors perceive the cost of complying with regulations as additional burdens, which they have to conform to, and which are in some cases unnecessary, and also the fact that construction related injuries and fatalities are on the increase. Qualitative and quantitative data obtained from a descriptive survey and H&S site audit by the Master Builder Association of the Western Cape (MBAWC were used as the measurements of risk, level of compliance to regulations, cost of compliance and savings. By correlating the quantitative and qualitative data, there is empirical evidence to support a negative relationship between the degree of risk, level and cost of compliance and cost savings. Based on the study’s findings, this paper concludes that the decision made by contractors to comply with H&S regulatory requirements is influenced by the perceived cost saving on account of compliance and that cost savings are influenced by the probability of accident occurrence which is an element of the degree of risk which the regulation is trying to prevent or control. 

Relationship between degree of risk, cost and level of compliance to occupational health and safety regulations in construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abimbola Olukemi Windapo

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the role of statutory health and safety (H&S regulations in managing construction project risks. The study examines whether the decision made by contractors to comply with the regulations, the cost of compliance and savings of H&S regulatory requirements is influenced by the degree or level of risk, which the regulations are trying to prevent. The rationale for the examination stems from previous studies which establish that building designers and contractors perceive the cost of complying with regulations as additional burdens, which they have to conform to, and which are in some cases unnecessary, and also the fact that construction related injuries and fatalities are on the increase. Qualitative and quantitative data obtained from a descriptive survey and H&S site audit by the Master Builder Association of the Western Cape (MBAWC were used as the measurements of risk, level of compliance to regulations, cost of compliance and savings. By correlating the quantitative and qualitative data, there is empirical evidence to support a negative relationship between the degree of risk, level and cost of compliance and cost savings. Based on the study’s findings, this paper concludes that the decision made by contractors to comply with H&S regulatory requirements is influenced by the perceived cost saving on account of compliance and that cost savings are influenced by the probability of accident occurrence which is an element of the degree of risk which the regulation is trying to prevent or control.

Malignant degree of tumor and degree of trauma after HOLBT and TURBT treatment of superficial bladder cancer

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Yi-Qin Wang

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Objective: To assess the malignant degree of tumor and degree of trauma after holmium laser resection of bladder tumor (HOLBT and transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT treatment of superficial bladder cancer. Methods: A total of 76 cases of patients with superficial bladder cancer were included for study and divided into observation group 38 cases and control group 38 cases according to different surgical methods. Control group received TURBT, observation group received HOLBT, and then differences in the values of postoperative serum illness-related indicators, bladder cancer-related mRNA expression, bladder cancer tissue-related protein expression, surgical trauma-related indicators, etc. were compared between two groups. Results: Postoperative serum CIP2A, HGF, SE-cad, TSGF, DKK-1, YKL-40 and sFas values of observation group were lower than those of control group; postoperative focus HSG, p16 and MRP-1/CD9 mRNA expression levels of observation group were higher than those of control group while Med-19 mRNA expression level was lower than that of control group; postoperative focus ZEB1, Cripto-1, Sox2, Survivin, Livin and zeste protein expression levels of observation group were lower than those of control group while E-cadherin expression level was higher than that of control group; early postoperative FBG and HOMA-IR values of observation group were lower than those of control group while PTA and FIB values were higher than those of control group. Conclusions: HOLBT can effectively remove superficial bladder cancer foci and reduce the malignant degree of tumor, causes less surgical trauma and is an ideal surgical treatment of superficial bladder cancer.

Screening colonoscopy participation in Turkish colorectal cancer patients and their first degree relatives.

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Kilickap, Saadettin; Arslan, Cagatay; Rama, Dorina; Yalcin, Suayib

2012-01-01

This study aimed to research the awareness of screening colonoscopy (SC) among patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and their relatives. A questionnaire form including information and behavior about colonoscopic screening for CRCs of patients and their first-degree relatives (FDRs) was prepared. A total of 406 CRC patients were enrolled into the study, with 1534 FDRs (siblings n: 1381 and parents n: 153) . Positive family history for CRC was found in 12% of the study population. Previous SC was performed in 11% of patients with CRC. Mean age of the patients whose FDRs underwent SC was lower than the patients whose FDRs did not (52 vs 57 years; peducational level and income had SC more frequently. When screening for CRC is planned, elderly subjects, those with family history for CRC, and those with low educational and lower income should be given especial attention in order that they be convinced to undergo screening for CRC.

Design and Assessment of an Associate Degree-Level Plant Operations Technical Education Program

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Selwitz, Jason Lawrence

2017-01-01

Research was undertaken to develop and evaluate an associate degree-level technical education program in Plant Operations oriented towards training students in applied science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills and knowledge relevant to a spectrum of processing industries. This work focuses on four aspects of the curriculum…

Psychology Degrees: Employment, Wage, and Career Trajectory Consequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajecki, D W; Borden, Victor M H

2011-07-01

Psychology is a very popular undergraduate major. Examining wage data from a range of degree holders reveals much about the expected career trajectories of those with psychology degrees. First, regarding baccalaureates, psychology and other liberal arts graduates-compared with those from certain preprofessional and technical undergraduate programs-generally fall in relatively low tiers of salary levels at both starting and later career points. Salary levels among baccalaureate alumni groups correlate with averaged measures of salary satisfaction, repeated job seeking, and perceptions of underemployment. These patterns seem to stem from the specific occupational categories (job titles) entered by graduates in psychology compared with other graduates, calling into question the employability advantage of so-called generic liberal arts skills. Second, psychology master's degree holders also generally fall in a low tier of salary among their science, engineering, and health counterparts. Third, psychology college faculty (including instructors) fall in low tiers of salary compared with their colleagues from other academic fields. Such broadly based indications of the relative economic disadvantages of psychology degrees have implications for career counseling in the field. © The Author(s) 2011.

Social groups preferences relation to motivations and ability levels of whitewater kayakers

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Seth Turner; Rod Zwick

2002-01-01

Social groups play an important role in many adventure recreation activities. The purpose of this study was to examine the social group preference relation to motives and ability levels of whitewater kayakers. When participants go out on a kayaking trip they are seeking varying degrees of experiences, a major contributor to that experience comes from the members of...

GPM Level 3 IMERG Half Hourly 0.1 x 0.1 degree V03

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This Directory Interchange Format (DIF) describes a collection of fields for the GPM Level 3 IMERG Final Half Hourly 0.1 x 0.1 degree V03 (GPM_3IMERGHH) at the NASA...

Avoidant personality disorder symptoms in first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients predict performance on neurocognitive measures: the UCLA family study.

Science.gov (United States)

Fogelson, D L; Asarnow, R A; Sugar, C A; Subotnik, K L; Jacobson, K C; Neale, M C; Kendler, K S; Kuppinger, H; Nuechterlein, K H

2010-07-01

Whether avoidant personality disorder symptoms are related to neurocognitive impairments that aggregate in relatives of schizophrenics is unknown. We report the relationship between avoidant personality disorder symptoms and neurocognitive performance in the first-degree relatives of probands with schizophrenia. 367 first-degree relatives of probands with schizophrenia and 245 relatives of community controls were interviewed for the presence of avoidant personality symptoms and symptoms of paranoid and schizotypal personality disorders and administered neurocognitive measures. Relationships between neurocognitive measures and avoidant symptoms were analyzed using linear mixed models. Avoidant dimensional scores predicted performance on the span of apprehension (SPAN), 3-7 Continuous Performance Test (3-7 CPT), and Trail Making Test (TMT-B) in schizophrenia relatives. These relationships remained significant on the SPAN even after adjustment for paranoid or schizotypal dimensional scores and on the TMT-B after adjustment for paranoid dimensional scores. Moreover, in a second set of analyses comparing schizophrenia relatives to controls there were significant or trending differences in the degree of the relationship between avoidant symptoms and each of these neurocognitive measures even after adjustments for paranoid and schizotypal dimensional scores. The substantial correlation between avoidant and schizotypal symptoms suggests that these personality disorders are not independent. Avoidant and in some cases schizotypal dimensional scores are significant predictors of variability in these neurocognitive measures. In all analyses, higher levels of avoidant symptoms were associated with worse performance on the neurocognitive measures in relatives of schizophrenia probands. These results support the hypothesis that avoidant personality disorder may be a schizophrenia spectrum phenotype. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Neurocognition in Unaffected First-Degree Relatives of Patients With Bipolar Disorder Type I From India

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Raman Deep Pattanayak

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The study aims to evaluate the neuropsychological functions of unaffected first-degree relatives of patients with bipolar disorder Type I (BD-I in comparison with healthy controls. The method was a cross-sectional assessment of 20 first-degree relatives of patients with BD-I and 20 healthy controls. Inclusion criteria for all participants included age between 18 and 55 years, ≥5 years of formal education, right-handedness as per Edinburgh handedness inventory, absence of color blindness as per Ishihara’s isochromatic charts, and a score of >24 on Hindi mental state examination. None of the participants had a current or lifetime diagnosis of a mental disorder on Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, Clinician Version. Neuropsychological assessment was conducted with Trail Making Test A and B, Stroop color and word test, N-Back Verbal Memory Test, and Post Graduate Institute (PGI Memory Scale. Both the groups were comparable in age, gender distribution, and education. The unaffected first-degree relatives performed poorly on Trail Making Test B and (B-A, indicating a poor cognitive flexibility and set-shifting. The relative group also performed poorly on Mental Balance subtest of PGI Memory Scale. The unaffected first-degree relatives of patients with BD display certain impairments in dorsal prefrontal executive functions which can serve as vulnerability markers for BD.

Celiac disease in children from Madeira island and its prevalence in first degree relatives.

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Oliveira, Joana Raquel Henriques; Cabral, António Jorge; Ferreira, Elena; Capelinha, Filipa; Spínola, Hélder; Gonçalves, Rute

2014-01-01

It is well recognized that celiac disease is an immune-mediated systemic disorder highly prevalent among relatives of celiac patients. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of celiac disease in a group of first degree relatives of celiac children, and to access the frequency of human leukocyte antigen HLA-DQ2 and DQ8 in celiac disease patients and their affected relatives. A survey was conducted of 39 children with celiac disease with follow-up in the Pediatric outpatient's clinic of Dr. Nélio Mendonça Hospital, in Madeira Island, Portugal. Were invited 110 first degree relatives to undergo serological screen for celiac disease with IgA antibody to human recombinant tissue transglutaminase (IgA-TGG) quantification. In all seropositive relatives, small intestinal biopsy and HLA typing was recommended. HLA- typing was performed in 38 celiac patients, 28/74% DQ2 positive, 1/2% DQ8 positive and 9/24% incomplete DQ2. Positive IgA-TGG was found in five out of the 95 relatives, and CD was diagnosed in three of them. Three relatives had the presence of HLA-DQ2, two were DQ2 incomplete (DQB1*02). The prevalence of celiac disease among first degree celiac patients´ relatives was 3.1%, 4.5 times higher than the general Portuguese population (0,7%) witch reinforces the need of extensive diagnostic screening in this specific group. HLA-DQ2 typing may be a tool in the diagnostic approach.

The Relation between Degree and Strength in the Complex Network Derived from an Individual Stock

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Zelin Zhang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available A method based on coarse-graining to construct a directed weighted complex network which models the transformation of the trading data of an individual stock is introduced. The degree (strength distribution of derived network follows a power-law. A moderated regression equation with interaction effects of average return and out-degree (in-degree on out-strength (in-strength is established. Moreover, we found that the differences of nodes affect the network’s structure and average return level impacts nodes’ eigenvector centrality and pagerank, significantly.

Harm avoidance and childhood adversities in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and their unaffected first-degree relatives.

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Bey, K; Lennertz, L; Riesel, A; Klawohn, J; Kaufmann, C; Heinzel, S; Grützmann, R; Kathmann, N; Wagner, M

2017-04-01

The etiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is assumed to involve interactions between genetically determined vulnerability factors and significant environmental features. Here, we aim to investigate how the personality trait harm avoidance and the experience of childhood adversities contribute to OCD. A total of 169 patients with OCD, 157 healthy comparison subjects, and 57 unaffected first-degree relatives of patients with OCD participated in the study. Harm avoidance was assessed using the Temperament and Character Inventory, and the severity of childhood adversities was measured with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Both patients with OCD and relatives showed elevated levels of harm avoidance compared to controls. Furthermore, patients exhibited significantly higher scores than relatives. This linear pattern was observed throughout all subscales of harm avoidance, and remained stable after controlling for the severity of depressive and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. With regard to childhood adversities, patients with OCD reported higher levels than relatives and controls. Our results provide further evidence for a diathesis-stress model of OCD. While patients and unaffected relatives share elevated levels of harm avoidance, supporting the role of harm avoidance as an endophenotype of OCD, a heightened severity of childhood adversity was only observed in patients. The assumed biological underpinnings of these findings are discussed. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Foundation Degree Learning: An Educational Journey of Personal Development

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Herrera, Helena; Brown, David; Portlock, Jane

2015-01-01

The foundation degree is an intermediate-level qualification designed to widen participation in higher education while providing work-related skills and knowledge. It has a vocational focus and a pedagogic approach that integrates academic and work-based learning. Research into opportunities and the process of learning within foundation degrees is…

Gamma power and cognition in patients with schizophrenia and their first-degree relatives.

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Díez, Álvaro; Suazo, Vanessa; Casado, Pilar; Martín-Loeches, Manuel; Molina, Vicente

2014-01-01

Gamma oscillations are essential for functional neural assembly formation underlying higher cerebral functions. Previous studies concerning gamma band power in schizophrenia have yielded diverse results. In this study, we assessed gamma band power in minimally treated patients with schizophrenia, their first-degree relatives and healthy controls during an oddball paradigm performance, as well as the relation between gamma power and cognitive performance. We found a higher gamma power in the patient group than in the healthy controls at the P3, P4, Fz, Pz and T5 sites. Compared with their relatives, gamma power in the patients was only marginally higher over P3 and P4. We found a nearly significant inverse association between gamma power at F4 and Tower of London performance in the patients, as well as a significant inverse association between gamma power at T5 and verbal memory and working memory scores in the relatives. These results support higher total gamma power in association with schizophrenia and its inverse association with cognitive performance in patients and their first-degree relatives.

The system Cu-Rh-S at 900 degrees, 700 degrees, 540 degrees and 500 degrees C

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Karup-Møller, Sven; Makovicky, E.

2007-01-01

Phase relations in the dry condensed system Cu-Rh-S were determined at 900, 700, 540 and 500 degrees C. At 900 degrees C, the system contains digenite, four rhodium sulfides (Rh17S15, Rh3S4, Rh2S3 and RhS similar to 3), three ternary sulfides (CuRh2S4, CuxRhS3+x and a fibrous sulfide in the range...

Interpretation of Melanoma Risk Feedback in First-Degree Relatives of Melanoma Patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hay, J. L.; Baguer, C.; Li, Y.; Orlow, I.; Berwick, M.

2012-01-01

Little is known about how individuals might interpret brief genetic risk feedback. We examined interpretation and behavioral intentions (sun protection, skin screening) in melanoma first-degree relatives (FDRs) after exposure to brief prototypic melanoma risk feedback. Using a 3 by 2 experimental pre-post design where feedback type (high-risk mutation, gene environment, and nongenetic) and risk level (positive versus negative findings) were systematically varied, 139 melanoma FDRs were randomized to receive one of the six scenarios. All scenarios included an explicit reminder that melanoma family history increased their risk regardless of their feedback. The findings indicate main effects by risk level but not feedback type; positive findings led to heightened anticipated melanoma risk perceptions and anticipated behavioral intentions. Yet those who received negative findings often discounted their family melanoma history. As such, 25%, 30%, and 32% of those who received negative mutation, gene-environment, and nongenetic feedback, respectively, reported that their risk was similar to the general population. Given the frequency with which those who pursue genetic testing may receive negative feedback, attention is needed to identify ideal strategies to present negative genetic findings in contexts such as direct to consumer channels where extensive genetic counseling is not required.

Effect of dietary levels of lipid and carbohydrate on growth performance, body composition, nitrogen excretion and plasma glucose levels in rainbow trout reared at 8 or 18 degrees C.

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Brauge, C; Corraze, G; Médale, F

1995-01-01

Trout reared at 8 or 18 degrees C were fed twice a day almost to satiation with 1 of 3 experimental diets. The diets were formulated to contain the same levels of protein (43%, dry matter (DM) basis) and digestible energy (around 15 kJ/g DM), but different carbohydrate/lipid ratios 30:7 to 23:14). Time-course studies of nitrogen excretion and glycaemia were also carried out. After 12 weeks of feeding, growth, protein retention and body composition were not influenced by the dietary treatment in trout reared at 8 degrees C. At 18 degrees C, the protein retention was not affected by dietary treatment, but the weight gain tended to be higher in trout fed the diet with the lowest carbohydrate/lipid ratio. This result was due to higher body lipid deposition in these trout. Nitrogen excretion was not influenced by dietary treatment, but was higher at 18 degrees C than at 8 degrees C because of a higher feed intake. Glycaemia increased with dietary level of digestible carbohydrate and the highest plasma glucose level was attained later at 8 degrees C in comparison to 18 degrees C.

Escitalopram and neuroendocrine response in healthy first-degree relatives to depressed patients--a randomized placebo-controlled trial.

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Ulla Knorr

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: The mechanisms by which selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRI act in depressed patients remain unknown. The serotonergic neurotransmitter system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA system may interact. The aim of the AGENDA trial was to investigate whether long-term intervention with SSRI versus placebo affects the cortisol response in the dexamethasone corticotropin-releasing hormone (DEX-CRH test in healthy first-degree relatives to patients with major depressive disorder (MDD. METHODS: Eighty healthy first-degree relatives to patients with MDD were randomized to escitalopram 10 mg versus matching placebo daily for four weeks. The primary outcome measure was the intervention difference in the change of the total area under the curve (CorAUC(total for plasma cortisol in the DEX-CRH test at entry to after four weeks of intervention. RESULTS: Change in CorAUC(total showed no statistically significant difference between the escitalopram and the placebo group, p = 0.47. There were large intra- and inter-individual differences in the results of the DEX-CRH test. There was statistically significant negative correlation between the plasma escitalopram concentration and change in CorAUC(total, rho = -0.41, p = 0.01. Post-hoc analyses showed a statistically significant interaction between age and intervention group and change in log CorAUC(total. CONCLUSION: The present trial does not support an effect of escitalopram 10 mg daily compared with placebo on the HPA-axis in healthy first-degree relatives to patients with MDD. Increasing levels of escitalopram tended to decrease the HPA-response in the DEX-CRH test and this effect increased with age. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00386841.

Cancer in first-degree relatives and risk of testicular cancer in Denmark

Science.gov (United States)

Nordsborg, Rikke Baastrup; Meliker, Jaymie R.; Wohlfahrt, Jan; Melbye, Mads; Raaschou-Nielsen, Ole

2011-01-01

Familial aggregation of testicular cancer has been reported consistently, but it is less clear if there is any association between risk of testicular cancer and other cancers in the family. We conducted a population based case-control study to examine the relationship between risk of testicular cancer and 22 different cancers in first-degree relatives. We included 3297 cases of testicular cancer notified to the Danish Cancer Registry between 1991 and 2003. 6594 matched controls were selected from the Danish Civil Registration System, which also provided the identity of 40,104 first-degree relatives of case and controls. Familial cancer was identified by linkage to the Danish Cancer Registry, and we used conditional logistic regression to analyse whether cancer among first-degree relatives was associated with higher risk of testicular cancer. Rate ratio (RR) for testicular cancer was 4.63 (95% CI: 2.41–8.87) when a father, 8.30(95% CI: 3.81–18.10) when a brother and 5.23 (95% CI: 1.35–20.26) when a son had testicular cancer compared with no familial testicular cancer. Results were similar when analyses were stratified by histologic subtypes of testicular cancer. Familial Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and oesophageal cancer were associated with testicular cancer; however these may be chance findings. The familial aggregation of testicular and possibly other cancers may be explained by shared genes and/or shared environmental factors, but the mutual importance of each of these is difficult to determine. PMID:21207375

Degree and connectivity of the Internet's scale-free topology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Lian-Ming; Wu Xiang-Sheng; Deng Xiao-Heng; Yu Jian-Ping

2011-01-01

This paper theoretically and empirically studies the degree and connectivity of the Internet's scale-free topology at an autonomous system (AS) level. The basic features of scale-free networks influence the normalization constant of degree distribution p(k). It develops a new mathematic model for describing the power-law relationships of Internet topology. From this model we theoretically obtain formulas to calculate the average degree, the ratios of the k min -degree (minimum degree) nodes and the k max -degree (maximum degree) nodes, and the fraction of the degrees (or links) in the hands of the richer (top best-connected) nodes. It finds that the average degree is larger for a smaller power-law exponent λ and a larger minimum or maximum degree. The ratio of the k min -degree nodes is larger for larger λ and smaller k min or k max . The ratio of the k max -degree ones is larger for smaller λ and k max or larger k min . The richer nodes hold most of the total degrees of Internet AS-level topology. In addition, it is revealed that the increased rate of the average degree or the ratio of the k min -degree nodes has power-law decay with the increase of k min . The ratio of the k max -degree nodes has a power-law decay with the increase of k max , and the fraction of the degrees in the hands of the richer 27% nodes is about 73% (the ‘73/27 rule’). Finally, empirically calculations are made, based on the empirical data extracted from the Border Gateway Protocol, of the average degree, ratio and fraction using this method and other methods, and find that this method is rigorous and effective for Internet AS-level topology. (interdisciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology)

Hearing aid-related satisfaction based on type and degree of hearing loss in elderly

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Farzad FarajiKhiavi

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Hearing loss is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases in the elderly; using a hearing aid to alleviate auditory impairment can positively affect their quality of life. This research aimed to determine the level of satisfaction concerning hearing aids in elderly people with hearing impairment based on the type and degree of hearing loss.Methods: An analytic cross-sectional research design was used ; the sample included 40 elderly people who used hearing aids. According to the World Health Organization (WHO age classification, participants were divided into two age groups: 65-74 years (n=20 and 75-90 years (n=20. Satisfaction levels were assessed using a standard satisfaction with amplification in daily life (SADL questionnaire.Results: Satisfaction levels in the 65-74 age group were significantly higher than that in the 75-90 age group (p=0.02. Participants with mixed hearing loss revealed higher satisfaction levels than participants with sensorineural hearing loss (p=0.02. On the negative effects dimension, participants with severe hearing loss exhibited significantly higher satisfaction levels than participants with moderate or moderate to severe hearing loss (p=0.01.Conclusion: Total satisfaction mean scores were relatively high in the elderly participants . Negative features could be reduced via careful consultation regarding the aids’ amplifying capabilities and limitations in groups with moderate or moderate to severe hearing loss.

Basic life support skills: assessment and education of spouse and first degree relatives of patients with coronary disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Javaid Arif; Shafquat, Azam; Kundi, Asadullah

2010-05-01

To assess the knowledge of basic cardiac life support (BCLS) before and after the institution of training among first degree relatives and spouses of patients with coronary disease. Quasi-experimental study. National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Karachi, from April 2007 to May 2008. A total of 300 relatives of patients with coronary heart disease undertook a one day CPR course. Questionnaire assessing knowledge of CPR was administered before and after the course. Patients were studied in groups of 10-20 at a time. Proportion of correct knowledge was compared using chi-square test with significance at p educational levels (p educational groups showed equal learning abilities.

PRO-C3-levels in patients with HIV/HCV-Co-infection reflect fibrosis stage and degree of portal hypertension

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jansen, Christian; Leeming, Diana J; Mandorfer, Mattias

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Liver-related deaths represent the leading cause of mortality among patients with HIV/HCV-co-infection, and are mainly related to complications of fibrosis and portal hypertension. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the structural changes by the assessment of extracellular matrix (ECM......) derived degradation fragments in peripheral blood as biomarkers for fibrosis and portal hypertension in patients with HIV/HCV co-infection. METHODS: Fifty-eight patients (67% male, mean age: 36.5 years) with HIV/HCV-co-infection were included in the study. Hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG......4M and C5M levels were higher in patients with portal hypertension (HVPG>5 mmHg). CONCLUSION: PRO-C3 levels reflect liver injury, stage of liver fibrosis and degree of portal hypertension in HIV/HCV-co-infected patients. Furthermore, C4M and C5M were associated with increased portal pressure...

Phase relations in the metal-rich portions of the phase system Pt-Ir-Fe-S at 1000 degrees C and 1100 degrees C

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Makovicky, E.; Karup-Møller, Sven

2000-01-01

Phase relations in the S-poor portions of the dry condensed Pt-Ir-Fe-S system were determined at 1000 degrees and 1100 degreesC with a particular emphasis on delineation of the solid solubility fields of the Pt-Ir-Fe alloys. At both temperatures, a broad field of gamma (Ir,Fe,Pt) alloy coexists...... with gamma-(Pt,Fe), Pt3Fe and PtFe which dissolve respectively at least 5.1, 29.3 and 24.0 at.% Ir at 1100 degreesC (2.2, 23.6 and less than or equal to 17.2 at.% Ir at 1000 degreesC). Gaps between the nearly Ir-free Pt-Fe alloys gamma (Pt,Fe), Pt3Fe s.s., PtFe s.s. and gamma (Fe,Pt) were estimated as 20......-23 at.%, 40-42 at.% and 54.2-similar to 57 at.% Fe at 1100 degreesC (18-23, 39.5-42.5 and 59-62 at.% Fe at 1000 degreesC). The first gap agrees with data from natural phases by Cabri et ni. (1996). The Fe-rich sulphide melt dissolves only traces of Pt and Ir; Fe1-xS dissolves up to 5.8 at.% Ir at 1100...

The degree of acceptability of swine blood values at increasing levels of hemolysis evaluated through visual inspection versus automated quantification.

Science.gov (United States)

Di Martino, Guido; Stefani, Anna Lisa; Lippi, Giuseppe; Gagliazzo, Laura; McCormick, Wanda; Gabai, Gianfranco; Bonfanti, Lebana

2015-05-01

The pronounced fragility that characterizes swine erythrocytes is likely to produce a variable degree of hemolysis during blood sampling, and the free hemoglobin may then unpredictably bias the quantification of several analytes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the degree of acceptability of values obtained for several biochemical parameters at different levels of hemolysis. Progressively increased degrees of physical hemolysis were induced in 3 aliquots of 30 nonhemolytic sera, and the relative effects on the test results were assessed. To define the level of hemolysis, we used both visual estimation (on a scale of 0 to 3+) and analytical assessment (hemolytic index) and identified the best analytical cutoff values for discriminating the visual levels of hemolysis. Hemolysis led to a variable and dose-dependent effect on the test results that was specific for each analyte tested. In mildly hemolyzed specimens, C-reactive protein, haptoglobin, β1-globulin, β2-globulin, α1-globulin, γ-globulin, sodium, calcium, and alkaline phosphatase were not significantly biased, whereas α2-globulin, albumin, urea, creatinine, glucose, total cholesterol, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, nonesterified fatty acids, bilirubin, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper, lipase, triglycerides, lactate dehydrogenase, unbound iron-binding capacity, and uric acid were significantly biased. Chloride and total protein were unbiased even in markedly hemolyzed samples. Analytical interference was hypothesized to be the main source of this bias, leading to a nonlinear trend that confirmed the difficulty in establishing reliable coefficients of correction for adjusting the test results. © 2015 The Author(s).

Measurement-induced localization of relative degrees of freedom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cable, Hugo; Knight, Peter L.; Rudolph, Terry

2005-01-01

We present a comprehensive study, using both analytical and numerical methods, of measurement-induced localization of relational degrees of freedom. Looking first at the interference of two optical modes, we find that the localization of the relative phase can be as good for mixed states--in particular, for two initially Poissonian or thermal states--as for the well-known case of two Fock states. In a realistic setup the localization for mixed states is robust and experimentally accessible, and we discuss applications to superselection rules. For an ideal setup we show how a relational Schroedinger cat state emerges and investigate circumstances under which such a state is destroyed. In our second example we consider the localization of relative atomic phase between two Bose Einstein condensates, looking particularly at the build up of spatial interference patterns, an area which has attracted much attention since the work of Javanainen and Yoo. We show that the relative phase localizes much faster than was intimated in previous studies focusing on the emerging interference pattern itself. Finally, we explore the localization of relative spatial parameters discussed in recent work by Rau, Dunningham, and Burnett. We retain their models of indistinguishable scattering but make different assumptions. In particular we consider the case of a real distant observer monitoring light scattering off two particles, who records events only from a narrow field of view. The localization is only partial regardless of the number of observations. This paper contributes to the wider debate on relationism in quantum mechanics, which treats fundamental concepts - reference frames and conservation laws - from a fully quantum and operational perspective

Customization of flexographic printing plates related to uvc-induced changes in the crosslinking degree

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tamara Tomašegović

2016-11-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the swelling properties of photopolymer flexographic printing plates related to the variations of UVC post-treatment have been analysed. The aim of the research was to interconnect the changes in the crosslinking degree of the photopolymer material occurring due to the modified UVC radiation of the printing plate and the changes of its surface free energy crucial in the graphic reproduction process. Changes in the crosslinking degree in the photopolymer materials have been analysed by the swelling experiments. Results have proven that the partial dissolution of the photopolymer material caused by the immersion of the printing plates in various solvents is in the direct relation with the changes of the dispersive surface free energy. UVC post-treatment, used for the crosslinking termination and the definition of the surface properties of printing plates, is therefore directly affecting the resistivity of the printing plate in the solvent environment. By calculating the correlation coefficients for the weight loss of the photopolymer material in solvents and the dispersive surface free energy, the relation between the crosslinking degree and the UVC post-treatment has been established.

How Japanese companion dog and cat owners’ degree of attachment relates to the attribution of emotions to their animals

Science.gov (United States)

Koda, Naoko; Martens, Pim

2018-01-01

Recently, studies in the United States and European countries have shown that the degree of attachment is associated with the attribution of emotions to companion animals. These studies imply that investigating the degree of attachment to companion animals is a good way for researchers to explore animal emotions and then improve animal welfare. Although a promising area of study, in Japan, no empirical studies have examined the correlation between the degree of attachment and the attribution of emotions to companion animals. In this research, we aimed to assess companion animal owners’ attribution of six primary (anger, joy, sadness, disgust, fear and surprise) and four secondary (shame, jealousy, disappointment and compassion) emotions to their dogs and cats, as well as how the degree of attachment related to such attribution of emotions from a Japanese cultural perspective. The “Pet Bonding Scale” (PBS), which is used to determine the level of bonding between humans and animals, was introduced to measure respondents’ degree of attachment to their companion animals. The results of a questionnaire (N = 546) distributed throughout Japan showed that respondents attributed a wide range of emotions to their animals. Companion animals’ primary emotions, compared to secondary emotions, were more commonly attributed by their owners. The attribution of compassion and jealousy was reported at a high level (73.1% and 56.2%, respectively), which was surprising as compassion and jealousy are generally defined as secondary emotions. All participants were highly attached to their companion animals, and this attachment was positively associated with the attribution of emotions (9/10) to companion animals (all p animal emotions by analyzing the bonding between companion animals and owners in Japan, and it can therefore provide knowledge to increase Japanese people’s awareness of animal welfare. PMID:29304166

How Japanese companion dog and cat owners' degree of attachment relates to the attribution of emotions to their animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Bingtao; Koda, Naoko; Martens, Pim

2018-01-01

Recently, studies in the United States and European countries have shown that the degree of attachment is associated with the attribution of emotions to companion animals. These studies imply that investigating the degree of attachment to companion animals is a good way for researchers to explore animal emotions and then improve animal welfare. Although a promising area of study, in Japan, no empirical studies have examined the correlation between the degree of attachment and the attribution of emotions to companion animals. In this research, we aimed to assess companion animal owners' attribution of six primary (anger, joy, sadness, disgust, fear and surprise) and four secondary (shame, jealousy, disappointment and compassion) emotions to their dogs and cats, as well as how the degree of attachment related to such attribution of emotions from a Japanese cultural perspective. The "Pet Bonding Scale" (PBS), which is used to determine the level of bonding between humans and animals, was introduced to measure respondents' degree of attachment to their companion animals. The results of a questionnaire (N = 546) distributed throughout Japan showed that respondents attributed a wide range of emotions to their animals. Companion animals' primary emotions, compared to secondary emotions, were more commonly attributed by their owners. The attribution of compassion and jealousy was reported at a high level (73.1% and 56.2%, respectively), which was surprising as compassion and jealousy are generally defined as secondary emotions. All participants were highly attached to their companion animals, and this attachment was positively associated with the attribution of emotions (9/10) to companion animals (all p animal emotions by analyzing the bonding between companion animals and owners in Japan, and it can therefore provide knowledge to increase Japanese people's awareness of animal welfare.

How Japanese companion dog and cat owners' degree of attachment relates to the attribution of emotions to their animals.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bingtao Su

Full Text Available Recently, studies in the United States and European countries have shown that the degree of attachment is associated with the attribution of emotions to companion animals. These studies imply that investigating the degree of attachment to companion animals is a good way for researchers to explore animal emotions and then improve animal welfare. Although a promising area of study, in Japan, no empirical studies have examined the correlation between the degree of attachment and the attribution of emotions to companion animals. In this research, we aimed to assess companion animal owners' attribution of six primary (anger, joy, sadness, disgust, fear and surprise and four secondary (shame, jealousy, disappointment and compassion emotions to their dogs and cats, as well as how the degree of attachment related to such attribution of emotions from a Japanese cultural perspective. The "Pet Bonding Scale" (PBS, which is used to determine the level of bonding between humans and animals, was introduced to measure respondents' degree of attachment to their companion animals. The results of a questionnaire (N = 546 distributed throughout Japan showed that respondents attributed a wide range of emotions to their animals. Companion animals' primary emotions, compared to secondary emotions, were more commonly attributed by their owners. The attribution of compassion and jealousy was reported at a high level (73.1% and 56.2%, respectively, which was surprising as compassion and jealousy are generally defined as secondary emotions. All participants were highly attached to their companion animals, and this attachment was positively associated with the attribution of emotions (9/10 to companion animals (all p < 0.05. This study is one of the first to investigate animal emotions by analyzing the bonding between companion animals and owners in Japan, and it can therefore provide knowledge to increase Japanese people's awareness of animal welfare.

A fast high-precision six-degree-of-freedom relative position sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Gary B.; Macasaet, Van P.; Griswold, Janelle; Sison, Claudia A.; Lubin, Philip; Meinhold, Peter; Suen, Jonathan; Brashears, Travis; Zhang, Qicheng; Madajian, Jonathan

2016-03-01

Lasers are commonly used in high-precision measurement and profiling systems. Some laser measurement systems are based on interferometry principles, and others are based on active triangulation, depending on requirements of the application. This paper describes an active triangulation laser measurement system for a specific application wherein the relative position of two fixed, rigid mechanical components is to be measured dynamically with high precision in six degrees of freedom (DOF). Potential applications include optical systems with feedback to control for mechanical vibration, such as target acquisition devices with multiple focal planes. The method uses an array of several laser emitters mounted on one component. The lasers are directed at a reflective surface on the second component. The reflective surface consists of a piecewise-planar pattern such as a pyramid, or more generally a curved reflective surface such as a hyperbolic paraboloid. The reflected spots are sensed at 2-dimensional photodiode arrays on the emitter component. Changes in the relative position of the emitter component and reflective surface will shift the location of the reflected spots within photodiode arrays. Relative motion in any degree of freedom produces independent shifts in the reflected spot locations, allowing full six-DOF relative position determination between the two component positions. Response time of the sensor is limited by the read-out rate of the photodiode arrays. Algorithms are given for position determination with limits on uncertainty and sensitivity, based on laser and spot-sensor characteristics, and assuming regular surfaces. Additional uncertainty analysis is achievable for surface irregularities based on calibration data.

Reducing health risk in family members of patients with type 2 diabetes: views of first degree relatives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O'Sullivan Bernadette

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Patients with type 2 diabetes can have an important role in discussing health risk within families. This study aimed to establish the acceptability to first degree relatives towards their relative with type 2 diabetes intervening as health promoters in their own families, using the Health Belief Model as a theoretical framework for evaluation. Methods Cross-sectional questionnaire design. Survey questionnaire for first degree relative (sibling or child mailed to a random sample of patients with type 2 diabetes registered with an urban hospital diabetes clinic (n = 607 eligible patients. Patients were asked to pass on questionnaires to one to two first degree relatives. Results Questionnaires were returned from 257 families (42% response rate with two responses provided by 107 families (a total of 364 questionnaires. The majority (94% of first degree relatives of patients with type 2 diabetes would like to be informed about reducing their risk. Half (48% of respondents reported being spoken to by a relative with type 2 diabetes about their risk of diabetes. Those spoken to were more likely to see themselves at risk of diabetes, to worry about developing diabetes and to view diabetes as a serious condition. Conclusions A role for patients with type 2 diabetes in discussing health risk in their family appears to be acceptable to many relatives. Discussion of risk and interventions to reduce health risk with their relatives should be encouraged in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Reducing health risk in family members of patients with type 2 diabetes: views of first degree relatives.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Whitford, David L

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND: Patients with type 2 diabetes can have an important role in discussing health risk within families. This study aimed to establish the acceptability to first degree relatives towards their relative with type 2 diabetes intervening as health promoters in their own families, using the Health Belief Model as a theoretical framework for evaluation. METHODS: Cross-sectional questionnaire design. Survey questionnaire for first degree relative (sibling or child) mailed to a random sample of patients with type 2 diabetes registered with an urban hospital diabetes clinic (n = 607 eligible patients). Patients were asked to pass on questionnaires to one to two first degree relatives. RESULTS: Questionnaires were returned from 257 families (42% response rate) with two responses provided by 107 families (a total of 364 questionnaires). The majority (94%) of first degree relatives of patients with type 2 diabetes would like to be informed about reducing their risk. Half (48%) of respondents reported being spoken to by a relative with type 2 diabetes about their risk of diabetes. Those spoken to were more likely to see themselves at risk of diabetes, to worry about developing diabetes and to view diabetes as a serious condition. CONCLUSIONS: A role for patients with type 2 diabetes in discussing health risk in their family appears to be acceptable to many relatives. Discussion of risk and interventions to reduce health risk with their relatives should be encouraged in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Familial clustering of myocardial infarction in first-degree relatives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Mia; Andersson, Charlotte; Gerds, Thomas A

2013-01-01

showed an RR of 4.30 (95% confidence interval 3.53–5.23) for siblings of a patient with MI. Children of parents with MI also showed high risk: for children of a maternal case RR 2.40 (2.20–2.60), and of a paternal case RR 1.98 (1.98–2.09), respectively; P value for gender interaction paternal...... case with MI at an age 50 years was associated with a risk of 1.83 (1.73–1.93). For maternal cases below and above 50 years of age the risks were 3.23 (2.56–4.10) and 2.31 (2.11–2.52), respectively. Conclusion First-degree relatives...

On the relationship between degree of hand-preference and degree of language lateralization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Somers, Metten; Ophoff, Roel A; Boks, Marco P; Fleer, Willemien; de Visser, Kees C L; Kahn, René S; Sommer, Iris E; Aukes, M.F.

2015-01-01

Language lateralization and hand-preference show inter-individual variation in the degree of lateralization to the left- or right, but their relation is not fully understood. Disentangling this relation could aid elucidating the mechanisms underlying these traits. The relation between degree of

[Actigraphy in Bipolar Disorder and First Degree Relatives].

Science.gov (United States)

Andrade Carrillo, Rommel; Gómez Cano, Sujey; Palacio Ortiz, Juan David; García Valencia, Jenny

2015-01-01

Bipolar disorder is a disabling disease that involves a significant economic costs to the health system, making it is essential to investigate possible early predictors such as changes in sleep-wake cycle in high-risk populations. To review the available literature on alterations in the sleep-wake cycle and circadian rhythm in patients with bipolar disorder and their first degree relatives. A literature search was performed in the data bases, Access Medicine, ClinicalKey, EMBASE, JAMA, Lilacs, OVID, Oxford Journals, ScienceDirect, SciELO, APA y PsycNET. Articles in both English and Spanish were reviewed, without limits by study type. Actigraphy is a non-invasive, useful method for assessing sleep-wake cycle disturbances in the active phases of bipolar disorder, and during euthymia periods. Actigraphy showed good sensitivity to predict true sleep, but low specificity, compared with polysomnography. Although studies in bipolar offspring and relatives are scarce, they show sleep changes similar to bipolar patients. Actigraphy may be a good screening tool of sleep/wake cycle in patients with bipolar disorders, because it is economic, non-invasive and sensitive. Longitudinal studies are required to evaluate its potential use as a risk marker. Copyright © 2014 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

Depressive symptoms in university freshmen : Longitudinal relations with contingent self-esteem and level of self-esteem

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wouters, S.; Duriez, B.; Luykx, K.; Klimstra, T.A.; Colpin, H.; Soenens, B.; Verschueren, K.

2013-01-01

The present study tested longitudinal relations between depressive symptoms and two aspects of self-esteem in university freshmen: (1) students’ level of self-esteem, and (2) the degree to which students’ self-esteem is dependent on meeting particular standards (i.e., contingent self-esteem). Using

Running in the family? : structural brain abnormalities in first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boos, H.B.M.

2011-01-01

The studies conducted in this thesis explored brain structures in first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia. The meta-analysis that Boos and colleagues performed showed that relatives of patients with schizophrenia had smaller hippocampal volumes, smaller gray matter volumes and larger

The impact of level of education on age-related deficits in associative memory: Behavioral and neuropsychological perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, Dwight J; Gargya, Sanchita; Kopeikin, Ksenia S; Naveh-Benjamin, Moshe

2017-06-01

Older adults have difficulty forming associations and binding distinct item components despite mostly preserved item memory potentially because they rely on more automatic, rather than strategic, processing when attempting to form, store, and retrieve associations from memory. An intriguing possibility is that older adults with greater access to strategic processes (e.g., those with a high level of education) may be less susceptible to age-related associative memory deficits. Two experiments assessed the degree to which a high level of education provides an effective dose of cognitive reserve (CR), potentially preserving associative memory. Standard younger and older adults' item and associative memory performance was compared to older adults who had attained a high level of education (mostly doctoral degrees). In both experiments (Experiment 1: person-action pairs; Experiment 2: unrelated word pairs), consistent evidence was found that older adults, regardless of the level of education, exhibited an age-related associative memory deficit relative to younger adults. Interestingly, neuropsychological assessment of both older adult groups revealed greater frontal lobe, but not enhanced medial temporal lobe, functioning in the highly educated. As such, although the highly educated older adults exhibited greater frontal lobe functioning than the standard older adults, this did not aid in the reduction of the age-related associative memory deficit. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

How Well Does A-Level Mathematics Prepare Students for the Mathematical Demands of Chemistry Degrees?

Science.gov (United States)

Darlington, Ellie; Bowyer, Jessica

2016-01-01

332 undergraduate chemistry students were surveyed in order to establish whether they had found A-level Mathematics and/or Further Mathematics to be good preparation for their degree. Perceptions of both subjects were found to be positive, with more than 80% of participants describing Mathematics or Further Mathematics as good preparation. In…

A study on the degree of deliberation and meditation of cyber poll respondents for nuclear-related decision making

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Moon Soo; Moon, Joo Hyun; Kang, Chang Sun

2006-01-01

Public participation is essential in each step of the nuclear-related decision-making process. Recently, the electronic systems using the Internet have become quite popular, and have emerged as a good medium for communicating with the public. In this study, a comprehensive utilization of electronic public participation was used to analyze public opinion on a given nuclear-related decision-making process. The degree of deliberation and meditation of the public participating in an electronic poll survey was evaluated, and the decision-making factors representing the personal characteristics of the poll respondents such as age, income, education, residence, degree of knowledge and concern were carefully incorporated when preparing the poll-survey questionnaire for its evaluation. Fuzzy analysis was used to assess and aggregate the responses to each decision-making factor. As a case study, this procedure was used to analyzing public opinion on the location of a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility on the campus of Seoul National University. The results show that there is a tendency of respondents who are on the negative side of the argument to be more deliberate and meditative in their decision-making process than those on the positive side. Knowledge and residence were found to be important decision-making factors

A study on the degree of deliberation and meditation of cyber poll respondents for nuclear-related decision making

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Moon Soo [Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University, San 56-1 Shilim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of)]. E-mail: insrec1@freechal.com; Moon, Joo Hyun [Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University, San 56-1 Shilim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of); Kang, Chang Sun [Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University, San 56-1 Shilim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of)

2006-01-15

Public participation is essential in each step of the nuclear-related decision-making process. Recently, the electronic systems using the Internet have become quite popular, and have emerged as a good medium for communicating with the public. In this study, a comprehensive utilization of electronic public participation was used to analyze public opinion on a given nuclear-related decision-making process. The degree of deliberation and meditation of the public participating in an electronic poll survey was evaluated, and the decision-making factors representing the personal characteristics of the poll respondents such as age, income, education, residence, degree of knowledge and concern were carefully incorporated when preparing the poll-survey questionnaire for its evaluation. Fuzzy analysis was used to assess and aggregate the responses to each decision-making factor. As a case study, this procedure was used to analyzing public opinion on the location of a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility on the campus of Seoul National University. The results show that there is a tendency of respondents who are on the negative side of the argument to be more deliberate and meditative in their decision-making process than those on the positive side. Knowledge and residence were found to be important decision-making factors.

Risk of leukemia in first degree relatives of patients with nonsyndromic cleft lip and palate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eduardo GONÇALVES

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of leukemia in parents of patients with nonsyndromic cleft lip and/or cleft palate (NSCL/P. This case-control study evaluated first-degree family members of 358 patients with NSCL/P and 1,432 subjects without craniofacial alterations or syndromes. Statistical analysis was carried out using Fisher’s test. From the 358 subjects with NSCL/P, 3 first-degree parents had history of leukemia, while 2 out of 1,432 subjects from the unaffected group had a family history of leukemia. The frequency of positive family history of leukemia was not significantly increased in first-degree relatives of patients with NSCL/P.

Adherence to colonoscopy recommendations for first-degree relatives of young patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guilherme H. Garcia

2015-10-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES:Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The American College of Gastroenterology recommends screening for first-degree relatives of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer before the age of 50. A colonoscopy is one of the most commonly recommended exams due to its specificity and the possibility to resect pre-malignant lesions. Nevertheless, the rate of physician adherence to this recommendation is unknown.METHODS:This transversal study was performed at a major cancer center in Brazil with 62 patients, aged 18 to 50, who completed a questionnaire on information received from their physicians regarding screening their first-degree relatives. We used the answers from patients who provided explicit consent.RESULTS:Two hundred and three patients were eligible to participate and 93 (45.8% agreed to complete the questionnaire. Twenty-three questionnaires (24.73% were returned and 39 were completed by telephone. Of the patients who answered the questionnaire, 39 (62.9% had received a colonoscopy recommendation for their first-degree relatives and 23 (37.1% were not informed of the recommendation. Among the patients who received the recommendations, 20.51% affirmed that all relatives completed the exam and 51.28% stated that no relatives completed the exam.DISCUSSION:The adherence rate of our physicians to the ACG guideline recommendations was 62.9%. Considering that our study was performed at a leading center for cancer treatment in Latin America, we had expected better adherence. The results show that adherence to the colorectal cancer screening recommendations for high-risk patients must be improved.

Increased colorectal cancer risk in first-degree relatives of patients with hyperplastic polyposis syndrome

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boparai, K. S.; Reitsma, J. B.; Lemmens, V.; van Os, T. A. M.; Mathus-Vliegen, E. M. H.; Koornstra, J. J.; Nagengast, F. M.; van Hest, L. P.; Keller, J. J.; Dekker, E.

2010-01-01

Introduction Hyperplastic polyposis syndrome (HPS) is characterised by the presence of multiple colorectal hyperplastic polyps and is associated with an increased colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. For first-degree relatives of HPS patients (FDRs) this has not been adequately quantified. Reliable

Increased colorectal cancer risk in first-degree relatives of patients with hyperplastic polyposis syndrome.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boparai, K.S.; Reitsma, J.B.; Lemmens, V.; Os, T.A. van; Mathus-Vliegen, E.M.H.; Koornstra, J.J.; Nagengast, F.M.; Hest, L.P. van; Keller, J.J.; Dekker, E. den

2010-01-01

INTRODUCTION: Hyperplastic polyposis syndrome (HPS) is characterised by the presence of multiple colorectal hyperplastic polyps and is associated with an increased colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. For first-degree relatives of HPS patients (FDRs) this has not been adequately quantified. Reliable

Increased colorectal cancer risk in first-degree relatives of patients with hyperplastic polyposis syndrome

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boparai, K. S.; Lemmens, V.; van Os, T. A. M.; Mathus-Vliegen, E. M. H.; Koornstra, J. J.; Nagengast, F. M.; van Hest, L. P.; Keller, J. J.; Dekker, E.; Reitsma, J.

Introduction Hyperplastic polyposis syndrome (HPS) is characterised by the presence of multiple colorectal hyperplastic polyps and is associated with an increased colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. For first-degree relatives of HPS patients (FDRs) this has not been adequately quantified. Reliable

Altered Neural Activity during Irony Comprehension in Unaffected First-Degree Relatives of Schizophrenia Patients—An fMRI Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Róbert Herold

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Irony is a type of figurative language in which the literal meaning of the expression is the opposite of what the speaker intends to communicate. Even though schizophrenic patients are known as typically impaired in irony comprehension and in the underlying neural functions, to date no one has explored the neural correlates of figurative language comprehension in first-degree relatives of schizophrenic patients. In the present study, we examined the neural correlates of irony understanding in schizophrenic patients and in unaffected first-degree relatives of patients compared to healthy adults with functional MRI. Our aim was to investigate if possible alterations of the neural circuits supporting irony comprehension in first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia would fulfill the familiality criterion of an endophenotype. We examined 12 schizophrenic patients, 12 first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients and 12 healthy controls with functional MRI while they were performing irony and control tasks. Different phases of irony processing were examined, such as context processing and ironic statement comprehension. Patients had significantly more difficulty understanding irony than controls or relatives. Patients also showed markedly different neural activation pattern compared to controls in both stages of irony processing. Although no significant differences were found in the performance of the irony tasks between the control group and the relative group, during the fMRI analysis, the relatives showed stronger brain activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during the context processing phase of irony tasks than the control group. However, the controls demonstrated higher activations in the left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and in the right inferior frontal gyrus during the ironic statement phase of the irony tasks than the relative group. Our results show that despite good task performance, first-degree relatives of

Antisaccade performance in schizophrenia patients, their first-degree biological relatives, and community comparison subjects: data from the COGS study.

Science.gov (United States)

Radant, Allen D; Dobie, Dorcas J; Calkins, Monica E; Olincy, Ann; Braff, David L; Cadenhead, Kristin S; Freedman, Robert; Green, Michael F; Greenwood, Tiffany A; Gur, Raquel E; Gur, Ruben C; Light, Gregory A; Meichle, Sean P; Millard, Steve P; Mintz, Jim; Nuechterlein, Keith H; Schork, Nicholas J; Seidman, Larry J; Siever, Larry J; Silverman, Jeremy M; Stone, William S; Swerdlow, Neal R; Tsuang, Ming T; Turetsky, Bruce I; Tsuang, Debby W

2010-09-01

The antisaccade task is a widely used technique to measure failure of inhibition, an important cause of cognitive and clinical abnormalities found in schizophrenia. Although antisaccade performance, which reflects the ability to inhibit prepotent responses, is a putative schizophrenia endophenotype, researchers have not consistently reported the expected differences between first-degree relatives and comparison groups. Schizophrenia participants (n=219) from the large Consortium on the Genetics of Schizophrenia (COGS) sample (n=1078) demonstrated significant deficits on an overlap version of the antisaccade task compared to their first-degree relatives (n=443) and community comparison subjects (CCS; n=416). Although mean antisaccade performance of first-degree relatives was intermediate between schizophrenia participants and CCS, a linear mixed-effects model adjusting for group, site, age, and gender found no significant performance differences between the first-degree relatives and CCS. However, admixture analyses showed that two components best explained the distributions in all three groups, suggesting two distinct doses of an etiological factor. Given the significant heritability of antisaccade performance, the effects of a genetic polymorphism is one possible explanation of our results.

Lower Serum DHEAS levels are associated with a higher degree of physical disability and depressive symptoms in middle-aged to older African American women

Science.gov (United States)

Haren, Matthew T.; Malmstrom, Theodore K.; Banks, William A.; Patrick, Ping; Miller, Douglas K.; Morley, John E.

2007-01-01

Background Changes in androgen levels and associations with chronic disease, physical and neuropsychological function and disability in women over the middle to later years of life are not well understood and have not been extensively studied in African-American women. Aims The present cross-sectional analysis reports such levels and associations in community dwelling, African American women aged 49 – 65 years from St. Louis, Missouri. Methods A home-based physical examination and a health status questionnaire were administered to randomly sampled women. Body composition (DEXA), lower limb and hand-grip muscle strength, physical and neuropsychological function and disability levels were assessed. Blood was drawn and assayed for total testosterone (T), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEAS), oestradiol (E2), adiponectin, leptin, triglycerides, glucose, C-reactive protein (CRP) and cytokine receptors (sIL2r, sIL6r, sTNFr1 & sTNFr2). Multiple linear regression modelling was used to identify the best predictors of testosterone, DHEAS and Free Androgen Index (T/SHBG). Results Seventy-four percent of women were menopausal and a quarter of these were taking oestrogen therapy. DHEAS and E2 declined between the ages of 49 and 65 years, whereas total T, SHBG and FAI remained stable. Total T and DHEAS levels were strongly correlated. In this population sample there were no independent associations of either total T or FAI with indicators of functional limitations, disability or clinically relevant depressive symptoms. Unlike total T and FAI, lower DHEAS levels was independently associated with both higher IADL scores (indicating a higher degree of physical disability) and higher CESD scores (indicating a higher degree of clinically relevant depressive symptoms). Conclusion There is an age-related decline in serum DHEAS in African-American women. Lower DHEAS levels appear to be associated with a higher degree of physical disability and

Risk. Impact of having a first-degree relative with affective disorder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vinberg, Maj

2016-01-01

boundaries in order to have an impact on prevention. Furthermore, there is a need to move beyond the notion of ''magic bullets'', instead developing an integrated paradigm encompassing clusters of biomarkers related to behavioural measures of developmental psychopathology. Finally, as most psychiatric...... enhanced risk and thus accelerate the onset of illness. Low-risk individuals seem to experience fewer life events and may exhibit resilience to their adverse psychological effects. Overall, having a 1st-degree relative with affective disorder matters. This thesis demonstrates that high-risk studies...... are informative, allowing observation and investigation of the pathological processes that occur prior to the onset of illness. There is a lack of prospective intervention studies assessing psychopathology in well-defined, high-risk samples and it is obvious that future research must transcend diagnostic...

Aggregation of deaths from ischaemic heart disease among first and second degree relatives of 108 males and 42 females with myocardial infarction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thordarson, O; Fridriksson, S

1979-01-01

The occurrence of deaths due to ischaemic heart disease (IHD) among first and second degree relatives of coronary patients and among relatives of an equal number of matched controls was studied on the basis of death certificates. The propositi were 108 males and 42 females, who had developed myocardial infarction (MI), males before 65 years of age and females before 70. When compared with controls, a 1-1/2-fold higher death rate was found among first degree relatives of the propositi and a lower average age at death. The difference in death rate between second degree relatives was not significant, except for maternal brothers. When compared with the death rate due to IHD in the general population, the increase in risk to first degree relatives of propositi was nearly 3-fold over the expected value, and 1-1/2-fold to second degree relatives. The age of the propositi at onset of MI did not affect the risk to relatives, whereas sex-related influence was significant. To first degree relatives of male propositi the risk increase was up to 5-fold over the expected value. The risk increase was found to be greatest to first degree male relatives of female propositi, or over 7-fold to fathers and brothers. Mothers and sisters of both male and female propositi showed a 4 to 5 fold risk increase over the expected value. The risk increase to second degree relatives was 2-1/2-fold over the expected value to maternal brothers of male propositi and 4-fold to such brothers of female propositi. The relatives of controls showed a coronary mortality close to that of the general population. Familial clustering of coronary deaths was found in 8.7% of the families of the propositi and in 4.7% of the families of the controls. The findings of the present study indicate a substantial genetic component in the overall aetiology of IHD, which is more prominent in families of female propositi but hardly of a magnitude to warrant genetic counseling.

Relation of expansion due to alkali silica reaction to the degree of reaction measured by SEM image analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haha, M. Ben; Gallucci, E.; Guidoum, A.; Scrivener, K.L.

2007-01-01

Scanning Electron Microscopy Image Analysis (SEM-IA) was used to quantify the degree of alkali silica reaction in affected microbars, mortar and concrete prisms. It was found that the degree of reaction gave a unique correlation with the macroscopic expansion for three different aggregates, stored at three temperatures and with two levels of alkali. The relationships found for the concretes and the mortars overlap when normalised by the aggregate content. This relationship seems to be linear up to a critical reaction degree which coincides with crack initiation within the reactive aggregates

Engineering Undergraduates' Views of A-Level Mathematics and Further Mathematics as Preparation for Their Degree

Science.gov (United States)

Darlington, Ellie; Bowyer, Jessica

2017-01-01

An ongoing reform programme of the post-16 Advanced "A"-level qualifications in England and Wales means that pre-university mathematics content and assessment will change from 2017. Undergraduate engineering is a subject that relies heavily on mathematics, and applicants to engineering degree programmes in the UK are required to have…

Serum Calcium is Related to the Degree of Artery Stenosis in Acute Ischemic Stroke

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiayan Wu

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Background/Aims: Acute ischemic stroke is caused by stenosis of artery supplying to brain. We aimed to detect some metabolites in the serum that would be related to the degree of artery stenosis and to analyze potential mechanisms. Methods: Patients diagnosed with acute ischemic stroke were divided into two groups according to their degree of artery stenosis (which was determined by computed tomographic angiography: a mild group (stenosis ≤ 30% and a severe group (stenosis > 30%. Serum from these patients was collected, and we focused on the differences in the concentrations of calcium, uric acid, low density lipoprotein and homocysteine. The dataset GSE11583 from the Gene Expression Omnibus database was analyzed to find the potential mechanism using bioinformatics methods. Results: Among the four metabolites, the only difference that reached significance between the two groups was in the concentration of calcium in serum (2.27±0.08 mmol/L vs 2.21±0.08 mmol/L. By comparing the gene expression levels between normal endothelial cells and adaptive remodeling endothelial cells in GSE11583, we identified 51 upregulated and 40 downregulated genes in adaptive remodeling endothelial cells. The gene set enrichment analysis revealed that upregulated genes were enriched in a phosphatidylinositol signaling system, which is closely involved in the calcium signaling pathway. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the concentration of serum calcium is higher in patients with more severe artery stenosis lesions and that the phosphatidylinositol signaling system is a key biological pathway involved in this process.

Serum Calcium is Related to the Degree of Artery Stenosis in Acute Ischemic Stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jiayan; Xie, Junchao; Zhao, Yanxin; Gong, Li; Liu, Xueyuan; Liu, Wangmi

2018-01-01

Acute ischemic stroke is caused by stenosis of artery supplying to brain. We aimed to detect some metabolites in the serum that would be related to the degree of artery stenosis and to analyze potential mechanisms. Patients diagnosed with acute ischemic stroke were divided into two groups according to their degree of artery stenosis (which was determined by computed tomographic angiography): a mild group (stenosis ≤ 30%) and a severe group (stenosis > 30%). Serum from these patients was collected, and we focused on the differences in the concentrations of calcium, uric acid, low density lipoprotein and homocysteine. The dataset GSE11583 from the Gene Expression Omnibus database was analyzed to find the potential mechanism using bioinformatics methods. Among the four metabolites, the only difference that reached significance between the two groups was in the concentration of calcium in serum (2.27±0.08 mmol/L vs 2.21±0.08 mmol/L). By comparing the gene expression levels between normal endothelial cells and adaptive remodeling endothelial cells in GSE11583, we identified 51 upregulated and 40 downregulated genes in adaptive remodeling endothelial cells. The gene set enrichment analysis revealed that upregulated genes were enriched in a phosphatidylinositol signaling system, which is closely involved in the calcium signaling pathway. Our results suggest that the concentration of serum calcium is higher in patients with more severe artery stenosis lesions and that the phosphatidylinositol signaling system is a key biological pathway involved in this process. © 2018 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.

The Relation Between Skill Levels and the Cyclical Variability of Employment, Hours, and Wages

OpenAIRE

Michael P. Keane; Eswar S Prasad

1993-01-01

This paper uses micro data to examine differences in the cyclical variability of employment, hours, and wages for skilled and unskilled workers. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we find that, at the aggregate level, skilled and unskilled workers are subject to essentially the same degree of cyclical variation in wages. That is, relative offer wage differentials between skilled and unskilled workers are acyclical. However, we do find important differences in the patterns of employment and hour...

Association Between Socioeconomic Status and Participation in Colonoscopy Screening Program in First Degree Relatives of Colorectal Cancer Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Chouhdari, Arezoo; Yavari, Parvin; Pourhoseingholi, Mohammad Amin; Sohrabi, Mohammad-Reza

2016-04-01

Approximately 15% to 25% of colorectal cancer (CRC) cases have positive family history for disease. Colonoscopy screening test is the best way for prevention and early diagnosis. Studies have found that first degree relatives (FDRs) with low socioeconomic status are less likely to participate in colonoscopy screening program. The aim of this study is to determine the association between socioeconomic status and participation in colonoscopy screening program in FDRs. This descriptive cross-sectional, study has been conducted on 200 FDRs who were consulted for undergoing colonoscopy screening program between 2007 and 2013 in research institute for gastroenterology and liver disease of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. They were interviewed via phone by a valid questionnaire about socioeconomic status. For data analysis, chi-square, exact fisher and multiple logistic regression were executed by SPSS 19. The results indicated 58.5% participants underwent colonoscopy screening test at least once to the time of the interview. There was not an association between participation in colonoscopy screening program and socioeconomic status to the time of the interview in binomial analysis. But statistical significance between intention to participate and educational and income level were found. We found, in logistic regression analysis, that high educational level (Diploma and University degree in this survey) was a predictor to participate in colonoscopy screening program in FDRs. According to this survey low socioeconomic status is an important factor to hinder participation of FDRs in colonoscopy screening program. Therefore, planned interventions for elevation knowledge and attitude in FDRs with low educational level are necessary. Also, reducing colonoscopy test costs should be a major priority for policy makers.

Clinical significance of changes of serum true insulin and proinsulin levels in relations of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tian Xiaoping; Huang Huijian; Huang Haibo; Wu Yan; He Haoming

2004-01-01

Objective: To explore the degree of insulin resistance and β-cell secretory function impairment in close (1st degree) relations of patients with type 2 diabetes (DMII). Methods: Serum true insulin (TI), pro-insulin (PI), immunoreactive insulin (IRI) levels at fasting and after oral 75g glucose loading were determined in: 1) patients with DM 2, n=65 2)relations of DM 2 patients with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), n=34 3) relations of DM 2 patients with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), n=66 and 4) controls, n=48. HOMA-IR and HOMA-β cell secretory indices were calculated from the data. Results: Fasting serum PI levels were significantly higher in DM 2 patients, relations with IGT and NGT than those in the controls (t=2.38, t=2.16, t=1.95, P 1 C percentages were significantly higher in DM 2 patients and IGT, NGT groups than those in controls (t=3.67, t=2.45, t=1.97, P 1 C percentage, fasting TI and IRI levels. Conclusion: Insulin resistance was already obvious in those relations of DM 2 patients with normal glucose tolerance and β-cell secretory function impairment was also present. Early intervention in these subjects might be beneficial. (authors)

Associate in science degree education programs: organization, structure, and curriculum.

Science.gov (United States)

Galvin, William F

2005-09-01

After years of discussion, debate, and study, the respiratory care curriculum has evolved to a minimum of an associate degree for entry into practice. Although programs are at liberty to offer the entry-level or advanced level associate degree, most are at the advanced level. The most popular site for sponsorship of the associate degree in respiratory care is the community college. The basis for community college sponsorship seems to be its comprehensive curriculum, which focuses on a strong academic foundation in writing, communication, and the basic sciences as well as supporting a career-directed focus in respiratory care. Issues facing the community college are tied to literacy, outcomes, assessment, placement,cooperation with the community, partnerships with industry, and articulation arrangements with granting institutions granting baccalaureate degrees. Community colleges must produce a literate graduate capable of thriving in an information-saturated society. Assessment and placement will intensify as the laissez-faire attitudes toward attendance and allowing students to select courses without any accountability and evaluation of outcome become less acceptable. Students will be required to demonstrate steady progress toward established outcomes. Maintaining relations and cooperation with the local community and the health care industry will continue to be a prominent role for the community college. The challenge facing associate degree education in respiratory care at the community college level is the ability to continue to meet the needs of an expanding professional scope of practice and to provide a strong liberal arts or general education core curriculum. The needs for a more demanding and expanding respiratory care curriculum and for a rich general education core curriculum have led to increased interest in baccalaureate and graduate degree education. The value of associate degree education at the community college level is well established. It is

Relationship between degree of dyspnoea and health-related quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gvozdenović Branislav S.

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction Dyspnoea is a characteristic symptom of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, which impairs everyday functioning of patients. Objective The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between the degree of dyspnoea of COPD patients and their health-related quality of life. Method We measured the degree of dyspnoea and health-related quality of life in 85 COPD outpatients (46 male; mean age was 58 ± 12 years; mean forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1 was 47.9±18.6% predicted. The degree of dyspnoea was assessed by Baseline Dyspnoea Index (BDI, List of Daily Activities (DAL, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS, Modified MRC Dyspnoea Scale, and Borg Category Scale (BCS. The patients filled two standardized questionnaires for measuring health-related quality of life: the generic one - 15D, and the respiratory specific one - the St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ. Total 15D and SGRQ scores, as well as the scores for individual domains of SGRQ (symptoms, activity and impact scores for each patient were calculated. In 40 out of 85 patients, the same procedure was repeated at the follow-up, with a mean 4-week interval between the visits. Results There were statistically highly significant correlations (p<0.01 between values of all dyspnoea scale scores evaluated and all the health-related quality of life scores. The highest degree of correlation of both total SGRQ and 15D scores was found for the values of BCS (r=0.731 and -0.776, respectively. A statistically significant correlation between the changes of all SGRQ (but not 15D scores and all dyspnoea score changes (except for MRC were also recorded. Conclusion The degree of dyspnoea of COPD outpatients that could be well-determined by the scales used in our study clearly reflects the impairment of their health-related quality of life as assessed by the instruments used. All of the questionnaires we used in this study have good measurement properties for their

Degree distribution in discrete case

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Li-Na; Chen, Bin; Yan, Zai-Zai

2011-01-01

Vertex degree of many network models and real-life networks is limited to non-negative integer. By means of measure and integral, the relation of the degree distribution and the cumulative degree distribution in discrete case is analyzed. The degree distribution, obtained by the differential of its cumulative, is only suitable for continuous case or discrete case with constant degree change. When degree change is not a constant but proportional to degree itself, power-law degree distribution and its cumulative have the same exponent and the mean value is finite for power-law exponent greater than 1. -- Highlights: → Degree change is the crux for using the cumulative degree distribution method. → It suits for discrete case with constant degree change. → If degree change is proportional to degree, power-law degree distribution and its cumulative have the same exponent. → In addition, the mean value is finite for power-law exponent greater than 1.

Familial Clustering of Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia in First-Degree Relatives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oestergaard, Louise B.; Christiansen, Mia N.; Schmiegelow, Michelle D.

2016-01-01

the rate of the disease, and whether this rate is affected by the type of family relationship (that is, parent or sibling) or by how the relative acquired the infection. DESIGN: Register-based nationwide cohort study (1992 to 2011). SETTING: Denmark. PARTICIPANTS: First-degree relatives (children...... or siblings) of patients previously hospitalized with S aureus bacteremia. MEASUREMENTS: Poisson regression models were used to calculate standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) of S aureus bacteremia, with the incidence rate in the population as a reference. RESULTS: 34 774 individuals (the exposed cohort...... in the background population. The estimate was significantly higher if the index case patient was a sibling (SIR, 5.01 [CI, 3.30 to 7.62]) than a parent (SIR, 1.96 [CI, 1.45 to 2.67]; interaction P

Simultaneous Use of the Financial Literacy Level and the Financial Inclusion Degree as a Result of Financial Education Efficiency in Visegrad Group Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bożena Frączek

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The appropriate level of financial knowledge and the degree of financial integration needed in today's financialized world. This paper studies the level of financial literacy and the degree of financial inclusion among the students who study economic fields. These students are a special target group - very important for future development of financial markets. They are not only the future participants, but also the potential animators and creators of the financial market as well as the future financial advisors. The research sample comes from Visegrad Group countries (4V Countries, as the representatives from Central and Eastern Europe countries, where the level of financial literacy and degree of financial inclusion seems to be lower in comparison to the West European Countries. The research also contributes to knowledge in the area of expanding the methods of assessments of efficiency of financial education. The Authors decided to verify the new assessment of effectiveness of financial education. It will be conducted by a separate and simultaneous assessment of financial literacy and financial inclusion. The main results of research confirm the very low level of financial literacy and financial inclusion of young future economists in 4V Countries in both groups: starting and finishing the professional financial education. In addition, examining the degree of financial inclusion among the students who at the same time are educated at the basic level confirms the much lower level of informed financial inclusion.

Muscle insulin binding and plasma levels in relation to liver glucokinase activity, glucose metabolism and dietary carbohydrates in rainbow trout.

Science.gov (United States)

Capilla, Encarnación; Médale, Françoise; Navarro, Isabel; Panserat, Stéphane; Vachot, Christiane; Kaushik, Sadasivam; Gutiérrez, Joaquim

2003-01-31

Rainbow trout were fed for 10 weeks with either a carbohydrate-free diet (C-free) or with four experimental diets containing various levels (20 or 40%) and sources of starch (extruded wheat or peas) in order to examine metabolic utilisation of dietary vegetable carbohydrates and its endocrine control. The study was focused on the parameters described as limiting in glucose metabolism in fish. Feeding trials were conducted at 8 and 18 degrees C to establish whether carbohydrate-rich diets can be used in trout farming irrespective of water temperature. At both temperatures, pea diets (especially the highest level) resulted in a feed efficiency as high as the C-free diet. Fish had similar growth rates except when fed the low wheat content diet. Glycaemia values 6 h after feeding were significantly higher in trout fed carbohydrate diets than those given the C-free diet, whereas plasma insulin levels were similar independently of the levels of dietary starch. This study provides the first evidence that glucokinase (GK) activity and mRNA level in trout liver increase in proportion to the content of dietary starch. Nevertheless, these changes were not correlated with plasma insulin levels. Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) binding and number of receptors in skeletal muscle were consistently higher than those for insulin but no diet-induced differences were found for any of these parameters. Temperature clearly affected the postprandial profile of glucose and insulin, which both showed lower levels 6 h after feeding at 8 degrees C than at 18 degrees C, which was consistent with a lower feed intake. Glucose and insulin levels decreased markedly 24 h after feeding at 18 degrees C, while they were still high at 8 degrees C, an observation concordant with delayed transit rate. These findings indicate satisfactory adaptation of rainbow trout to diets with a relatively high vegetable starch content, especially when provided as extruded peas, and indicate that diets with

A method for estimating the relative degree of saponification of xanthophyll sources and feedstuffs.

Science.gov (United States)

Fletcher, D L

2006-05-01

Saponification of xanthophyll esters in various feed sources has been shown to improve pigmentation efficiency in broiler skin and egg yolks. Three trials were conducted to evaluate a rapid liquid chromatography procedure for estimating the relative degree of xanthophyll saponification using samples of yellow corn, corn gluten meal, alfalfa, and 6 commercially available marigold meal concentrates. In each trial, samples were extracted using a modification of the 1984 Association of Official Analytical Chemists hot saponification procedure with and without the addition of KOH. A comparison of the chromatography results was used to estimate percent saponification of the original sample by dividing the nonsaponified extraction values by the saponified extraction values. A comparison of the percent saponified xanthophylls for each product (mg/kg) was: yellow corn, 101; corn gluten meal, 78; alfalfa, 97.9; and marigold concentrates A through F, 99.8, 4.6, 99.0, 95.6, 96.8, and 6.6, respectively. These results indicate that a modification of the 1984 Association of Official Analytical Chemists procedure and liquid column chromatography can be used to quickly verify saponification and can be used to estimate the relative degree of saponification of an unknown xanthophyll source.

User-producer Interaction and the Degree of Novelty of Innovations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harirchi, Gouya; Chaminade, Cristina

User-producer interactions have been traditionally recognized as important for innovation. With the rapid growth of emerging economies’ markets, and an increasing degree of technological sophistication of both users and producers in those markets, user-producer interaction is becoming global....... The existing literature is quite limited in explaining how collaboration with users in different income regions affects the degree of innovations’ novelty. Using original firm-level data collected in nine countries, this paper argues that collaborating with international customers is positively related...... to higher degrees of novelty. Furthermore, firms in low- and middle-income countries will benefit more from south-south collaboration than a south-north one, at least in terms of collaboration with customers for innovation....

Degree-degree correlations in random graphs with heavy-tailed degrees

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hofstad, van der R.W.; Litvak, N.

2014-01-01

Mixing patterns in large self-organizing networks, such as the Internet, the World Wide Web, social, and biological networks are often characterized by degree-degree dependencies between neighboring nodes. In assortative networks, the degree-degree dependencies are positive (nodes with similar

Degree-Degree Dependencies in Random Graphs with Heavy-Tailed Degrees

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Hofstad, Remco; Litvak, Nelly

2014-01-01

Mixing patterns in large self-organizing networks, such as the Internet, the World Wide Web, social, and biological networks are often characterized by degree-degree dependencies between neighboring nodes. In assortative networks, the degree-degree dependencies are positive (nodes with similar

Pathways to a Four-Year Degree: Determinants of Degree Completion among Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Cabrera, Alberto F.; Burkum, Kurt R.; La Nasa, Steven M.

The High School Sophomore Cohort of 1980 followed nine different pathways to a 4-year college degree. These paths were formed by a combination of different levels of academic preparation secured in high school and the first type of postsecondary institution attended. The pathway most likely to lead to a 4-year degree is one defined by acquiring…

Prevalence of brain arteriovenous malformations in first-degree relatives of patients with a brain arteriovenous malformation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Beijnum, Janneke; van der Worp, H. Bart; Algra, Ale; Vandertop, W. Peter; van den Berg, René; Brouwer, Patrick A.; van der Sprenkel, Jan Willem Berkelbach; Kappelle, L. Jaap; Rinkel, Gabriël J. E.; Klijn, Catharina J. M.

2014-01-01

It is uncertain whether familial occurrence of brain arteriovenous malformations (BAVMs) represents coincidental aggregation or a shared familial risk factor. We aimed to compare the prevalence of BAVMs in first-degree relatives (FDRs) of patients with BAVM and the prevalence in the general

Coronary risk factors and metabolic disorders in first-degree relatives of normocholesterolaemic patients with premature atherosclerosis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geluk, Christiane Anneliese; Halkes, C.J.M.; de Jaegere, P.P.T.; Plokker, H.W.M.; Cabezas, M.C.

2006-01-01

Aims. Despite agreement on the need for screening for the presence of cardiovascular risk factors in first-degree family members of patients with pre-mature coronary artery disease (CAD), this is not routinely carried out in relatives of normocholesterolaemic patients. We evaluated cardiovascular

Establishing a framework for a physician assistant/bioethics dual degree program.

Science.gov (United States)

Carr, Mark F; Bergman, Brett A

2014-01-01

: Numerous medical schools currently offer a master of arts (MA) in bioethics dual degree for physicians. A degree in bioethics enhances the care physicians provide to patients and prepares physicians to serve on ethics committees and consult services. Additionally, they may work on institutional and public policy issues related to ethics. Several physician assistant (PA) programs currently offer a master of public health (MPH) dual degree for PAs. A degree in public health prepares PAs for leadership roles in meeting community health needs. With the success of PA/MPH dual degree programs, we argue here that a PA/bioethics dual degree would be another opportunity to advance the PA profession and consider how such a program might be implemented. The article includes the individual perspectives of the authors, one of whom completed a graduate-level certificate in bioethics concurrently with his 2-year PA program, while the other served as a bioethics program director.

Set our Master's degrees free

Science.gov (United States)

Padman, Rachael

2010-04-01

Making UK undergraduate physics degrees longer must have seemed like a good idea at the time. Back in the early 1990s the standard three-year Bachelor's physics degree (four years in Scotland) was under pressure at both ends. The A-level curriculum - one of the requirements for entry onto a degree course - was being increasingly modularized, and dumbed down. Physics students were arriving at university less well prepared than in the past and there was an increasing awareness that graduates of five-year continental degree courses were better equipped for a professional scientific career than those in the UK. At the same time, local education authorities in the UK were required to provide full funding for a first degree, whether for three or four years.

Correlation between serum levels of PC III and the degree of hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic liver diseases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Xue; Xu Yu; Li Wenjie; Zhang Jun; Yu Ying; Wang Kun

2007-01-01

Objective: To study the correlation between serum level of PC III and the degree of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic liver diseases. Methods: Serum level of PC III was assayed with RIA and other markers of liver function (including ALT, AST, STB, SDB, TP, ALB, TBA) were assayed with automatic biochemical analyzer in 188 patients with various chronic liver diseases. PC III only were examined in 70 controls. Results: (1) The serum levels of PC III were in this order: chronic severe hepatitis (n=27, 501.17 ± 191.09) > liver cirrhosis from chronic hepatitis (n=27,334.52 ± 139.14) > chronic moderate hepatitis ( n = 32,298.02 ± 151.02) > primary liver cancer (n=39,281.42 ± 143.48) > normal controls (n=70,122.56 ± 92.94). (2) The serum levels of PC III were positively correlated with STB and SDB levels (P<0.05) in patients with chronic severe hepatitis and was significantly positively correlated with ALP levels (P<0.01). (3) The serum level of PC III were significantly positively correlated with STB, SDB, TBA and ALP in patients with cirrhosis from chronic hepatitis (P<0.01). (4) The serum levels of PC III were significantly positively correlated with AST and ALP levels in patients with chronic moderate hepatitis (P<0.01). (5) The serum levels of PC III were significantly positively correlated with STB, SDB, TBA, AST and ALP in patients with primary liver cancer (P<0.01). Conclusion: Serum level of PC III might adequately reflect the activity of the process of hepatic fibrosis, but did not necessarily reflect the degree of fibrosis already attained. (authors)

RELATION OF INBREEDING OF HORSES OF THOROUGHBRED BREED WITH DEGREE OF HOMOZYGOSITY OF MICROSATELLITE LOCI OF DNA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melnyk О.V.

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The degree of homozygosity of some 39 Thoroughbred horses was estimated from microsatellite analysis data. The power of inbreeding was detected towards horse pedigree. We suggested the use of genetic analysis of microsatellite loci of DNA for the determination of actual level of inbreeding.

45 CFR 2400.41 - Degree programs.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... degree in history or political science (including government or politics), the degree of Master of Arts in Teaching in history or political science (including government or politics), or a related master's degree in education that permits a concentration in American history, American government, social studies...

Thyroid abnormalities among first-degree relatives of children with congenital hypothyroidism: an ultrasound survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Adibi, Atoosa; Haghighi, Mahshid; Hosseini, Seyed Reza; Hashemipour, Mahin; Amini, Massoud; Hovsepian, Silva

2008-01-01

Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is caused by thyroid dysgenesis and dyshormonogenesis. Evidence suggests the presence of genetic factors in both types of pathogenesis. We investigated whether an increased incidence of thyroid abnormalities could be shown by ultrasonography among first-degree relatives of children with CH. In this case-control study the presence of both developmental and non-developmental thyroid abnormalities was studied among first-degree relatives of CH patients and healthy children. Assessments included neck ultrasonography and thyroid function tests. The data obtained from parents, siblings and children were compared in the case and control groups. In the case group, 92 patients, 172 parents and 57 siblings, and in the control group, 82 healthy children, 160 parents and 39 siblings were studied. Thyroid developmental abnormalities were more prevalent among parents (3.5 vs. 0%, p = 0.03) and siblings (10.5 vs. 0, p = 0.01) of CH patients than the control group. Non-developmental abnormalities were not significantly different between the case and control groups (17 vs. 13%, p = 0.3). Thyroid developmental abnormalities were more prevalent among parents and siblings of CH patients than the control group, confirming the familial component of this entity. Copyright 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Subjective Cognitive Complaints and Functional Disability in Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder and Their Nonaffected First-Degree Relatives

Science.gov (United States)

Ruocco, Anthony C; Lam, Jaeger; McMain, Shelley F

2014-01-01

Objective: To examine the contributions of subjective cognitive complaints to functional disability in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and their nonaffected relatives. Method: Patients with BPD (n = 26), their first-degree biological relatives (n = 17), and nonpsychiatric control subjects (n = 31) completed a self-report measure of cognitive difficulties and rated the severity of their functional disability on the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0. Results: After accounting for group differences in age and severity of depressive symptoms, patients and relatives endorsed more inattention and memory problems than control subjects. Whereas probands reported greater disability than relatives and control subjects across all functional domains, relatives described more difficulties than control subjects in managing multiple life activities, including domestic activities and occupational and academic functioning, and participating in society. For both probands and relatives, inattention and memory problems were linked primarily to difficulties with life activities, independent of depression and other comorbid psychiatric disorders. Conclusions: Problems with inattention and forgetfulness may lead to difficulties carrying out activities of daily living and occupational or academic problems in patients with BPD, as well as their nonaffected first-degree relatives. PMID:25007408

DEGREE OF BURNOUT AMONG EMERGENCY HEALTHCARE WORKERS AND FACTORS INFLUENCING LEVEL OF BURNOUT: A STUDY PROTOCOL

OpenAIRE

Shyamanta; Sashibha; Navoneela; Marami; Bornali; Sakhee; Anjana; Dipesh

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND Burnout is a feeling of failure and exhaustion. It is felt both at the physical and emotional level. Depletion of the person’s resources is a consequence and also has an impact on the organisation. Nature of the work itself makes emergency healthcare workers vulnerable to burnout. METHOD This study is designed to measure the degree of burnout among emergency healthcare workers in a hospital and to identify the factors that influence burnout. The study h...

Controlled ultrafast transfer and stability degree of generalized coherent states of a kicked two-level ion

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hao; Kong, Chao; Hai, Wenhua

2018-06-01

We investigate quantum dynamics of a two-level ion trapped in the Lamb-Dicke regime of a δ -kicked optical lattice, based on the exact generalized coherent states rotated by a π / 2 pulse of Ramsey type experiment. The spatiotemporal evolutions of the spin-motion entangled states in different parameter regions are illustrated, and the parameter regions of different degrees of quantum stability described by the quantum fidelity are found. Time evolutions of the probability for the ion being in different pseudospin states reveal that the ultrafast entanglement generation and population transfers of the system can be analytically controlled by managing the laser pulses. The probability in an initially disentangled state shows periodic collapses (entanglement) and revivals (de-entanglement). Reduction of the stability degree results in enlarging the period of de-entanglement, while the instability and potential chaos will cause the sustained entanglement. The results could be justified experimentally in the existing setups and may be useful in engineering quantum dynamics for quantum information processing.

No correlation between initial arterial carboxyhemoglobin level and degree of lung injury following ovine burn and smoke inhalation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lange, Matthias; Cox, Robert A; Traber, Daniel L; Hamahata, Atsumori; Nakano, Yoshimitsu; Traber, Lillian D; Enkhbaatar, Perenlei

2014-04-01

Fire victims often suffer from burn injury and concomitant inhalation trauma, the latter significantly contributing to the morbidity and mortality in these patients. Measurement of blood carboxyhemoglobin levels has been proposed as a diagnostic marker to verify and, perhaps, quantify the degree of lung injury following inhalation trauma. However, this correlation has not yet been sufficiently validated. A total of 77 chronically instrumented sheep received sham injury, smoke inhalation injury, or combined burn and inhalation trauma following an established protocol. Arterial carboxyhemoglobin concentrations were determined directly after injury and correlated to several clinical and histopathological determinants of lung injury that were detected 48 hours post-injury. The injury induced severe impairment of pulmonary gas exchange and increases in transvascular fluid flux, lung water content, and airway obstruction scores. No significant correlations were detected between initial carboxyhemoglobin levels and all measured clinical and histopathological determinants of lung injury. In conclusion, the amount of arterial carboxyhemoglobin concentration cannot predict the degree of lung injury at 48 hours after ovine burn and smoke inhalation trauma.

Avoidant Personality Disorder Symptoms in First-Degree Relatives of Schizophrenia Patients Predict Performance on Neurocognitive Measures: The UCLA Family Study

OpenAIRE

Fogelson, D. L.; Asarnow, R. A.; Sugar, C. A.; Subotnik, K. L.; Jacobson, K. C.; Neale, M. C.; Kendler, K. S.; Kuppinger, H.; Nuechterlein, K. H.

2010-01-01

Whether avoidant personality disorder symptoms are related to neurocognitive impairments that aggregate in relatives of schizophrenics is unknown. We report the relationship between avoidant personality disorder symptoms and neurocognitive performance in the first-degree relatives of probands with schizophrenia.

Protein level affects the relative lysine requirement of growing rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fry.

Science.gov (United States)

Bodin, Noelie; Govaerts, Bernadette; Abboudi, Tarik; Detavernier, Christel; De Saeger, Sarah; Larondelle, Yvan; Rollin, Xavier

2009-07-01

The effect of two digestible protein levels (310 and 469 g/kg DM) on the relative lysine (Lys; g Lys/kg DM or g Lys/100 g protein) and the absolute Lys (g Lys intake/kg 0.75 per d) requirements was studied in rainbow trout fry using a dose-response trial. At each protein level, sixteen isoenergetic (22-23 MJ digestible energy/kg DM) diets were tested, involving a full range (2-70 g/kg DM) of sixteen Lys levels. Each diet was given to one group of sixty rainbow trout fry (mean initial body weight 0.78 g) reared at 15 degrees C for 31 feeding d. The Lys requirements were estimated based on the relationships between weight, protein, and Lys gains (g/kg 0.75 per d) and Lys concentration (g/kg DM or g/100 g protein) or Lys intake (g/kg 0.75 per d), using the broken-line model (BLM) and the non-linear four-parameter saturation kinetics model (SKM-4). Both the model and the response criterion chosen markedly impacted the relative Lys requirement. The relative Lys requirement for Lys gain of rainbow trout estimated with the BLM (and SKM-4 at 90 % of the maximum response) increased from 16.8 (19.6) g/kg DM at a low protein level to 23.4 (24.5) g/kg DM at a high protein level. However, the dietary protein content affected neither the absolute Lys requirement nor the relative Lys requirement expressed as g Lys/100 g protein nor the Lys requirement for maintenance (21 mg Lys/kg 0.75 per d).

Master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering UPC-ENDESA. Creating synergy at industrial and academic levels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Batet, I.; Calviño, F.; Duch, M.A.; Dies, J.; León, P.; Fernández-Olano, P.

2015-07-01

The Master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering, born from the alignment of objectives of Academy and Industry, aims to prepare competent engineers to assume managerial positions within the Nuclear Industry. MNE is completely taught in English. Synergies are established at both industrial and academic levels. MNE syllabus has been designed (and is being continuously improved) with the help of industrial partners and the Spanish Regulatory Body (CSN). One half of the lectures are delivered by professionals external to the university. Besides ENDESA, other companies (ANAV, AREVA, ENRESA, ENSA, ENUSA, IDOM, Nuclenor, Tecnatom, Westinghouse) collaborate in the master. Lecturers from CSN and CIEMAT (the major Spanish research centre) participate in the Master as well. A large portion of the master contents is delivered as Project Based Learning, In general, active learning and team work activities are thoroughly used so as to help the students achieve the learning objectives and acquire a number of soft skills required by industry. MNE is embedded in EMINE, the European Master in Nuclear Energy (European Institute of Technology, KIC-InnoEnergy). As well, MNE is part of a double degree in the Barcelona Engineering School (ETSEIB) with the official Master in Industrial Engineering (MUEI). Having in the same classroom EMINE and MNE students creates a good working atmosphere, while allowing the future engineers work in a multicultural and international environment. The double degree MNE-MUEI allows students to acquire the MNE competencies and, at the same time, legal engineering attributions. It has been useful to attract good engineering students to the master. (Author)

Degree of protandry reflects level of extrapair paternity in migratory songbirds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Coppack, Timothy; Tøttrup, Anders Peter; Spottiswoode, Claire

2006-01-01

Males of most migratory organisms, including many birds, precede female conspecifics on their journey to the breeding areas. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of protandrous migration, yet they have rarely been tested at the interspecific level. Here, we provide...... that the time-lag in spring passage between males and females of five Palearctic migratory songbird species is positively associated with levels of extrapair paternity available from the literature. This suggests that males arrive relatively more in advance of females in species with high sperm competition...

Institutional Levels of Analysis and the Evolution of Russia-EU Relations: Some Theoretical and Practical Aspects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatiana Romanova

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The level of analysis concept is an excellent tool for studying the evolution of international relations. This article focuses on the institutional approach of three levels of interaction: the intergovernmental level (IGL describes traditional contacts among heads of states or governments as well as among ministers; the transgovernmental level (TGL consists of relations among civil servants of middle and low rank; and the transnational level (TNL includes the dialogue of non-governmental participants such as business, non-governmental organizations (NGOs and epistemic communities. Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye identified TGL and TNL, but the studies of these levels has intensified as a result of burgeoning links among civil servants, business, NGOs and experts from different countries. Transgovernmental and transnational interactions stabilize relations among various actors. This article clarifies the stabilizing potential of TGL and TNL interactions. First, the degree of autonomy of civil servants from the political level of government has to be taken into account. Second, the state regulates the level of independence of both business and NGOs. TGL and TNL interactions can stabilize relations only if civil servants are independent from the political level in what concerns technical issues and where both business and civil society are strong. Third, real economic interdependence matters because it forms an agenda of cooperation in a particular field. The intensification of trade and investment flows does not automatically lead to real interdependence. In this case, contacts at the transgovernmental and transnational levels acquire a formal character and no cooperation emerges, which does not allow for stabilized relations in crisis situations at the IGL. The empirical section of the article demonstrates how widening and deepening relations between the European Union and Russia, especially since 2000, led to thickening transgovernmental and

Association of degree and type of edema in posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome with serum lactate dehydrogenase level: Initial experience

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gao, Bo, E-mail: gygb2004@yahoo.com.cn [Shandong Medical Imaging Research Institute, Medical School of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250021 (China); Division of MRI, Department of Radiology, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, 264000 Shandong (China); Liu, Feng-li [Division of MRI, Department of Radiology, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, 264000 Shandong (China); Zhao, Bin, E-mail: cjr.zhaobin@vip.163.com [Shandong Medical Imaging Research Institute, Medical School of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250021 (China)

2012-10-15

Purpose: Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a clinicoradiologic entity characterized by headache, blurred vision and seizures with typical parieto-occipital predominantly vasogenic edema, occasionally with cytotoxic edema. The association between the degree and type of edema in PRES with biochemical parameter, especially serum lactate dehydrogenase, has not been determined. Material and methods: Thirty-five patients with typical clinical symptoms and characteristic MR imaging findings of PRES were included in this study. The extent of brain edema was graded on the anatomical distribution by 2 observers blinded to patients’ clinical record, as well as the type of brain edema determined on DWI and ADC map. The levels of biochemical parameters were correlated with the degree of edema and compared between different types of edema. Results: Serum LDH concentrations between patients with cytotoxic edema and with vasogenic components were not statistically different (NWU test, U = 93.0, Z = 1.818, P = 0.069). Only serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) concentration was significantly correlated with the score of brain edema distribution (Spearman's rho correlation, r = 0.721, P = 0.00). No relationship was found between other biochemical parameters and the degree and type of brain edema. Conclusion: Increased serum LDH level, which plays an essential role in endothelial injury, may be a potential risk factor for the development of edema in PRES.

Association of degree and type of edema in posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome with serum lactate dehydrogenase level: Initial experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao, Bo; Liu, Feng-li; Zhao, Bin

2012-01-01

Purpose: Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a clinicoradiologic entity characterized by headache, blurred vision and seizures with typical parieto-occipital predominantly vasogenic edema, occasionally with cytotoxic edema. The association between the degree and type of edema in PRES with biochemical parameter, especially serum lactate dehydrogenase, has not been determined. Material and methods: Thirty-five patients with typical clinical symptoms and characteristic MR imaging findings of PRES were included in this study. The extent of brain edema was graded on the anatomical distribution by 2 observers blinded to patients’ clinical record, as well as the type of brain edema determined on DWI and ADC map. The levels of biochemical parameters were correlated with the degree of edema and compared between different types of edema. Results: Serum LDH concentrations between patients with cytotoxic edema and with vasogenic components were not statistically different (NWU test, U = 93.0, Z = 1.818, P = 0.069). Only serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) concentration was significantly correlated with the score of brain edema distribution (Spearman's rho correlation, r = 0.721, P = 0.00). No relationship was found between other biochemical parameters and the degree and type of brain edema. Conclusion: Increased serum LDH level, which plays an essential role in endothelial injury, may be a potential risk factor for the development of edema in PRES

Wage Returns to University Disciplines in Greece: Are Greek Higher Education Degrees Trojan Horses?

Science.gov (United States)

Livanos, Ilias; Pouliakas, Konstantinos

2011-01-01

This paper examines the wage returns to qualifications and academic disciplines in the Greek labour market. Exploring wage responsiveness across various degree subjects in Greece is interesting, as it is characterised by high levels of graduate unemployment, which vary considerably with the field of study, and relatively low levels of wage…

Relationship between tissue stiffness and degree of mineralization of developing trabecular bone

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mulder, L.; Koolstra, J.H.; den Toonder, J.M.J.; van Eijden, T.M.G.J.

2008-01-01

It is unknown how the degree of mineralization of bone in individual trabecular elements is related to the corresponding mechanical properties at the bone tissue level. Understanding this relationship is important for the comprehension of the mechanical behavior of bone at both the apparent and

Does DNA Methylation of PPARGC1A Influence Insulin Action in First Degree Relatives of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gillberg, Linn; Jacobsen, Stine; Ribel-Madsen, Rasmus

2013-01-01

and in muscle from individuals at risk of T2D. This study aimed to investigate DNA promoter methylation and gene expression of PPARGC1A in skeletal muscle from first degree relatives (FDR) of T2D patients, and to determine the association with insulin action as well as the influence of family relation. We...... genetic regulation to play a role. No significant effect of familiality on DNA methylation was found. Taken together, increased DNA methylation of the PPARGC1A promoter is unlikely to play a major causal role for the development of insulin resistance in FDR of patients with T2D....... included 124 Danish FDR of T2D patients from 46 different families. Skeletal muscle biopsies were excised from vastus lateralis and insulin action was assessed by oral glucose tolerance tests. DNA methylation and mRNA expression levels were measured using bisulfite sequencing and quantitative real-time PCR...

Xerostomia relates to the degree of asthma control.

Science.gov (United States)

Alcázar Navarrete, Bernardino; Gómez-Moreno, Gerardo; Aguilar-Salvatierra, Antonio; Guardia, Javier; Romero Palacios, Pedro José

2015-04-01

Few studies have assessed the relationships between xerostomia and the use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). The main objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of xerostomia in a respiratory outpatient clinic and its relationship with bronchial asthma and ICS use. A cross-sectional observational study of patients recruited in an outpatient setting divided them according to previous diagnoses of bronchial asthma. Data about pulmonary function, concomitant medication, medical comorbidities, Xerostomia Inventory test (XI test), and the degree of asthma control by ACT (asthma control test) were collected for each patient. A linear regression model was applied, using the XI score as dependent variable and the ACT score as independent variable. The 57 patients were divided into asthmatics (40 patients, 70.2%) and control group without asthma (17, 29.8%). The prevalence of xerostomia was 87.7% (50 patients), with no differences between the study groups or current dose of ICS. In the asthmatic group, patients with uncontrolled asthma had worse XI scores than those with partially or totally controlled asthma (30.43 ± 8.71 vs. 24.92 ± 8.08; P Xerostomia is a common symptom in the ambulatory setting. There is a moderate relationship between the degree of asthma control and the severity of xerostomia. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Physics to a degree

CERN Document Server

Thomas, EG

2014-01-01

Physics to a Degree provides an extensive collection of problems suitable for self-study or tutorial and group work at the level of an undergraduate physics course. This novel set of exercises draws together the core elements of an undergraduate physics degree and provides students with the problem solving skills needed for general physics' examinations and for real-life situations encountered by the professional physicist. Topics include force, momentum, gravitation, Bernoulli's Theorem, magnetic fields, blackbody radiation, relativistic travel, mechanics near the speed of light, radioactive

Altered reward processing in the orbitofrontal cortex and hippocampus in healthy first-degree relatives of patients with depression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Macoveanu, J; Knorr, U; Skimminge, A

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Healthy first-degree relatives of patients with major depression (rMD+) show brain structure and functional response anomalies and have elevated risk for developing depression, a disorder linked to abnormal serotonergic neurotransmission and reward processing. METHOD: In a two...... intervention compared to placebo. Conversely, for positive outcomes, the left hippocampus showed attenuated response to high wins in the rMD+ compared to the rMD- group. The SSRI intervention reinforced the hippocampal response to large wins. A subsequent structural analysis revealed that the abnormal neural...... responses were not accounted for by changes in gray matter density in rMD+ individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Our study in first-degree relatives of depressive patients showed abnormal brain responses to aversive and rewarding outcomes in regions known to be dysfunctional in depression. We further confirmed...

PYRN-Bib: The Permafrost Young Researchers Network Bibliography of Permafrost-Related Degree-Earning Theses

Science.gov (United States)

Grosse, Guido; Lantuit, Hugues; Gärtner-Roer, Isabelle

2010-05-01

PYRN-Bib is an international bibliographical database aiming at collecting and distributing information on all theses submitted for earning a scientific degree in permafrost-related research. PYRN-Bib is hosted by the Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN, http://pyrn.ways.org), an international network of early career students and young scientists in permafrost related research with currently more than 750 members. The fully educational, non-profit project PYRN-Bib is published under the patronage of the International Permafrost Association (IPA). The bibliography covers all theses as long as they clearly treat aspects of permafrost research from such diverse fields as: Geophysics, Geology, Cryolithology, Biology, Biogeochemistry, Microbiology, Astrobiology, Chemistry, Engineering, Geomorphology, Remote Sensing, Modeling, Mineral and Hydrocarbon Exploration, and Science History and Education. The specific goals of PYRN-Bib are (1) to generate a comprehensive database that includes all degree-earning theses (e.g. Diploma, Ph.D., Master, etc.), coming from any country and any scientific field, under the single condition that the thesis is strongly related to research on permafrost and/or periglacial processes; (2) to reference unique but buried sources of information including theses published in languages other than English; (3) to make the database widely available to the scientific community and the general public; (4) to solicit PYRN membership; and (5) to provide a mean to map the evolution of permafrost research over the last decades, including regional trends, shifts in research direction, and/or the place of permafrost research in society. PYRN-Bib is available online and maintained by PYRN. The complete bibliography can be downloaded at no cost and is offered in different file formats: tagged Endnote library, XML, BibTex, and PDF. New entries are continuously provided by PYRN members and the scientific community. PYRN-Bib currently contains more than

The validity and reliability of the cross-national comparison of degree programme levels in European countries : What have students learnt?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rexwinkel, Trudy; Haenen, Jacques; Pilot, Albert

2017-01-01

A cross-national comparison of degree programme levels became relevant when the borders of European countries opened for students and graduates, and higher education institutions were restructured into bachelor’s and master’s programmes. This new situation foregrounded the questions of what students

In vitro solubility of calcium, iron and zinc in relation to phytic acid levels in rice-based consumer products in China

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Liang, J.; Han, B.Z.; Nout, M.J.R.; Hamer, R.J.

2010-01-01

In vitro solubility of calcium, iron and zinc in relation to phytic acid (PA) levels in 30 commercial rice-based foods from China was studied. Solubility of minerals and molar ratios of PA to minerals varied with degrees of processing. In primary products, [PA]/[Ca] values were less than 5 and

Comparison of two-stage thermophilic (68 degrees C/55 degrees C) anaerobic digestion with one-stage thermophilic (55 degrees C) digestion of cattle manure.

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, H B; Mladenovska, Z; Westermann, P; Ahring, B K

2004-05-05

A two-stage 68 degrees C/55 degrees C anaerobic degradation process for treatment of cattle manure was studied. In batch experiments, an increase of the specific methane yield, ranging from 24% to 56%, was obtained when cattle manure and its fractions (fibers and liquid) were pretreated at 68 degrees C for periods of 36, 108, and 168 h, and subsequently digested at 55 degrees C. In a lab-scale experiment, the performance of a two-stage reactor system, consisting of a digester operating at 68 degrees C with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 3 days, connected to a 55 degrees C reactor with 12-day HRT, was compared with a conventional single-stage reactor running at 55 degrees C with 15-days HRT. When an organic loading of 3 g volatile solids (VS) per liter per day was applied, the two-stage setup had a 6% to 8% higher specific methane yield and a 9% more effective VS-removal than the conventional single-stage reactor. The 68 degrees C reactor generated 7% to 9% of the total amount of methane of the two-stage system and maintained a volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration of 4.0 to 4.4 g acetate per liter. Population size and activity of aceticlastic methanogens, syntrophic bacteria, and hydrolytic/fermentative bacteria were significantly lower in the 68 degrees C reactor than in the 55 degrees C reactors. The density levels of methanogens utilizing H2/CO2 or formate were, however, in the same range for all reactors, although the degradation of these substrates was significantly lower in the 68 degrees C reactor than in the 55 degrees C reactors. Temporal temperature gradient electrophoresis profiles (TTGE) of the 68 degrees C reactor demonstrated a stable bacterial community along with a less divergent community of archaeal species. Copyright 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Nuclear engineering enrollments and degrees, 1981

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Little, J.R.; Shirley, D.L.

1982-05-01

This report presents data on the number of students enrolled and the degrees awarded in academic year 1980-81 from 73 US institutions offering degree programs in nuclear engineering or nuclear options within other engineering fields. Presented here are historical data for the last decade, which provide information such as trends by degree level, foreign national student participation, female and minority student participation, and placement of graduates. Also included is a listing of the universities by type of program and number of students

Relations Between Positive Impacts Of CSR, External Support, CSR Knowledge And The Degree Of CSR Practices In Thai Small And Medium Enterprises

OpenAIRE

Pornpimon Eua-anant; Dusadee Ayuwat; Buapun Promphakping

2011-01-01

This article investigates the relations between positive impacts from Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), external support, knowledge about CSR and the degree of CSR practices according to international standards in the viewpoint of small and medium enterprises in Thailand. The survey among 262 small and medium enterprises in five sections in the northeastern region of Thailand reveals that positive impacts of CSR on internal issues have shown to be positively related to the degree of CSR ...

Simultaneous reconstruction, segmentation, and edge enhancement of relatively piecewise continuous images with intensity-level information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liang, Z.; Jaszczak, R.; Coleman, R.; Johnson, V.

1991-01-01

A multinomial image model is proposed which uses intensity-level information for reconstruction of contiguous image regions. The intensity-level information assumes that image intensities are relatively constant within contiguous regions over the image-pixel array and that intensity levels of these regions are determined either empirically or theoretically by information criteria. These conditions may be valid, for example, for cardiac blood-pool imaging, where the intensity levels (or radionuclide activities) of myocardium, blood-pool, and background regions are distinct and the activities within each region of muscle, blood, or background are relatively uniform. To test the model, a mathematical phantom over a 64x64 array was constructed. The phantom had three contiguous regions. Each region had a different intensity level. Measurements from the phantom were simulated using an emission-tomography geometry. Fifty projections were generated over 180 degree, with 64 equally spaced parallel rays per projection. Projection data were randomized to contain Poisson noise. Image reconstructions were performed using an iterative maximum a posteriori probability procedure. The contiguous regions corresponding to the three intensity levels were automatically segmented. Simultaneously, the edges of the regions were sharpened. Noise in the reconstructed images was significantly suppressed. Convergence of the iterative procedure to the phantom was observed. Compared with maximum likelihood and filtered-backprojection approaches, the results obtained using the maximum a posteriori probability with the intensity-level information demonstrated qualitative and quantitative improvement in localizing the regions of varying intensities

Predictors of Associate's Degree Completion in Engineering and Engineering Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Reys-Nickel, Lynsey L.

The purpose of this ex post facto study was to describe completers and non-completers of associate's degree programs in engineering and engineering technologies and determine whether and to what extent completion in these programs is a function of selected student-related variables and institutional variables. Data from the 2004/2009 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS: 04/09) of associate's degree completers and non-completers in engineering and engineering technologies were accessed and analyzed through PowerStats, a web-based data analysis tool from National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Descriptive data indicated that, proportionally, engineering and engineering technologies completers were mostly White, married, middle income, employed part-time, enrolled full-time, did not hold a high school diploma or certificate, completed Trigonometry/Algebra II, had a father who's highest education level was an associate's degree, but did not know their mother's highest level of education, completed remedial coursework, and started college with the goal of earning an associate's degree. While more males enrolled in the programs, males and females demonstrated similar completion rates, proportionally--with females showing a slightly higher percentage of completion. Results from the logistic regression further indicated that the variables significant to completion in associate's degree programs in engineering and engineering technologies were gender and enrollment size. Findings suggested that female students were more likely to earn the degree, and that the larger the institution, the more likely the student would become a completer. However, since a major limitation of the study was the small weighted sample size, the results of the study are inconclusive in terms of the extent to which the findings can be generalized to the population of students in associate's degree programs in engineering and engineering technologies. This study fills a

Career Paths for Physics Degree Recipients

Science.gov (United States)

Mulvey, Patrick

Physics degree holders have a diverse set of career opportunities open to them. So what are these opportunities? Where are they employed? How much do they earn? What skills will they need? Physics degrees make up a small proportion of the degrees conferred in the US but they play an important role in meeting workforce needs at many levels. This talk will give an overview of the employment outcomes of physics bachelors, masters and PhDs. It will discuss the diverse set fields they work in and the skills they use.

Extreme embrittlement of austenitic stainless steel irradiated to 75-81 dpa at 335-360{degrees}C

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Porollo, S.I.; Vorobjev, A.N.; Konobeev, Yu.V. [Institute of Physics and Power Engineering, Obninsk (Russian Federation)] [and others

1997-04-01

It is generally accepted that void swelling of austenitic steels ceases below some temperature in the range 340-360{degrees}C, and exhibits relatively low swelling rates up to {approximately}400{degrees}C. This perception may not be correct at all irradiation conditions, however, since it was largely developed from data obtained at relatively high displacement rates in fast reactors whose inlet temperatures were in the range 360-370{degrees}C. There is an expectation, however, that the swelling regime can shift to lower temperatures at low displacement rates via the well-known {open_quotes}temperature shift{close_quotes} phenomenon. It is also known that the swelling rates at the lower end of the swelling regime increase continuously at a sluggish rate, never approaching the terminal 1%/dpa level within the duration of previous experiments. This paper presents the results of an experiment conducted in the BN-350 fast reactor in Kazakhstan that involved the irradiation of argon-pressurized thin-walled tubes (0-200 MPa hoop stress) constructed from Fe-16Cr-15Ni-3Mo-Nb stabilized steel in contact with the sodium coolant, which enters the reactor at {approx}270{degrees}C. Tubes in the annealed condition reached 75 dpa at 335{degrees}C, and another set in the 20% cold-worked condition reached 81 dpa at 360{degrees}C. Upon disassembly all tubes, except those in the stress-free condition, were found to have failed in an extremely brittle fashion. The stress-free tubes exhibited diameter changes that imply swelling levels ranging from 9 to 16%. It is expected that stress-enhancement of swelling induced even larger swelling levels in the stressed tubes.

Extreme embrittlement of austenitic stainless steel irradiated to 75-81 dpa at 335-360 degrees C

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Porollo, S.I.; Vorobjev, A.N.; Konobeev, Yu.V.

1997-01-01

It is generally accepted that void swelling of austenitic steels ceases below some temperature in the range 340-360 degrees C, and exhibits relatively low swelling rates up to ∼400 degrees C. This perception may not be correct at all irradiation conditions, however, since it was largely developed from data obtained at relatively high displacement rates in fast reactors whose inlet temperatures were in the range 360-370 degrees C. There is an expectation, however, that the swelling regime can shift to lower temperatures at low displacement rates via the well-known open-quotes temperature shiftclose quotes phenomenon. It is also known that the swelling rates at the lower end of the swelling regime increase continuously at a sluggish rate, never approaching the terminal 1%/dpa level within the duration of previous experiments. This paper presents the results of an experiment conducted in the BN-350 fast reactor in Kazakhstan that involved the irradiation of argon-pressurized thin-walled tubes (0-200 MPa hoop stress) constructed from Fe-16Cr-15Ni-3Mo-Nb stabilized steel in contact with the sodium coolant, which enters the reactor at ∼270 degrees C. Tubes in the annealed condition reached 75 dpa at 335 degrees C, and another set in the 20% cold-worked condition reached 81 dpa at 360 degrees C. Upon disassembly all tubes, except those in the stress-free condition, were found to have failed in an extremely brittle fashion. The stress-free tubes exhibited diameter changes that imply swelling levels ranging from 9 to 16%. It is expected that stress-enhancement of swelling induced even larger swelling levels in the stressed tubes

Dysphagia and cerebrovascular accident: relationship between severity degree and level of neurological impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Itaquy, Roberta Baldino; Favero, Samara Regina; Ribeiro, Marlise de Castro; Barea, Liselotte Menke; Almeida, Sheila Tamanini de; Mancopes, Renata

2011-12-01

The aim of this case study was to verify the occurrence of dysphagia in acute ischemic stroke within 48 hours after the onset of the first symptoms, in order to establish a possible relationship between the level of neurologic impairment and the severity degree of dysphagia. After emergency hospital admission, three patients underwent neurological clinical evaluation (general physical examination, neurological examination, and application of the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale - NIHSS), and clinical assessment of swallowing using the Protocolo Fonoaudiológico de Avaliação do Risco para Disfagia (PARD--Speech-Language Pathology Protocol for Risk Evaluation for Dysphagia). One of the patients presented functional swallowing (NIHSS score 11), while the other two had mild and moderate oropharyngeal dysphagia (NIHSS scores 15 and 19, respectively). The service flow and the delay on the patients' search for medical care determined the small sample. The findings corroborate literature data regarding the severity of the neurological condition and the manifestation of dysphagia.

[Clinical significance of calcitonin gene-related peptide level before and after treatment in patients with chronic periodontitis].

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Ying; Xiang, Xue-Rong; Wang, Chun; Ye, Guo; Fan, Xiao-Ping

2016-08-01

To explore the clinical significance of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) levels in patients with chronic periodontitis before and after treatment, and to detect the calcitonin gene-related peptide content in human venous blood. Thirty healthy controls and thirty patients with mild, moderate, severe periodontitis were enrolled from August 2014 to June 2015.CGRP level in the patients' peripheral blood was detected by ELISA. Three months after periodontal treatment, CGRP level in mild, moderate, severe periodontitis patients' peripheral blood was re-examined by ELISA. Then the correlation between calcitonin gene-related peptide and inflammation of chronic periodontitis was analyzed with SPSS 22.0 software package. The content of CGRP in healthy controls was significantly higher than that in patients with periodontitis. With the aggravation of periodontal inflammation, blood level of CGRP decreased gradually, and the lowest was in patients with severe periodontitis (Pperiodontal treatment, CGRP content was significantly higher compared with that before treatment (Pperiodontitis (P>0.05). The level of CGRP in venous blood decreased with the increasing severity of chronic periodontitis, and CGRP was negatively correlated with the degree of inflammation of chronic periodontitis. CGRP may be involved in the occurrence and development of chronic periodontitis. CGRP content in serum of patients with chronic periodontitis after treatment was significantly increased, CGRP may be used as the basis for clinical detection of chronic periodontitis.

Relationship between changes of serum leptin levels and degree of glomerulosclerosis in rats after 5/6 nephrectomy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Licai; Zhang Daoyou; Zhu Xinjian; Wang Yuwei; Gao Chaoqing; Xu Haihong

2006-01-01

Objective: To investigate the relationship between changes of serum leptin levels and glomerulosclerosis index, TGF-β 1 expression at glomerulus as well as degree of ECM proliferation in rats after 5/6 nephrectomy. Methods: Eight rats underwent two-stage 5/6 nephrectomy to establish a progressive glomeruloselerosis model. Six weeks after the second operation, the rats were sacrificed, the renal tissue was examined with routine pathological sections for study of glomerulosclerosis as well as with immunohistochemical studies for TGF-β 1 , collagen IV and fibronectin expressions. Six rats underwent sham operation served as controls. Serum creatinine, urea nitrogen and leptin levels were measured in all these animals. Results: The serum levels of leptin were significantly higher in rats after 5/6 nephrectomy than the rats with sham operations (14.88 ± 1.46ng/ml vs 10.84 ± 2.67ng/ml, P < 0. 01 ). Serum levels of leptin were positively correlated with the glomeruloselerosis index and collagen IV, fibronectin expressions ( P < 0.01 ). Conclusion: Hyperleptinemia may be one of the causative factors of development of glomerulosclerosis. (authors)

Hormone levels in radiotherapy treatment related fatigue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biswal, B.M.; Mallik, G.S.

2003-01-01

Radiotherapy is known to cause debilitating treatment related fatigue. Fatigue in general is a conglomeration of psychological, physical, hematological and unknown factors influencing the internal milieu of the cancer patient. Radiotherapy can add stress at the cellular and somatic level to aggravate further fatigue in cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy. Stress related hormones might be mediating in the development of fatigue. This is an ongoing prospective study to evaluate if the hormonal profile related to stress is influenced by radiotherapy treatment related fatigue. The study was conducted from September 2002 onwards in the division of Radiotherapy and Oncology of our Medical School. Previously untreated patients with histopathology proof of malignancy requiring external beam radiotherapy were considered for this study. Selection criteria were applied to exclude other causes of fatigue. Initial fatigue score was obtained using Pipers Fatigue Score questionnaire containing 23 questions, subsequently final fatigue score was obtained at the end of radiotherapy. Blood samples were obtained to estimate the levels of ACTH, TSH, HGH, and cortisol on the final assessment. The hormone levels were compared with resultant post radiotherapy fatigue score. At the time of reporting 50 patients were evaluable for the study. The total significant fatigue score was observed among 12 (24%) patients. The individual debilitating fatigue score were behavioral severity 14 (28%), affective meaning 14(28%), Sensory 13 (26%) and cognitive mood 10 (20%) respectively. From the analysis of hormonal profile, growth hormone level > 1 ng/mL and TSH <0.03 appears to be associated with high fatigue score (though statistically not significant); whereas there was no correlation with ACTH and serum cortisol level. In our prospective study severe radiotherapy treatment related fatigue was found among our patient population. Low levels of TSH and high levels of GH appear to be associated

Comparison of norovirus RNA levels in outbreak-related oysters with background environmental levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Lowther, James A; Gustar, Nicole E; Hartnell, Rachel E; Lees, David N

2012-02-01

Norovirus is the principal agent of bivalve shellfish-associated gastroenteric illness worldwide. Numerous studies using PCR have demonstrated norovirus contamination in a significant proportion of both oyster and other bivalve shellfish production areas and ready-to-eat products. By comparison, the number of epidemiologically confirmed shellfish-associated outbreaks is relatively low. This suggests that factors other than the simple presence or absence of virus RNA are important contributors to the amount of illness reported. This study compares norovirus RNA levels in oyster samples strongly linked to norovirus or norovirus-type illness with the levels typically found in commercial production areas (non-outbreak-related samples). A statistically significant difference between norovirus levels in the two sets of samples was observed. The geometric mean of the levels in outbreak samples (1,048 copies per g) was almost one order of magnitude higher than for positive non-outbreak-related samples (121 copies per g). Further, while none of the outbreak-related samples contained fewer than 152 copies per g, the majority of positive results for non-outbreak-related samples was below this level. These observations support the concept of a dose-response for norovirus RNA levels in shellfish and could help inform the establishment of threshold criteria for risk management.

Diploma to degree 1976 to 1993

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Price, Richard

2009-01-01

The debate on degree education for radiographers began in earnest in the mid-1970s. Initially the debate hinged around whether a degree education was necessary for radiographers. One argument was that it was felt that a degree would separate academic and clinical training but eventually when degrees were introduced practical skills were assessed formally for the first time; something that had not been achieved with the Diploma of the College of Radiographers (DCR). The DCR itself became a barrier to degree education as the College of Radiographers (CoR) insisted that it was the only qualification recognised for state registration and as such would have to remain embedded as a distinct qualification within a degree. A major breakthrough came when the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) recognised the DCR at the same level as an ordinary degree. Around the same time the CoR published its Degree Rationale which announced a change in policy by not insisting that the DCR was sacrosanct. Developments followed rapidly and the first honours degree in radiography was validated in 1989 despite opposition from scientific officers at the Department of Health. Degrees were approved for state registration and radiography became a graduate profession by 1993 following years of debate and after overcoming opposition from both within and external to the profession.

Can a calcaneal morphologic index determine the degree of osteoporosis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cockshott, W.P.; Walter, S.D.; Webber, C.; O' Brien, K.; Occleshaw, C.J.

1984-07-01

The proposal that a scoring system of the radiographic trabecular patterns of the os calcis could be related to degree of osteoporosis was tested. The technique fails as it showed no correlation with actual bone density determined by a Compton scatter technique and because of a low level of observer concordance. Possible reasons for the poor performance of the index developed in India when applied to North Americans are discussed.

Degree-level education is an essential part of modern health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Finch, Dame Janet

2016-08-17

Dame Jill Macleod Clark is leading the work of the Nursing and Midwifery Council on education standards for the registered nurse degree, compiling views from nurses, students, educators and patients across the UK about the key competencies registered nurses need, both now and in the future.

Astronautics Degrees for Space Industry

Science.gov (United States)

Gruntman, M.; Brodsky, R.; Erwin, D.; Kunc, J.

The Astronautics Program (http://astronautics.usc.edu) of the University of Southern California (USC) offers a full set of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Aerospace Engineering with emphasis in Astronautics. The Bachelor of Science degree program in Astronautics combines basic science and engineering classes with specialized astronautics classes. The Master of Science degree program in Astronautics offers classes in various areas of space technology. The Certificate in Astronautics targets practicing engineers and scientists who enter space-related fields and/or who want to obtain training in specific space-related areas. Many specialized graduate classes are taught by adjunct faculty working at the leading space companies. The Master of Science degree and Certificate are available through the USC Distance Education Network (DEN). Today, the Internet allows us to reach students anywhere in the world through webcasting. The majority of our graduate students, as well as those pursuing the Certificate, work full time as engineers in the space industry and government research and development centers. The new world of distance learning presents new challenges and opens new opportunities. We show how the transformation of distance learning and particularly the introduction of webcasting transform organization of the program and class delivery. We will describe in detail the academic focus of the program, student reach, and structure of program components. Program development is illustrated by the student enrollment dynamics and related industrial trends; the lessons learned emphasize the importance of feedback from the students and from the space industry.

The clinical expression of hereditary protein C and protein S deficiency: : a relation to clinical thrombotic risk-factors and to levels of protein C and protein S

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Henkens, C. M. A.; van der Meer, J.; Hillege, J. L.; Bom, V. J. J.; Halie, M. R.; van der Schaaf, W.

We investigated 103 first-degree relatives of 13 unrelated protein C or protein S deficient patients to assess the role of additional thrombotic risk factors and of protein C and protein S levels in the clinical expression of hereditary protein C and protein S deficiency. Fifty-seven relatives were

Degree-degree correlations in directed networks with heavy-tailed degrees

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Hoorn, W.L.F.; Litvak, Nelli

2013-01-01

In network theory, Pearson's correlation coefficients are most commonly used to measure the degree assortativity of a network. We investigate the behavior of these coefficients in the setting of directed networks with heavy-tailed degree sequences. We prove that for graphs where the in- and

Degree-degree dependencies in directed networks with heavy-tailed degrees

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Hoorn, W.L.F.; Litvak, Nelly

2015-01-01

In network theory, Pearson’s correlation coefficients are most commonly used to measure the degree assortativity of a network. We investigate the behavior of these coefficients in the setting of directed networks with heavy-tailed degree sequences. We prove that for graphs where the in- and

Does degree of baldness influence vitamin D status?

Science.gov (United States)

Bolland, Mark J; Ames, Ruth W; Grey, Andrew B; Horne, Anne M; Mason, Barbara H; Gamble, Greg D; Reid, Ian R

To determine the association, if any, between male-pattern hair loss (baldness) and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) levels. A cross-sectional study of 296 healthy middle-aged and older men. Degree of baldness was independently assessed by two researchers using the Hamilton-Norwood scale and serum 25-OHD was measured in all men. Classification of the degree of baldness by the two researchers showed a high level of agreement (kappa = 0.93). Forty-eight per cent of men had no hair loss or mild frontotemporal recession, 15% had predominant vertex loss, and 37% had significant scalp and vertex loss. After data were adjusted for potential confounding factors - including age, month of 25-OHD measurement, exercise levels, use of sunscreen, skin type and frequency of outdoor hat wearing - no significant differences in 25-OHD levels between these groups was detected (P = 0.60). The degree of baldness does not appear to influence serum 25-OHD levels. The high prevalence of baldness in older men does not explain sex differences in 25-OHD levels. Other novel hypotheses are required to help determine whether baldness serves any physiological purpose.

Prediction of Neurocognitive Deficits by Parkinsonian Motor Impairment in Schizophrenia: A Study in Neuroleptic-Naïve Subjects, Unaffected First-Degree Relatives and Healthy Controls From an Indigenous Population.

Science.gov (United States)

Molina, Juan L; González Alemán, Gabriela; Florenzano, Néstor; Padilla, Eduardo; Calvó, María; Guerrero, Gonzalo; Kamis, Danielle; Stratton, Lee; Toranzo, Juan; Molina Rangeon, Beatriz; Hernández Cuervo, Helena; Bourdieu, Mercedes; Sedó, Manuel; Strejilevich, Sergio; Cloninger, Claude Robert; Escobar, Javier I; de Erausquin, Gabriel A

2016-11-01

Neurocognitive deficits are among the most debilitating and pervasive symptoms of schizophrenia, and are present also in unaffected first-degree relatives. Also, multiple reports reveal parkisonian motor deficits in untreated subjects with schizophrenia and in first-degree relatives of affected subjects. Yet, the relation between motor and cognitive impairment and its value as a classifier of endophenotypes has not been studied. To test the efficacy of midbrain hyperechogenicity (MHE) and parkinsonian motor impairment (PKM) as predictors of neurocognitive impairment in subjects with or at risk for schizophrenia, that could be used to segregate them from first-degree relatives and healthy controls. Seventy-six subjects with chronic schizophrenia never exposed to antipsychotic medication, 106 unaffected first-degree relatives, and 62 healthy controls were blindly assessed for cognitive and motor function, and transcranial ultrasound. Executive function, fluid intelligence, motor planning, and hand coordination showed group differences. PKM and MHE were significantly higher in untreated schizophrenia and unaffected relatives. Unaffected relatives showed milder impairment, but were different from controls. PKM and MHE predict cognitive impairment in neuroleptic-naive patients with schizophrenia and their unaffected first-degree relatives and may be used to segregate them from first-degree relatives and healthy controls. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Degree of elaborative processing in two implicit and two explicit memory tasks

OpenAIRE

Pitarque, Alfonso; Algarabel González, Salvador; Meseguer, Enrique

1992-01-01

The level of elaborative processing made by subjects to pairs of words (read vs. generated) and the degree of relationship between the words of each pair (related, rhymed, or rhymed and related) were manipulated on two explicit tasks (cued recall and recognition) and two implicit tasks (word-stem completion and tachistoscopic word identification) to test the empirical validity of the processing-approach theory (see, e.g., Roediger, 1990a, 1990b; Roediger, Srinivas, & Weldon, 1989) of explicit...

Helicobacter pylori genotypes and types of gastritis in first-degree relatives of gastric cancer patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Siavoshi, F; Asgharzadeh, A; Ghadiri, H; Massarrat, S; Latifi-Navid, S; Zamani, M

2011-08-01

The frequency of Helicobacter pylori vacA alleles, cagA, and jhp0947 and their association with types and advanced forms of gastritis in 143 first-degree relatives of gastric cancer (GC) patients was assessed. The subjects included 64/143 with antral-predominant gastritis, 68/143 with pangastritis, and 11/143 with corpus-predominant gastritis, with or without atrophy or intestinal metaplasia (IM). Further classification included the severity of atrophy or IM. Group I (40/143) included the subjects with moderate-marked atrophy or IM, group II (58/143) those with no atrophy or IM, and group III (45/143) with mild atrophy or IM. The frequency of vacA s1 was 79.7%, vacA s2 20.3%, m1 49.7%, m2 50.3%, cagA 76.2%, and jhp0947 58%. The most prevalent combination was vacAs1 cagA (+) (65.7%) (P=0.001). Of the 143 subjects, 85 (59.4%) showed atrophy or IM, and 40/85 (47%) developed the moderate-marked atrophy or IM. No significant correlation was found between genotypes and the types of gastritis, non-atrophy, atrophy, or IM and severe forms of atrophy or IM (P>0.05). It is proposed that H. pylori genotype status might not be considered as an important determinant of the types and advanced forms of gastritis in the first-degree relatives of GC patients. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Considerations for The Instruction Of Research Methodologies In Graduate-Level Distance Education Degree Programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Cleveland-INNERS

2004-04-01

Full Text Available Considerations for The Instruction Of Research Methodologies In Graduate-Level Distance Education Degree Programs Tom JONES, Ph.D. Associate Professor Centre for Distance Education Athabasca University, CANADA M. Cleveland-INNERS, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Centre for Distance Education Athabasca University, CANADA ABSTRACT The growth of basic and applied research activity in distance education requires redirection on several fronts, including the instruction of research methods in the education of graduate students. The majority of graduate students in distance education are practitioners whose goals range from carrying out original research to acquiring the concepts and skills necessary to become a practitioner. We argue that the best foundation for achieving both of those goals in distance education is developed by means of an understanding and internalization of sound research design methodologies, primarily acquired by formal instruction, and that an emphasis on research in graduate programs in distance education will encourage theory development. This paper presents the rationale for a general curricular model that attempts to address the sets of research competencies for graduate students in graduate-level distance education programs while at the same time moving students toward an appreciation and understanding of the epistemological foundations for social science research.

Degree Output in the South, 1975-76: Distribution by Race.

Science.gov (United States)

Mingle, James R.

The first systematic national count of degree output by race is presented for use by institutional curriculum planners to help give students the opportunity to make realistic choices in career planning. Included are summary tables of degree production by level (doctoral, master's, bachelor's, and first-professional degrees awarded); degree changes…

Steeper discounting of delayed rewards in schizophrenia but not first-degree relatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Linda Q; Lee, Sangil; Katchmar, Natalie; Satterthwaite, Theodore D; Kable, Joseph W; Wolf, Daniel H

2017-06-01

Excessive discounting of future rewards has been related to a variety of risky behaviors and adverse clinical conditions. Prior work examining delay discounting in schizophrenia suggests an elevated discount rate. However, it remains uncertain whether this reflects the disease process itself or an underlying genetic vulnerability, whether it is selective for delay discounting or reflects pervasive changes in decision-making, and whether it is driven by specific clinical dimensions such as cognitive impairment. Here we investigated delay discounting, as well as loss aversion and risk aversion, in three groups: schizophrenia (SZ), unaffected first-degree family members (FM), and controls without a family history of psychosis (NC). SZ had elevated discounting, without changes in loss aversion or risk aversion. Contrary to expectations, the FM group did not show an intermediate phenotype in discounting. Higher discount rates correlated with lower cognitive performance on verbal reasoning, but this did not explain elevated discount rates in SZ. Group differences were driven primarily by the non-smoking majority of the sample. This study provides further evidence for elevated discounting in schizophrenia, and demonstrates that steeper discounting is not necessarily associated with familial risk, cannot be wholly accounted for by cognitive deficits, and is not attributable to smoking-related impulsivity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The relation of hearing loss degrees and oral stereognosis in 5-year-old children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyede Zohre Mousavi

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Oral stereognosis is the ability to recognize the objects placed in the mouth; this plays a significant role in speech sounds production. Since the children with hearing loss have articulation disorders, this study aimed to clear the relation of hearing loss degrees and oral stereognosis in 5-year-old children.Methods: In this cross-sectional non-invasive study, 40 children of 5-year-old (30 children with different degrees of hearing loss and 10 normal children were involved. Oral steriognostic test was done for all of them and the Mann-Whitney U was used for statistical analysis.Results: There were significant differences between the mean of oral stereognostic ability between the normal children and the children with severe (p<0.01 or profound hearing loss (p=0.05. There was no significant difference between the mean of oral stereognostic ability among the children with moderate, severe and profound hearing loss compared with together. Besides, there was no significant difference between the mean of the time of diagnosis among all of hearing loss and normal children.Conclusion: The study shows that the children with moderate, severe and profound hearing loss have inefficient oral stereognosis in comparison with the normal children.

Mycotoxin production in wheat grains by different Aspergilli in relation to different relative humidities and storage periods.

Science.gov (United States)

Atalla, Mohamed Mabrouk; Hassanein, Naziha Mohamed; El-Beih, Ahmed Atef; Youssef, Youssef Abdel-ghany

2003-02-01

Four different Aspergilli (Aspergillus oryzae, A. parasiticus, A. terreus and A. versicolor) were grown on wheat grains underdifferent degrees of relative humidity 14, 50, 74, 80 and 90%. Samples of wheat grains were taken monthly for a period of six months and examined for mycotoxin production. A. oryzae was found to produce aflatoxins B1, B2, zearalenone, DON and T-2 toxins under elevated degrees of humidity and prolonged periods of storage. A. parasiticus produced aflatoxins B1, G1, NIV, DON and T-2 toxins in high concentrations during a period of not more than three months storage at 14% relative humidity; at an increased level of relative humidity of 74% ochratoxin A, zearalenone and sterigmatocystin were also produced at high levels. The isolate was drastic in toxin production. A. terrus produced toxins at 14% relative humidity (aflatoxin G2 and DON) at levels much higher than any other prevalent degrees of humidity. A. versicolor is highly sensitive to relative humidity and grain moisture content It produced aflatoxins B1, G1, NIV and DON at a relative humidity of 50% and another toxins (aflatoxin G2, ochratoxins A, B and zearalenone) at 74%. The microorganism can be considered a trichothecene producer under suitable relative humidity.

Dietary supplementation and doping-related factors in high-level sailing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodek Jelena

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Although dietary supplements (DSs in sports are considered a natural need resulting from athletes’ increased physical demands, and although they are often consumed by athletes, data on DS usage in Olympic sailing are scarce. The aim of this study was to study the use of and attitudes towards DSs and doping problems in high-level competitive sailing. Methods The sample consisted of 44 high-level sailing athletes (5 of whom were female; total mean age 24.13 ± 6.67 years and 34 coaches (1 of whom was female; total mean age 37.01 ± 11.70. An extensive, self-administered questionnaire of substance use was used, and the subjects were asked about sociodemographic data, sport-related factors, DS-related factors (i.e., usage of and knowledge about DSs, sources of information, and doping-related factors. The Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA was used to determine the differences in group characteristics, and Spearman’s rank order correlation and a logistic regression analysis were used to define the relationships between the studied variables. Results DS usage is relatively high. More than 77% of athletes consume DSs, and 38% do so on a regular basis (daily. The athletes place a high degree of trust in their coaches and/or physicians regarding DSs and doping. The most important reason for not consuming DSs is the opinion that DSs are useless and a lack of knowledge about DSs. The likelihood of doping is low, and one-third of the subjects believe that doping occurs in sailing (no significant differences between athletes and coaches. The logistic regression found crew number (i.e., single vs. double crew to be the single significant predictor of DS usage, with a higher probability of DS consumption among single crews. Conclusion Because of the high consumption of DSs future investigations should focus on real nutritional needs in sailing sport. Also, since athletes reported that their coaches are the primary source of information about

Vasovagal syncope in medical students and their first-degree relatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Serletis, Anna; Rose, Sarah; Sheldon, Aaron G; Sheldon, Robert S

2006-08-01

To determine the effect of family history on the likelihood of vasovagal syncope. Sixty-two medical students and 228 first-degree relatives were studied. Vasovagal syncope was ascertained with the Calgary syncope symptom score. The effects of the sex of the subject and parental syncope history on the likelihood of offspring fainting were described using Kaplan-Meier estimates and analysed using proportional hazards regression. The prevalence of vasovagal syncope was 32% and the median age of first faint in those who fainted was 14 years. More females than males fainted [42 vs. 31%; P=0.02; hazard ratio (HR) 1.34 (95% CI 1.07-1.68)]. An individual with two fainting parents was more likely to faint than one with no fainting parents [P<0.0001; HR 3.4 (95% CI 1.7-7.03)]. In the proportional hazards model, offspring of either sex whose mother faints are more likely to faint than those whose mother does not faint [HR 2.86 (95% CI 1.54-5.31)]. Having a father who faints significantly increases the risk of syncope in sons [HR 4.12 (95%CI 1.39-12.31)], but not in daughters [HR 1.18 (95% CI 0.56-3.34)]. Family history and sex of subject are important predictors of vasovagal syncope in offspring.

The Striking Progress of African Americans in Degree Attainments.

Science.gov (United States)

Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 2002

2002-01-01

While the number of blacks earning bachelor's and master's degrees has risen significantly since 1985, and the number of black doctoral degrees rose 110 percent, the percentage of all degrees awarded to blacks at all levels is far lower than the black percentage of the U.S. population. Black women earn 65.7 percent of all doctorates awarded to…

Facial emotion perception in Chinese patients with schizophrenia and non-psychotic first-degree relatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Huijie; Chan, Raymond C K; Zhao, Qing; Hong, Xiaohong; Gong, Qi-Yong

2010-03-17

Although there is a consensus that patients with schizophrenia have certain deficits in perceiving and expressing facial emotions, previous studies of facial emotion perception in schizophrenia do not present consistent results. The objective of this study was to explore facial emotion perception deficits in Chinese patients with schizophrenia and their non-psychotic first-degree relatives. Sixty-nine patients with schizophrenia, 56 of their first-degree relatives (33 parents and 23 siblings), and 92 healthy controls (67 younger healthy controls matched to the patients and siblings, and 25 older healthy controls matched to the parents) completed a set of facial emotion perception tasks, including facial emotion discrimination, identification, intensity, valence, and corresponding face identification tasks. The results demonstrated that patients with schizophrenia performed significantly worse than their siblings and younger healthy controls in accuracy in a variety of facial emotion perception tasks, whereas the siblings of the patients performed as well as the corresponding younger healthy controls in all of the facial emotion perception tasks. Patients with schizophrenia also showed significantly reduced speed than younger healthy controls, while siblings of patients did not demonstrate significant differences with both patients and younger healthy controls in speed. Meanwhile, we also found that parents of the schizophrenia patients performed significantly worse than the corresponding older healthy controls in accuracy in terms of facial emotion identification, valence, and the composite index of the facial discrimination, identification, intensity and valence tasks. Moreover, no significant differences were found between the parents of patients and older healthy controls in speed after controlling the years of education and IQ. Taken together, the results suggest that facial emotion perception deficits may serve as potential endophenotypes for schizophrenia

Diabetes risk reduction in overweight first degree relatives of type 2 diabetes patients: Effects of a low-intensive lifestyle education program (DiAlert) A randomized controlled trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heideman, W.H.; de Wit, M.; Middelkoop, B.J.C.; Nierkens, V.; Stronks, K.; Verhoeff, A.P.; Snoek, F.J.

2015-01-01

Objectives: To test the efficacy of a low-intensive lifestyle education program (DiAlert) for overweight first degree relatives of type 2 diabetes patients aimed at reducing diabetes risk. Methods: Overweight first degree relatives of type 2 diabetes patients were randomly assigned to the DiAlert

Diabetes risk reduction in overweight first degree relatives of type 2 diabetes patients: Effects of a low-intensive lifestyle education program (DiAlert) A randomized controlled trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heideman, W.H.; de Wit, M.; Middelkoop, B.J.C.; Nierkens, V.; Stronks, K.; Verhoeff, A.P.; Snoek, F.J.

2015-01-01

Objectives To test the efficacy of a low-intensive lifestyle education program (DiAlert) for overweight first degree relatives of type 2 diabetes patients aimed at reducing diabetes risk. Methods Overweight first degree relatives of type 2 diabetes patients were randomly assigned to the DiAlert

Real-time sun protection decisions in first-degree relatives of melanoma patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Hay, Jennifer L; Shuk, Elyse; Schofield, Elizabeth; Loeb, Rebecca; Holland, Susan; Burkhalter, Jack; Li, Yuelin

2017-09-01

Melanoma is the most serious skin cancer, and consistent use of sun protection is recommended to reduce risk. Yet sun protection use is generally inconsistent. Understanding the decisional factors driving sun protection choices could aid in intervention development to promote sun protection maintenance. In 59 first-degree relatives of melanoma patients, an interactive voice response system (IVRS) on participants' cell phones was used to assess twice daily (morning, afternoon) real-time sun protection usage (sunscreen, shade, hats, protective clothing) and decision factors (weather, type of activity, convenience, social support) over a 14-day summer interval where morning and afternoon outdoor exposures were anticipated. Generalized estimating equations and hierarchical linear models were used to examine the effect of demographics and decisional factors on sun protection choices over time. Sun protection use was inconsistent (e.g., 61% used sunscreen inconsistently). Most strategies were used independently, with the exception of moderate overlap of sunscreen and hat usage. Decision factors were highly relevant for sun protection. For instance, sunscreen use was related to the perception of having adequate time to apply it, whereas shade and hat usage were each related to convenience. Few findings emerged by gender, age, time of day, or year. Significant within-subject variation remained, however. The findings support continued examination of decision factors in understanding sun protection consistency in real time. Interventions where cues to action and environmental supports work together in varied settings can be developed to improve sun protection maintenance in populations at risk for this common disease. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Does a bachelor’s degree pay off?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Neugebauer, Martin; Weiss, Felix

Academic education is generally rewarded by employers, but what happens to graduates if they are trained for two years less and have to compete with vocationally trained labor market entrants in a similar field of study? Focusing on Germany, we analyze labor market entries of individuals eligible...... for higher education, who either opted for newly introduced short bachelor’s degrees, or for well-established vocational degrees. Based on Microcensus data, we find that bachelor’s degrees from classical universities are associated with higher earnings and more prestigious jobs than initial vocational...... training degrees, and with higher prestige (but similar earnings) than further vocational degrees. However, bachelor’s degrees from universities are also related to higher risks of unemployment or fixed-term employment. Universities of applied sciences, which combine academic and practical training, offer...

Prevalence of celiac disease in first-degree relative of children in Sistan and Baluchestan province (Iran).

Science.gov (United States)

Shahraki, Touran; Hill, Ivor

2016-10-01

To determine the prevalence of elevated antibodies and histological changes of celiac disease (CD) on intestinal biopsies among first-degree relatives (FDR) of Iranian children with known CD and to describe the characteristics of the affected FDR. The FDR of 119 patients with CD in Iran were tested for tissue transglutaminase (TTG) and immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels. Upper endoscopy and duodenal biopsy were recommended to those with elevated TTG-IgA antibodies. The characteristics and clinical features of all CD patients were recorded. Altogether 480 FDR (52.7% females) participated in the study, of whom 63 had an elevated TTG-IgA and 44 consented to undergo endoscopy with biopsies. Histology revealed Marsh 0 in six, Marsh I in seven, Marsh II in four and Marsh III in 27. Most of those with Marsh II or III changes were siblings (26/31). The prevalence of TTG-IgA positivity among FDR was 13.1% and for biopsy-confirmed CD (Marsh II and III) it was 6.5%. Most FDR with CD had symptoms, with the most common being abdominal pain (45.0%), followed by musculoskeletal pain (35.5%) and constipation (25.8%). FDR with Marsh III changes had significantly higher levels of TTG-IgA. The prevalence of CD in FDR in Iran is much higher compared with the general population (6.5% vs 0.5-0.6%). Testing should be considered for all FDR of Iranian patients with known CD and in particular in symptomatic cases. © 2016 Chinese Medical Association Shanghai Branch, Chinese Society of Gastroenterology, Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Kinesiophobia in relation to physical activity in chronic neck pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Demirbüken, İlkşan; Özgül, Bahar; Kuru Çolak, Tuğba; Aydoğdu, Onur; Sarı, Zübeyir; Yurdalan, Saadet Ufuk

2016-01-01

Little research is available concerning physical activity and its determinants in people with chronic neck pain. To explore the relation between kinesiophobia and physical activity and gender effect on these relations in people with chronic neck pain. Ninety-nine subjects (34 men and 65 women) with chronic neck pain were participated in the study. Pain intensity was assessed with Visual Analog Scale and kinesiophobia degree was determined by using Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia. Level of physical activity was assessed with short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. There was no statistically correlation between neck pain intensity and kinesiophobia degree (p= 0.246, r= 0.123) and physical activity level (p= 0.432, r= -0.083). It was also found that kinesiophobia degree was not correlated to physical activity level (p= 0.148, r= -0.153). There was a negative correlation between kinesiophobia degree and physical activity level only for women, not for men (p= 0.011, r= -0.318). Our results showed that although people with chronic neck pain reported higher pain intensity and fear of movement, pain intensity and kinesiophobia degree did not associate to their physical activity levels. It can be speculated that high kinesiophobia degrees cause low physical activity levels for women, but not for men.

Diabetes risk reduction in overweight first degree relatives of type 2 diabetes patients: effects of a low-intensive lifestyle education program (DiAlert) A randomized controlled trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heideman, Wieke H.; de Wit, Maartje; Middelkoop, Barend J. C.; Nierkens, Vera; Stronks, Karien; Verhoeff, Arnoud P.; Snoek, Frank J.

2015-01-01

To test the efficacy of a low-intensive lifestyle education program (DiAlert) for overweight first degree relatives of type 2 diabetes patients aimed at reducing diabetes risk. Overweight first degree relatives of type 2 diabetes patients were randomly assigned to the DiAlert intervention (N=45) or

The Top 100: Graduate Degrees Conferred

Science.gov (United States)

Borden, Victor M. H.

2011-01-01

Recently, some critics and policymakers have started to question the value of a college education given the increasing costs of attending and the commensurate high debt levels of college graduates. Past and present studies also demonstrate that the average value masks important variation by degree level and field of study. This paper focuses on…

Special Report: Top 100 Degree Producers. Part II.

Science.gov (United States)

Black Issues in Higher Education, 1999

1999-01-01

Data on the colleges and universities producing the highest numbers of minority master's, doctoral, and first professional degrees in 1996-1997 are presented. Rankings are organized by degree level, ethnic group (African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, Native American), discipline group, and overall graduation rate. Breakouts are also…

Level of Work Related Stress among Teachers in Elementary Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Agai-Demjaha, Teuta; Bislimovska, Jovanka Karadzinska; Mijakoski, Dragan

2015-09-15

Teaching is considered a highly stressful occupation, with work-related stress levels among teachers being among the highest compared to other professions. Unfortunately there are very few studies regarding the levels of work-related stress among teachers in the Republic of Macedonia. To identify the level of self-perceived work-related stress among teachers in elementary schools and its relationship to gender, age, position in the workplace, the level of education and working experience. We performed a descriptive-analytical model of a cross-sectional study that involved 300 teachers employed in nine elementary schools. Evaluation of examined subjects included completion of a specially designed questionnaire. We found that the majority of interviewed teachers perceive their work-related stress as moderate. The level of work-related stress was significantly high related to the gender, age, position in workplace, as well as working experience (p related to level of education (p stressful as compared to the upper-grade teachers (18.5% vs. 5.45%), while the same is true for female respondents as compared to the male ones (15.38% vs. 3.8%). In addition, our results show that teachers with university education significantly more often associate their workplace with stronger stress than their colleagues with high education (13.48% vs. 9.4%). We also found that there is no significant difference of stress levels between new and more experienced teachers. Our findings confirm that the majority of interviewed teachers perceived their work-related stress as high or very high. In terms of the relationship between the level of teachers' stress and certain demographic and job characteristics, according to our results, the level of work-related stress has shown significantly high relation to gender, age, levels of grades taught as well as working experience, and significant relation to the level of education.

Circulating DNA and its methylation level in inflammatory bowel disease and related colon cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Xuming; Zhu, Yaqun; Pu, Wangyang; Xiao, Li; Li, Kai; Xing, Chungen; Jin, Yong

2015-01-01

Both of chronic inflammation and abnormal immune in inflammatory bowel disease can induce colon cancer. Previous research showed that cell apoptosis and necrosis become the main source of circulating DNA in the peripheral blood during tumorigenesis that reduced along with methylation degree. However, its role in the process of colitis transforming to colon cancer is not clarified. Drinking 3% DSS was used to establish colitis model, while 3% dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) combined with azo oxidation methane (AOM) intraperitoneal injection was applied to establish colitis related colon cancer model. Circulating DNA and its methylation level in peripheral blood were tested. Morphology observation, HE staining, and p53 and β-catenin expression detection confirmed that drinking 3% DSS and 3% DSS combined with AOM intraperitoneal injection can successfully establish colitis and colitis associated colorectal cancer models. Circulating DNA level in colitis and colon cancer mice increased by gradient compared with control, while significant difference was observed between each other. Circulating DNA methylation level decreased obviously in colitis and colon cancer, and significant difference was observed between each other. Abnormal protein expression, circulating DNA and its methylation level in ulcerative colitis associated colorectal tissues change in gradient, suggesting that circulating DNA and its methylation level can be treated as new markers for colitis cancer transformation that has certain significance to explore the mechanism of human ulcerative colitis canceration.

ACHIEVEMENT OF TARGET BLOOD PRESSURE LEVEL IN PATIENTS WITH ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION OF 2-3 DEGREE WITH FIXED COMBINATION OF ENALAPRIL OR LOSARTAN WITH HYDROCHLOROTHIAZIDE

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A. A. Kudryavtsev

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. To compare the effects of fixed combinations of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (enalapril or angiotensin II receptor antagonist (losartan with diuretic (hydrochlorothiazide, HCT on the "office" blood pressure (BP level in patients with arterial hypertension (HT of 2-3 degrees.Materials and methods. Patients (n=73; 34 men and 39 women; aged 50.5±5.8 with HT of 2-3 degrees were included in the study. Patients were randomized into 2 groups: patients of group 1 (n=34 received a fixed combination of enalapril with HCT; patients (n=39 of group 2 — a fixed combination of losartan with HCT. The study duration was 24 weeks. "Office" BP levels (Korotkov method were evaluated.Results. Combination of losartan with HCT shown more prominent effect on systolic BP (reduction from 176.1±2.77 to 122.3±1.54 mm Hg in comparison with combination enalapril with HCT (reduction from 172.4±1.62 to 129.8±3.4 mm Hg after 12 weeks of treatment (p<0.05. High frequency of target BP level achievement was observed in patients of groups 1 and 2 (83% and 86% respectively.Conclusion. The fixed combination of enalapril or lozartan with HCT has high efficacy and can be recommended as initial therapy in patients with HT of 2-3 degree.

Vitamin D levels and menopause-related symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

LeBlanc, Erin S; Desai, Manisha; Perrin, Nancy; Wactawski-Wende, Jean; Manson, JoAnn E; Cauley, Jane A; Michael, Yvonne L; Tang, Jean; Womack, Catherine; Song, Yiqing; Johnson, Karen C; O'Sullivan, Mary J; Woods, Nancy; Stefanick, Marcia L

2014-11-01

This study aims to determine whether vitamin D levels are associated with menopause-related symptoms in older women. A randomly selected subset of 1,407 women, among 26,104 potentially eligible participants of the Women's Health Initiative Calcium and Vitamin D trial of postmenopausal women aged 51 to 80 years, had 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels measured at the Women's Health Initiative Calcium and Vitamin D trial baseline visit. Information about menopause-related symptoms at baseline was obtained by questionnaire and included overall number of symptoms and composite measures of sleep disturbance, emotional well-being, and energy/fatigue, as well as individual symptoms. After exclusions for missing data, 530 women (mean [SD] age, 66.2 [6.8] y) were included in these analyses. Borderline significant associations between 25(OH)D levels and total number of menopausal symptoms were observed (with P values ranging from 0.05 to 0.06 for fully adjusted models); however, the effect was clinically insignificant and disappeared with correction for multiple testing. No associations between 25(OH)D levels and composite measures of sleep disturbance, emotional well-being, or energy/fatigue were observed (P's > 0.10 for fully adjusted models). There is no evidence for a clinically important association between serum 25(OH)D levels and menopause-related symptoms in postmenopausal women.

Astronautics degrees for the space industry

Science.gov (United States)

Gruntman, M.; Brodsky, R. F.; Erwin, D. A.; Kunc, J. A.

2004-01-01

The Astronautics Program (http://astronautics.usc.edu) of the University of Southern California (USC) offers a full set of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Aerospace Engineering with emphasis in Astronautics. The Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree programs in Astronautics combine basic science and engineering classes with specialized classes in space technology. The Certificate in Astronautics targets practicing engineers and scientists who enter space-related fields and/or who want to obtain training in specific space-related areas. Many specialized graduate classes are taught by adjunct faculty working at the leading space companies. The Master of Science degree and Certificate are available entirely through the USC Distance Education Network (DEN). Today, the Internet allows us to reach students anywhere in the world through webcasting. The majority of our graduate students, as well as those pursuing the Certificate, work full time as engineers in the space industry and government research and development centers while earning their degrees. The new world of distance learning presents new challenges and opens new opportunities. Distance learning, and particularly the introduction of webcasting, transform the organization of the graduate program and class delivery. We describe in detail the program's academic focus, student reach, and structure of program components. Program development is illustrated by the student enrollment dynamics and related industrial trends; the lessons learned emphasize the importance of feedback from the students and from the space industry.

Levels of perfluorooctanesulfonate and related fluorochemicals in human blood from the general population of Korea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Jae-Ho; Kim, Sun-Young; Shin, Im-Hee [Catholic Univ. of Daegu, School of Medicine, Dept. of Pharmacology/Toxicology, Daegu (Korea); Kannan, K. [Wardsworth Center, New York State Dept. of Health and Dept. of Env. Health and Tox., SUNY, Albany, NY (United States)

2004-09-15

Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) was found to be widespread in human populations and wildlife Major applications of these POSF-based products have included surfactants in: specialty paper and packaging products, carpet, upholstery, and textile products and in certain insecticide formulation. Depending on the specific functional derivatization or the degree of polymerization, such POSF based products may degrade or metabolize to PFOS, a stable and persistent end product that has the potential to bioaccumulate in the food chain. The mechanisms and pathways leading to the presence of PFOS in human blood are not well characterized but likely involve environmental and dietary exposure to PFOS or to precursor molecules of PFOS. PFOS and related perfluorinated compounds have recently been detected at low parts per billion (nanogram per milliliter) concentrations in the general population from 10 different countries including Korea. In the present report, the levels of perfluoroalkylated compounds in the general population from Korea were analyzed with respect to occupation, smoking status, sex, age and socio-economic status. The degree of association between the four target fluorochemicals measured in this study (PFOS, PFHxS, PFOA, and PFOSA) were also analyzed by linear regression to determine the potential association between their sources of exposure.

A Case Study of the Recognition of the Foundation Degree Qualification for Pharmacy Technicians

Science.gov (United States)

Herrera, Helena; Brown, David; Portlock, Jane

2013-01-01

The Foundation Degree (FD) is a work-related, intermediate-level higher education qualification. Issues around its recognition can affect success in attracting students where the literature suggests that uptake should be adequate. This research represented a case study which explored for the first time, whether the above applied to the FD for…

Level of Work Related Stress among Teachers in Elementary Schools

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Teuta Agai–Demjaha

2015-07-01

CONCLUSION: Our findings confirm that the majority of interviewed teachers perceived their work-related stress as high or very high. In terms of the relationship between the level of teachers’ stress and certain demographic and job characteristics, according to our results, the level of work-related stress has shown significantly high relation to gender, age, levels of grades taught as well as working experience, and significant relation to the level of education.

Magnetic field control of 90 Degree-Sign , 180 Degree-Sign , and 360 Degree-Sign domain wall resistance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Majidi, Roya, E-mail: royamajidi@gmail.com [Department of Physics, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Lavizan, 16788-15811 Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2012-10-01

In the present work, we have compared the resistance of the 90 Degree-Sign , 180 Degree-Sign , and 360 Degree-Sign domain walls in the presence of external magnetic field. The calculations are based on the Boltzmann transport equation within the relaxation time approximation. One-dimensional Neel-type domain walls between two domains whose magnetization differs by angle of 90 Degree-Sign , 180 Degree-Sign , and 360 Degree-Sign are considered. The results indicate that the resistance of the 360 Degree-Sign DW is more considerable than that of the 90 Degree-Sign and 180 Degree-Sign DWs. It is also found that the domain wall resistance can be controlled by applying transverse magnetic field. Increasing the strength of the external magnetic field enhances the domain wall resistance. In providing spintronic devices based on magnetic nanomaterials, considering and controlling the effect of domain wall on resistivity are essential.

THE EFFECT OF HARVESTING TIME AND DEGREE OF LEAVES MATURATION ON VITEKSIKARPIN LEVEL IN LEGUNDI LEAVES (Vitex trifolia L.

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Yosi Bayu Murti

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Legundi (Vitex trifolia L. is one of Indonesia’s traditional crops that have not been studied and developed into fitofarmaka. Legundi leaves can be used for therapy in asthmatics with optimum level. Therefore it is necessary for optimization of harvesting Legundi leaves which includes time and degree of maturation of the leaves. Harvesting time optimization by means of harvesting the leaves at the different times i.e. morning, noon, and evening, while the leaf maturation level optimization by way of harvesting leaves numbered one through five of the youngest end, then the time of harvesting and leaves that provide optimum levels of viteksikarpin were assigned. Measurements of viteksikarpin assigned using TLCdensitometry then analyzed using Wincats software and Microsoft Office Excel 2007. The highest viteksikarpin levels in Legundi leaves harvested in the afternoon, then during the day, and the lowest in the morning. The highest viteksikarpin levels of Legundi leaves were on second leaf, first leaf, third leaf, fourth leaf, and the lowest on fifth leaf. Optimum levels of viteksikarpin in Legundi leaves was harvested in the afternoon by picking the first until the third leaf.

Dirac's minimum degree condition restricted to claws

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Broersma, Haitze J.; Ryjacek, Z.; Schiermeyer, I.

1997-01-01

Let G be a graph on n 3 vertices. Dirac's minimum degree condition is the condition that all vertices of G have degree at least . This is a well-known sufficient condition for the existence of a Hamilton cycle in G. We give related sufficiency conditions for the existence of a Hamilton cycle or a

Radiation protection enrollments and degrees, 1979 and 1980

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gove, R.M.; Little, J.R.; Shirley, D.L.

1981-07-01

Public concern over the effects of low-level radiation and other aspects of the use of nuclear energy has grown in recent years, and the demand for radiation protection has continued to increase. Radiation Protection Enrollments and Degrees presents the results of the latest survey of institutions offering degree programs in this field. Students obtaining such degrees are vital to the development of industry, medicine, research, power production, construction, and agriculture. These surveys assist state and federal governments in their search for such personnel

1-Colored Archetypal Permutations and Strings of Degree n

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Gheorghe Eduard Tara

2012-10-01

Full Text Available New notions related to permutations are introduced here. We present the string of a 1-colored permutation as a closed planar curve, the fundamental 1-colored permutation as an equivalence class related to the equivalence in strings of the 1-colored permutations. We give formulas for the number of the 1-colored archetypal permutations of degree n. We establish an algorithm to identify the 1- colored archetypal permutations of degree n and we present the atlas of the 1-colored archetypal strings of degree n, n ≤ 7, based on this algorithm.

A randomized trial of the effect of escitalopram versus placebo on cognitive function in healthy first-degree relatives of patients with depression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knorr, Ulla; Vinberg, Maj; Gade, Anders

2011-01-01

The effect of selective serotonin receptor inhibitors (SSRIs) on healthy individuals remains unclear. The aim of the trial was to evaluate the effect of the SSRI escitalopram on cognitive function in healthy first-degree relatives of patients with major depressive disorder (FDRs). A total of 80...... was the standardized mean of 13 test measures. Mean change in the general cognition score was not significantly increased with escitalopram compared with placebo (p = 0.37) or for any of the specific tests. In univariate analyses no statistically significant correlations were found between change in the general...... cognitive score and the variables age, sex, Hamilton depression score 17 items, Danish Adult Reading Test-45, and plasma escitalopram levels, respectively. These results suggest that treatment with escitalopram does not improve or impair cognitive function in FDRs. Improvement in cognitive function...

Examining exposure reciprocity in a resin based composite using high irradiance levels and real-time degree of conversion values.

Science.gov (United States)

Selig, Daniela; Haenel, Thomas; Hausnerová, Berenika; Moeginger, Bernhard; Labrie, Daniel; Sullivan, Braden; Price, Richard B T

2015-05-01

Exposure reciprocity suggests that, as long as the same radiant exposure is delivered, different combinations of irradiance and exposure time will achieve the same degree of resin polymerization. This study examined the validity of exposure reciprocity using real time degree of conversion results from one commercial flowable dental resin. Additionally a new fitting function to describe the polymerization kinetics is proposed. A Plasma Arc Light Curing Unit (LCU) was used to deliver 0.75, 1.2, 1.5, 3.7 or 7.5 W/cm(2) to 2mm thick samples of Tetric EvoFlow (Ivoclar Vivadent). The irradiances and radiant exposures received by the resin were determined using an integrating sphere connected to a fiber-optic spectrometer. The degree of conversion (DC) was recorded at a rate of 8.5 measurements a second at the bottom of the resin using attenuated total reflectance Fourier Transform mid-infrared spectroscopy (FT-MIR). Five specimens were exposed at each irradiance level. The DC reached after 170s and after 5, 10 and 15 J/cm(2) had been delivered was compared using analysis of variance and Fisher's PLSD post hoc multiple comparison tests (alpha=0.05). The same DC values were not reached after the same radiant exposures of 5, 10 and 15 J/cm(2) had been delivered at an irradiance of 3.7 and 7.5 W/cm(2). Thus exposure reciprocity was not supported for Tetric EvoFlow (p<0.05). For Tetric EvoFlow, there was no significant difference in the DC when 5, 10 and 15J/cm(2) were delivered at irradiance levels of 0.75, 1.2 and 1.5 W/cm(2). The optimum combination of irradiance and exposure time for this commercial dental resin may be close to 1.5 W/cm(2) for 12s. Copyright © 2015 Academy of Dental Materials. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Degree of thyrotropin suppression as a prognostic determinant in differentiated thyroid cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Pujol, P; Daures, J P; Nsakala, N; Baldet, L; Bringer, J; Jaffiol, C

1996-12-01

We investigate whether the prognosis of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer is improved by maintaining a greater level of TSH suppression. One hundred and forty-one patients who underwent hormone therapy after thyroidectomy were followed up from 1970 to 1993 (mean, 95 months). Patients received levothyroxine (L-T4; mean dose, 2.6 micrograms/kg-day). TSH suppression was evaluated by TRH stimulation test until 1986 and thereafter by a second generation immunoradiometric assay. As TSH underwent fluctuation over time in most patients, we focused on subgroups of patients with relatively constant TSH levels during the follow-up. The relapse-free survival (RFS) was longer in the group with constantly suppressed TSH (all TSH values, or = 1 mU/L; n = 15; P 90% of undetectable TSH values; n = 19) had a trend toward a longer RFS than the remaining population (n = 102; P = 0.14). The patients with a lesser degree of TSH suppression (< 10% of undetectable TSH values; n = 27) had a shorter RFS than the remaining patients (n = 94; P < 0.01). In multivariate analysis that included TSH suppression, age, sex, histology, and tumor node metastasis stage, the degree of TSH suppression predicted RFS independently of other factors (P = 0.02). This study shows that a lesser degree of TSH suppression is associated with an increased incidence of relapse, supporting the hypothesis that a high level of TSH suppression is required for the endocrine management of thyroid cancer.

Effect of physical training on insulin secretion and action in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue of first-degree relatives of type 2 diabetic patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dela, Flemming; Stallknecht, Bente Merete

2010-01-01

in CON but not in FDR, whereas glucose-mediated GU increased (P groups. Adipose tissue GU was not affected by training, but it was higher (abdominal, P Training increased skeletal muscle lipolysis (P ...- to sevenfold. We conclude that insulin-secretory capacity is lower in FDR than in CON and that there is dissociation between training-induced changes in insulin secretion and insulin-mediated GU. Maximal GU rates are similar between groups and increases with physical training.......Physical training affects insulin secretion and action, but there is a paucity of data on the direct effects in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue and on the effect of training in first-degree relatives (FDR) of patients with type 2 diabetes. We studied insulin action at the whole body level...

Boosting Female Ambition: How College Diversity Impacts Graduate Degree Aspirations of Women. ASHE Annual Meeting Paper.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsui, Lisa

In seeking to expand research on the actual effects of diversity on college students, this study investigated whether various multi-cultural and feminism-related variables at the individual, peer, and institutional levels significantly influenced educational degree ambitions among women. The study used data from the Cooperative Institutional…

SOUND LABOR RELATIONS AT ENTERPRISE LEVEL IN THAILAND

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Vichai Thosuwonchinda

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The objective of this research was to study the pattern of sound labor relations in Thailand in order to reduce conflicts between employers and workers and create cooperation. The research was based on a qualitative approach, using in-depth interview with 10 stakeholder groups of Thai industrial relations system. They were employees of non unionized companies at the shop floor level, employees of non unionized companies at the supervisor level, trade union leaders at the company level, trade union leaders at the national level, employers of non-unionized companies, employers’ organization leaders, and human resource managers, members of tripartite bodies, government officials and labor academics. The findings were presented in a model identifying 5 characteristics that enhance sound relations in Thailand, i.e. recognition between employer and workers, good communication, trust, data revealing and workers’ participation. It was suggested that all parties, employers, workers and the government should take part in the promotion of sound labor relations. The employer have to acknowledge labor union with a positive attitude, have good communication with workers , create trust with workers, disclose information, create culture of mutual benefits as well as accept sincerely the system that include workers’ participation. Workers need a strong labor union, good and sincere representatives for clear communication, trust, mutual benefits and seek conflict solutions with employer by win-win strategy. The government has a supporting role in adjusting the existing laws in the appropriate way, by creating policy for sound labor relations, and putting the idea of sound labor relations into practice.

A theory of biological relativity: no privileged level of causation.

Science.gov (United States)

Noble, Denis

2012-02-06

Must higher level biological processes always be derivable from lower level data and mechanisms, as assumed by the idea that an organism is completely defined by its genome? Or are higher level properties necessarily also causes of lower level behaviour, involving actions and interactions both ways? This article uses modelling of the heart, and its experimental basis, to show that downward causation is necessary and that this form of causation can be represented as the influences of initial and boundary conditions on the solutions of the differential equations used to represent the lower level processes. These insights are then generalized. A priori, there is no privileged level of causation. The relations between this form of 'biological relativity' and forms of relativity in physics are discussed. Biological relativity can be seen as an extension of the relativity principle by avoiding the assumption that there is a privileged scale at which biological functions are determined.

Student Misconceptions in Chemical Equilibrium as Related to Cognitive Level and Achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Wheeler, Alan E.; Kass, Heidi

Reported is an investigation to determine the nature and extent of student misconceptions in chemical equilibrium and to ascertain the degree to which certain misconceptions are related to chemistry achievement and to performance on specific tasks involving cognitive transformations characteristic of the concrete and formal operational stages of…

[Models, methods, clinical contents in the specialized degree in nursing sciences].

Science.gov (United States)

Zannini, Lucia

2003-01-01

The document presented is the result of a consensus conference where nurses involved in teaching, direct care and management discussed with professionals and experts of other disciplines on the role of the clinical teaching at specialistic level. Nursing education in fact recently underwent a re-organization therefore after the degree (first level) there is a second level (Specialistic degree and PhD) first and second level master courses. The main question of the consensus conference was if there is a role and what are the contents of clinical nursing to be taught at specialistic level. A consensus was reached on the importance of not separating the teaching of the methods from the contents of care, to allow the production of new knowledge relevant for patients' care. A nurse with a specialistic degree should be able to plan and implement innovative models of care based on scientific knowledge; to recognise unexpected and rapidly evolving problems; to plan and implement, in collaboration with other professionals, complex educational interventions; study and explore principles and theories of helping relationship. The differences in contents and methods of clinical teaching between master and specialistic degree need to be further discussed and explored.

Altered brain processing of decision-making in healthy first-degree biological relatives of suicide completers.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Y; Pereira, F; Hoehne, A; Beaulieu, M-M; Lepage, M; Turecki, G; Jollant, F

2017-08-01

Suicidal behavior is heritable, with the transmission of risk being related to the transmission of vulnerability traits. Previous studies suggest that risky decision-making may be an endophenotype of suicide. Here, we aimed at investigating brain processing of decision-making in relatives of suicide completers in order to shed light on heritable mechanisms of suicidal vulnerability. Seventeen healthy first-degree biological relatives of suicide completers with no personal history of suicidal behavior, 16 relatives of depressed patients without any personal or family history of suicidal behavior, and 19 healthy controls were recruited. Functional 3 T magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired while participants underwent the Iowa Gambling Task, an economic decision-making test. Whole-brain analyses contrasting activations during risky vs safe choices were conducted with AFNI and FSL. Individuals with a family history of suicide in comparison to control groups showed altered contrasts in left medial orbitofrontal cortex, and right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. This pattern was different from the neural basis of familial depression. Moreover, controls in comparison to relatives showed increased contrast in several regions including the post-central gyrus, posterior cingulate and parietal cortices, and cerebellum (culmen) in familial suicide; and inferior parietal, temporal, occipital, anteromedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, and cerebellum (vermis) in familial depression. These findings most likely represent a complex combination of vulnerability and protective mechanisms in relatives. They also support a significant role for deficient risk processing, and ventral and dorsal prefrontal cortex functioning in the suicidal diathesis.

Transient and steady-state auditory gamma-band responses in first-degree relatives of people with autism spectrum disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rojas Donald C

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Stimulus-related γ-band oscillations, which may be related to perceptual binding, are reduced in people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD. The purpose of this study was to examine auditory transient and steady-state γ-band findings in first-degree relatives of people with ASD to assess the potential familiality of these findings in ASD. Methods Magnetoencephalography (MEG recordings in 21 parents who had a child with an autism spectrum disorder (pASD and 20 healthy adult control subjects (HC were obtained. Gamma-band phase locking factor (PLF, and evoked and induced power to 32, 40 and 48 Hz amplitude-modulated sounds were measured for transient and steady-state responses. Participants were also tested on a number of behavioral and cognitive assessments related to the broad autism phenotype (BAP. Results Reliable group differences were seen primarily for steady-state responses. In the left hemisphere, pASD subjects exhibited lower phase-locked steady-state power in all three conditions. Total γ-band power, including the non-phase-locked component, was also reduced in the pASD group. In addition, pASD subjects had significantly lower PLF than the HC group. Correlations were seen between MEG measures and BAP measures. Conclusions The reduction in steady-state γ-band responses in the pASD group is consistent with previous results for children with ASD. Steady-state responses may be more sensitive than transient responses to phase-locking errors in ASD. Together with the lower PLF and phase-locked power in first-degree relatives, correlations between γ-band measures and behavioral measures relevant to the BAP highlight the potential of γ-band deficits as a potential new autism endophenotype.

Swallow syncope caused by third-degree atrioventricular block

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Roust Aaberg, Anne Marie; Eriksson, Anna Elin; Madsen, Per Lav

2015-01-01

We report a case of a patient with more than 30 years of repeated syncopes, always following food intake. The patient was diagnosed with a swallow-related third-degree atrioventricular block and successfully treated with an artificial pacemaker.......We report a case of a patient with more than 30 years of repeated syncopes, always following food intake. The patient was diagnosed with a swallow-related third-degree atrioventricular block and successfully treated with an artificial pacemaker....

When Graduate Degrees Prostitute the Educational Process: Degrees Gone Wild

Science.gov (United States)

Lumadue, Richard T.

2006-01-01

Graduate degrees prostitute the educational process when they are sold to consumers by unaccredited degree/diploma mills as being equivalent to legitimate, bona-fide degrees awarded by accredited graduate schools. This article carefully analyzes the serious problems of bogus degrees and their association with the religious higher education…

Education evolution: a historical perspective of associate degree nursing.

Science.gov (United States)

Orsolini-Hain, Liana; Waters, Verle

2009-05-01

Exploring the inception and growth of associate degree nursing education informs our understanding of what led to such explosive growth so that most of the nursing workforce is currently educated at the associate degree level. The success of associate degree nursing programs led to many divisive years in nursing education of differentiation of practice debates that were hardly productive. Work world practices and patient needs are creating pressures on community colleges to join forces with universities to increase the percentage of baccalaureate-educated nurses. Associate degree nursing education continues to evolve to meet the demands of a higher educated nursing workforce.

Strategies for Pursuing a Master's Degree.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Cynthia M; McIntosh, Constance E; Mensik, Jennifer S

2016-01-01

Health care has become very complex and is in a constant state of change. As a result of the evolving change and increasing complexity, a more educated nursing workforce is needed (Dracup K. Master's nursing programs. American Association of Colleges of Nursing. 2015; Institute of Medicine. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. 2010). It is now becoming necessary for registered nurses to earn an advanced degree to work at the highest level of their practice authority (Dracup K. Master's nursing programs. American Association of Colleges of Nursing. 2015; Institute of Medicine. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. 2010.). Preparing to reenter college may be an overwhelming prospect for some registered nurses seeking an advanced degree. However, there are some simple strategies that may help sort out the many degree options, financial obligations, decisions about brick and mortar versus online learning, commitment to degree completion, and changing career paths. This article will provide the registered nurse valuable information that will assist in the exciting process of returning to college.

Special Degree Programs for Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Continuing Education for Adults, 1970

1970-01-01

Briefly describes Bachelor of Liberal Studies programs at six colleges and universities, the Master of Liberal Studies program at Boston University, and the Master of Engineering degree at the University of California at Los Angeles, as well as programs being conducted on a graduate level by Arthur D. Little, Inc. for government and industrial…

Biomechanical comparison of force levels in spinal instrumentation using monoaxial versus multi degree of freedom postloading pedicle screws.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiaoyu; Aubin, Carl-Eric; Crandall, Dennis; Labelle, Hubert

2011-01-15

biomechanical analysis and simulations of correction mechanisms and force levels during scoliosis instrumentation using two types of pedicle screws and primary correction maneuvers. to biomechanically analyze implant-vertebra and inter-vertebral forces during scoliosis correction, to address the hypothesis that multi degree of freedom (MDOF) postloading screws with a direct incremental segmental translation (DIST) correction technique significantly reduce the loads as compared with monoaxial (MA) tulip-top design screws with a rod derotation technique (RDT). MA screw is widely used for spinal instrumentation. The MDOF screw was introduced as a refinement of the correction philosophy based on multiaxial screws. The kinematics of the MDOF construct is fundamentally different and offers more degrees of freedom than that of the MA construct; however, a systematic comparison of their biomechanics has not been done so far. a biomechanical model was developed to simulate the instrumentation of six scoliotic patients, first with the MDOF screws and DIST. Then, the instrumentation with MA screws and RDT was simulated using the same cases. Thirty more simulations were done to study the force-level sensitivity to small implant placement variation. there was a small average difference of 7°, 5°, and 4° between the two simulated systems for the computed main thoracic Cobb angle, kyphosis, and apical axial rotation, respectively. On average, the mean, standard deviation (SD), and maximum values of the implant-vertebra forces for MDOF screws were 56%, 59%, and 59%, respectively, lower than those for the MA screws, while the intervertebral forces for the MDOF screws were 31%, 37%, and 36% lower, respectively. Under the same set of random small implant placement changes, the mean, SD, and maximum values of implant-vertebra force magnitude changes for MDOF screws were 93%, 92%, and 95%, respectively, lower than those for MA screws. with MDOF screws and DIST, it is possible for

Maintaining quality control in a nontraditional nuclear technology degree program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DeSain, G.W.

1989-01-01

Regents College, created by the Board of Regents of the University of The State on New York in 1971, has been offering, since January 1985, AS and BS degrees in nuclear technology. The impetus for establishing the nuclear technology degrees came from nuclear utility management and had to do with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission proposed rule regarding degreed operators on shift. There are a variety of ways to earn credits in Regents College degree programs: (1) college courses taken for degree-level credit from regionally accredited colleges; (2) courses sponsored by business, industry, or government that have been evaluated and recommended for credit by the New York National or American Council on Education (ACE's) Program on Noncollegiate Sponsored Instruction (PONSI); (3) military education that has been evaluated by ACE PONSI; (4) approved college-proficiency examinations; and (5) special assessment: an individualized examination of college-level knowledge gained from experience or independent study. Nuclear technology students primarily use college course work, evaluated military education, and proficiency examinations to complete degree programs. However, an increasing number of utilities are having training programs PONSI evaluated, resulting in an increased use of these courses in the nuclear technology degrees. Quality control is a function of several factors described in the paper

An Examination of How Academic Advancement of U.S. Journalism Students Relates to Their Degree Motivations, Values, and Technology Use

Science.gov (United States)

Carpenter, Serena; Hoag, Anne; Grant, August E.; Bowe, Brian J.

2015-01-01

The newsroom is a powerful influence in a journalist's identity formation. Research has yet to verify the socializing impact of academia. This research utilized the quantitative survey method applying it to undergraduate journalism students (n = 798) to assess how academic status relates to students' degree motivations, life values, and technology…

Impact of physical inactivity on adipose tissue low-grade inflammation in first-degree relatives of type 2 diabetic patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Højbjerre, Lise; Sonne, Mette Paulli; Alibegovic, Amra Ciric

2011-01-01

First-degree relatives (FDRs) of patients with type 2 diabetes may exhibit a disproportionately elevated risk of developing insulin resistance, obesity, and type 2 diabetes when exposed to physical inactivity, which to some unknown extent may involve low-grade inflammation. We investigated whether...... subjects who are nonobese FDRs show signs of low-grade inflammation before or after exposure to short-term physical inactivity....

Inter-level relations in computer science, biology, and psychology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boogerd, Fred; Bruggeman, Frank; Jonker, Catholijn; Looren de Jong, Huib; Tamminga, Allard; Treur, Jan; Westerhoff, Hans; Wijngaards, Wouter

2002-01-01

Investigations into inter-level relations in computer science, biology and psychology call for an *empirical* turn in the philosophy of mind. Rather than concentrate on *a priori* discussions of inter-level relations between “completed” sciences, a case is made for the actual study of the way

Inter-level relations in computer science, biology, and psychology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boogerd, F.; Bruggeman, F.; Jonker, C.M.; Looren de Jong, H.; Tamminga, A.; Treur, J.; Westerhoff, H.V.; Wijngaards, W.C.A.

2002-01-01

Investigations into inter-level relations in computer science, biology and psychology call for an empirical turn in the philosophy of mind. Rather than concentrate on a priori discussions of inter-level relations between 'completed' sciences, a case is made for the actual study of the way

Inter-level relations in computer science, biology and psychology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boogerd, F.C.; Bruggeman, F.J.; Jonker, C.M.; Looren De Jong, H.; Tamminga, A.M.; Treur, J.; Westerhoff, H.V.; Wijngaards, W.C.A.

2002-01-01

Investigations into inter-level relations in computer science, biology and psychology call for an empirical turn in the philosophy of mind. Rather than concentrate on a priori discussions of inter-level relations between "completed" sciences, a case is made for the actual study of the way

Linear analysis of degree correlations in complex networks

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2016-11-02

Nov 2, 2016 ... 4College of Science, Qi Lu University of Technology, Jinan 250353, Shandong, China ... cal methods used usually to describe the degree correlation in the ... Most social networks show assorta- .... a clear but only qualitative description of the degree ... is difficult to give quantitative relation between DCC.

Second-degree discrete Painleve equations conceal first-degree ones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramani, A; Grammaticos, B; Joshi, N

2010-01-01

We examine various second-degree difference equations which have been proposed over the years and according to their authors' claims should be integrable. This study is motivated by the fact that we consider that second-degree discrete systems cannot be integrable due to the proliferation of the images (and pre-images) of the initial point. We show that in the present cases no contradiction exists. In all cases examined, we show that there exists an underlying integrable first-degree mapping which allows us to obtain an appropriate solution of the second-degree one.

Differences in gluten metabolism among healthy volunteers, coeliac disease patients and first-degree relatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Caminero, Alberto; Nistal, Esther; Herrán, Alexandra R; Pérez-Andrés, Jénifer; Ferrero, Miguel A; Vaquero Ayala, Luis; Vivas, Santiago; Ruiz de Morales, José M G; Albillos, Silvia M; Casqueiro, Francisco Javier

2015-10-28

Coeliac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated enteropathy resulting from exposure to gluten in genetically predisposed individuals. Gluten proteins are partially digested by human proteases generating immunogenic peptides that cause inflammation in patients carrying HLA-DQ2 and DQ8 genes. Although intestinal dysbiosis has been associated with patients with CD, bacterial metabolism of gluten has not been studied in depth thus far. The aim of this study was to analyse the metabolic activity of intestinal bacteria associated with gluten intake in healthy individuals, CD patients and first-degree relatives of CD patients. Faecal samples belonging to twenty-two untreated CD patients, twenty treated CD patients, sixteen healthy volunteers on normal diet, eleven healthy volunteers on gluten-free diet (GFD), seventy-one relatives of CD patients on normal diet and sixty-nine relatives on GFD were tested for several proteolytic activities, cultivable bacteria involved in gluten metabolism, SCFA and the amount of gluten in faeces. We detected faecal peptidasic activity against the gluten-derived peptide 33-mer. CD patients showed differences in faecal glutenasic activity (FGA), faecal tryptic activity (FTA), SCFA and faecal gluten content with respect to healthy volunteers. Alterations in specific bacterial groups metabolising gluten such as Clostridium or Lactobacillus were reported in CD patients. Relatives showed similar parameters to CD patients (SCFA) and healthy volunteers (FTA and FGA). Our data support the fact that commensal microbial activity is an important factor in the metabolism of gluten proteins and that this activity is altered in CD patients.

Ebola-related stigma in Ghana: Individual and community level determinants.

Science.gov (United States)

Tenkorang, Eric Y

2017-06-01

Although Ebola-related stigmatization continues to undermine efforts to re-integrate survivors, few studies have examined what influences such stigmatizing attitudes. This paper explores the effects of both individual- and community-level factors on Ebola-related stigma in Ghana. Data were collected from a cross-section of 800 respondents, nested within 40 communities in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Multi-level modelling was employed for analysis. Both individual- and community-level factors were significant determinants of stigma. Respondents who endorsed myths about Ebola were significantly more likely to also endorse Ebola-related stigma. Similarly, those who were worried about a potential outbreak of Ebola in the future, had moderate risk perceptions of contracting Ebola, had primary and secondary education, and were not confident of the quality of health care in the event of an outbreak, were more likely to endorse Ebola-related stigma. Knowledge of Ebola was significant at the community level, but not at the individual level. Communities with more knowledge were less likely to endorse Ebola-related stigma. These findings underscore the need to increase the knowledge base while countering myths that undermine preventive behaviours to fight Ebola-related stigma. It is equally important to adopt multi-level interventions that emphasize community-based strategies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Responsibility among bachelor degree nursing students: A concept analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghasemi, Saeed; Ahmadi, Fazlollah; Kazemnejad, Anoshirvan

2018-01-01

Responsibility is an important component of the professional values and core competencies for bachelor degree nursing students and has relationships with nursing education and professionalization. It is important for providing safe and high-quality care to the clients for the present and future performance of student. But there is no clear and operational definition of this concept for bachelor degree nursing students; however, there are extensive contents and debates about the definitions, attributes, domains and boundaries of responsibility in nursing and non-nursing literature. To examine the concept of responsibility among bachelor degree nursing students using the evolutionary approach to concept analysis. A total of 75 articles published between 1990 and 2016 and related to the concept of responsibility were selected from seven databases and considered for concept analysis based on Rogers' evolutionary approach. Ethical considerations: Throughout all stages of data collection, analysis and reporting, accuracy and bailment were respected. Responsibility is a procedural, spectral, dynamic and complex concept. The attributes of the concept are smart thinking, appropriate managerial behaviours, appropriate communicational behaviours, situational self-mandatory and task-orientation behaviours. Personal, educational and professional factors lead to the emergence of the responsible behaviours among bachelor degree nursing students. The emergence of such behaviours facilitates the learning and education process, ensures nursing profession life and promotes clients and community health level. Responsibility has some effects on nursing students. This concept had been changed over time since 1990-2016. There are similarities and differences in the elements of this concept in disciplines of nursing and other educational disciplines. Conclusion The analysis of this concept can help to develop educational or managerial theories, design instruments for better identification

Duration and setting of rural immersion during the medical degree relates to rural work outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Sullivan, Belinda; McGrail, Matthew; Russell, Deborah; Walker, Judi; Chambers, Helen; Major, Laura; Langham, Robyn

2018-04-19

Providing year-long rural immersion as part of the medical degree is commonly used to increase the number of doctors with an interest in rural practice. However, the optimal duration and setting of immersion has not been fully established. This paper explores associations between various durations and settings of rural immersion during the medical degree and whether doctors work in rural areas after graduation. Eligible participants were medical graduates of Monash University between 2008 and 2016 in postgraduate years 1-9, whose characteristics, rural immersion information and work location had been prospectively collected. Separate multiple logistic regression and multinomial logit regression models tested associations between the duration and setting of any rural immersion they did during the medical degree and (i) working in a rural area and (ii) working in large or smaller rural towns, in 2017. The adjusted odds of working in a rural area were significantly increased if students were immersed for one full year (odds ratio [OR], 1.79; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15-2.79), for between 1 and 2 years (OR, 2.26; 95% CI, 1.54-3.32) and for 2 or more years (OR, 4.43; 95% CI, 3.03-6.47) relative to no rural immersion. The strongest association was for immersion in a mix of both regional hospitals and rural general practice (OR, 3.26; 95% CI, 2.31-4.61), followed by immersion in regional hospitals only (OR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.39-2.70) and rural general practice only (OR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.06-3.45). More than 1 year's immersion in a mix of regional hospitals and rural general practices was associated with working in smaller regional or rural towns (immersion programmes. Longer rural immersion and immersion in both regional hospitals and rural general practices are likely to increase rural work and rural distribution of early career doctors. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.

[Correlation coefficient-based principle and method for the classification of jump degree in hydrological time series].

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Zi Yi; Xie, Ping; Sang, Yan Fang; Gu, Hai Ting

2018-04-01

The phenomenon of jump is one of the importantly external forms of hydrological variabi-lity under environmental changes, representing the adaption of hydrological nonlinear systems to the influence of external disturbances. Presently, the related studies mainly focus on the methods for identifying the jump positions and jump times in hydrological time series. In contrast, few studies have focused on the quantitative description and classification of jump degree in hydrological time series, which make it difficult to understand the environmental changes and evaluate its potential impacts. Here, we proposed a theatrically reliable and easy-to-apply method for the classification of jump degree in hydrological time series, using the correlation coefficient as a basic index. The statistical tests verified the accuracy, reasonability, and applicability of this method. The relationship between the correlation coefficient and the jump degree of series were described using mathematical equation by derivation. After that, several thresholds of correlation coefficients under different statistical significance levels were chosen, based on which the jump degree could be classified into five levels: no, weak, moderate, strong and very strong. Finally, our method was applied to five diffe-rent observed hydrological time series, with diverse geographic and hydrological conditions in China. The results of the classification of jump degrees in those series were closely accorded with their physically hydrological mechanisms, indicating the practicability of our method.

Processing different degrees of logo change When higher levels of brand consciousness decrease openness to substantial logo changes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Grinsven, B.; Das, E.

2015-01-01

Purpose – This paper aims to develop an experimental paradigm to assess effects of degrees of logo change on logo processing speed to provide rigid tests of the effects of objectified degrees of logo changes and to understand how degrees of logo change interact with consumer and market conditions.

[Public health competencies and contents in Spanish university degree programs of physical therapy, occupational therapy, environmental science, dentistry and veterinary science].

Science.gov (United States)

Davó-Blanes, M Carmen; Vives-Cases, Carmen; Alvarez-Dardet, Carlos; Segura-Benedicto A, Andreu; Bosch Llonch, Fèlix; G Benavides, Fernando

2014-01-01

To identify the basic competencies and contents related to public health to be included in degree programs according to the perspective of lecturers from various Spanish universities. In the context of the Second Workshop on Public Health Contents in Degree Programs (Mahon, 19 to 20 September 2012), 20 lecturers from different Spanish universities were distributed in five working groups. The lecturers had been selected from the instructional guides on public health and epidemiology published on the web sites of the Rectors' Conference of Spanish Universities. Each group worked on a degree program and the results were discussed in plenary sessions. The activities and competencies related to the three basic functions of public health were identified in all degree programs. Most of the professional competencies identified were related to the function of «assessment of population health needs». The contents proposed by the working groups related to epidemiology, basic concepts in public health, public health intervention, health management, and health policy. The main common topics among the degrees concerned the first three contents. Public health professional competencies and contents were identified in the degree programs examined. These results may serve as a starting point for a more detailed review of public health programs across degree levels and the search for a consensus on the common content that should be included in each of them. Copyright © 2013 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

The physical gravitational degrees of freedom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, E; Barbour, J; Foster, B Z; Kelleher, B; Murchadha, N O

2005-01-01

When constructing general relativity (GR), Einstein required 4D general covariance. In contrast, we derive GR (in the compact, without boundary case) as a theory of evolving three-dimensional conformal Riemannian geometries obtained by imposing two general principles: (1) time is derived from change; (2) motion and size are relative. We write down an explicit action based on them. We obtain not only GR in the CMC gauge, in its Hamiltonian 3 + 1 reformulation, but also all the equations used in York's conformal technique for solving the initial-value problem. This shows that the independent gravitational degrees of freedom obtained by York do not arise from a gauge fixing but from hitherto unrecognized fundamental symmetry principles. They can therefore be identified as the long-sought Hamiltonian physical gravitational degrees of freedom

Family history of colorectal cancer in first-degree relatives and metachronous colorectal adenoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobs, Elizabeth T; Gupta, Samir; Baron, John A; Cross, Amanda J; Lieberman, David A; Murphy, Gwen; Martínez, María Elena

2018-02-20

Little is known about the relationship between having a first-degree relative (FDR) with colorectal cancer (CRC) and risk for metachronous colorectal adenoma (CRA) following polypectomy. We pooled data from seven prospective studies of 7697 patients with previously resected CRAs to quantify the relationship between having a FDR with CRC and risk for metachronous adenoma. Compared with having no family history of CRC, a positive family history in any FDR was significantly associated with increased odds of developing any metachronous CRA (OR = 1.14; 95% CI = 1.01-1.29). Higher odds of CRA were observed among individuals with an affected mother (OR = 1.27; 95% CI = 1.05-1.53) or sibling (OR = 1.34; 95% CI = 1.11-1.62) as compared with those without, whereas no association was shown for individuals with an affected father. Odds of having a metachronous CRA increased with number of affected FDRs, with ORs (95% CIs) of 1.07 (0.93-1.23) for one relative and 1.39 (1.02-1.91) for two or more. Younger age of diagnosis of a sibling was associated with higher odds of metachronous CRA, with ORs (95% CIs) of 1.66 (1.08-2.56) for diagnosis at 65 years (p-trend = 0.008). Although limited by sample size, results for advanced metachronous CRA were similar to those for any metachronous CRA. A family history of CRC is related to a modestly increased odds of metachronous CRA. Future research should explore whether having a FDR with CRC, particularly at a young age, should have a role in risk stratification for surveillance colonoscopy.

Relative Sea Level, Tidal Range, and Extreme Water Levels in Boston Harbor from 1825 to 2016

Science.gov (United States)

Talke, S. A.; Kemp, A.; Woodruff, J. D.

2017-12-01

Long time series of water-level measurements made by tide gauges provide a rich and valuable observational history of relative sea-level change, the frequency and height of extreme water levels and evolving tidal regimes. However, relatively few locations have available tide-gauge records longer than 100 years and most of these places are in northern Europe. This spatio-temporal distribution hinders efforts to understand global-, regional- and local-scale trends. Using newly-discovered archival measurements, we constructed a 200 year, instrumental record of water levels, tides, and storm surges in Boston Harbor. We detail the recovery, datum reconstruction, digitization, quality assurance, and analysis of this extended observational record. Local, decadally-averaged relative sea-level rose by 0.28 ± 0.05 m since the 1820s, with an acceleration of 0.023 ±0.009 mm/yr2. Approximately 0.13 ± 0.02 m of the observed RSL rise occurred due to ongoing glacial isostatic adjustment, and the remainder occurred due to changes in ocean mass and volume associated with the onset of modern mean sea-level rise. Change-point analysis of the new relative sea level record confirms that anthropogenic rise began in 1924-1932, which is in agreement with global mean sea level estimates from the global tide gauge network. Tide range decreased by 5.5% between 1830 and 1910, likely due in large part to anthropogenic development. Storm tides in Boston Harbor are produced primarily by extratropical storms during the November-April time frame. The three largest storm tides occurred in 1851, 1909, and 1978. Because 90% of the top 20 storm tides since 1825 occurred during a spring tide, the secular change in tide range contributes to a slight reduction in storm tide magnitudes. However, non-stationarity in storm hazard was historically driven primarily by local relative sea-level rise; a modest 0.2 m increase in relative sea level reduces the 100 year high water mark to a once-in-10 year event.

Avaliação antropométrica e metabólica de parentes de primeiro grau do sexo masculino de mulheres com síndrome do ovário policístico Anthropometric and metabolic evaluation of first-degree male relatives of women with polycystic ovary syndrome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karina Schiavoni Scandelai Cardoso dos Reis

2010-07-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: avaliar as características clínicas e laboratoriais de parentes de primeiro grau do sexo masculino de pacientes com diagnóstico confirmado de síndrome de ovários policísticos (SOP e comparar os achados com um grupo controle sem história familiar de SOP. MÉTODOS: foram selecionados aleatoriamente 28 homens com idade entre 18 e 65 anos que possuíam parentesco de primeiro grau com mulheres diagnosticadas com SOP e 28 controles pareados por idade, cintura e índice de massa corporal (IMC. RESULTADOS: homens com parentesco de 1º grau com mulheres com SOP comparados ao Grupo Controle apresentaram níveis mais elevados de triglicerídeos (189,6±103,1 versus 99,4±37,1; pPURPOSE: to evaluate clinical and laboratory characteristics of first-degree male relatives of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS and to compare the findings with a control group with no family history of PCOS. METHODS: we randomly selected 28 male individuals aged 18 to 65 years who were first-degree relatives of women diagnosed with PCOS and 28 controls matched for age, waist and body mass index (BMI. RESULTS: men with 1st degree kinship with women with PCOS had higher levels of triglycerides (189.6±103.1 versus 99.4±37.1, p<0.0001, Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA-IR (3.5±9.1 versus 1.0±1.0, p=0.0077 and glucose (130.1±81.7 versus 89.5±7.8, p=0.005, and lower levels of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG (23.8±13.8 versus 31.1±9.1, p=0.003. SHBG levels correlated independently with triglyceride levels. These individuals also had more clinical signs of hyperandrogenism. CONCLUSIONS: male individuals who are first-degree relatives of patients with PCOS have a higher degree of dyslipidemia and insulin resistance, lower levels of SHBG, and more evident clinical signs of hyperandrogenism. These findings suggest that insulin resistance may be of hereditary origin in individuals with a family history of PCOS regardless of

[Degree of dry mouth and factors influencing oral health-related quality of life for community-dwelling elders].

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Myung Sook; Ryu, Se Ang

2010-10-01

This study was conducted to investigate the degree of dry mouth and oral health-related quality of life and to identify factors contributing to oral health-related quality of life for community-dwelling elders. A descriptive correlational study design was used. Participants were 156 older adults from two senior welfare centers. Data were collected on February 21, 22 and 29, 30, 2009 using structured questionnaires. Enter type multiple regression analysis was used to identify factors influencing oral health-related quality of life according to general and oral health characteristics. There were significant differences in oral health-related quality of life according to living arrangement, insurance, smoking, number of natural teeth, and denture type. The oral health-related quality of life had significant correlations with the number of chronic disease, number of medications, and dry mouth. Factors influencing oral health-related quality of life for community-dwelling older adults were dry mouth, number of chronic disease, and medical aid, which explained about 47.9% of total variance. These results indicate that in order to promote oral health-related quality of life for older adults, prevention or management of chronic diseases as well as oral health and dry mouth are needed for this population, and especially economically poor elders.

Colloids related to low level and intermediate level waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramsay, J.D.F.; Russell, P.J.; Avery, R.G.

1991-01-01

A comprehensive research investigation has been undertaken to improve the understanding of the potential role of colloids in the context of disposal and storage of low level and intermediate level waste immobilized in cement. Several topics have been investigated which include: (a) the study of the formation and characteristics of colloids in cement leachates; (b) the effects of the near-field aqueous chemistry on the characteristics of colloids in repository environments; (c) colloid sorption behaviour; (d) interactions of near-field materials with leachates; (e) characteristics of near-field materials in EC repository simulation tests; and (f) colloid migration behaviour. These experimental investigations should provide data and a basis for the development of transport models and leaching mechanisms, and thus relate directly to the part of the Task 3 programme concerned with migration and retention of radionuclides in the near field. 114 Figs.; 39 Tabs.; 12 Refs

Relation of the Vector Force Needed to Lift the Upper Eyelids and the Degree of Exophthalmos.

Science.gov (United States)

Hwang, Kun; Kim, Joo Ho; Kim, Hun; Hwang, Se Won

2015-07-01

The aim of this study was to determine the relation of the vector force needed to lift the upper eyelids and the degree of exophthalmos (EX). In the 109 magnetic resonance imaging films, the degree of EX (the shortest distance from the cornea to the line connecting both lateral orbital rims), the anterior angle (θ, an angle formed from the lower margin of the upper eyelid-superior transverse ligament (STL)--with a parallel line connecting the supraorbital rim and the infraorbital rim in the sagittal film), the length from the STL to the upper eyelid margin (levator length [LL]), the thickness of the STL (WT), and the thickness the of levator palpebrae (LT) were measured.The average EX was 14.5 ± 2.35  mm. The average θ was 33.84 ± 2.15 degrees. The vector force needed to lift the upper eyelids (cos θ) was 0.83. The average LL was 21.0 ± 1.54  mm. The average WT was 1.07 ± 0.22  mm. The average LT was 1.69 ± 0.30  mm. There was a significant positive relationship between the EX and age (P = 0.022). The EX in those younger than 20 years (12.8 ± 2.06) was significantly lesser than that of the other age groups. There was no significant relationship between the EX and cos θ. However, there was a significant positive relationship between the EX and the LL. There was a significant positive relationship between LL and LT, and between LL and WT.The farther the eyeball protrudes, the longer the LL is needed. The longer the LL is, the thicker the levator muscle and STL.

Excess breast cancer risk in first degree relatives of CHEK2∗1100delC positive familial breast cancer cases

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Adank, Muriel A.; Verhoef, Senno; Oldenburg, Rogier A.; Schmidt, Marjanka K.; Hooning, Maartje J.; Martens, John W. M.; Broeks, Annegien; Rookus, Matti; Waisfisz, Quinten; Witte, Birgit I.; Jonker, Marianne A.; Meijers-Heijboer, Hanne

2013-01-01

The CHEK2∗1100delC mutation confers a relative risk of two for breast cancer (BC) in the general population. This study aims to explore the excess cancer risk due to the CHEK2∗1100delC mutation within a familial non-BRCA1/2 breast cancer setting. Cancer incidences were compared between first degree

Reflux and Belching After 270 Degree Versus 360 Degree Laparoscopic Posterior Fundoplication

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Broeders, Joris A.; Bredenoord, Albert J.; Hazebroek, Eric J.; Broeders, Ivo A.; Gooszen, Hein G.; Smout, André J.

2012-01-01

Objective: To investigate differences in effects of 270 degrees (270 degrees LPF) and 360 degrees laparoscopic posterior fundoplication (360 degrees LPF) on reflux characteristics and belching. Background: Three hundred sixty degrees LPF greatly reduces the ability of the stomach to vent ingested

College Teaching as a Profession: The Doctor of Arts Degree.

Science.gov (United States)

Dressel, Paul L.

The history of the Doctor of Arts (D.A.) degree and issues related to its development are briefly traced, and D.A. programs presently available and the success of degree recipients are addressed. Attention is also directed to other types of degree programs that are available, including their advantages and disadvantages, factors involved in…

TNF-Alpha Levels in Tears: A Novel Biomarker to Assess the Degree of Diabetic Retinopathy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Costagliola

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We assess the level of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha in tear fluids and other serum parameters associated with diabetes in different degrees of diabetic retinopathy. We have performed a prospective, nonrandomized, observational study. Study population consisted of 16 healthy subjects (controls and 32 type 2 diabetic patients: 16 affected by proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR and 16 with nonproliferative retinopathy (NDPR, background/preproliferative. Body mass index, urinary albumin, blood glucose, HbA1c, and tear levels of TNF-alpha were measured in all subjects. The value of glycaemia, microalbuminurea, and Body mass index in diabetic retinopathy groups were higher than those in control group (. Glycemia in NPDR: 6.6 mmol/L (range: 5.8–6.3; in PDR: 6.7 mmol/L (range: 6.1–7.2; in control: 5.7 mmol/L (range: 4.9–6.1; microalbuminurea in NPDR: 10.6 mg/L (range: 5.6–20; in PDR: 25.2 mg/L (range: 17–40; in control: 5.3 mg/L (range: 2.6–10; Body mass index in NPDR: 26 Kg/m2 (range: 20.3–40; in PDR: 28 Kg/m2 (range 20.3–52; in control: 21 Kg/m2 (range 19–26. The TNF-alpha concentrations in tears increase with the severity of pathology and were lower in control group than in diabetic subjects. In the end, the level of TNF-alpha is highly correlated with severity of diabetic retinopathy and with nephropathy. Tear fluid collection may be a useful noninvasive method for the detection of proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

Women Engineers: Factors and Obstacles Related to the Pursuit of a Degree in Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Wentling, Rose Mary; Camacho, Cristina

Research on women in engineering confirms the presence of gender barriers that affect the recruitment and retention of women in engineering. These barriers stop some women from choosing engineering as a field of study, and impede some women from completing a degree in engineering. However, there are some young female students who complete their engineering education despite the presence of obstacles throughout their college years. This study addressed the factors that have hindered, motivated, and assisted women who graduated with a degree in engineering. By studying and understanding the barriers that hinder women in deciding to pursue and in completing a degree in engineering, as well as the factors that assist and encourage them, we can learn how to break down the barriers and how to facilitate the educational journey of female engineering students. This study provides valuable insights and created a framework from which high schools, universities, researchers, and female students can directly benefit.

Attentional network task in schizophrenic patients and theirs unaffected first degree relatives: a potential endofenotype.

Science.gov (United States)

López, S Guerra; Fuster, J Iglesias; Reyes, M Martín; Collazo, T M Bravo; Quiñones, R Mendoza; Berazain, A Reyes; Rodríguez, M A Pedroso; Días de Villarvilla, T; Bobés, M Antonieta; Valdés-Sosa, M

2011-01-01

In recent years, reports of attentional deficits in schizophrenic patients and in their biological relatives have rapidly increased, including an important effort to search for the endophenotypes in order to link specific genes to this illness. Posner et al. developed a test, the Attention Network Test (ANT), to study the neural networks. This test provides a separate measure for each one of the three anatomically-defined attention networks (alerting, orienting and executive control). In this paper, we investigate the attentional performance in 32 schizophrenic patients, 29 unaffected first degree relatives and 29 healthy controls using the ANT through a study of family association. We have studied the efficiency of the segregated executive control, alerting and orienting networks by measuring how response latencies (reaction time) were modified by the cue position and the flanking stimuli. We also studied the familial association of these attentional alterations. The ANOVA revealed main effects of flanker and cue condition and a significant interaction effect between flanker and groups studied. The schizophrenic patients and their relatives had a longer median reaction time than the control group. The probands and their relatives significantly differed from the healthy controls in terms of their conflict resolution; however, the alerting network appeared to be conserved. Our results support the thesis of a specific attentional deficit in schizophrenia and show the segregation of the three attentional networks. The family association of these reported alterations supports the idea of a potential endophenotype in schizophrenia.

Relatives' level of satisfaction with advanced cancer care in Greenland

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Augustussen, Mikaela; Hounsgaard, Lise; Pedersen, Michael Lynge

2017-01-01

Palliative cancer care in Greenland is provided by health professionals at local level, the national Queen Ingrid's Hospital and at Rigshospitalet in Denmark. To improve and develop care for relatives of patients with advanced cancer, we conducted a mixed method study examining relatives' level...... of satisfaction with care and treatment and their current main concerns. The aim was to investigate relatives' level of satisfaction with advanced cancer care and bring to light their current main concerns. The FAMCARE-20 questionnaire was translated to Greenlandic and pilot tested. The questionnaire...... (66%) and relatives were the most dissatisfied with the lack of inclusion in decision making related to treatment and care (71%) and the length of time required to diagnose cancer (70%). Responses to the open-ended questions revealed that relatives faced challenges in gaining access to information...

Evaluation of yield and water-level relations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cushman, R.L.; Purtymun, W.D.

1975-10-01

Yield and water relations in the Los Alamos supply wells were evaluated because of the increasing demand for water. Water-level declines were extrapolated for 10 yr, to 1983, on the basis of past records. On the basis of current pumpage, the extrapolations indicate that nonpumping water levels in individual wells will decline from 10 to 30 ft. Well characteristics were compiled to provide an individual history of each well, and recommendations for improving water production are presented

Cognitive alexithymia is associated with the degree of risk for psychosis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jorien van der Velde

Full Text Available Alexithymia is a personality construct denoting emotion processing problems. It has been suggested to encompass two dimensions: a cognitive and affective dimension. The cognitive dimension is characterized by difficulties in identifying, verbalizing and analyzing emotions, while the affective dimension reflects the level of emotional arousal and imagination. Alexithymia has been previously proposed as a risk factor for developing psychosis. More specifically, the two alexithymia dimensions might be differentially related to the vulnerability for psychosis. Therefore, we examined the two dimensions of alexithymia, measured with the BVAQ in 94 siblings of patients with schizophrenia, 52 subjects at ultra-high risk (UHR for developing psychosis, 38 patients with schizophrenia and 109 healthy controls. The results revealed that siblings and patients had higher levels of cognitive alexithymia compared to controls. In addition, subjects at UHR for psychosis had even higher levels of cognitive alexithymia compared to the siblings. The levels of affective alexithymia in siblings and patients were equal to controls. However, UHR individuals had significantly lower levels of affective alexithymia (i.e. higher levels of emotional arousal and fantasizing compared to controls. Alexithymia was further related to subclinical levels of negative and depressive symptoms. These findings indicate that alexithymia varies parametrically with the degree of risk for psychosis. More specifically, a type-II alexithymia pattern, with high levels of cognitive alexithymia and normal or low levels of affective alexithymia, might be a vulnerability factor for psychosis.

Do 360-degree feedback survey results relate to patient satisfaction measures?

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Hageman, Michiel G J S; Ring, David C; Gregory, Paul J; Rubash, Harry E; Harmon, Larry

2015-05-01

There is evidence that feedback from 360-degree surveys-combined with coaching-can improve physician team performance and quality of patient care. The Physicians Universal Leadership-Teamwork Skills Education (PULSE) 360 is one such survey tool that is used to assess work colleagues' and coworkers' perceptions of a physician's leadership, teamwork, and clinical practice style. The Clinician & Group-Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and System (CG-CAHPS), developed by the US Department of Health and Human Services to serve as the benchmark for quality health care, is a survey tool for patients to provide feedback that is based on their recent experiences with staff and clinicians and soon will be tied to Medicare-based compensation of participating physicians. Prior research has indicated that patients and coworkers often agree in their assessment of physicians' behavioral patterns. The goal of the current study was to determine whether 360-degree, also called multisource, feedback provided by coworkers could predict patient satisfaction/experience ratings. A significant relationship between these two forms of feedback could enable physicians to take a more proactive approach to reinforce their strengths and identify any improvement opportunities in their patient interactions by reviewing feedback from team members. An automated 360-degree software process may be a faster, simpler, and less resource-intensive approach than telephoning and interviewing patients for survey responses, and it potentially could facilitate a more rapid credentialing or quality improvement process leading to greater fiscal and professional development gains for physicians. Our primary research question was to determine if PULSE 360 coworkers' ratings correlate with CG-CAHPS patients' ratings of overall satisfaction, recommendation of the physician, surgeon respect, and clarity of the surgeon's explanation. Our secondary research questions were to determine whether CG-CAHPS scores

Models, controls, and levels of semiotic autonomy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joslyn, C.

1998-12-01

In this paper the authors consider forms of autonomy, forms of semiotic systems, and any necessary relations among them. Levels of autonomy are identified as levels of system identity, from adiabatic closure to disintegration. Forms of autonomy or closure in systems are also recognized, including physical, dynamical, functional, and semiotic. Models and controls are canonical linear and circular (closed) semiotic relations respectively. They conclude that only at higher levels of autonomy do semiotic properties become necessary. In particular, all control systems display at least a minimal degree of semiotic autonomy; and all systems with sufficiently interesting functional autonomy are semiotically related to their environments.

The Devil in the Detail: Contradictory National Requirements and Bologna Master Degrees

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Sin, Cristina

2013-01-01

This article compares the national-level requirements for master degree provision in England, Denmark and Portugal following the implementation of the Bologna Process, and ponders upon the reconcilability of these requirements in cross-national initiatives (e.g. joint degrees). In all three countries, master degrees have to comply with the…

Relative Price Levels and Current Accounts: An Exploration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joshua Aizenman

2008-12-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the links between current accounts and relative price levels, finding that current account changes are associated with sizable future relative price levels effects. This is done in panel regressions of the Penn effect, adding a lagged current account/GDP and other explanatory variables. Higher GDP/ capita and a greater export share of manufacturing tend to mitigate the real exchange rate impact of lagged current accounts. Active management of current accounts may provide a powerful adjustment channel, mitigating the real exchange rate effects of volatile terms of trade, and may explain the growing proliferation of Sovereign Wealth Funds.

The use of comet assay to assess DNA integrity of boar spermatozoa following liquid preservation at 5 degrees C and 16 degrees C.

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J Strzezek

2004-03-01

Full Text Available The comet assay, under neutral conditions, allows the assessment of DNA integrity influenced by sperm ageing, which is manifested in DNA double-strand breaks. Here, we attempted to use a modified neutral comet assay test (single-cell gel electrophoresis, to our knowledge for the first time, to assess DNA integrity of boar spermatozoa during liquid storage for 96 h at 5 degrees C and 16 degrees C. In this comet assay protocol we used 2% beta-mercaptoethanol prior to the lysis procedure, to aid in removing nuclear proteins. Ejaculates from 3 boars (designated A, C and G were diluted with a standard semen extender, Kortowo-3 (K-3, which was supplemented with lipoprotein fractions extracted from hen egg yolk (LPFh or ostrich egg yolk (LPFo. Irrespective of the extender type, the percentage of comet-detected spermatozoa with damaged DNA increased gradually during prolonged storage at 5 degrees C and 16 degrees C. Spermatozoa stored in K-3 extender exhibited elevated levels of DNA damage at both storage temperatures. Significant differences in DNA damage among the boars were more pronounced during storage in LPF-based extenders at 5 degrees C: spermatozoa of boars A and G were less susceptible to DNA damage. The percent of tail DNA in comets was lower in LPF-based extenders, and there were individual variations among the boars. We observed that changes in DNA integrity were dependent on the extender type and storage temperature. A higher level of DNA instability was observed in K-3 extended semen compared with K-3/LPFh or K-3/LPFo extended semen during storage at 5 degrees C. No significant difference in the level of DNA damage between K-3/LPFh and K-3/LPFo was observed. It seems that a long-term storage can affect genomic integrity of boar spermatozoa. The modified neutral comet assay can be used to detect low levels of DNA damage in boar spermatozoa during liquid preservation. Therefore, screening for sperm DNA damage may be used as an additional

The use of comet assay to assess DNA integrity of boar spermatozoa following liquid preservation at 5 degrees C and 16 degrees C.

Science.gov (United States)

Fraser, L; Strzezek, J

2004-01-01

The comet assay, under neutral conditions, allows the assessment of DNA integrity influenced by sperm ageing, which is manifested in DNA double-strand breaks. Here, we attempted to use a modified neutral comet assay test (single-cell gel electrophoresis), to our knowledge for the first time, to assess DNA integrity of boar spermatozoa during liquid storage for 96 h at 5 degrees C and 16 degrees C. In this comet assay protocol we used 2% beta-mercaptoethanol prior to the lysis procedure, to aid in removing nuclear proteins. Ejaculates from 3 boars (designated A, C and G) were diluted with a standard semen extender, Kortowo-3 (K-3), which was supplemented with lipoprotein fractions extracted from hen egg yolk (LPFh) or ostrich egg yolk (LPFo). Irrespective of the extender type, the percentage of comet-detected spermatozoa with damaged DNA increased gradually during prolonged storage at 5 degrees C and 16 degrees C. Spermatozoa stored in K-3 extender exhibited elevated levels of DNA damage at both storage temperatures. Significant differences in DNA damage among the boars were more pronounced during storage in LPF-based extenders at 5 degrees C: spermatozoa of boars A and G were less susceptible to DNA damage. The percent of tail DNA in comets was lower in LPF-based extenders, and there were individual variations among the boars. We observed that changes in DNA integrity were dependent on the extender type and storage temperature. A higher level of DNA instability was observed in K-3 extended semen compared with K-3/LPFh or K-3/LPFo extended semen during storage at 5 degrees C. No significant difference in the level of DNA damage between K-3/LPFh and K-3/LPFo was observed. It seems that a long-term storage can affect genomic integrity of boar spermatozoa. The modified neutral comet assay can be used to detect low levels of DNA damage in boar spermatozoa during liquid preservation. Therefore, screening for sperm DNA damage may be used as an additional test of sperm

Relatives' level of satisfaction with advanced cancer care in Greenland

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Augustussen, Mikaela; Hounsgaard, Lise; Pedersen, Michael Lynge

2017-01-01

from health professionals. They experienced a lack of security, worries about the future and a lack of support at home. The study showed a substantial level of dissatisfaction among relatives of patients with advanced cancer. We strongly recommend a focus on psychosocial care, more access......Palliative cancer care in Greenland is provided by health professionals at local level, the national Queen Ingrid's Hospital and at Rigshospitalet in Denmark. To improve and develop care for relatives of patients with advanced cancer, we conducted a mixed method study examining relatives' level...... was supplemented by open-ended questions about relative's current main concerns and analyzed with a phenomenological hermeneutical approach. Greenlandic patients with advanced cancer who were previously participating in a prospective study were asked if their closest adult relative would participate in the study...

Effect of chronic escitalopram versus placebo on personality traits in healthy first-degree relatives of patients with depression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knorr, Ulla; Vinberg, Maj; Mortensen, Erik Lykke

2012-01-01

The serotonergic neurotransmitter system is closely linked to depression and personality traits. It is not known if selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) have an effect on neuroticism that is independent of their effect on depression. Healthy individuals with a genetic liability...... for depression represent a group of particular interest when investigating if intervention with SSRIs affects personality. The present trial is the first to test the hypothesis that escitalopram may reduce neuroticism in healthy first-degree relatives of patients with major depressive disorder (MD)....

A degree of success? Messages from the new social work degree in England for nurse education.

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Moriarty, Jo; Manthorpe, Jill; Stevens, Martin; Hussein, Shereen; Macintyre, Gillian; Orme, Joan; Green Lister, Pam; Sharpe, Endellion; Crisp, Beth

2010-07-01

In September 2008 the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) approved plans to change pre-registration nursing education in England to an all-graduate qualification in 2015. In 2001 the Department of Health announced a similar decision for social work qualifying education and the first graduate-only qualifying programmes began in 2003-2004. This article presents findings from a national in-depth evaluation of the social work degree in England and describes ways in which efforts have been made to improve the quality of social workers, raise the status of the profession and link practice and theory as part of the transformation to a degree level qualification. Messages for nurse educators are drawn in the light of the professions' commonalities. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Extraction of Children's Friendship Relation from Activity Level

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Kono, Aki; Shintani, Kimio; Katsuki, Takuya; Kihara, Shin'ya; Ueda, Mari; Kaneda, Shigeo; Haga, Hirohide

Children learn to fit into society through living in a group, and it's greatly influenced by their friend relations. Although preschool teachers need to observe them to assist in the growth of children's social progress and support the development each child's personality, only experienced teachers can watch over children while providing high-quality guidance. To resolve the problem, this paper proposes a mathematical and objective method that assists teachers with observation. It uses numerical data of activity level recorded by pedometers, and we make tree diagram called dendrogram based on hierarchical clustering with recorded activity level. Also, we calculate children's ``breadth'' and ``depth'' of friend relations by using more than one dendrogram. When we record children's activity level in a certain kindergarten for two months and evaluated the proposed method, the results usually coincide with remarks of teachers about the children.

Physical, clinical, and psychosocial parameters of adolescents with different degrees of excess weight

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Vanessa Drieli Seron Antonini

2014-12-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To compare body composition, hemodynamic parameters, health-related physical fitness, and health-related quality of life of adolescents with anthropometric diagnosis of overweight, obesity, and severe obesity.METHODS: 220 adolescents with excess body weight were enrolled. They were beginners in a intervention program that included patients based on age, availability, presence of excess body weight, place of residence, and agreement to participate in the study. This study collected anthropometric and hemodynamic variables, health-related physical fitness, and health-related quality of life of the adolescents. To compare the three groups according to nutritional status, parametric and non-parametric tests were applied. Significance level was set at p0.05. Body weight, body mass index, waist and hip circumference, and systolic blood pressure increased as degree of excess weightincreased (p<0.05. Dyastolic blood pressure of the severe obesity group was higher than the other groups (p<0.05. There was an association between the degree of excess weight and the prevalence of altered blood pressure (overweight: 12.1%; obesity: 28.1%; severe obesity: 45.5%; p<0.001. The results were similar when genders were analyzed separately.CONCLUSION: Results suggest that overweight adolescents presented similar results compared to obese and severely obese adolescents in most of the parameters analyzed.

Method of measuring the degree of fluid pollution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mortensen, A.; Hammer, E.A.

1995-01-01

The invention relates to an method and device for measuring the degree of pollution from particulates in fluids. The device consists of an emitter sending out green and red light in succession through the fluid to a light recorder. The recorder itself includes a unit designed for comparing the measured intensity of light with the values of known pollution degree in fluids. 2 figs

The Degree Cycle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wood, Johanna

2016-01-01

, empirical data relevant to the development of the degree adverb function is presented and possible relevant constructions identified. It is argued that the degree adverb function of that possibly occurs later than the historical dictionaries indicate. The degree adverb function of this is challenging...

Measurements of the degree of development of rigor mortis as an indicator of stress in slaughtered pigs.

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Warriss, P D; Brown, S N; Knowles, T G

2003-12-13

The degree of development of rigor mortis in the carcases of slaughter pigs was assessed subjectively on a three-point scale 35 minutes after they were exsanguinated, and related to the levels of cortisol, lactate and creatine kinase in blood collected at exsanguination. Earlier rigor development was associated with higher concentrations of these stress indicators in the blood. This relationship suggests that the mean rigor score, and the frequency distribution of carcases that had or had not entered rigor, could be used as an index of the degree of stress to which the pigs had been subjected.

Eukaryotic beta-alanine synthases are functionally related but have a high degree of structural diversity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gojkovic, Zoran; Sandrini, Michael; Piskur, Jure

2001-01-01

no pyrimidine catabolic pathway, it enabled growth on N-carbamyl- beta -alanine as the sole nitrogen source. The D. discoideum and D. melanogaster PYD3 gene products are similar to mammalian beta -alanine synthases. In contrast, the S. kluyveri protein is quite different from these and more similar to bacterial......beta -Alanine synthase (EC 3.5.1.6), which catalyzes the final step of pyrimidine catabolism, has only been characterized in mammals. A Saccharomyces kluyveri pyd3 mutant that is unable to grow on N-carbamy-beta -alanine as the sole nitrogen source and exhibits diminished beta -alanine synthase...... N- carbamyl amidohydrolases. All three beta -alanine synthases are to some degree related to various aspartate transcarbamylases, which catalyze the second step of the de novo pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway. PYD3 expression in yeast seems to be inducible by dihydrouracil and N...

Intergenerational Childhood Maltreatment in Persons with DSM-IV Pathological Gambling and Their First-Degree Relatives.

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Shultz, Samuel K; Shaw, Martha; McCormick, Brett; Allen, Jeff; Black, Donald W

2016-09-01

This study investigates the characteristics of individuals with DSM-IV pathological gambling (PG) who experienced childhood maltreatment and rates of maltreatment occurring in their first-degree relatives (FDRs). 94 subjects with DSM-IV PG, 91 controls, and 312 FDRs were assessed for childhood maltreatment as part of a family study of PG. Maltreatment was evaluated using the Revised Childhood Experiences Questionnaire. The Family Assessment Device was used to evaluate the functionality of the PG subject's (or control's) family of origin. Data were analyzed using logistic regression by the method of generalized estimating equations. Rates of maltreatment were significantly higher in subjects with PG than controls (61 vs. 25 %, P childhood maltreatment in persons with PG is common and intergenerational. Rates of maltreatment in FDRs of PG subjects are high, particularly among those who experienced abuse. The implications of the findings are discussed.

Working memory impairment in probands with schizoaffective disorder and first degree relatives of schizophrenia probands extend beyond deficits predicted by generalized neuropsychological impairment.

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Kristian Hill, S; Buchholz, Alison; Amsbaugh, Hayley; Reilly, James L; Rubin, Leah H; Gold, James M; Keefe, Richard S E; Pearlson, Godfrey D; Keshavan, Matcheri S; Tamminga, Carol A; Sweeney, John A

2015-08-01

Working memory impairment is well established in psychotic disorders. However, the relative magnitude, diagnostic specificity, familiality pattern, and degree of independence from generalized cognitive deficits across psychotic disorders remain unclear. Participants from the Bipolar and Schizophrenia Network on Intermediate Phenotypes (B-SNIP) study included probands with schizophrenia (N=289), psychotic bipolar disorder (N=227), schizoaffective disorder (N=165), their first-degree relatives (N=315, N=259, N=193, respectively), and healthy controls (N=289). All were administered the WMS-III Spatial Span working memory test and the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) battery. All proband groups displayed significant deficits for both forward and backward span compared to controls. However, after covarying for generalized cognitive impairments (BACS composite), all proband groups showed a 74% or greater effect size reduction with only schizoaffective probands showing residual backward span deficits compared to controls. Significant familiality was seen in schizophrenia and bipolar pedigrees. In relatives, both forward and backward span deficits were again attenuated after covarying BACS scores and residual backward span deficits were seen in relatives of schizophrenia patients. Overall, both probands and relatives showed a similar pattern of robust working memory deficits that were largely attenuated when controlling for generalized cognitive deficits. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Studies of Filipino patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: autoantibody profile of first-degree relatives.

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Navarra, S V; Ishimori, M I; Uy, E A; Hamijoyo, L; Sama, J; James, J A; Holers, V M; Weisman, M H

2011-04-01

This study surveyed the frequency of autoantibodies among un-affected first-degree relatives (FDRs) of Filipino systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients compared with healthy un-related Filipino controls. The sensitivity, specificity and predictive value of the autoantibodies for SLE diagnosis were also assessed in this Filipino cohort. Filipino patients included in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Lupus Database and un-affected FDRs were recruited. Healthy controls included those with no known personal or family history of autoimmune disease. The following autoantibodies were tested in all subjects: anti-nuclear antibody (ANA), anti-dsDNA, anti-Ro/SSA, anti-chromatin, anti-thyroid microsome, and anti-cardiolipin antibodies. Participants included 232 SLE patients, 546 FDRs, and 221 healthy controls. Median age of patients was 27 (range 8-66) years with median disease duration of 27.5 (range 1-292) months. Median age of FDRs was 42.0 (range 5-87) years. Compared with healthy controls, there were significantly more FDRs with positive ANA at titers 1 : 40 to 1 : 160 (p Filipinos, with a significant proportion of un-affected FDRs of SLE patients testing positive for autoantibodies compared with healthy Filipino controls. A longitudinal observational study in this same cohort will determine which proportion of these un-affected FDRs will evolve into clinical SLE disease in the future.

Uncooked rice of relatively low gelatinization degree resulted in lower metabolic glucose and insulin responses compared with cooked rice in female college students.

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Jung, Eun Young; Suh, Hyung Joo; Hong, Wan Soo; Kim, Dong Geon; Hong, Yang Hee; Hong, In Sun; Chang, Un Jae

2009-07-01

Cooking processes that gelatinize granules or disrupt structure might increase the glucose and insulin responses because a disruption of the structure of starch by gelatinization increases its availability for digestion and absorption in the small intestine. We hypothesized that the uncooked form of rice, which has a relatively low degree of gelatinization even though in powder form, would result in lower metabolic glucose and insulin responses compared with cooked rice (CR). To assess the effects of the gelatinization of rice on metabolic response of glucose and insulin, we investigated the glucose and insulin responses to 3 rice meals of different gelatinization degree in female college students (n = 12): CR (76.9% gelatinized), uncooked rice powder (UP; 3.5% gelatinized), and uncooked freeze-dried rice powder (UFP; 5.4% gelatinized). Uncooked rice powders (UP and UFP) induced lower glucose and insulin responses compared with CR. The relatively low gelatinization degree of UPs resulted in low metabolic responses in terms of the glycemic index (CR: 72.4% vs UP: 49.7%, UFP: 59.8%) and insulin index (CR: 94.8% vs UP: 74.4%, UFP: 68.0%). In summary, UPs that were less gelatinized than CR induced low postprandial glucose and insulin responses.

Expanding leadership capacity: educational levels for nurse leaders.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoder-Wise, Patricia S; Scott, Elaine S; Sullivan, Dori Taylor

2013-06-01

A master's degree in nursing administration prepares the nurse to lead nursing and interprofessional teams, to create new and innovative approaches to improve care processes and outcomes, as well as traditional management responsibilities related to budgets, human resources, quality and safety, and a healthy work environment. Are we not at a critical juncture in our profession when we should challenge the profession to require a master's degree education for all levels of nursing administration?

Summer research training provides effective tools for underrepresented minorities to obtain doctoral level degrees

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The ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity of the USA is not reflected in its healthcare and biomedical workforce. Undergraduate research programs are used to encourage underrepresented minorities to pursue training for biomedical careers, but there is limited published data on doctoral degree compl...

Eye movement dysfunction in first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia: a meta-analytic evaluation of candidate endophenotypes.

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Calkins, Monica E; Iacono, William G; Ones, Deniz S

2008-12-01

Several forms of eye movement dysfunction (EMD) are regarded as promising candidate endophenotypes of schizophrenia. Discrepancies in individual study results have led to inconsistent conclusions regarding particular aspects of EMD in relatives of schizophrenia patients. To quantitatively evaluate and compare the candidacy of smooth pursuit, saccade and fixation deficits in first-degree biological relatives, we conducted a set of meta-analytic investigations. Among 18 measures of EMD, memory-guided saccade accuracy and error rate, global smooth pursuit dysfunction, intrusive saccades during fixation, antisaccade error rate and smooth pursuit closed-loop gain emerged as best differentiating relatives from controls (standardized mean differences ranged from .46 to .66), with no significant differences among these measures. Anticipatory saccades, but no other smooth pursuit component measures were also increased in relatives. Visually-guided reflexive saccades were largely normal. Moderator analyses examining design characteristics revealed few variables affecting the magnitude of the meta-analytically observed effects. Moderate effect sizes of relatives v. controls in selective aspects of EMD supports their endophenotype potential. Future work should focus on facilitating endophenotype utility through attention to heterogeneity of EMD performance, relationships among forms of EMD, and application in molecular genetics studies.

Timely Post-Graduate Degree Completion: A Case Study of Jamshoro Education City

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Jagul Huma Lashari

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This study identifies the status of postgraduate students at the master degree level regarding their degree completion in the three public sector universities at Jamshoro Education City. The status is identified by analyzing enrolment of the postgraduate and comparing it with rate of their degree completion. In addition, the paper also discusses their characteristics which lead them towards the degree completion. For this paper, enrolment of the postgraduate students at the master level is compared with the degree completion rate of 2008 academic session only. The result shows the obvious difference between enrolment and rate of the degree completion. In total 417 postgraduate students were enrolled in 2008 session, however, only 60 (14% of students have completed their postgraduate degrees. Those who have completed their degrees, with respect to universities 6% students belong to US (University of Sindh, 22% belong to MUET (Mehran University of Engineering & Technology and 8% students belong to LUMHS (Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences. The demographical data of the postgraduate students has also shown some variations like gender, age, employment, and financial resources. In addition, the research requirements also vary for different postgraduate students. The research requirements include lab based, field based and library based resources. The characteristics of the postgraduate students of three public sector universities including financial resources, employment status, and working organization also show differences with each-other in terms of the degree completion.

Mangrove sedimentation and response to relative sea-level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Woodroffe, CD; Rogers, K.; Mckee, Karen L.; Lovelock, CE; Mendelssohn, IA; Saintilan, N.

2016-01-01

Mangroves occur on upper intertidal shorelines in the tropics and subtropics. Complex hydrodynamic and salinity conditions influence mangrove distributions, primarily related to elevation and hydroperiod; this review considers how these adjust through time. Accumulation rates of allochthonous and autochthonous sediment, both inorganic and organic, vary between and within different settings. Abundant terrigenous sediment can form dynamic mudbanks; tides redistribute sediment, contrasting with mangrove peat in sediment-starved carbonate settings. Sediments underlying mangroves sequester carbon, but also contain paleoenvironmental records of adjustments to past sea-level changes. Radiometric dating indicates long-term sedimentation, whereas Surface Elevation Table-Marker Horizon measurements (SET-MH) provide shorter perspectives, indicating shallow subsurface processes of root growth and substrate autocompaction. Many tropical deltas also experience deep subsidence, which augments relative sea-level rise. The persistence of mangroves implies an ability to cope with moderately high rates of relative sea-level rise. However, many human pressures threaten mangroves, resulting in continuing decline in their extent throughout the tropics.

Mangrove Sedimentation and Response to Relative Sea-Level Rise.

Science.gov (United States)

Woodroffe, C D; Rogers, K; McKee, K L; Lovelock, C E; Mendelssohn, I A; Saintilan, N

2016-01-01

Mangroves occur on upper intertidal shorelines in the tropics and subtropics. Complex hydrodynamic and salinity conditions, related primarily to elevation and hydroperiod, influence mangrove distributions; this review considers how these distributions change over time. Accumulation rates of allochthonous and autochthonous sediment, both inorganic and organic, vary between and within different settings. Abundant terrigenous sediment can form dynamic mudbanks, and tides redistribute sediment, contrasting with mangrove peat in sediment-starved carbonate settings. Sediments underlying mangroves sequester carbon but also contain paleoenvironmental records of adjustments to past sea-level changes. Radiometric dating indicates long-term sedimentation, whereas measurements made using surface elevation tables and marker horizons provide shorter perspectives, indicating shallow subsurface processes of root growth and substrate autocompaction. Many tropical deltas also experience deep subsidence, which augments relative sea-level rise. The persistence of mangroves implies an ability to cope with moderately high rates of relative sea-level rise. However, many human pressures threaten mangroves, resulting in a continuing decline in their extent throughout the tropics.

Coherence degree of the fundamental Bessel-Gaussian beam in turbulent atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Lukin, Igor P.

2017-11-01

In this article the coherence of a fundamental Bessel-Gaussian optical beam in turbulent atmosphere is analyzed. The problem analysis is based on the solution of the equation for the transverse second-order mutual coherence function of a fundamental Bessel-Gaussian optical beam of optical radiation. The behavior of a coherence degree of a fundamental Bessel-Gaussian optical beam depending on parameters of an optical beam and characteristics of turbulent atmosphere is examined. It was revealed that at low levels of fluctuations in turbulent atmosphere the coherence degree of a fundamental Bessel-Gaussian optical beam has the characteristic oscillating appearance. At high levels of fluctuations in turbulent atmosphere the coherence degree of a fundamental Bessel-Gaussian optical beam is described by an one-scale decreasing curve which in process of increase of level of fluctuations on a line of formation of a laser beam becomes closer to the same characteristic of a spherical optical wave.

Master’s Degree Programs of Camarines Norte State College, Philippines: Impact on Its Graduates

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Godofredo E. Peteza, Jr.

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This research determined the impact of the master’s degree programs offered in the Graduate School such as Master in Business Administration, Master in Public Administration, Master in Management majors in Human Resource Management and Educational Planning and Management on its graduates from 2009 to 2013. Descriptive-survey method supplemented by interview was employed to identify specifically the profile of the graduates of master’s degree programs in terms of age, sex, civil status, level of appointment before and after taking the master’s degree program, monthly income before and after taking the master’s degree program, number of promotions after graduation, and years in service and the impact of the CNSC Graduate School’s Master’s Degree Programs along professional practice, career development; and employment. Results show that majority of the respondents are in the middle age from 31 -37 years old, married, mostly females, 6-10 years in service and have one promotion after they have graduated from their respective master’s degrees. The level of appointment of the respondents has a positive movement from rank and file to supervisory and managerial levels positions. The Graduate School’s Master’s degree programs provided high impact on the graduates’ professional practice, and on employment while average impact on career development.

Maternal education level and low birth weight: A meta-analysis

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Sonia Silvestrin

2013-07-01

Conclusions: The hypothesis of similarity between the extreme degrees of social distribution, translated by maternal education level in relation to the proportion of low birth weight, was not confirmed.

Effects of degree correlation on scale-free gradient networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pan Guijun; Yan Xiaoqing; Ma Weichuan; Luo Yihui; Huang Zhongbing

2010-01-01

We have studied the effects of degree correlation on congestion pressure in scale-free gradient networks. It is observed that the jamming coefficient J is insensitive to the degree correlation coefficient r for assortative and strongly disassortative scale-free networks, and J markedly decreases with an increase in r for weakly disassortative scale-free networks. We have also investigated the effects of degree correlation on the topology structure of scale-free gradient networks, and discussed the relation between the topology structure properties and transport efficiency of gradient networks.

A quantitative reading of competences documents of Law new degrees.

OpenAIRE

Leví Orta, Genoveva del Carmen; Ramos Méndez, Eduardo

2014-01-01

Documents formulating competences of degrees are key sources for analysis, evaluation and profile comparison of training, currently offered by different university degrees. This work aims to make a quantitative reading of competences documents of Law degree from various Spanish universities, based on the ideas of Content Analysis. The methodology has two phases. Firstly, a dictionary of concepts related to the components of competences is identified in the documentary corpus. Next, the corpus...

Anti-correlations in the degree distribution increase stimulus detection performance in noisy spiking neural networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Martens, Marijn B; Houweling, Arthur R; E Tiesinga, Paul H

2017-02-01

Neuronal circuits in the rodent barrel cortex are characterized by stable low firing rates. However, recent experiments show that short spike trains elicited by electrical stimulation in single neurons can induce behavioral responses. Hence, the underlying neural networks provide stability against internal fluctuations in the firing rate, while simultaneously making the circuits sensitive to small external perturbations. Here we studied whether stability and sensitivity are affected by the connectivity structure in recurrently connected spiking networks. We found that anti-correlation between the number of afferent (in-degree) and efferent (out-degree) synaptic connections of neurons increases stability against pathological bursting, relative to networks where the degrees were either positively correlated or uncorrelated. In the stable network state, stimulation of a few cells could lead to a detectable change in the firing rate. To quantify the ability of networks to detect the stimulation, we used a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. For a given level of background noise, networks with anti-correlated degrees displayed the lowest false positive rates, and consequently had the highest stimulus detection performance. We propose that anti-correlation in the degree distribution may be a computational strategy employed by sensory cortices to increase the detectability of external stimuli. We show that networks with anti-correlated degrees can in principle be formed by applying learning rules comprised of a combination of spike-timing dependent plasticity, homeostatic plasticity and pruning to networks with uncorrelated degrees. To test our prediction we suggest a novel experimental method to estimate correlations in the degree distribution.

A Note on Comparing the Power of Test Statistics at Low Significance Levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Nathan; Elston, Robert

2011-01-01

It is an obvious fact that the power of a test statistic is dependent upon the significance (alpha) level at which the test is performed. It is perhaps a less obvious fact that the relative performance of two statistics in terms of power is also a function of the alpha level. Through numerous personal discussions, we have noted that even some competent statisticians have the mistaken intuition that relative power comparisons at traditional levels such as α = 0.05 will be roughly similar to relative power comparisons at very low levels, such as the level α = 5 × 10 -8 , which is commonly used in genome-wide association studies. In this brief note, we demonstrate that this notion is in fact quite wrong, especially with respect to comparing tests with differing degrees of freedom. In fact, at very low alpha levels the cost of additional degrees of freedom is often comparatively low. Thus we recommend that statisticians exercise caution when interpreting the results of power comparison studies which use alpha levels that will not be used in practice.

Causes of Cancer Death Among First-Degree Relatives in Japanese Families with Lynch Syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanakaya, Kohji; Yamaguchi, Tatsuro; Ishikawa, Hideki; Hinoi, Takao; Furukawa, Yoichi; Hirata, Keiji; Saida, Yoshihisa; Shimokawa, Mototsugu; Arai, Masami; Matsubara, Nagahide; Tomita, Naohiro; Tamura, Kazuo; Sugano, Kokichi; Ishioka, Chikashi; Yoshida, Teruhiko; Ishida, Hideyuki; Watanabe, Toshiaki; Sugihara, Kenichi

2016-04-01

To elucidate the causes of cancer death in Japanese families with Lynch syndrome (LS). The distributions of cancer deaths in 485 individuals from 67 families with LS (35, 30, and two families with MutL homologue 1 (MLH1), MSH2, and MSH6 gene mutations, respectively), obtained from the Registry of the Japanese Society for Cancer of the Colon and Rectum were analyzed. Among 98 cancer deaths of first-degree relatives of unknown mutation status, 53%, 19%, 13% (among females), 7% (among females) and 5% were due to colorectal, gastric, uterine, ovarian, and hepatobiliary cancer, respectively. The proportion of deaths from extra-colonic cancer was significantly higher in families with MSH2 mutation than in those with MLH1 mutation (p=0.003). In addition to colonic and uterine cancer, management and surveillance targeting gastric, ovarian and hepatobiliary cancer are considered important for Japanese families with LS. Extra-colonic cancer in families with MSH2 mutation might require for more intensive surveillance. Copyright© 2016 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.

Correlation Between TNF- α and Degree of Gastritis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricky Rivalino

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Background: TNF- α is a cytokine that plays an active role in the pathogenesis of gastritis. The correlation of TNF-α levels in the gastric mucosa with the severity of gastritis has long been known. However, few studies have assessed TNF-α levels in serum of gastritis patients. This study aims to evaluate correlation between serum TNF-α level with the degree of gastritis based on histopathology. Method: A cross sectional study on eighty gastritis patients that fulfilled the inclusion criteria underwent serum TNF-α examination, endoscopy, and biopsy. Rapid urease test was used for diagnosis of H. pylori infection. The severity of gastritis based on lymphocyte infiltration, neutrophil infiltration, atrophy, and intestinal metaplasia according to Updated Sydney System. Univariate and bivariate analysis (Chi-square, fisher's exact, spearman correlation, and independent T-test were done using SPSS version 22. Results: There were 41.25% patients infected with Helicobacter pylori. Serum TNF-α levels in the infected group were significantly higher compared to negative H. pylori (p < 0.05. There was significant positive correlation between serum TNF-α levels and degree of gastritis based on lymphocyte infiltration (r = 0.333; p = 0.003. Conclusion: There was a significant positive correlation between serum TNF-α level with the severity of gastritis based on lymphocyte infiltration.

Dependence centrality similarity: Measuring the diversity of profession levels of interests

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Deng-Cheng; Li, Ming; Wang, Bing-Hong

2017-08-01

To understand the relations between developers and software, we study a collaborative coding platform from the perspective of networks, including follower networks, dependence networks and developer-project bipartite networks. Through the analyzing of degree distribution, PageRank and degree-dependent nearest neighbors' centrality, we find that the degree distributions of all networks have a power-law form except the out-degree distributions of dependence networks. The nearest neighbors' centrality is negatively correlated with degree for developers but fluctuates around the average for projects. In order to measure the diversity of profession levels of interests, a new index called dependence centrality similarity is proposed and the correlation between dependence centrality similarity and degree is investigated. The result shows an obvious negative correlations between dependence centrality similarity and degree.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivational Factors Related to Educators' Pursuit of Doctoral Degrees

Science.gov (United States)

George-Reid, Kimberly A.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors for professional doctoral degree attainment among educators. The researcher examined the following intrinsic motivating factors: personal attainment, skill and ability enhancement, and goals. The researcher also included the following extrinsic factors:…

Degree of Contracture Related to Residual Muscle Shoulder Strength in Children with Obstetric Brachial Plexus Lesions.

Science.gov (United States)

van Gelein Vitringa, Valerie M; van Noort, Arthur; Ritt, Marco J P F; van Royen, Barend J; van der Sluijs, Johannes A

2015-12-01

 Little is known about the relation between residual muscle strength and joint contracture formation in neuromuscular disorders. This study aimed to investigate the relation between residual muscle strength and shoulder joint contractures in children with sequelae of obstetric brachial plexus lesion (OBPL). In OBPL a shoulder joint contracture is a frequent finding. We hypothesize that residual internal and external rotator strength and their balance are related to the extent of shoulder joint contracture.  Clinical assessment was performed in 34 children (mean 10.0 years) with unilateral OBPL and Narakas classes I-III. External and internal rotation strengths were measured with the shoulder in neutral position using a handheld dynamometer. Strength on the affected side was given as percentage of the normal side. Contracture was assessed by passive internal and external rotations in degrees (in 0° abduction). Mallet classification was used for active shoulder function.  External and internal rotation strengths on the affected side were approximately 50% of the normal side and on average both equally affected: 56% (SD 18%) respectively 51% (SD 27%); r  = 0.600, p  = 0.000. Residual strengths were not related to passive internal or external rotation ( p  > 0.200). Internal rotation strength ( r  =  - 0.425, p muscle strength influence contracture formation cannot be confirmed in this study. Our results are of interest for the understanding of contracture formation in OBPL.

The End of the Botany Degree in the UK

Science.gov (United States)

Drea, Sinead

2011-01-01

The last student enrolled in a pure "Botany" degree in the UK began in the University of Bristol this year, 2010. In recent years only the University of Reading also offered the Botany degree, before it was dropped there 3 years ago. This short article is written to draw attention to this fact and to a more general relative decline in…

Relative levels of dietary EPA and DHA impact gastric oxidation and essential fatty acid uptake.

Science.gov (United States)

Dasilva, Gabriel; Boller, Matthew; Medina, Isabel; Storch, Judith

2018-05-01

Previous research showed that increasing the proportion of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in marine lipid supplements significantly reduces associated health benefits compared with balanced eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA):DHA supplementation Dasilva et al., 2015 [1]. It was therefore hypothesized that the EPA and DHA molecules might have differential resistance to oxidation during gastric digestion and that the oxidation level achieved could be inversely correlated with intestinal absorption and, hence, with the resultant health benefits. Accordingly, we tested this proposed mechanism of action by investigating the degree of oxidation in the stomach, and the levels of bioaccessible lipids, of varying molar proportions of DHA and EPA (2:1, 1:1 and 1:2) using the dynamic gastrointestinal tract model TIM-1. In addition, small intestine enterocyte absorption and metabolism were simulated by Caco-2 cell monolayers that were incubated with these same varying proportions of DHA and EPA, and comparing oxidized and nonoxidized polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). The results show an inverse correlation between lipid oxidation products in the stomach and the levels of bioaccessible lipids. The balanced 1:1 EPA:DHA diet resulted in lower oxidation of PUFAs during stomach digestion relative to the other ratios tested. Finally, cell-based studies showed significantly lower assimilation of oxidized EPA and DHA substrates compared to nonoxidized PUFAs, as well as significant differences between the net uptake of EPA and DHA. Overall, the present work suggests that the correct design of diets and/or supplements containing marine lipids can strongly influence the stability and bioaccessibility of PUFAs during gastrointestinal digestion and subsequent absorption. This could modulate their health benefits related with inflammation, oxidative stress and metabolic disorders. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Master Degree Modules in Nanotechnologies for Electronics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Slavka Tzanova

2012-05-01

Full Text Available The paper presents an European project focusing on closer cooperation in the university sector and transparency of qualifications and recognition methods. It is aimed at common MSc degree level courses development for the new skills for new jobs in the multidisciplinary nanoelectronics and a new job organisation.

An examination of the factors related to women's degree attainment and career goals in science, technology, and mathematics

Science.gov (United States)

Nitopi, Marie

During the last 30 years, women have made tremendous advances in educational attainment especially in post-secondary education. Despite these advances, recent researchers have revealed that women continue to remain underrepresented in attainment of graduate degrees in the sciences. The researcher's purpose in this study was to extend previous research and to develop a model of variables that significantly contribute to persistence in and attainment of a graduate degree and an eventual career in the science, mathematics, or technology professions. Data were collected from the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:93/03). Variables in the categories of demographics, academics, finances, values and attitudes toward educational experiences, and future employment were analyzed by t tests and logistic regressions to determine gender differences in graduate degree attainment and career goals by male and female who majored in science, technology and mathematics. Findings supported significant gender differences in expectations for a graduate degree, age at baccalaureate degree attainment, number of science and engineering credits taken, and the value of faculty interactions. Father's education had a significant effect on degree attainment. Women and men had similar expectations at the beginning of their educational career, but women tended to fall short of their degree expectations ten years later. A large proportion of women dropped out of the science pipeline by choosing different occupations after degree completion. Additionally, women earned fewer science and math credits than men. The professions of science and technology are crucial for the nation's economic growth and competitiveness; therefore, additional researchers should focus on retaining both men and women in the STEM professions.

Associations between olfactory identification and verbal memory in patients with schizophrenia, first-degree relatives, and non-psychiatric controls.

Science.gov (United States)

Compton, Michael T; McKenzie Mack, LaTasha; Esterberg, Michelle L; Bercu, Zachary; Kryda, Aimee D; Quintero, Luis; Weiss, Paul S; Walker, Elaine F

2006-09-01

Olfactory identification deficits and verbal memory impairments may represent trait markers for schizophrenia. The aims of this study were to: (1) assess olfactory identification in patients, first-degree relatives, and non-psychiatric controls, (2) determine differences in verbal memory functioning in these three groups, and (3) study correlations between olfactory identification and three specific verbal memory domains. A total of 106 participants-41 patients with schizophrenia or related disorders, 27 relatives, and 38 controls-were assessed with the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) and the Wechsler Memory Scale-Third Edition. Linear mixed models, accounting for clustering within families and relevant covariates, were used to compare scores across groups and to examine associations between olfactory identification ability and the three verbal memory domains. A group effect was apparent for all four measures, and relatives scored midway between patients and controls on all three memory domains. UPSIT scores were significantly correlated with all three forms of verbal memory. Age, verbal working memory, and auditory recognition delayed memory were independently predictive of UPSIT scores. Impairments in olfactory identification and verbal memory appear to represent two correlated risk markers for schizophrenia, and frontal-temporal deficits likely account for both impairments.

Perceived Benefits of an Undergraduate Degree

Science.gov (United States)

Norton, Cole; Martini, Tanya

2017-01-01

Canadian university students tend to endorse employment-related reasons for attending university ahead of other reasons such as personal satisfaction or intellectual growth. In the present study, first- and fourth-year students from a mid-sized Canadian university reported on the benefits they expected to receive from their degree and rated their…

High degree modes and instrumental effects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Korzennik, S G [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA (United States); Rabello-Soares, M C; Schou, J [Stanford University, Stanford, CA (United States)], E-mail: skorzennik@cfa.harvard.edu

2008-10-15

frequencies resulting from solar activity over most of solar cycle 23. We present the correlation of medium and high degree modes with different solar indices. Our results confirm that the frequency shift scaled by the relative mode inertia is a function of frequency alone and follows a simple power law.

Toward the Ideal Professional Master's Degree Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, Maria P.

1999-01-01

Outlines work accomplished at the 1998 National Communication Association Summer Conference, presenting a model for a professional master's-degree program in public relations that integrates outcomes, assessment, curriculum, and pedagogy. Outlines program outcomes, curriculum, essential curriculum-content areas, pedagogical approaches, and…

Einstein equations and Fermion degrees of freedom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luetz, E.F.; Vasconcellos, C.A.Z.

2001-01-01

When Dirac derived the special relativistic quantum equation which brings his name, it became evident that the spin is a consequence of the space-time geometry. However, taking gravity into account (as for, instance, in the study of neutron stars), most authors do not take into account the relation between hyperbolic geometry and spin and derive an Einstein equation which implicitly takes into account only boson degrees of freedom. In this work we introduce a consistent quantum general relativistic formalism which allows us to study the effects of the existence of fermion degrees of freedom. (author)

Einstein equations and Fermion degrees of freedom

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luetz, E.F.; Vasconcellos, C.A.Z. [Rio Grande do Sul Univ., Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil). Inst. de Fisica

2001-07-01

When Dirac derived the special relativistic quantum equation which brings his name, it became evident that the spin is a consequence of the space-time geometry. However, taking gravity into account (as for, instance, in the study of neutron stars), most authors do not take into account the relation between hyperbolic geometry and spin and derive an Einstein equation which implicitly takes into account only boson degrees of freedom. In this work we introduce a consistent quantum general relativistic formalism which allows us to study the effects of the existence of fermion degrees of freedom. (author)

Coeliac disease and gastrointestinal symptom screening in adult first-degree relatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaquero, Luis; Rodríguez-Martín, Laura; Alvarez-Cuenllas, Begoña; Hernando, Mercedes; Iglesias-Blazquez, Cristina; Menéndez-Arias, Cristina; Vivas, Santiago

2017-12-01

The first-degree relatives (FDRs) of patients with coeliac disease are the main risk group for disease development. The study aims to evaluate the screening strategy in FDRs with negative coeliac serology based on human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genotyping, followed by duodenal biopsy, and to analyze the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms and the influence of gluten intake. Adult FDRs with negative coeliac serology were invited to participate (n = 205), and a total of 139 completed the study protocol. HLA genotyping, transglutaminase antibody assessment, and duodenal biopsy were performed. Symptomatology was assessed using questionnaires during the various phases of dietary modification (baseline diet, gluten-free diet, and gluten overload). The study included 139 participants (mean age, 42 years; 53.2% women). HLA-DQ2/8 was positive in 78.4% of the participants (homozygous, 15.1%; heterozygous, 63.3%). Histopathological alterations were noted in 37.1% of participants who underwent duodenal biopsy (Marsh I, 32.7%; Marsh IIIa, 4.4%). At baseline, symptoms were observed in 45.7% of the participants, and the proportion decreased to 24.5% after the gluten-free diet (P < 0.001). Symptoms were not associated with the presence of histological alterations or genetic risk. However, younger age (odds ratio [OR] = 0.91), female sex (OR = 2.9), and the presence of autoimmune disorders (OR = 2.8) were independently associated with a significant symptom response to the gluten-free diet. Duodenal lymphocytosis and atrophy are frequently noted in FDRs, despite negative serological markers. In addition, gastrointestinal symptoms are commonly present and associated with gluten intake regardless of the histological pathology. © 2017 Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Foundation and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Law-Based Degree Programs in Business and Their Departments: What's in a Name? (A Comprehensive Study of Undergraduate Law-Based Degrees in AACSB-Accredited Universities)

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Carol J.; Crain, Susan J.

2007-01-01

This study examines undergraduate law-based degree programs in the 404 U.S. universities with undergraduate degrees in business that had Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation in 2005. University Web sites were used to identify and compare law-based undergraduate programs inside business to law-related programs…

Hepatitis C Genotypes in Libya: Correlation with Patients’ Characteristics, Level of Viremia, and Degree of Liver Fibrosis

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Abdel-Naser Elzuoki

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Our study sought to determine the distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV-genotypes among patients attending two tertiary care hospitals in Benghazi and Tripoli, Libya, and correlate this with patient’s characteristics, viral load, and degree of fibrosis. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 286 HCV-RNA positive Libyan patients referred from different health care facilities in east and west Libya for specific HCV treatment. HCV genotyping was carried out by gene amplification. Liver histology was graded by Metavir score according to the stage of fibrosis. Results: HCV genotypes 1, 2, 3, and 4 were found in 24.1%, 10.8%, 3.4%, and 61.5% of the patients, respectively. Genotype 4 was detected more frequently in patients from east Libya (Benghazi compared to west Libya (Tripoli (75.9% vs. 41.6%, p = 0.245. Genotype 1 was more frequent in patients from west Libya compared to east Libya (34.1% vs. 16.8%, p = 0.657. There was a significant correlation between HCV genotype distribution and viral load. Patients with genotype 4 exhibited a higher degree of liver fibrosis (p < 0.001. Conclusions: HCV genotype 4 is the predominant genotype in Libya followed by genotype 1. However, as we go from the east to the west of the country, genotype 1 increases. Genotype 4 was associated with higher level of viremia and higher stage of liver fibrosis. It is important to note that both genotypes 1 and 4 are associated with a poor response to pegylated interferon and ribavirin combination therapy. The findings emphasize the need to develop improved strategies in Libya for the successful treatment of HCV infection with novel newly available antiviral drugs.

An Empirical Investigation of the Financial Value of a College Degree

Science.gov (United States)

Lobo, Bento J.; Burke-Smalley, Lisa A.

2018-01-01

We generate selection-adjusted NPV and IRR estimates for a bachelor's degree in the U.S. which account for time-to-graduation, debt financing and tuition levels. We find that a college degree is generally worthwhile, but the private value of the investment is a declining function of time-to-graduation. Selection-adjustments show that for students…

Increased deoxythymidine triphosphate levels is a feature of relative cognitive decline

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Claus Desler; Frederiksen, Jane H; Olsen, Maria Nathalie Angleys

2015-01-01

Mitochondrial bioenergetics, mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cellular levels of nucleotides have been hypothesized as early indicators of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Utilizing relative decline of cognitive ability as a predictor of AD risk, we evaluated the correlation between change...... of cognitive ability and mitochondrial bioenergetics, ROS and cellular levels of deoxyribonucleotides. Change of cognitive abilities, scored at ages of approximately 20 and 57 was determined for a cohort of 1985 male participants. Mitochondrial bioenergetics, mitochondrial ROS and whole-cell levels...... of deoxyribonucleotide triphosphates were measured in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from a total of 103 selected participants displaying the most pronounced relative cognitive decline and relative cognitive improvement. We show that relative cognitive decline is associated with higher PBMC content...

Perception of collaborative learning in associate degree students in Hong Kong.

Science.gov (United States)

Shek, Daniel T L; Shek, Moses M W

2013-01-01

Although collaborative learning has been widely researched in Western contexts, no study has been carried out to understand how associate degree students look at collaborative learning in Hong Kong. In this study, perceptions of and attitudes to collaborative learning among associate degree students were studied. A total of 44 associate degree students completed an online questionnaire including measures of perceived benefits and attitudes to collaborative learning, and social-emotional competence. Results showed that there were no significant differences between male and female students on perceived benefits of and attitudes towards collaborative learning. Social-emotional competence was related to perceived benefits of and attitudes to collaborative learning. Attitudes were also related to perceived benefits of collaborative learning. This paper is the first known study looking at the relationships among perceived benefits and attitudes to collaborative learning and social-emotional competence in Chinese associate degree students in different Chinese contexts.

Access to Four-Year Public Colleges and Degree Completion

OpenAIRE

Joshua Goodman; Michael Hurwitz; Jonathan Smith

2015-01-01

Does access to four-year colleges affect degree completion for students who would otherwise attend two-year colleges? Admission to Georgia’s four-year public sector requires minimum SAT scores. Regression discontinuity estimates show that access to this sector increases four-year college enrollment and college quality, largely by diverting students from two-year colleges. Access substantially increases bachelor’s degree completion rates for these relatively low-skilled students. SAT retaking ...

Genes with stable DNA methylation levels show higher evolutionary conservation than genes with fluctuant DNA methylation levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Ruijie; Lv, Wenhua; Luan, Meiwei; Zheng, Jiajia; Shi, Miao; Zhu, Hongjie; Li, Jin; Lv, Hongchao; Zhang, Mingming; Shang, Zhenwei; Duan, Lian; Jiang, Yongshuai

2015-11-24

Different human genes often exhibit different degrees of stability in their DNA methylation levels between tissues, samples or cell types. This may be related to the evolution of human genome. Thus, we compared the evolutionary conservation between two types of genes: genes with stable DNA methylation levels (SM genes) and genes with fluctuant DNA methylation levels (FM genes). For long-term evolutionary characteristics between species, we compared the percentage of the orthologous genes, evolutionary rate dn/ds and protein sequence identity. We found that the SM genes had greater percentages of the orthologous genes, lower dn/ds, and higher protein sequence identities in all the 21 species. These results indicated that the SM genes were more evolutionarily conserved than the FM genes. For short-term evolutionary characteristics among human populations, we compared the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) density, and the linkage disequilibrium (LD) degree in HapMap populations and 1000 genomes project populations. We observed that the SM genes had lower SNP densities, and higher degrees of LD in all the 11 HapMap populations and 13 1000 genomes project populations. These results mean that the SM genes had more stable chromosome genetic structures, and were more conserved than the FM genes.

Degree Audit Systems: Are They Worth It?

Science.gov (United States)

Johns, Virginia

2006-01-01

A lot of various degree audit systems are available on the market and most often they have similar features such as the functionality they each provide, the technical platforms upon which they operate, their requirements for interfacing with the local SIS, the ease of use, and the level of effort required to implement and operate. However, the…

Damage related deep electron levels in ion implanted GaAs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allsopp, D.W.E.; Peaker, A.R.

1986-01-01

A study has been made of the deep electron levels in semi-insulating GaAs implanted with either 78 Se + or 29 Si + ions and rendered n-type by subsequent annealing without encapsulation in partial pressures of arsenic or arsine. Three implantation related deep states were detected with concentration profiles approximating to the type of Gaussian distributions expected for point defects related to ion implantation damage. Further heat treatment of the samples at 500 0 C in a gas ambient of U 2 /H 2 substantially reduced concentration of these deep levels. Two of these states were thought to be related to displacements of the substrate atoms. The third, at Esubc -0.67 eV, was found in only 78 Se + ion implanted GaAs substrates and was thought to be a defect involving both Se and As atoms, rather than intrinsic lattice disorder. It is proposed that the annealing rate of these implantation related deep levels depends crucially on the in-diffusion of arsenic vacancies during heat treatments. (author)

Family history of cancer other than breast or ovarian cancer in first-degree relatives is associated with poor breast cancer prognosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Jun-Long; Chen, Chuang; Yuan, Jing-Ping; Li, Juan-Juan; Sun, Sheng-Rong

2017-04-01

Whether a first-degree family history of others cancers (FHOC) than breast or ovarian cancer (BOC) is associated with breast cancer prognosis remains unknown. Thus, the aim of the present study was to clarify this issue. Women who were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer at the Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from 2010 to 2013 were included in the study. The demographic and clinicopathological characteristics of these patients were extracted. FHOC was considered positive for any patient who had a relative who had been diagnosed with cancer other than BOC. Disease-free survival (DFS) was calculated based on the date of diagnosis. DFS was analyzed using the Cox proportional hazards model. A total of 434 breast cancer patients were included in this study. Among these patients, 61 (14.06%) had a positive FHOC in first-degree relatives. Patients with a positive FHOC tended to have HER2-positive breast cancer (p = 0.03). In the survival analysis, FHOC was associated with poor DFS in both univariate (HR = 2.21 (1.28-3.83), 95% CI: 1.28-3.83, p breast cancer patients with FHOC, especially in patients with luminal A subtype. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Joint Degree Program: the Perspective of Employers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatjana Bilevičienė

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Purpose — the purpose of this article is to extend discussion towards the need and importance of joint degree programs in modern universities, introducing the perspective of the employers toward this question. Design/methodology/approach — the research was conducted to analyze the demand of joint degree programs from the perspective of employers, identify weak and strong aspects, opinion and demand for graduates of such programs. To achieve this purpose, a combination of theoretical and empirical methods was chosen: document analysis (previous studies, statistics was conducted and an online qualitative survey was organized. Findings — The analysis of articles, studies and statistics points out the challenges and threats faced by universities nowadays, forcing higher education institutions to find new ways to raise the quality of studies and raise the interest of employers to choose graduates from MRU, as well as the satisfaction of employers with their choice of employees. Theoretical analysis pointed out these challenges and requirements for the modern employee, summarised the challenges in preparation of IT field specialists. The conducted research results showed that the diploma of joint degree programs would not be treated as an advantage of possible employee from the perspective of employers in case some important aspects will not be taken into consideration by program creators. On the other hand, undeniably there are strong sides, such as knowledge in the fields of foreign language, international experience, innovativeness and creativeness of employees that would be treated as an advantage in the process of selection for positions of any technical support related positions. Research limitations/implications — employers, whose business activities are closely related to information technology, have been invited as experts. In addition, these experts have a good understanding of the specifics of joint degree programs. The received

Work related stress and blood glucose levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Sancini, A; Ricci, S; Tomei, F; Sacco, C; Pacchiarotti, A; Nardone, N; Ricci, P; Suppi, A; De Cesare, D P; Anzelmo, V; Giubilati, R; Pimpinella, B; Rosati, M V; Tomei, G

2017-01-01

The aim of the study is to evaluate work-related subjective stress in a group of workers on a major Italian company in the field of healthcare through the administration of a valid "questionnaire-tool indicator" (HSE Indicator Tool), and to analyze any correlation between stress levels taken from questionnaire scores and blood glucose values. We studied a final sample consisting of 241 subjects with different tasks. The HSE questionnaire - made up of 35 items (divided into 7 organizational dimensions) with 5 possible answers - has been distributed to all the subjects in occasion of the health surveillance examinations provided by law. The questionnaire was then analyzed using its specific software to process the results related to the 7 dimensions. These results were compared using the Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression with the blood glucose values obtained from each subject. From the analysis of the data the following areas resulted critical, in other words linked to an intermediate (yellow area) or high (red area) condition of stress: sustain from managers, sustain from colleagues, quality of relationships and professional changes. A significant positive correlation (p work stress can be statistically associated with increased levels of blood glucose.

Effect of Crystallisation Degree on Hardness of Basaltic Glass-Ceramics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Martin; Smedskjær, Morten Mattrup; Yue, Yuanzheng

The dependence of hardness of basaltic glass-ceramics on their crystallisation degree has been explored by means of differential scanning calorimetry, optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Vickers indentation. Different degrees of crystallisation in the basaltic glasses have been obtained...... by varying the temperature of heat treatment. The change of the relative degree of crystallisation with the heat treatment temperature can be described by an empirical model established in this work. The predominant crystalline phase in the glass has been identified as the pyroxene augite. The hardness...... principle calculations. It is found that the hardness of the glass phase decreases slightly with an increase in the degree of crystallisation, while that of the augite phase drastically decreases....

Impairment of Working Memory, Decision-making, and Executive Function in the First-Degree Relatives of People with Panic Disorder: A Pilot Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhenhe Zhou

2017-11-01

Full Text Available BackgroundPanic disorder (PD patients present impairments of working memory, decision-making, and executive function. However, whether the first-degree relatives (FDRs of people with PD present abnormal characteristics, including clinical and neuropsychological aspects, in comparison to the general population, has not been studied. Investigation and understanding of the abnormal neuropsychological characteristics of the FDRs of people with PD will contribute to the prevention and treatment of PD.ObjectiveThe purpose of this paper is to compare the working memory, decision-making, and executive function among people with PD, their FDRs, and controls.Materials and methodsNeuropsychological functions of 30 people with PD, 30 FDRs of people with PD, and 30 controls were measured with a digit span task, Iowa Gambling Task (IGT, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST.ResultsPerseverative errors, failure to maintain set scores, and number of cards chosen from decks A, B, C, and D were higher for People with PD and their FDRs than those of controls. Furthermore, error rates for these tests were higher for people with PD than their FDRs. Forward scores and backward scores, percentage of conceptual level responses, the number of categories completed, choices from advantageous minus disadvantageous decks, and mean amount of money earned of people with PD and their FDRs were all lower than those of controls. Scores for these tests were also lower for people with PD than for their FDRs.ConclusionPeople with PD as well as their FDRs present different degrees of impairments of working memory, decision-making, and executive function. Impaired performance on three tasks appears to be associated with the diathesis for PD and may be a valuable indicator of susceptibility for this disorder.

Assessment of contaminant levels and trophic relations at a World Heritage Site by measurements in a characteristic shorebird species

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schwemmer, Philipp, E-mail: schwemmer@ftz-west.uni-kiel.de [Research and Technology Centre (Forschungs- und Technologiezentrum), University of Kiel, Hafentörn 1, 25761 Büsum (Germany); Covaci, Adrian, E-mail: adrian.covaci@uantwerpen.be [Toxicological Center, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk (Belgium); Das, Krishna, E-mail: krishna.das@ulg.ac.be [Laboratory for Oceanology-MARE Research Center, University of Liege, Allée de la Chimie 17, B6C, Institut de Chimie, 4000 Liege (Sart-Tilman) (Belgium); Lepoint, Gilles, E-mail: g.lepoint@ulg.ac.be [Laboratory for Oceanology-MARE Research Center, University of Liege, Allée de la Chimie 17, B6C, Institut de Chimie, 4000 Liege (Sart-Tilman) (Belgium); Adler, Sven, E-mail: sven.adler@slu.se [Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83 Umeå (Sweden); Garthe, Stefan, E-mail: garthe@ftz-west.uni-kiel.de [Research and Technology Centre (Forschungs- und Technologiezentrum), University of Kiel, Hafentörn 1, 25761 Büsum (Germany)

2015-01-15

The River Elbe is responsible for influxes of contaminants into the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site. We investigated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), oxychlordane (OxC), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), hexachlorocyclohexanes (α-, β-, γ-HCHs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in blood and feathers from Eurasian oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus; n=28) at the Elbe and compared it with a non-riverine site about 90 km further north. (1) Mean levels of all contaminants in feathers and serum were significantly higher at the river (∑PCBs: 27.6 ng/g feather, 37.0 ng/ml serum; ∑DDTs: 5.3 ng/g feather, 4.4 ng/ml serum) compared with the non-riverine site (∑PCBs: 6.5 ng/g feather, 1.2 ng/ml serum; ∑DDTs: 1.4 ng/g feather, 0.5 ng/ml serum). Mean ∑HCH and HCB levels were <1.8 ng/g in feather and <1.8 ng/ml in serum at both sites. (2) Levels of most detectable compounds in serum and feathers were significantly related, but levels were not consistently higher in either tissue. (3) There was no significant relationship between trophic level in individual oystercatchers (expressed as δ15N) or the degree of terrestrial feeding (expressed as δ13C) and contaminant loads. (4) PBDEs were not detected in significant amounts at either site. The results of this study indicate that the outflow from one of Europe′s largest river systems is associated with significant historical contamination, reflected by the accumulation of contaminants in body tissues in a coastal benthivore predator. - Highlights: • Contaminants in Oystercatchers from the Elbe river and a non-riverine site were measured. • Mean levels of contaminants were higher at the river than at the non-riverine site. • Levels of most contaminants in serum and feathers were significantly related. • No relationship between trophic level (δ15N) and contaminant level was found. • One of Europe′s largest river systems is associated

Assessment of contaminant levels and trophic relations at a World Heritage Site by measurements in a characteristic shorebird species

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwemmer, Philipp; Covaci, Adrian; Das, Krishna; Lepoint, Gilles; Adler, Sven; Garthe, Stefan

2015-01-01

The River Elbe is responsible for influxes of contaminants into the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site. We investigated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), oxychlordane (OxC), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), hexachlorocyclohexanes (α-, β-, γ-HCHs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in blood and feathers from Eurasian oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus; n=28) at the Elbe and compared it with a non-riverine site about 90 km further north. (1) Mean levels of all contaminants in feathers and serum were significantly higher at the river (∑PCBs: 27.6 ng/g feather, 37.0 ng/ml serum; ∑DDTs: 5.3 ng/g feather, 4.4 ng/ml serum) compared with the non-riverine site (∑PCBs: 6.5 ng/g feather, 1.2 ng/ml serum; ∑DDTs: 1.4 ng/g feather, 0.5 ng/ml serum). Mean ∑HCH and HCB levels were <1.8 ng/g in feather and <1.8 ng/ml in serum at both sites. (2) Levels of most detectable compounds in serum and feathers were significantly related, but levels were not consistently higher in either tissue. (3) There was no significant relationship between trophic level in individual oystercatchers (expressed as δ15N) or the degree of terrestrial feeding (expressed as δ13C) and contaminant loads. (4) PBDEs were not detected in significant amounts at either site. The results of this study indicate that the outflow from one of Europe′s largest river systems is associated with significant historical contamination, reflected by the accumulation of contaminants in body tissues in a coastal benthivore predator. - Highlights: • Contaminants in Oystercatchers from the Elbe river and a non-riverine site were measured. • Mean levels of contaminants were higher at the river than at the non-riverine site. • Levels of most contaminants in serum and feathers were significantly related. • No relationship between trophic level (δ15N) and contaminant level was found. • One of Europe′s largest river systems is associated

Degrees of competency: the relationship between educational qualifications and adult skills across countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natascha Massing

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Educational qualifications and literacy skills are highly related. This is not surprising as it is one aim of educational systems to equip individuals with competencies necessary to take part in society. Because of this relationship educational qualifications are often used as a proxy for “human capital”. However, from a theoretical perspective, there are many reasons why this relationship is not perfect, and to some degree this is due to third variables. Thus, we want to explore the net relationship between educational attainment (harmonized according to the International Standard Classification of Education, ISCED and literacy skills, and how much skills vary within education levels across countries. Methods We use data from 21 countries from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies 2012. This paper compares the literacy skills of adults who achieved different levels of educational attainment across countries. Given the high degree of educational differentiation in most countries, we do this using a more differentiated educational attainment variable than what is commonly used.  In our analyses we firstly adjust for factors that are likely to affect access to education and the acquisition of educational qualifications and literacy skills, such as parental education and language and migration background. In a second step, we also take into account factors affecting skill development after initial formal education, such as occupation and skill use at home. Results We firstly find a high degree of heterogeneity of skills across countries for equivalent education categories. Secondly, we find skill similarities for equivalent education categories classified at different broad education levels, sometimes even breaking the hierarchical order of ‘higher education entails higher competencies’. Conclusion We conclude that ISCED levels cannot be taken as a cross-nationally comparable proxy for

Right hemisphere dominance directly predicts both baseline V1 cortical excitability and the degree of top-down modulation exerted over low-level brain structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Arshad, Q; Siddiqui, S; Ramachandran, S; Goga, U; Bonsu, A; Patel, M; Roberts, R E; Nigmatullina, Y; Malhotra, P; Bronstein, A M

2015-12-17

Right hemisphere dominance for visuo-spatial attention is characteristically observed in most right-handed individuals. This dominance has been attributed to both an anatomically larger right fronto-parietal network and the existence of asymmetric parietal interhemispheric connections. Previously it has been demonstrated that interhemispheric conflict, which induces left hemisphere inhibition, results in the modulation of both (i) the excitability of the early visual cortex (V1) and (ii) the brainstem-mediated vestibular-ocular reflex (VOR) via top-down control mechanisms. However to date, it remains unknown whether the degree of an individual's right hemisphere dominance for visuospatial function can influence, (i) the baseline excitability of the visual cortex and (ii) the extent to which the right hemisphere can exert top-down modulation. We directly tested this by correlating line bisection error (or pseudoneglect), taken as a measure of right hemisphere dominance, with both (i) visual cortical excitability measured using phosphene perception elicited via single-pulse occipital trans-cranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and (ii) the degree of trans-cranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)-mediated VOR suppression, following left hemisphere inhibition. We found that those individuals with greater right hemisphere dominance had a less excitable early visual cortex at baseline and demonstrated a greater degree of vestibular nystagmus suppression following left hemisphere cathodal tDCS. To conclude, our results provide the first demonstration that individual differences in right hemisphere dominance can directly predict both the baseline excitability of low-level brain structures and the degree of top-down modulation exerted over them. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Socioeconomic, demographic, and geographic variables affecting the diverse degrees of consanguineous marriages in Spain.

Science.gov (United States)

Fuster, V; Colantonio, S E

2004-02-01

In a population the inbreeding coefficient alpha is determined by the relative incidence of the various degrees of consanguineous marriages--uncle-niece or aunt-nephew (C12), first cousin (C22), first cousin once removed (C23), second cousin (C33)--which may be related to temporal, geographic, demographic, and economic factors. Using published information from Spain corresponding to urban and rural areas, in this article we seek to establish how each specific relationship behaves with respect to geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic factors, to determine differential urban-rural patterns, and to study whether the diverse types of consanguineous matings relate homogeneously to these factors. For this purpose we performed multiple regressions in which the dependent variables were the different degrees of consanguinity previously selected and the independent variables were geographic, demographic, and economic factors. Our results indicate that the various types of consanguineous marriages in Spain are more conditioned by geographic, demographic, and economic variables than by the inbreeding level alpha (the coefficient of determination was between 0.22 and 0.72; the maximum for alpha was 0.35). A regional pattern exists in Spain and corresponds to close and to remote kinship, which may be mainly related to economic and family factors. Close relationships appear to be more associated with economic variables, whereas second-cousin marriages correspond largely to rural areas of the Spanish Central Plateau.

Secretion of incretin hormones (GIP and GLP-1) and incretin effect after oral glucose in first-degree relatives of patients with type 2 diabetes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nauck, Michael A; El-Ouaghlidi, Andrea; Gabrys, Bartholomäus

2004-01-01

) and an "isoglycaemic" intravenous glucose infusion. Blood was drawn over 240 min for plasma glucose (glucose oxidase), insulin, C-peptide, GIP and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1; specific immunoassays). RESULTS: The pattern of glucose concentrations could precisely be copied by the intravenous glucose infusion (p=0......AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Since insulin secretion in response to exogenous gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) is diminished not only in patients with type 2 diabetes, but also in their normal glucose-tolerant first-degree relatives, it was the aim to investigate the integrity of the entero-insular axis...... in such subjects. METHODS: Sixteen first-degree relatives of patients with type 2 diabetes (4 male, 12 female, age 50+/-12 years, BMI 26.1+/-3.8 kg/m(2)) and 10 matched healthy controls (negative family history, 6 male, 4 female, 45+/-13 years, 26.1+/-4.2 kg/m(2)) were examined with an oral glucose load (75 g...

Career Progression of the Pharmacy/MBA Professional: Characterization and Perceptions of the Combined Degree.

Science.gov (United States)

Daly, Christopher J; Tierney, Sarah-Elizabeth L; O'Brien, Erin; Fiebelkorn, Karl D; Jacobs, David M

2017-05-01

Objectives. To characterize pharmacy/MBA professionals during their entry-level and current positions and to describe their attitudes and perceptions toward their combined degree. Methods. A cross-sectional survey of University at Buffalo (UB) alumni who obtained both pharmacy and MBA degrees was used. An electronic survey was developed through collaboration with the UB School of Management and administered in winter 2015. Results. A total of 68/115 (59% response rate) pharmacy/MBA professionals responded to the survey. Post-graduate training was completed by 24% of respondents, and most commonly it was a residency program. After adjusting for inflation to 2014 dollars, the median entry-level salary for pharmacy/MBA professionals was $140,123 (mean = $144,327) and this increased to $179,947 (mean = $205,623) for those in their current position. Practice settings for entry-level professionals included pharmaceutical industry (25%) and chain pharmacies (18%). Most respondents believed that a combined degree helped in career advancement (85%) and made them more competitive in the job market (90%). Conclusion. Pharmacy/MBA professionals are well-compensated, work in a wide-range of professional settings, and have a high-level of satisfaction with their combined degree.

Access to 4-Year Public Colleges and Degree Completion

OpenAIRE

Goodman, Joshua Samuel; Hurwitz, Michael; Smith, Jonathan

2017-01-01

Does access to 4-year colleges affect degree completion for students who would otherwise attend 2-year colleges? Admission to Georgia’s 4-year public sector requires minimum SAT scores. Regression discontinuity estimates show that access to this sector increases 4-year college enrollment and college quality, largely by diverting students from 2-year colleges. Access substantially increases bachelor’s degree completion rates for these relatively low-skilled students. SAT retaking behavior sugg...

Task-related changes in degree centrality and local coherence of the posterior cingulate cortex after major cardiac surgery in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Browndyke, Jeffrey N; Berger, Miles; Smith, Patrick J; Harshbarger, Todd B; Monge, Zachary A; Panchal, Viral; Bisanar, Tiffany L; Glower, Donald D; Alexander, John H; Cabeza, Roberto; Welsh-Bohmer, Kathleen; Newman, Mark F; Mathew, Joseph P

2018-02-01

Older adults often display postoperative cognitive decline (POCD) after surgery, yet it is unclear to what extent functional connectivity (FC) alterations may underlie these deficits. We examined for postoperative voxel-wise FC changes in response to increased working memory load demands in cardiac surgery patients and nonsurgical controls. Older cardiac surgery patients (n = 25) completed a verbal N-back working memory task during MRI scanning and cognitive testing before and 6 weeks after surgery; nonsurgical controls with cardiac disease (n = 26) underwent these assessments at identical time intervals. We measured postoperative changes in degree centrality, the number of edges attached to a brain node, and local coherence, the temporal homogeneity of regional functional correlations, using voxel-wise graph theory-based FC metrics. Group × time differences were evaluated in these FC metrics associated with increased N-back working memory load (2-back > 1-back), using a two-stage partitioned variance, mixed ANCOVA. Cardiac surgery patients demonstrated postoperative working memory load-related degree centrality increases in the left dorsal posterior cingulate cortex (dPCC; p < .001, cluster p-FWE < .05). The dPCC also showed a postoperative increase in working memory load-associated local coherence (p < .001, cluster p-FWE < .05). dPCC degree centrality and local coherence increases were inversely associated with global cognitive change in surgery patients (p < .01), but not in controls. Cardiac surgery patients showed postoperative increases in working memory load-associated degree centrality and local coherence of the dPCC that were inversely associated with postoperative global cognitive outcomes and independent of perioperative cerebrovascular damage. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

High degree of sex chromosome differentiation in stickleback fishes

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Shimada Yukinori

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Studies of closely related species with different sex chromosome systems can provide insights into the processes of sex chromosome differentiation and evolution. To investigate the potential utility of molecular markers in studying sex chromosome differentiation at early stages of their divergence, we examined the levels and patterns of genetic differentiation between sex chromosomes in nine-spined (Pungitius pungitius and three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus using microsatellite markers. Results A set of novel microsatellite markers spanning the entire length of the sex chromosomes were developed for nine-spined sticklebacks using the sequenced genomes of other fish species. Sex-specific patterns of genetic variability and male-specific alleles were identified at most of these loci, indicating a high degree of differentiation between the X and Y chromosomes in nine-spined sticklebacks. In three-spined sticklebacks, male-specific alleles were detected at some loci confined to two chromosomal regions. In addition, male-specific null alleles were identified at several other loci, implying the absence of Y chromosomal alleles at these loci. Overall, male-specific alleles and null alleles were found over a region spanning 81% of the sex chromosomes in three-spined sticklebacks. Conclusions High levels but distinct patterns of sex chromosome differentiation were uncovered in the stickleback species that diverged 13 million years ago. Our results suggest that the Y chromosome is highly degenerate in three-spined sticklebacks, but not in nine-spined sticklebacks. In general, the results demonstrate that microsatellites can be useful in identifying the degree and patterns of sex chromosome differentiation in species at initial stages of sex chromosome evolution.

Isokinetic and isometric strength-endurance after 6 hours of immersion and 6 degrees head-down tilt in men

Science.gov (United States)

Shaffer-Bailey, M.; Greenleaf, J. E.; Hutchinson, T. M.

1996-01-01

PURPOSE: To determine weight (water) loss levels for onset of muscular strength and endurance changes during deconditioning. METHODS: Seven men (27-40 yr) performed maximal shoulder-, knee-, and ankle-joint isometric (0 degree.s(-1) load) and isokinetic (60 degrees, 120 degrees, 180 degrees.s(-1) velocity) exercise tests during ambulatory control (AC), after 6 h of 6 degrees head-down tilt (HDT; dry-bulb temp. = 23.2 +/- SD 0.6 degrees C, relative humidity = 31.1+/- 11.1%) and after 6 h of 80 degrees foot-down head-out water immersion (WI; water temp. = 35.0 +/- SD 0.1 degree C) treatments. RESULTS: Weight (water) loss after HDT (1.10 +/- SE 0.14 kg, 1.4 +/- 0.2% body wt) and WI (1.54+/- 0.19 kg, 2.0 +/- 0.2% body wt) were not different, but urinary excretion with WI (1,354 +/- 142 ml.6 h(-1)) was 28% greater (p strength was unchanged except for three knee-joint peak torques: AC torque (120 degrees.s(-1), 285 +/- 20 Nm) decreased to 268 +/- 21 Nm (delta = -6%, p strength and endurance decrements is more than 2% body weight (water) loss, while significant reduction in knee-joint muscular strength-endurance occurred only at moderate (120 degrees.s(-1) and lighter (180 degrees.s(-1)) loads with body weight loss of 1.4-2.0% following WI or HDT, respectively. These weight (water) losses and knee-joint strength decrements are somewhat less than the mean weight loss of 2.6% and knee-joint strength decrements of 6-20% of American astronauts after Skylab flights to 84 d.

The relation between degree-2160 spectral models of Earth's gravitational and topographic potential: a guide on global correlation measures and their dependency on approximation effects

Science.gov (United States)

Hirt, Christian; Rexer, Moritz; Claessens, Sten; Rummel, Reiner

2017-10-01

Comparisons between high-degree models of the Earth's topographic and gravitational potential may give insight into the quality and resolution of the source data sets, provide feedback on the modelling techniques and help to better understand the gravity field composition. Degree correlations (cross-correlation coefficients) or reduction rates (quantifying the amount of topographic signal contained in the gravitational potential) are indicators used in a number of contemporary studies. However, depending on the modelling techniques and underlying levels of approximation, the correlation at high degrees may vary significantly, as do the conclusions drawn. The present paper addresses this problem by attempting to provide a guide on global correlation measures with particular emphasis on approximation effects and variants of topographic potential modelling. We investigate and discuss the impact of different effects (e.g., truncation of series expansions of the topographic potential, mass compression, ellipsoidal versus spherical approximation, ellipsoidal harmonic coefficient versus spherical harmonic coefficient (SHC) representation) on correlation measures. Our study demonstrates that the correlation coefficients are realistic only when the model's harmonic coefficients of a given degree are largely independent of the coefficients of other degrees, permitting degree-wise evaluations. This is the case, e.g., when both models are represented in terms of SHCs and spherical approximation (i.e. spherical arrangement of field-generating masses). Alternatively, a representation in ellipsoidal harmonics can be combined with ellipsoidal approximation. The usual ellipsoidal approximation level (i.e. ellipsoidal mass arrangement) is shown to bias correlation coefficients when SHCs are used. Importantly, gravity models from the International Centre for Global Earth Models (ICGEM) are inherently based on this approximation level. A transformation is presented that enables a

Evolution of Cooperation in Continuous Prisoner's Dilemma Games on Barabasi-Albert Networks with Degree-Dependent Guilt Mechanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Xianjia; Quan Ji; Liu Weibing

2012-01-01

This paper studies the continuous prisoner's dilemma games (CPDG) on Barabasi-Albert (BA) networks. In the model, each agent on a vertex of the networks makes an investment and interacts with all of his neighboring agents. Making an investment is costly, but which benefits its neighboring agents, where benefit and cost depend on the level of investment made. The payoff of each agent is given by the sum of payoffs it receives in its interactions with all its neighbors. Not only payoff, individual's guilty emotion in the games has also been considered. The negative guilty emotion produced in comparing with its neighbors can reduce the utility of individuals directly. We assume that the reduction amount depends on the individual's degree and a baseline level parameter. The group's cooperative level is characterized by the average investment of the population. Each player makes his investment in the next step based on a convex combination of the investment of his best neighbors in the last step, his best history strategies in the latest steps which number is controlled by a memory length parameter, and a uniformly distributed random number. Simulation results show that this degree-dependent guilt mechanism can promote the evolution of cooperation dramatically comparing with degree-independent guilt or no guilt cases. Imitation, memory, uncertainty coefficients and network structure also play determinant roles in the cooperation level of the population. All our results may shed some new light on studying the evolution of cooperation based on network reciprocity mechanisms. (interdisciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology)

Decontamination of Petroleum-Contaminated Soils Using The Electrochemical Technique: Remediation Degree and Energy Consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Streche, Constantin; Cocârţă, Diana Mariana; Istrate, Irina-Aura; Badea, Adrian Alexandru

2018-02-19

Currently, there are different remediation technologies for contaminated soils, but the selection of the best technology must be not only the treatment efficiency but also the energy consumption (costs) during its application. This paper is focused on assessing energy consumption related to the electrochemical treatment of polluted soil with petroleum hydrocarbons. In the framework of a research project, two types of experiments were conducted using soil that was artificially contaminated with diesel fuel at the same level of contamination. The experimental conditions considered for each experiment were: different amounts of contaminated soils (6 kg and 18 kg, respectively), the same current intensity level (0.25A and 0.5A), three different contamination degrees (1%, 2.5% and 5%) and the same time for application of the electrochemical treatment. The remediation degree concerning the removal of petroleum hydrocarbons from soil increased over time by approximately 20% over 7 days. With regard to energy consumption, the results revealed that with an increase in the quantity of treated soil of approximately three times, the specific energy consumption decreased from 2.94 kWh/kg treated soil to 1.64 kWh/kg treated soil.

The Effects of the Introduction of Bachelor Degrees on College Enrollment and Dropout Rates

Science.gov (United States)

Horstschräer, Julia; Sprietsma, Maresa

2015-01-01

We estimate the short-term effects of the introduction of the Bachelor degree system in Germany, a change in degree regulations such that students need less time to earn a first degree, on college enrollment and dropout rates. We use variation in the timing of the reform at the university department level to identify the effects of the reform…

Chemistry teaching in the new degrees of Agricultural Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Arce, Augusto; Tarquis, Ana Maria; Castellanos, Maria Teresa; Requejo, Maria Isabel; Cartagena, Maria Carmen

2013-04-01

The academic year 2011-12 is the second one implementing Bologna process in ETSI at the subjects of Agricultural Chemistry I and Chemistry II in the new four Degrees: Graduate in Engineering and Agricultural Science, Food Engineering Graduate, Graduate Environmental and engineering Graduate in Biotechnology, for it has been necessary to design and implement new interactive methodologies in the teaching-learning process based on the use of the virtual platform of the UPM, implement new evaluation systems that promote continued participation active student and the development of educational materials to support the subjects of chemistry designed new degrees within the EEES. In addition to the above actions, an assessment test prior chemistry knowledge has been made to all students who enter into Agricultural Grades, improving laboratory practices and the comparative study of academic obtained by the students of the new grades in the subjects of chemistry during the year 2011-12 compared to the 2010-11 academic year. More than 15,000 data have showed a good correlation between the student's prior knowledge, the level test performed, test scores, the overall success rate of the course and the abandonment of the different degrees. Academic results show a higher percentage of students enrolled and presented on a greater number of passes on students enrolled in the 2011-12 academic year for students enrolled in the previous academic year. The improved results have influenced the actions taken and the level of knowledge with students entering. Finally, we propose possible solutions to fix these results in future courses, aiming to improve the degree of efficiency, success and significant absenteeism in the first year as it will condition the dropout rate of these new degrees. Acknowledgements: Proyecto de Innovación Educativa N° IE02054-11/12 UPM. 2012.

High-Degree Neurons Feed Cortical Computations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicholas M Timme

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Recent work has shown that functional connectivity among cortical neurons is highly varied, with a small percentage of neurons having many more connections than others. Also, recent theoretical developments now make it possible to quantify how neurons modify information from the connections they receive. Therefore, it is now possible to investigate how information modification, or computation, depends on the number of connections a neuron receives (in-degree or sends out (out-degree. To do this, we recorded the simultaneous spiking activity of hundreds of neurons in cortico-hippocampal slice cultures using a high-density 512-electrode array. This preparation and recording method combination produced large numbers of neurons recorded at temporal and spatial resolutions that are not currently available in any in vivo recording system. We utilized transfer entropy (a well-established method for detecting linear and nonlinear interactions in time series and the partial information decomposition (a powerful, recently developed tool for dissecting multivariate information processing into distinct parts to quantify computation between neurons where information flows converged. We found that computations did not occur equally in all neurons throughout the networks. Surprisingly, neurons that computed large amounts of information tended to receive connections from high out-degree neurons. However, the in-degree of a neuron was not related to the amount of information it computed. To gain insight into these findings, we developed a simple feedforward network model. We found that a degree-modified Hebbian wiring rule best reproduced the pattern of computation and degree correlation results seen in the real data. Interestingly, this rule also maximized signal propagation in the presence of network-wide correlations, suggesting a mechanism by which cortex could deal with common random background input. These are the first results to show that the extent to

Introducing Modified Degree 4 Chordal Rings with Two Chord Lengths

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Jens Myrup

2007-01-01

In this paper an analysis of modified degree 4 Chordal Rings with two chord lengths named CHRm is presented and compared to similar topologies: Chordal Rings, N2R and modified N2R. Formulas for approximating diameters and average path lengths are provided and verified, and it is shown...... that the distances in CHRm are significantly smaller than in traditional Chordal Rings and N2R, and also smaller than modified N2R for topologies with up to 1500 nodes. Despite the proposed CHRm being of degree 4, and the modified N2R of degree 3, CHRm may be better suited for the optical level of fiber rings, due...

Plasma cytokine IL-6 levels and subjective cognitive decline: preliminary findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Keegan, Andrew P; Paris, Daniel; Luis, Cheryl A; Abdullah, Laila; Ait-Ghezala, Ghania; Beaulieu-Abdelahad, David; Pryor, Makenzie; Chaykin, Jillian; Crynen, Gogce; Crawford, Fiona; Mullan, Michael

2018-02-01

Detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD) prior to clinical inception will be paramount for introducing disease modifying treatments. We have begun collecting baseline characteristics of a community cohort for longitudinal assessment and testing of antecedent blood-based biomarkers. We describe the baseline visit from the first 131 subjects in relationship to a commonly described cytokine, interleukin 6 (IL-6). Subjects from the community presented for a free memory screening with varying degrees of memory concern. We quantified the baseline plasma levels of the cytokine IL-6 and assessed cognition (Montreal Cognitive Assessment, MoCA) and mood (Geriatric Depression Scale, GDS) in relationship to their memory concern. Baseline MoCA scores were inversely related to age, and this association was influenced by an AD risk factor, Apolipoprotein E (APOE4) carrier status. The degree of subjective cognitive decline correlated with GDS and was inversely related to MoCA scores. Interleukin 6 levels were related to age, body mass index, and years of education. It will be important to assess how these baseline IL-6 levels and forthcoming novel biomarkers relate to future cognitive decline. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The IB Diploma and UK University Degree Qualifications

Science.gov (United States)

Frank-Gemmill, Gerda

2013-01-01

In recent years the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma has become widely accepted as a university-entry qualification in the UK, but there has been little quantitative research into the achievements of IB students at degree level. This study investigates IB students from one selective independent school who entered UK universities between…

Relations between CT perfusion parameters and degree of hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury in a rabbit model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo Chengwei; Shen Sandi; Yi Xianlin; Zhang Zhonglin; Liu Zaiyi; Liang Changhong

2011-01-01

group [(24.1±7.5)%] (F=43.664, P<0.01). But, the perfusion parameters in the relatively normal area of IRI groups showed decline compared with sham group. The levels of AST, ALT and ALP in IRI groups were significantly higher than those in the sham group (P<0.05). In poorly enhancing tissues, TLP and HPP of IRI groups were inversely correlated with AST and ALP respectively (P<0.01), and HPI was closely related to the increase of AST (r=0.751, P<0.01). Conclusion: These results demonstrate CT perfusion is sensitive to detect the hemodynamic changes. Perfusion parameters are closely correlated to the degree of liver injury in the rabbit IRI model. (authors)

Third Level of International Relations: Characteristics of Sub-State Actors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergey P. Arteev

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article is in the genre of the review for textbook O. V. Plotnikova and O. Y. Dubrovina International relations of the regions States: characteristics and features (Moscow: Norma; INFRA-M, 2016. 192 p.. Textbook on international activities of sub-state/subnational actors in international relations. Under the sub-state/subnational actors refers to the regions of the States. The authors propose an along with interstate relations (first level and supranational organizations (second level to distinguish a third level of international relations - international relations of the regions in Federal and unitary States. The topic is very relevant due to the ongoing restructuring of the architecture of international relations and world politics. In addition, these processes lead to involvement in international relations new actors. The resulting configuration and the role of traditional players. In addition to long-term evolutionary processes, we should not forget about the position of Russia in the last few years. It is obvious that the current tensions around the Russian Federation may not be fully resolved with the old methods. At the same time, sub-state/ subnational actors as subjects of a combined nature, the role played by regions of the Russian Federation, able to combine harmoniously in its international activities as the techniques characteristic of the traditional actors - States and developments in the tools of non-traditional actors - international non-governmental and non-profit organizations etc. As a result of positive results can be achieved faster and at the interstate level. The review considers the subject and the relevance of the topic, presents the analysis of the content of the work. Marked strengths of the textbook, including those associated with the consideration of the diagonal ties and the political components in the international activities of the regions. In addition to the advantages, attention is paid to the analysis of

Degrees of democraticity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lars Bergström

2011-05-01

Full Text Available People have tended to load their different conceptions of democracy with their own political ideals; in this paper it is argued that normative and definitional questions should rather be separated, so that political philosophers and political scientists may adopt the same concept of democracy, even if they disagree normatively or politically. Moreover, it is argued that we should replace an absolute notion of democracy by a relativized notion, which allows for different degrees of democraticity. This facilitates the separation of normative and conceptual issues and it is convenient in contexts in which “democratic deficits” are discussed – as e.g. when democracy is to be implemented on a supranational level. Moreover, it has the consequence that democratic deficits are not necessarily bad. DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1837342

Sport psychological skill levels and related psychosocial factors that ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Sport psychological skill levels and related psychosocial factors that distinguish ... players' perceived ability to be psychologically well prepared for competitions. ... reference to practical implications for future sport psychological skills training

Case Study: Creation of a Degree Program in Computer Security. White Paper.

Science.gov (United States)

Belon, Barbara; Wright, Marie

This paper reports on research into the field of computer security, and undergraduate degrees offered in that field. Research described in the paper reveals only one computer security program at the associate's degree level in the entire country. That program, at Texas State Technical College in Waco, is a 71-credit-hour program leading to an…

Roster of Astronomy Departments with Enrollment and Degree Data, 2014: Results from the 2014 Survey of Enrollments and Degrees. Focus On

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholson, Starr; Mulvey, Patrick J.

2015-01-01

Undergraduate astronomy enrollments in the US continue to rise with junior and senior level enrollments exceeding the previous year's all-time high. The increasing undergraduate enrollments have produced 428 bachelor's in the 2013-14 academic year, also an all-time high. Undergraduate astronomy degree production will continue to rise given the…

Determination of degree of RBC agglutination for blood typing using a small quantity of blood sample in a microfluidic system.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Yaw-Jen; Ho, Ching-Yuan; Zhou, Xin-Miao; Yen, Hsiu-Rong

2018-04-15

Blood typing assay is a critical test to ensure the serological compatibility of a donor and an intended recipient prior to a blood transfusion. This paper presents a microfluidic blood typing system using a small quantity of blood sample to determine the degree of agglutination of red blood cell (RBC). Two measuring methods were proposed: impedimetric measurement and electroanalytical measurement. The charge transfer resistance in the impedimetric measurement and the power parameter in the electroanalytical measurement were used for the analysis of agglutination level. From the experimental results, both measuring methods provide quantitative results, and the parameters are linearly and monotonically related to the degree of RBC agglutination. However, the electroanalytical measurement is more reliable than the impedimetric technique because the impedimetric measurement may suffer from many influencing factors, such as chip conditions. Five levels from non-agglutination (level 0) to strong agglutination (level 4+) can be discriminated in this study, conforming to the clinical requirement to prevent any risks in transfusion. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Why do different people choose different university degrees? Motivation and the choice of degree

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anya eSkatova

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Different people choose which undergraduate degree to study at the university for different reasons. To date, there have been limited attempts to identify individual differences in motivation that drive the undergraduate degree choice. We identified that people choose university degrees for four reasons: career concerns (Career, intrinsic interest (Interest in the subject, an opportunity to help others (Helping and because they are looking for an easy option into higher education (Loafing. We investigated whether these motivation apply to the choice of undergraduate degree in two samples: (1 undergraduate (N = 989 and (2 prospective (N = 896 students. We developed the Motivations Influencing Course Choice (MICC questionnaire to measure these motivations. Scales of Helping, Career, Loafing and Interest showed good psychometric properties, showed validity with respect to general life goals and personality traits, and predicted actual and prospective degree choices. We demonstrated that medical degrees were chosen due to a mixture of Helping and Career, while engineering degrees were associated with Career and low interest in the degree. The choice of art and humanities degrees was driven by Interest and low concern about future career, accompanied with high Loafing. We also demonstrated gender differences: females were high in Helping (both samples and Interest (only in undergraduate sample motivation, while males scored higher in Career (only in undergraduate sample and Loafing (both samples. The findings can feed into both theoretical accounts of proximal motivation as well as help to improve degree programmes at universities and provide better career advice.

Why do different people choose different university degrees? Motivation and the choice of degree.

Science.gov (United States)

Skatova, Anya; Ferguson, Eamonn

2014-01-01

Different people choose undergraduate degrees to study at university for different reasons. To date, there have been limited attempts to identify individual differences in motivation that drive undergraduate degree choice. We identified that people choose university degrees for four reasons: career concerns (Career), intrinsic interest in the subject (Interest), an opportunity to help others (Helping) and because they are looking for an easy option to get into higher education (Loafing). We investigated whether these motivations apply to the choice of undergraduate degree in two samples: (1) undergraduate (N = 989) and (2) prospective (N = 896) students. We developed the Motivations Influencing Course Choice (MICC) questionnaire to measure these motivations. Scales of Helping, Career, Loafing, and Interest showed good psychometric properties, showed validity with respect to general life goals and personality traits, and predicted actual and prospective degree choices. We demonstrated that medical degrees were chosen due to a mixture of Helping and Career, while engineering degrees were associated with Career and low Interest in the degree. The choice of arts and humanities degrees was driven by Interest and low concern about future career, accompanied with high Loafing. We also demonstrated gender differences: females were high in Helping (both samples) and Interest (only in the undergraduate sample) motivation, while males scored higher in Career (only in the undergraduate sample) and Loafing (both samples). The findings can feed into both theoretical accounts of proximal motivation as well as provide help to improve degree programmes at universities and support better career advice.

Cerebral laterality for language is related to adult salivary testosterone levels but not digit ratio (2D:4D) in men: A functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound study.

Science.gov (United States)

Papadatou-Pastou, Marietta; Martin, Maryanne

2017-03-01

The adequacy of three competing theories of hormonal effects on cerebral laterality are compared using functional transcranial Doppler sonography (fTCD). Thirty-three adult males participated in the study (21 left-handers). Cerebral lateralization was measured by fTCD using an extensively validated word generation task. Adult salivary testosterone (T) and cortisol (C) concentrations were measured by luminescence immunoassay and prenatal T exposure was indirectly estimated by the somatic marker of 2nd to 4th digit length ratio (2D:4D). A significant quadratic relationship between degree of cerebral laterality for language and adult T concentrations was observed, with enhanced T levels for strong left hemisphere dominance and strong right hemisphere dominance. No systematic effects on laterality were found for cortisol or 2D:4D. Findings suggest that higher levels of T are associated with a relatively attenuated degree of interhemispheric sharing of linguistic information, providing support for the callosal and the sexual differentiation hypotheses rather than the Geschwind, Behan and Galaburda (GBG) hypothesis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An Intelligent Information Retrieval Approach Based on Two Degrees of Uncertainty Fuzzy Ontology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maryam Hourali

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In spite of the voluminous studies in the field of intelligent retrieval systems, effective retrieving of information has been remained an important unsolved problem. Implementations of different conceptual knowledge in the information retrieval process such as ontology have been considered as a solution to enhance the quality of results. Furthermore, the conceptual formalism supported by typical ontology may not be sufficient to represent uncertainty information due to the lack of clear-cut boundaries between concepts of the domains. To tackle this type of problems, one possible solution is to insert fuzzy logic into ontology construction process. In this article, a novel approach for fuzzy ontology generation with two uncertainty degrees is proposed. Hence, by implementing linguistic variables, uncertainty level in domain's concepts (Software Maintenance Engineering (SME domain has been modeled, and ontology relations have been modeled by fuzzy theory consequently. Then, we combined these uncertain models and proposed a new ontology with two degrees of uncertainty both in concept expression and relation expression. The generated fuzzy ontology was implemented for expansion of initial user's queries in SME domain. Experimental results showed that the proposed model has better overall retrieval performance comparing to keyword-based or crisp ontology-based retrieval systems.

ISO 9001 aspects related to performance and their level of implementation

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Jordi Castello Dalmau

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: In the last three decades, thousands of companies around the world have embraced the ISO 9001 standard in their quest to improve company performance and customer satisfaction. In recent literature, a number of authors have identified different “levels” of ISO 9001 implementation. This study aims to analyse these implementation levels in companies from the point of view of the customer, and provide guidelines for future improvement. Design/methodology/approach: Research was conducted based on the results of the second-party audits (SPAs of 90 suppliers, (including component suppliers, assemblers, and wind farm operation and maintenance services, to one of the wind power industry’s largest wind turbine manufacturers. The audits were carried out within the ISO 9001:2008 framework and conducted by one of this study’s authors in his role as the wind turbine company’s Director of Global Quality. Findings: Auditing suppliers plays a unique role in helping to isolate system weaknesses, identify opportunities and suggest areas for improvement. This study shows that, in terms of management commitment and culture and the good practices of an organization, ISO 9001 certified companies implement differing degrees of the standard. From the results of this research, a "road map" towards improvement can be established; one that allows companies in the sector to go beyond simply being accredited with the standard and instead to take advantage of ISO 9001 certification as a catalyst for change. Research limitations/implications: This article focuses only on the wind power sector, although its findings could be extrapolated to similar sectors of high technology and high levels of customization. Originality/value: While quality audits are a customary topic for academics and researchers, few contributions are related to SPAs and their impact on the quality control process of company suppliers. Primary data from the SPAs of suppliers (objective

ISO 9001 aspects related to performance and their level of implementation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Castello Dalmau, J.; Gimenez, G.; Castro, R. de

2016-07-01

Purpose: In the last three decades, thousands of companies around the world have embraced the ISO 9001 standard in their quest to improve company performance and customer satisfaction. In recent literature, a number of authors have identified different “levels” of ISO 9001 implementation. This study aims to analyse these implementation levels in companies from the point of view of the customer, and provide guidelines for future improvement. Design/methodology/approach: Research was conducted based on the results of the second-party audits (SPAs) of 90 suppliers, (including component suppliers, assemblers, and wind farm operation and maintenance services), to one of the wind power industry’s largest wind turbine manufacturers. The audits were carried out within the ISO 9001:2008 framework and conducted by one of this study’s authors in his role as the wind turbine company’s Director of Global Quality. Findings: Auditing suppliers plays a unique role in helping to isolate system weaknesses, identify opportunities and suggest areas for improvement. This study shows that, in terms of management commitment and culture and the good practices of an organization, ISO 9001 certified companies implement differing degrees of the standard. From the results of this research, a road map towards improvement can be established; one that allows companies in the sector to go beyond simply being accredited with the standard and instead to take advantage of ISO 9001 certification as a catalyst for change. Research limitations/implications: This article focuses only on the wind power sector, although its findings could be extrapolated to similar sectors of high technology and high levels of customization. Originality/value: While quality audits are a customary topic for academics and researchers, few contributions are related to SPAs and their impact on the quality control process of company suppliers. Primary data from the SPAs of suppliers (objective data collected by one

ISO 9001 aspects related to performance and their level of implementation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castello Dalmau, J.; Gimenez, G.; Castro, R. de

2016-01-01

Purpose: In the last three decades, thousands of companies around the world have embraced the ISO 9001 standard in their quest to improve company performance and customer satisfaction. In recent literature, a number of authors have identified different “levels” of ISO 9001 implementation. This study aims to analyse these implementation levels in companies from the point of view of the customer, and provide guidelines for future improvement. Design/methodology/approach: Research was conducted based on the results of the second-party audits (SPAs) of 90 suppliers, (including component suppliers, assemblers, and wind farm operation and maintenance services), to one of the wind power industry’s largest wind turbine manufacturers. The audits were carried out within the ISO 9001:2008 framework and conducted by one of this study’s authors in his role as the wind turbine company’s Director of Global Quality. Findings: Auditing suppliers plays a unique role in helping to isolate system weaknesses, identify opportunities and suggest areas for improvement. This study shows that, in terms of management commitment and culture and the good practices of an organization, ISO 9001 certified companies implement differing degrees of the standard. From the results of this research, a road map towards improvement can be established; one that allows companies in the sector to go beyond simply being accredited with the standard and instead to take advantage of ISO 9001 certification as a catalyst for change. Research limitations/implications: This article focuses only on the wind power sector, although its findings could be extrapolated to similar sectors of high technology and high levels of customization. Originality/value: While quality audits are a customary topic for academics and researchers, few contributions are related to SPAs and their impact on the quality control process of company suppliers. Primary data from the SPAs of suppliers (objective data collected by one

Importance of small-degree nodes in assortative networks with degree-weight correlations

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Sijuan; Feng, Ling; Monterola, Christopher Pineda; Lai, Choy Heng

2017-10-01

It has been known that assortative network structure plays an important role in spreading dynamics for unweighted networks. Yet its influence on weighted networks is not clear, in particular when weight is strongly correlated with the degrees of the nodes as we empirically observed in Twitter. Here we use the self-consistent probability method and revised nonperturbative heterogenous mean-field theory method to investigate this influence on both susceptible-infective-recovered (SIR) and susceptible-infective-susceptible (SIS) spreading dynamics. Both our simulation and theoretical results show that while the critical threshold is not significantly influenced by the assortativity, the prevalence in the supercritical regime shows a crossover under different degree-weight correlations. In particular, unlike the case of random mixing networks, in assortative networks, the negative degree-weight correlation leads to higher prevalence in their spreading beyond the critical transmissivity than that of the positively correlated. In addition, the previously observed inhibition effect on spreading velocity by assortative structure is not apparent in negatively degree-weight correlated networks, while it is enhanced for that of the positively correlated. Detailed investigation into the degree distribution of the infected nodes reveals that small-degree nodes play essential roles in the supercritical phase of both SIR and SIS spreadings. Our results have direct implications in understanding viral information spreading over online social networks and epidemic spreading over contact networks.

Degree Progress of Women Doctoral Students: Factors that Constrain, Facilitate, and Differentiate

Science.gov (United States)

Maher, Michelle A.; Ford, Martin E.; Thompson, Candace M.

2004-01-01

Using survey and qualitative data, this study identified emergent themes that remain consistent across or differentiate among reports of women earning their doctoral degree relatively quickly ("early-finishers") and those taking considerably longer ("late-finishers"). Emergent themes included commitment to timely degree completion, faculty…

The phase system Fe-Ir-S at 1100, 1000 and 800 degree C

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Makovicky, Emil; Karup-Møller, Sven

1999-01-01

Phase relations in the dry condensed Fe-Ir-S system were determined at 1100, 1000 and 800 degrees C. Orientational runs were performed at 500 degrees C. Between 1100 and 800 degrees C, the system comprises five sulphides and an uninterrupted field of gamma(Fe, Ir). Fe1-xS dissolves 5.8 at.% Ir...... at 1100 degrees C, 3.4 at.% Ir at 1000 degrees C and 1.0 at.% Ir at 800 degrees C. The solubility of Fe in Ir2S3, IrS2 and IrSsimilar to 3 increases with decreasing temperature, reaching 2.5 at.% in the latter two sulphides at 800 degrees C. Thiospinel 'FeIr2S4' is nonstoichiometric, from Fe22.3Ir19.8S58...

Impact of interaction style and degree on the evolution of cooperation on Barabási-Albert scale-free network.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fengjie Xie

Full Text Available In this work, we study an evolutionary prisoner's dilemma game (PDG on Barabási-Albert scale-free networks with limited player interactions, and explore the effect of interaction style and degree on cooperation. The results show that high-degree preference interaction, namely the most applicable interaction in the real world, is less beneficial for emergence of cooperation on scale-free networks than random interaction. Besides, cooperation on scale-free networks is enhanced with the increase of interaction degree regardless whether the interaction is high-degree preference or random. If the interaction degree is very low, the cooperation level on scale-free networks is much lower than that on regular ring networks, which is against the common belief that scale-free networks must be more beneficial for cooperation. Our analysis indicates that the interaction relations, the strategy and the game payoff of high-connectivity players play important roles in the evolution of cooperation on scale-free networks. A certain number of interactions are necessary for scale-free networks to exhibit strong capability of facilitating cooperation. Our work provides important insight for members on how to interact with others in a social organization.

Where are the women? Campus climate and the degree aspirations of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs

Science.gov (United States)

Schulz, Phyllis

Women remain underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at all levels of higher education, which has become a concern in the competitive global marketplace. Using both quantitative and qualitative analysis, this dissertation sought to learn more about how the campus climate and self-concept influence the degree aspirations of female undergraduate students majoring in STEM programs. Using the Beginning Post-Secondary dataset, regression analyses showed that a student's initial degree aspirations, SAT scores, and interactions with faculty were all positively related to their degree aspirations three years later. Interviews with seven current STEM undergraduates confirmed the importance of interaction with faculty and suggested undergraduate research and classroom experiences also play a role in the degree aspirations of STEM students. Three of the seven students interviewed began their undergraduate educations as non-STEM majors, suggesting that the traditional STEM pipeline may no longer be the norm. These findings suggest that both future research and current practitioners should focus on undergraduate STEM classroom and research experiences. Additionally, the characteristics of students who switch into STEM majors should be explored so that we may continue to expand the number of students pursuing STEM degrees.

The Role of Religiosity on Postsecondary Degree Attainment

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sang Min; Puig, Ana; Clark, Mary Ann

2007-01-01

Although previous researchers found that several individual, family, and school characteristics influenced adolescents' academic performance, religion related factors have not typically been considered for models of bachelor's degree attainment. Using longitudinal data in a national database, the authors examined the relationship between high…

Total mercury levels in hair, toenail, and urine among women free from occupational exposure and their relations to renal tubular function

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohno, Tomoko; Sakamoto, Mineshi; Kurosawa, Tomoko; Dakeishi, Miwako; Iwata, Toyoto; Murata, Katsuyuki

2007-01-01

To investigate the relations among total mercury levels in hair, toenail, and urine, together with potential effects of methylmercury intake on renal tubular function, we determined their levels, and urinary N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase activity (NAG) and α 1 -microglobulin (AMG) in 59 women free from occupational exposures, and estimated daily mercury intakes from fish and other seafood using a food frequency questionnaire. Mercury levels (mean+/-SD) in the women were 1.51+/-0.91μg/g in hair, 0.59+/-0.32μg/g in toenail, and 0.86+/-0.66μg/g creatinine in urine; and, there were positive correlations among them (P<0.001). The daily mercury intake of 9.15+/-7.84μg/day was significantly correlated with total mercury levels in hair, toenail, and urine (r=0.551, 0.537, and 0.604, P<0.001). Among the women, the NAG and AMG were positively correlated with both the daily mercury intake and mercury levels in hair, toenail, and urine (P<0.01); and, these relations were almost similar when using multiple regression analysis to adjust for possible confounders such as urinary cadmium (0.47+/-0.28μg/g creatinine) and smoking status. In conclusion, mercury resulting from fish consumption can explain total mercury levels in hair, toenail, and urine to some degree (about 30%), partly through the degradation into the inorganic form, and it may confound the renal tubular effect of other nephrotoxic agents. Also, the following equation may be applicable to the population neither with dental amalgam fillings nor with occupational exposures: [hair mercury (μg/g)]=2.44x[toenail mercury (μg/g)

Formal degrees of unipotent discrete series representations and the exotic Fourier transform

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ciubotaru, D.; Opdam, E.

2015-01-01

We introduce a notion of elliptic fake degrees for unipotent elliptic representations of a semisimple p-adic group. We conjecture, and verify in some cases, that the relation between the formal degrees of unipotent discrete series representations of a semisimple p-adic group and the elliptic fake

High Risk First Degree Relatives of Type 1 Diabetics: An Association with Increases in CXCR3+ T Memory Cells Reflecting an Enhanced Activity of Th1 Autoimmune Response

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tanja Milicic

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We analyzed the level of (a CXCR3+ (Th1 and CCR4+ (Th2 T memory cells (b interferon-γ inducible chemokine (IP-10(Th1 and thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC(Th2, in 51 first degree relatives (FDRs of type 1 diabetics (T1D (17 high risk FDRs (GADA+, IA-2+ and 34 low risk FDRs (GADA−, IA-2−, 24 recent-onset T1D (R-T1D, and 18 healthy subjects. T memory subsets were analyzed by using four-color immunofluorescence staining and flowcytometry. IP-10 and TARC were determined by ELISA. High risk FDRs showed higher levels of CXCR3+ and lower level of CCR4+ T memory cells compared to low risk FDRs (64.98 ± 5.19 versus 42.13 ± 11.11; 29.46 ± 2.83 versus 41.90 ± 8.58%, resp., P<0.001. Simultaneously, both IP-10 and TARC levels were increased in high risk versus low risk FDRs (160.12 ± 73.40 versus 105.39 ± 71.30; 438.83 ± 120.62 versus 312.04 ± 151.14 pg/mL, P<0.05. Binary logistic regression analysis identified the level of CXCR3+ T memory cells as predictors for high risk FDRs, together with high levels of IP-10. The results imply that, in FDRs, the risk for T1D might be strongly influenced by enhanced activity of Th1 and diminished activity of Th2 autoimmune response.

Postglacial relative sea level change at Fildes Peninsula, King George Island (West Antarctic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. V. Polishchuk

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Analysis and integration of data obtained in our field and laboratory investigations of 2008–2012 together with results of previous paleogeographic studies were conducted to reveal parameters and factors of the post-glacial changes in the relative sea-level on the Fildes Peninsula and the King George Island. Results of dating of organic material taken from cross-sections of Quaternary deposits, data on morphology of marine landforms as well as on bottom sediments in lakes were used to construct a curve of changes in the relative sea-level.Our research has shown that the rapid rise of relative sea level in the area (since the beginning of the Holocene decelerated about 8000 years BP, achieving its maximum about 7000 years BP. This was followed by the fall of relative sea-level (the land elevation by 18–20  m in total, and it was characterized by relatively high rate of fall during periods of 6000– 5000 years BP, 4000–2500 years BP, and during the last 1500 years; the rate decreased in 5000–4000 years BP and 2500– 1600 years BP. The changes in relative sea level in this region were determined by the following factors: the eustatic component of the global changes in sea-level and, possibly, oscillations in the global sea level of another nature; local parameters of the Last glacial maximum; a course of the Peninsula deglaciation; regional physical characteristics of the Earth's crust and the mantle substances; local tectonic processes, including the isostatic rebound. Since the beginning of the Holocene up to about 7000 years BP, the main contribution to changes of the relative sea-level in this area was made by the global eustatic factor. The subsequent fall of the relative sea-level (elevation of the Peninsula surface proceeded under condition of reduced role of the eustatic factor and predominance of other factors.

Characteristics of medically related low-level radioactive waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weir, G.J. Jr.; Teele, B.

1986-07-01

This report describes a survey that identified the current sources of medically generated radioactive wastes. Included are recommendations on how to reduce the volume of medically-related material classified as low-level radioactive wastes, to improve handling techniques for long-lived radioisotopes, and for options for the use of radioactive materials in medical studies. 8 refs., 11 tabs

Is severity of clinical manifestations following _H. lepturus_ envenomation related to serum TNF-α level?

OpenAIRE

Amir A. Jalali; Mohammad H. Pipelzadeh; Mohammad M. Taraz; Ali A. Khodadadi; Manoochr M. Makvandi

2010-01-01

Thirty six patients, with varying degrees of severity of envenomation, because of envenomation by _Hemiscorpius lepturus_ scorpion, were systematically investigated. The serum levels (by double-ligand ELIZA kit) of interlukin-1 (IL-1), interlukin-6 (IL-6), interlukin-8 (IL-8) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF- α) were compared with 30 healthy controls and 10 age-matched patients envenomed by _Mesobuthus eupeus_ scorpion. Blood samples from _M. eupeus_ and _H. lepturus_ victims were...

Integrated Marketing Communications: A New Master's Degree Concept.

Science.gov (United States)

Caywood, Clarke; Ewing, Raymond

1991-01-01

Describes how separate graduate degree programs have been fused into an integrated marketing communications program at Northwestern University. Discusses the five-quarter program that includes a core of new marketing communications planning and management classes, professional specialization classes in corporate public relations, advertising, and…

Enterpreneurship/Small Business Degree Programs at Community Colleges

Science.gov (United States)

Maidment, Fred

2007-01-01

Associate degree programs at community colleges in small business/entrepreneurship were examined in this article. The study examined the community college programs in entrepreneurship and small business related, small business administration and entrepreneurship listed in "Perterson's Guide to Two-Year Colleges" (Oram, 2005). Current catalogs…

Performance and microbial community composition dynamics of aerobic granular sludge from sequencing batch bubble column reactors operated at 20 degrees C, 30 degrees C, and 35 degrees C.

Science.gov (United States)

Ebrahimi, Sirous; Gabus, Sébastien; Rohrbach-Brandt, Emmanuelle; Hosseini, Maryam; Rossi, Pierre; Maillard, Julien; Holliger, Christof

2010-07-01

Two bubble column sequencing batch reactors fed with an artificial wastewater were operated at 20 degrees C, 30 degrees C, and 35 degrees C. In a first stage, stable granules were obtained at 20 degrees C, whereas fluffy structures were observed at 30 degrees C. Molecular analysis revealed high abundance of the operational taxonomic unit 208 (OTU 208) affiliating with filamentous bacteria Leptothrix spp. at 30 degrees C, an OTU much less abundant at 20 degrees C. The granular sludge obtained at 20 degrees C was used for the second stage during which one reactor was maintained at 20 degrees C and the second operated at 30 degrees C and 35 degrees C after prior gradual increase of temperature. Aerobic granular sludge with similar physical properties developed in both reactors but it had different nutrient elimination performances and microbial communities. At 20 degrees C, acetate was consumed during anaerobic feeding, and biological phosphorous removal was observed when Rhodocyclaceae-affiliating OTU 214 was present. At 30 degrees C and 35 degrees C, acetate was mainly consumed during aeration and phosphorous removal was insignificant. OTU 214 was almost absent but the Gammaproteobacteria-affiliating OTU 239 was more abundant than at 20 degrees C. Aerobic granular sludge at all temperatures contained abundantly the OTUs 224 and 289 affiliating with Sphingomonadaceae indicating that this bacterial family played an important role in maintaining stable granular structures.

Correlations of serum levels of leptin and other related factor (NPY, ADP) in female children with simple obesity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bai Hua; Wei Chunlei; Qian Mingzhu

2008-01-01

Objective: To study the changes of serum levels of leptin, NPY and ADP in female children with simple obesity. Methods: Serum levels of leptin, NPY and ADP were measured with radioimmunoassay (RIA) in 32 female children with simple obesity and 35 controls. Results: The serum levels of leptin, NPY were significantly higher in the obese children than those in controls (P<0.01), while the serum levels of ADP were significantly lower (P<0.01). Serum leptin levels were significantly positively correlated (r=0.6014, P<0.01) with NPY levels but were negatively correlated (r=-0.4786, P<0.01) with adiponectin (ADP) levels. Conclusion: Determination of serum leptin, NPY and ADP levels is of help for judgement of degree of obesity as wen as outcome prediction in female children. (authors)

Principles for system level electrochemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Thaller, L. H.

1986-01-01

The higher power and higher voltage levels anticipated for future space missions have required a careful review of the techniques currently in use to preclude battery problems that are related to the dispersion characteristics of the individual cells. Not only are the out-of-balance problems accentuated in these larger systems, but the thermal management considerations also require a greater degree of accurate design. Newer concepts which employ active cooling techniques are being developed which permit higher rates of discharge and tighter packing densities for the electrochemical components. This paper will put forward six semi-independent principles relating to battery systems. These principles will progressively address cell, battery and finally system related aspects of large electrochemical storage systems.

A Study on the Priority Selection of Sediment-related Desaster Evacuation Using Debris Flow Combination Degree of Risk

Science.gov (United States)

Woo, C.; Kang, M.; Seo, J.; Kim, D.; Lee, C.

2017-12-01

As the mountainous urbanization has increased the concern about landslides in the living area, it is essential to develop the technology to minimize the damage through quick identification and sharing of the disaster occurrence information. In this study, to establish an effective system of alert evacuation that has influence on the residents, we used the debris flow combination degree of risk to predict the risk of the disaster and the level of damage and to select evacuation priorities. Based on the GIS information, the physical strength and social vulnerability were determined by following the debris flow combination of the risk formula. The results classify the physical strength hazard rating of the debris flow combination of the through the normalization process. Debris flow the estimated residential population included in the damage range of the damage prediction map is based on the area and the unit size data. Prediction of occupant formula was calculated by applying different weighting to the resident population and users, and the result was classified into 5 classes as the debris flow physical strength. The debris flow occurrence physical strength and social and psychological vulnerability were classified into the classifications to be reflected in the debris flow integrated risk map using the matrix technique. In addition, to supplement the risk of incorporation of debris flow, we added weight to disaster vulnerable facilities that require a lot of time and manpower to evacuate. The basic model of welfare facilities was supplemented by using basic data, population density, employment density and GDP. First, evacuate areas with high integrated degree of risk level, and evacuate with consideration of physical class differences if classification difficult because of the same or similar grade among the management areas. When the physical hazard class difference is similar, the population difference of the area including the welfare facility is considered

Phase relations in the Cu-Te-S system at temperatures between 350 and 900 degree C

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Karup-Møller, Sven

1994-01-01

data and optical data on phases A and B are listed. At 350 degree C there exist two liquid fields which at 450 degree C have become one continuous field stretching from Cu45Te55 with low S content to the tellurium corner of the phase diagram and from there to the sulphur corner. With increasing S......, the Cu content of the liquid rapidly decreases to trace amonts. With increasing temperature the field extends into the ternary from the tellurium corner towards the Cu-S join. The boundary of the liquid field in the central portion of the phae diagram towards the sulphur corner does not change position...

The master degree: A critical transition in STEM doctoral education

Science.gov (United States)

Lange, Sheila Edwards

The need to broaden participation in the nation's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate and graduate programs is currently a matter of national urgency. The small number of women and underrepresented minorities (URM) earning doctoral degrees in STEM is particularly troubling given significant increases in the number of students earning master's degrees since 1990. In the decade between 1990 and 2000, the total number of master's recipients increased by 42%. During this same time period, the number of women earning master's degrees increased by 56%, African Americans increased by 132%, American Indians by 101%, Hispanics by 146%, and Asian Americans by 117% (Syverson, 2003). Growth in underrepresented group education at the master's level raises questions about the relationship between master's and doctoral education. Secondary data analysis of the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) was used to examine institutional pathways to the doctorate in STEM disciplines and transitions from master's to doctoral programs by race and gender. While the study revealed no significant gender differences in pathways, compared to White and Asian American students, URM students take significantly different pathways to the doctorate. URM students are significantly more likely to earn the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees at three different institutions. Their path is significantly more likely to include earning a master's degree en route to the doctorate. Further, URM students are more likely to experience transition between the master's and doctoral degrees, and the transitions are not limited to those who earn master's degrees at master's-only institutions. These findings suggest that earning a master's degree is more often a stepping stone to the doctorate for URM students. Master's degree programs, therefore, have the potential to be a valuable resource for policymakers and graduate programs seeking to increase the diversity of URM students

Predictors of work-related stress among nurses working in primary and secondary health care levels in Dammam, Eastern Saudi Arabia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huda M. Al-Makhaita

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Work-related stress (WRS is an insidious and persistent part of everyday life related to the response of people to work environment. Nursing is a strenuous job and WRS is prevalent among nurses. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of WRS among nurses working in primary and secondary health care levels in Dammam, Eastern Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted in 17 primary health care centers (PHCCs representing the primary level of health care and  Medical Tower Complex (MTC representing the secondary health care level in Dammam city. The total number of nurses included in the study was 637 nurses (144 in PHCCs and (493 MTC. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire, which was developed based on the pertinent literature. It included two main parts: Sociodemographic and job characteristics of nurses and 31 WRS questions. Results: The overall prevalence of WRS among all studied nurses was 45.5%; 43.1% and 46.2% in primary and secondary levels, respectively. In the primary level, there was a statistical significant association between WRS and being married (85.5%, and having living three children and more (53.2%. Moreover, younger age group 20-<30 years (79.4%, Saudi nationality (86.8%, being married (74.6%, having nonbachelor degree (83.3%, work shifts (89.5%, and working in surgical department (46.5% were the significant associating factors with the occurrence of WRS among nurses in secondary levels. Young age was the only predicting factor for WRS in primary care level. While being female, Saudi, married, with work shifts, and working in surgical department were found to predict WRS in the secondary level. Recommendations: Appropriate strategy in health care organization to investigate stress in health care settings is recommended. Moreover, interventional programs to identify, and relieve sources and effects of stress should be developed.

Lumping of degree-based mean-field and pair-approximation equations for multistate contact processes

Science.gov (United States)

Kyriakopoulos, Charalampos; Grossmann, Gerrit; Wolf, Verena; Bortolussi, Luca

2018-01-01

Contact processes form a large and highly interesting class of dynamic processes on networks, including epidemic and information-spreading networks. While devising stochastic models of such processes is relatively easy, analyzing them is very challenging from a computational point of view, particularly for large networks appearing in real applications. One strategy to reduce the complexity of their analysis is to rely on approximations, often in terms of a set of differential equations capturing the evolution of a random node, distinguishing nodes with different topological contexts (i.e., different degrees of different neighborhoods), such as degree-based mean-field (DBMF), approximate-master-equation (AME), or pair-approximation (PA) approaches. The number of differential equations so obtained is typically proportional to the maximum degree kmax of the network, which is much smaller than the size of the master equation of the underlying stochastic model, yet numerically solving these equations can still be problematic for large kmax. In this paper, we consider AME and PA, extended to cope with multiple local states, and we provide an aggregation procedure that clusters together nodes having similar degrees, treating those in the same cluster as indistinguishable, thus reducing the number of equations while preserving an accurate description of global observables of interest. We also provide an automatic way to build such equations and to identify a small number of degree clusters that give accurate results. The method is tested on several case studies, where it shows a high level of compression and a reduction of computational time of several orders of magnitude for large networks, with minimal loss in accuracy.

[Change of awareness level of the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top and relation with sociodemographic and health-related characteristics].

Science.gov (United States)

Takaizumi, Kanae; Harada, Kazuhiro; Nakamura, Yoshio

2011-11-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the sociodemographic and health-related characteristics of those who are unaware of the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top (Food Guide). A longitudinal study was conducted using an Internet-based questionnaire with 1,012 Japanese adults (40.2 +/- 10.0 years, mean +/- SD) recruited from registrants of a Japanese social research company. Conducted between November 2007 (T1) and December 2008 (T2), the survey included items on awareness level ("I know the contents." "I have heard of this Guide." or "I have not heard of this Guide.") of the Food Guide as the dependent variable, and demographics factors (e.g., age, education status, marital status, household income, and employment status) and health-related characteristics (obesity, abdominal obesity, and insufficient physical activity) as the independent variables. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the relation between awareness level and each variable. The relation between change of awareness level (T1-T2) and each variable was analyzed using a chi-square test. All the analyses were stratified by gender. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for all variables, men with a household income of 5,000,000-10,000,000 yen (OR=1.78; 95% CI=1.10-2.88) were positively associated with awareness level ("I have heard of this Guide."). In contrast, unmarried women were negatively associated with awareness level in T1 ("I know the contents"; OR=0.35; 95% CI=0.17-0.70. "I have heard of this Guide"; OR=0.50; 95% CI=0.27-0.92). In men, the awareness level of the Food Guide increased from T1 to T2, change of awareness level (T1; "I have not heard of this Guide") and education status being related (P=0.023). In women, the awareness levels overall did not improve from T1 to T2, but change of awareness level (T1; "I have heard of this Guide") was associated with household income (Plevel was not associated with health-related characteristics. The results

[Smoking: knowledge, attitudes, habits and degree of dependence of young adults in Salvador].

Science.gov (United States)

de Almeida, Aline Farias; Mussi, Fernanda Carneiro

2006-12-01

This study was aimed at evaluating the degree of smoking dependence and to characterize social demographic data, habits and attitudes of young smokers. Answered the questionnairel02 students from Salvador, State of Bahia, of which 11 were smokers. Their mean age and the age in which they first smoked were 18.2 and 13.4 years respectively. Most of them were male, in the first year of senior high school, of brown skin color and had close relatives who smoke. The majority of those young smokers had been advised about the risks of smoking at home and in school, but few had knowledge about the benefits of quitting. Almost half of them had been smoking for more than three years and had started to smoke out of curiosity. More than half of them smoked one cigarette per day, with low levels of nicotine, bought the cigarettes in shops, and wanted and tried to quit smoking, but never succeeded. The degree of dependence was low for most of them. This study offers hints for nurses to act against smoking with young adults.

Structural and Functional Changes in the Tight Junctions of Asymptomatic and Serology-negative First-degree Relatives of Patients With Celiac Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, Asha; Prakash, Shyam; Sreenivas, Vishnubhatla; Das, Taposh K; Ahuja, Vineet; Gupta, Siddhartha D; Makharia, Govind K

2016-08-01

Ten to 15% of first-degree relatives (FDRs) of celiac disease (CeD) patients develop CeD. Although intestinal barrier functions (intestinal permeability) are abnormal in the subset of serology-negative FDRs, what leads to the abnormal barrier function is not known. To study the ultrastructure and functions of tight junctions in serology-negative FDRs of CeD patients. The intestinal permeability was measured in 97 asymptomatic and anti-tissue transglutaminase antibody (anti-tTG Ab)-negative FDRs (using the lactulose mannitol ratio) and in 75 controls. The ultrastructure of tight junctions using transmission electron microscopy, and the expression of key tight junction proteins (claudin-2, claudin-3, occludin, JAM-A, and ZO-1) and zonulin using real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry were assessed in anti-tTG Ab-negative, HLA-DQ2/-DQ8-positive FDRs having normal villi and in disease controls. In addition, the serum zonulin level was measured in 172 anti-tTG Ab-negative FDRs and 198 controls. The intestinal permeability was significantly increased in FDRs than in controls. Ultrastructural abnormalities such as dilatation of the tight junction (P=0.004) and loss of the pentalaminar structure (P=0.001) were more common in FDRs than in disease controls. There was significant underexpression of tight junction proteins ZO-1 (P=0.040) and occludin (P=0.041) in FDRs. There was no significant difference in the serum zonulin level between FDRs and controls (P=0.154). Even asymptomatic, anti-tTG-Ab-negative FDRs with a normal villous histology have both ultrastructural and functional abnormalities in tight junctions. These findings are indirect evidence of the presence of tight junction abnormalities before the onset of the disease and may have therapeutic implications.

Coding of level of ambiguity within neural systems mediating choice.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez-Paniagua, Dan; Seger, Carol A

2013-01-01

Data from previous neuroimaging studies exploring neural activity associated with uncertainty suggest varying levels of activation associated with changing degrees of uncertainty in neural regions that mediate choice behavior. The present study used a novel task that parametrically controlled the amount of information hidden from the subject; levels of uncertainty ranged from full ambiguity (no information about probability of winning) through multiple levels of partial ambiguity, to a condition of risk only (zero ambiguity with full knowledge of the probability of winning). A parametric analysis compared a linear model in which weighting increased as a function of level of ambiguity, and an inverted-U quadratic models in which partial ambiguity conditions were weighted most heavily. Overall we found that risk and all levels of ambiguity recruited a common "fronto-parietal-striatal" network including regions within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, intraparietal sulcus, and dorsal striatum. Activation was greatest across these regions and additional anterior and superior prefrontal regions for the quadratic function which most heavily weighs trials with partial ambiguity. These results suggest that the neural regions involved in decision processes do not merely track the absolute degree ambiguity or type of uncertainty (risk vs. ambiguity). Instead, recruitment of prefrontal regions may result from greater degree of difficulty in conditions of partial ambiguity: when information regarding reward probabilities important for decision making is hidden or not easily obtained the subject must engage in a search for tractable information. Additionally, this study identified regions of activity related to the valuation of potential gains associated with stimuli or options (including the orbitofrontal and medial prefrontal cortices and dorsal striatum) and related to winning (including orbitofrontal cortex and ventral striatum).

The Relation Between Blood Lead Levels and Osteoporosis in Turkish Women

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nurver Turfaner Ertürk

2004-03-01

Full Text Available Lead is a toxic heavy element which is to 90% deposited in bone until the 6th decade and is given to the blood with pregnancy, lactation and physiologic osteoporosis. When it is over certain amounts it may cause osteoporosis and an increase in cardiac events and cancer. In order to evaluate the effect of menopause and osteoporosis on blood lead 20 post-menopausal osteoporotic, 19 non-osteoporotic and 21 pre-menopausal women were selected and their blood levels were measured. In post-menopausal women, its relation with bone mineral density was also investigated. There was no difference between osteoporotic and non-osteoporotic women and pre and postmenopausal women in terms of blood lead (Pb. There was no relation between age and Pb levels but in non-osteoporotic postmenopausal women there was a negative correlation between Pb levels and duration of menopause. There was no relation between bone mineral density and blood lead whereas blood lead and environmental pollution displayed a meaningful correlation.

Putting the Pieces Together and Asking the Hard Questions: Transfer Associate Degrees in Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Wagoner, Richard L.; Kisker, Carrie B.

2012-01-01

The previous six chapters have focused on particular aspects of the processes involved in implementing transfer associate degrees in various states. In this chapter, the authors synthesize that information by presenting an ideal state-level organizational model for implementing these degrees and describing the various constituencies involved in…

A degree in bioethics: an "introspective" analysis from Pakistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Jafarey, Aamir M

2014-04-01

The success of degree-level bioethics programmes, a recent development across the world, is generally evaluated on the basis of their quantifiable impact; for instance, the number of publications graduates produce. The author conducted a study of Pakistani graduates who had pursued a higher qualification in bioethics, and on the basis of the respondents' written and verbal narratives, this paper presents an analysis of their perceptions of the internal impact of bioethics degree programmes. Using these narratives, the paper also analyses the reactions of their colleagues to their new qualification.The respondents reported significant changes in their thinking and actions following their education in bioethics. They exhibited more empathy towards their patients and research subjects, and became better "listeners~ They also reported changes in practices,the most significant being the discontinuation of the linkages they had established with pharmaceutical firms to seek support,because of concerns related to conflict of interest. Although some respondents believed that their new qualification was generally welcomed by their colleagues, who considered them aesthetics resources, others reported that their colleagues harboured unreasonable and impractical expectations from them, and that these were impossible to fulfil. They also got the feeling of being ostracized and regarded as "ethics watchdogs~ Whereas the internalisation of bioethics is an encouraging finding in this cohort, the mixed reception that bioethics and those involved in it received indicates a Jack of understanding of the field and is a source of concern.

Distance costs and the degree of inter-partner involvement in international relational-based technology alliances

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Kranenburg, H.L.; Hagedoorn, J.; Lorenz-Orlean, S.

2014-01-01

This research studies the effect of specific institutional and distance cost issues, in particular the protection of intellectual property rights and geographic distance, on the preference of companies for different governance modalities in terms of the degree of their involvement in international

Damage Degree Evaluation of Earthquake Area Using UAV Aerial Image

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinhong Chen

2016-01-01

Full Text Available An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV system and its aerial image analysis method are developed to evaluate the damage degree of earthquake area. Both the single-rotor and the six-rotor UAVs are used to capture the visible light image of ground targets. Five types of typical ground targets are considered for the damage degree evaluation: the building, the road, the mountain, the riverway, and the vegetation. When implementing the image analysis, first the Image Quality Evaluation Metrics (IQEMs, that is, the image contrast, the image blur, and the image noise, are used to assess the imaging definition. Second, once the image quality is qualified, the Gray Level Cooccurrence Matrix (GLCM texture feature, the Tamura texture feature, and the Gabor wavelet texture feature are computed. Third, the Support Vector Machine (SVM classifier is employed to evaluate the damage degree. Finally, a new damage degree evaluation (DDE index is defined to assess the damage intensity of earthquake. Many experiment results have verified the correctness of proposed system and method.

The Maryland nuclear science baccalaureate degree program: The utility perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller, J.R.

1989-01-01

In the early 1980s, Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPSC) made a firm commitment to pursue development and subsequent delivery of an appropriate, academically accredited program leading to a baccalaureate degree in nuclear science for its nuclear operations personnel. Recognizing the formidable tasks to be accomplished, WPSC worked closely with the University of Maryland University College (UMUC) in curriculum definition, specific courseware development for delivery by computer-aided instruction, individual student evaluation, and overall program implementation. Instruction began on our nuclear plant site in the fall of 1984. The university anticipates conferring the first degrees from this program at WPSC in the fall of 1989. There are several notable results that WPSC achieved from this degree program. First and most importantly, an increase in the level of education of our employees. It should be stated that this program has been well received by WPSC operator personnel. These employees, now armed with plant experience, a formal degree in nuclear science, and professional education in management are real candidates for advancement in our nuclear organization

Prefrontal cortex connectivity dysfunction in performing the Fist–Edge–Palm task in patients with first-episode schizophrenia and non-psychotic first-degree relatives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raymond C.K. Chan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Neurological soft signs have been considered one of the promising neurological endophenotypes for schizophrenia. However, most previous studies have employed clinical rating data only. The present study aimed to examine the neurobiological basis of one of the typical motor coordination signs, the Fist–Edge–Palm (FEP task, in patients with first-episode schizophrenia and their non-psychotic first degree relatives. Thirteen patients with first-episode schizophrenia, 14 non-psychotic first-degree relatives and 14 healthy controls were recruited. All of them were instructed to perform the FEP task in a 3 T GE Machine. Psychophysiological interaction (PPI analysis was used to evaluate the functional connectivity between the sensorimotor cortex and frontal regions when participants performed the FEP task compared to simple motor tasks. In the contrast of palm-tapping (PT vs. rest, activation of the left frontal–parietal region was lowest in the schizophrenia group, intermediate in the relative group and highest in the healthy control group. In the contrast of FEP vs. PT, patients with schizophrenia did not show areas of significant activation, while relatives and healthy controls showed significant activation of the left middle frontal gyrus. Moreover, with the increase in task complexity, significant functional connectivity was observed between the sensorimotor cortex and the right frontal gyrus in healthy controls but not in patients with first episode schizophrenia. These findings suggest that activity of the left frontal–parietal and frontal regions may be neurofunctional correlates of neurological soft signs, which in turn may be a potential endophenotype of schizophrenia. Moreover, the right frontal gyrus may play a specific role in the execution of the FEP task in schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Depth and degree of melting of komatiites

Science.gov (United States)

Herzberg, Claude

1992-04-01

High pressure melting experiments have permitted new constraints to be placed on the depth and degree of partial melting of komatiites. Komatiites from Gorgona Island were formed by relatively low degrees of pseudoinvariant melting involving L + Ol + Opx + Cpx + Gt on the solidus at 40 kbar, about 130 km depth. Munro-type komatiites were separated from a harzburgite residue (L + Ol + Opx) at pressures that were poorly constrained, but were probably around 50 kbar, about 165 km depth; the degree of partial melting was less than 40 percent. Secular variations in the geochemistry of komatiites could have formed in response to a reduction in the temperature and pressure of melting with time. The 3.5 Ga Barberton komatiites and the 2.7 Ga Munro-type komatiities could have formed in plumes that were hotter than the present-day mantle by 500 deg and 300 deg, respectively. When excess temperatures are this size, melting is deeper and volcanism changes from basaltic to momatiitic. The komatiities from Gorgona Island, which are Mesozoic in age, may be representative of komatiities that are predicted to occur in oceanic plateaus of Cretaceous age throughout the Pacific (Storey et al., 1991).

Relative productivity levels, 1947-1973: an international comparison. [US and eight major trading partners

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christensen, L.R. (Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison); Cummings, D.; Jorgenson, D.W.

1981-05-01

This paper provides an international comparison of levels of output, input, and productivity for the US and 8 of its major trading partners - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. It first compares levels of output per capita in 1970 and allocates differences in these levels among differences in levels of capital and labor input per capita and differences in total factor productivity. Output per capita relative to the US in 1970 varied from 0.101 for Korea to 0.811 for Canada. For the industrialized countries except Canada, the range was from 0.460 for Italy to 0.721 for Germany. Variations in capital input per capita relative to the US were greater than for output, running from 0.082 for Korea to 0.920 for Canada. Again, excluding Canada, the range for industrialized countries was from 0.325 for Japan to 0.709 for Germany. Differences between levels of total factor productivity in the US and the eight remaining countries in 1970 were much smaller than differences in output per capita. Secondly, relative levels of output, input, and productivity are compared among all 9 countries for the period 1947 to 1973. The time-series results show that relative levels of output per capita between the US and its 8 trading partners have narrowed substantially during the postwar period. Levels of capital per capita have also narrowed throughout the postwar period for all countries relative to the US. Finally, relative productivity levels between the US and its major trading partners have narrowed substantially over the postwar period. For the 7 industrialized countries relative productivity levels in 1973 fell within the narrow range of 0.775 for the United Kingdom to 0.907 for Canada. For Korea the productivity gap remained very substantial; its level relative to the United States was 0.348. 46 references, 14 tables.

Increased levels of circulating CD34+ cells in neovascular age-related macular degeneration: relation with clinical and OCT features.

Science.gov (United States)

Kara, Caner; Özdal, Pınar Ç; Beyazyıldız, Emrullah; Özcan, Nurgül E; Teke, Mehmet Y; Vural, Gülden; Öztürk, Faruk

2018-01-01

To investigate the levels of circulating CD34+ stem cells in patients with neovascular type age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and its relation with clinical and optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings. The study consisted of 55 patients: 28 patients (18 male and 10 female) with neovascular type AMD as a study group and 27 patients (12 male and 15 female) scheduled for cataract surgery as a control group. The level of CD34+ stem cells was measured by flow cytometry. Demographic and clinical data were recorded. The mean ages of patients in the study and control groups were 71 ± 8 and 68 ± 6 years, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in terms of age, sex, or systemic disease association between study and control groups. However, smoking status was significantly higher in the study group (67.9% vs 37.0%; p = 0.02). Stem cell levels were significantly higher in the study group (1.5 ± 0.9 vs 0.5 ± 0.3; p<0.001), but there was no relation between stem cell levels and clinical and OCT findings. Increased circulating CD34+ stem cell levels were observed in patients with choroidal neovascular membrane associated with AMD, but no significant relation was found between cell levels and clinical and OCT findings.

HRD Degrees.

Science.gov (United States)

Geber, Beverly

1987-01-01

The author describes the growing movement toward accreditation for human resources development professionals. She covers the issue of diversity, undergraduate versus graduate degrees, and future trends. (CH)

A Study on Degree of Conservatism of PZR Inventory during Event Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sang Seob; Park, Min Soo; Huh, Jae Yong; Lee, Gyu Cheon

2016-01-01

The pressurizer safety valves (PSVs) are installed in OPR1000 plants. While the pressurizer pilot operated safety relief valve (POSRV) of APR1400 is designed to discharge steam and/or water, the PSV is designed to discharge steam only. To check degree of conservatism of a PZR water level during PSV operation, a study has been performed using a computer code, RELAP5/ MOD3.3. Degree of conservatism is described herein, and the results are shown to evaluate degree of conservatism. Degree of conservatism is evaluated with respect to the PZR inventory for OPR1000 plant. It could be concluded that there is no possibility the liquid goes through PSVs during PLCS malfunction, because the expected maximum PZR inventory would remain below PSV nozzle based on the conservative assumptions. With the site specific PSV characteristics, a degree of conservatism would be determined to guarantee the PSV integrity during the event. To guarantee the PSV integrity, an independent analysis is recommended

A Study on Degree of Conservatism of PZR Inventory during Event Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Sang Seob; Park, Min Soo; Huh, Jae Yong; Lee, Gyu Cheon [KEPCO Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd., Deajeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

The pressurizer safety valves (PSVs) are installed in OPR1000 plants. While the pressurizer pilot operated safety relief valve (POSRV) of APR1400 is designed to discharge steam and/or water, the PSV is designed to discharge steam only. To check degree of conservatism of a PZR water level during PSV operation, a study has been performed using a computer code, RELAP5/ MOD3.3. Degree of conservatism is described herein, and the results are shown to evaluate degree of conservatism. Degree of conservatism is evaluated with respect to the PZR inventory for OPR1000 plant. It could be concluded that there is no possibility the liquid goes through PSVs during PLCS malfunction, because the expected maximum PZR inventory would remain below PSV nozzle based on the conservative assumptions. With the site specific PSV characteristics, a degree of conservatism would be determined to guarantee the PSV integrity during the event. To guarantee the PSV integrity, an independent analysis is recommended.

The Relation between Self Esteem Levels and Life Quality Levels of Disabled and Non-Disabled Tennis Sportsmen

Science.gov (United States)

Civan, Adem

2015-01-01

This research was carried out to determine the self-esteem and life quality levels of disabled and non-disabled tennis sportsmen; and also to set forth the relation between their self-esteem and life quality levels. The research group consists of total 44 sportsmen including 22 disabled tennis sportsmen (n[subscript (female)]=9, n[subscript…

HadISST (1-degree)/HadISST (1-degree)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Monthly version of HadISST sea surface temperature component (1-degree). See Rayner, N. A., Parker, D. E., Horton, E. B., Folland, C. K., Alexander, L. V., Rowell,...

Student satisfaction and academic performance in a dual PharmD/MBA degree program.

Science.gov (United States)

Chumney, Elinor C G; Ragucci, Kelly R

2006-04-15

Evaluate the academic experience and satisfaction of students enrolled in the dual PharmD/MBA degree program between the South Carolina College of Pharmacy and The Citadel's School of Business Administration. Compare grade point averages of students enrolled in the dual degree program with those of traditional student colleagues. A standardized satisfaction survey instrument was administered to 32 students currently enrolled in the dual PharmD/MBA degree program. Grade point averages (GPAs) in both pharmacy and business coursework were also collected for analysis. There were slightly higher percentages of both female and minority students in the dual degree program compared to the pharmacy class as a whole. Eighteen (56%) of students completed the survey, and responses were generally positive. The mean GPA of students in the dual degree program was higher than that of both pharmacy (3.37 vs 3.08, p vs 3.64, not statistically significant) students not enrolled in the dual degree program. Students enrolled in the dual degree program did better academically than their counterparts and indicated an overall high level of satisfaction with the program.

Community pharmacists' burnout levels and related factors: an example from Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Calgan, Zeynep; Aslan, Dilek; Yegenoglu, Selen

2011-02-01

To determine community pharmacists' burnout levels and prevalences as well as factors associated with burnout. Study was conducted in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. In this cross-sectional study, 251 pharmacists were randomly selected from 1,504 community pharmacists registered in Ankara Chamber of Pharmacists. A questionnaire including questions related to pharmacists' individual and professional characteristics and Maslach Burnout Inventory was administered. The data was collected between February 27 and May 25, 2007. Three Maslach Burnout Inventory subscales (emotional exhaustion-EE, depersonalization-D, and personal accomplishment-PA) scores. Pharmacists' mean emotional exhaustion score was found to be 16.84 (SD: 6.25), depersonalization score was 4 (Range: 0-14), and personal accomplishment score was 22 (Range: 9-32). Of the pharmacists, 1.2% had high level of EE, .8% had high level of D, and 71.3% had high level of inefficacy. Age, marital status, work experience, work contentment, workload, time pressure, stress, and satisfaction with customers were found to be related with pharmacists' burnout levels. It can be useful to monitor pharmacists' burnout levels and prevalences periodically. Interventions on individual and organizational basis were needed to cope with burnout, respond to job demands, minimize the level of chronic stress, and increase work contentment and satisfaction.

MECHANICAL HEART-VALVE PROSTHESES - SOUND LEVEL AND RELATED COMPLAINTS

NARCIS (Netherlands)

LAURENS, RRP; WIT, HP; EBELS, T

In a randomised study, we investigated the sound production of mechanical heart valve prostheses and the complaints related to this sound. The CarboMedics, Bjork-Shiley monostrut and StJude Medical prostheses were compared. A-weighted levels of the pulse-like sound produced by the prosthesis were

Serum homocysteine levels in relation to clinical progression in multiple sclerosis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Teunissen, C.E.; Killestein, J.; Kragt, J.J.; Polman, C.H.; Dijkstra, C.D.; Blom, H.J.

2008-01-01

Background: Elevated homocysteine levels are associated with various neurodegenerative diseases and have even been identified as a risk factor for some of these. Homocysteine levels may be elevated in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) but large studies are lacking and the relation with disease

Individual Income, Area Deprivation, and Health: Do Income-Related Health Inequalities Vary by Small Area Deprivation?

Science.gov (United States)

Siegel, Martin; Mielck, Andreas; Maier, Werner

2015-11-01

This paper aims to explore potential associations between health inequalities related to socioeconomic deprivation at the individual and the small area level. We use German cross-sectional survey data for the years 2002 and 2006, and measure small area deprivation via the German Index of Multiple Deprivation. We test the differences between concentration indices of income-related and small area deprivation related inequalities in obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. Our results suggest that small area deprivation and individual income both yield inequalities in health favoring the better-off, where individual income-related inequalities are significantly more pronounced than those related to small area deprivation. We then apply a semiparametric extension of Wagstaff's corrected concentration index to explore how individual-level health inequalities vary with the degree of regional deprivation. We find that the concentration of obesity, hypertension, and diabetes among lower income groups also exists at the small area level. The degree of deprivation-specific income-related inequalities in the three health outcomes exhibits only little variations across different levels of multiple deprivation for both sexes. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Work-related driver safety: A multi-level investigation

OpenAIRE

AMANDA ROSE WARMERDAM

2017-01-01

This program of research explored the organisational determinants of work-related road traffic injury in light vehicle fleets. The landscape of risk management in workplace road safety in Australia and organisational practices that influence safe driver behaviour were investigated. Key findings included that safe driving is influenced by factors at multiple levels, including senior managers, supervisors and individual fleet drivers and workplace road safety is not well integrated within curre...

Teaching Engineering at First Degree Level in the UK.

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, Peter J.

1999-01-01

Presents an approach to the teaching of engineering that uses the ideas about the teaching of academic subject matter developed by D. Ausubel. Identifies a threat to higher education in the lack of knowledge of the relationship between research and teaching in engineering and science and remarks on the absence of a corpus of work related to…

Minimum degree and density of binary sequences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Stephan; Müttel, J.; Rautenbach, D.

2010-01-01

For d,k∈N with k ≤ 2d, let g(d,k) denote the infimum density of binary sequences (x)∈{0,1} which satisfy the minimum degree condition σ(x+) ≥ k for all i∈Z with xi=1. We reduce the problem of computing g(d,k) to a combinatorial problem related to the generalized k-girth of a graph G which...

Social cognition in patients with schizophrenia, their unaffected first degree relatives and healthy controls. Comparison between groups and analysis of associated clinical and sociodemographic variables.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez Sosa, Juana Teresa; Gil Santiago, Hiurma; Trujillo Cubas, Angel; Winter Navarro, Marta; León Pérez, Petra; Guerra Cazorla, Luz Marina; Martín Jiménez, José María

2013-01-01

To evaluate and compare the social cognition in patients with schizophrenia, healthy first-degree relatives and controls, by studying the relationship between social cognition and nonsocial cognition, psychopathology, and other clinical and sociodemographic variables. The total sample was comprised of patients diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia (N = 29), healthy first-degree relatives (N = 21) and controls (N = 28). All groups were assessed with an ad hoc questionnaire and a Social Cognition Scale, which assessed the domains: emotional processing, social perception and attributional style in a Spanish population. The patient group was also assessed with the Scale for the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the Mini-mental state examination. Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS version 15.0. Patients scored significantly worse in all domains of social cognition assessed, compared with controls, and mastery attributional style, compared with relatives. The type of psychopathology correlated negatively and statistically significantly with different domains of social cognition: negative symptoms with emotional processing and attributional style, and positive symptoms with social perception. Basic cognition scores correlated positively and statistically significantly with the domains social perception and attributional style. Social cognition has become an interesting object of study, especially in how it relates to non-social cognition, psychopathology and global functioning of patients, bringing new elements to be considered in the early detection, comprehensive treatment and psychosocial rehabilitation of patients. Its conceptualization as trait variable, the consideration of the existence of a continuum between patients and relatives are plausible hypotheses that require further research. Copyright © 2012 SEP y SEPB. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

The relation among steroid hormone levels, lipid profile and menopausal symptom severity.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaya, Cihan; Cengiz, Hüseyin; Yeşil, Ali; Ekin, Murat; Yaşar, Levent

2017-12-01

Many postmenopausal women experience hot flashes, night sweats, non-specific emotional and psychological distresses. Our aim was to investigate the relation among steroid hormone levels, lipid profile and menopausal symptom severity using the menopause rating scale (MRS). A cross-sectional study was performed at our outpatient clinic with natural postmenopausal women. A total of 444 women were included in this study. The basic characteristics of the study population, such as age, gravidity, parity, time to menopause onset and body mass index (BMI) were recorded. Venous blood samples were collected from subjects after overnight fasting. The levels of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, total cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), fasting plasma glucose, C-reactive protein, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), cortisol, estradiol (E2), progesterone, testosterone and dehydroepiandrostenedione sulfate (DHEA-S) were analyzed. The MRS questionnaire validated for the Turkish population was used to assess the menopausal symptoms. There was a statistically significant difference between mild and severe total symptom scores for TG, and elevated TG levels were observed in the severe group (p = 0.04). Elevated testosterone levels were observed with severe psychological symptom and total symptom scores. There were significant differences in progesterone level in psychological, urogenital, and total scores and lower levels were seen in severe symptom groups. There was a significant negative correlation between urogenital symptom scores and progesterone levels (p symptom and total menopausal symptom scores. A decrease in progesterone levels was related to high psychological, urogenital and total menopausal symptom scores. Elevated TG levels were also related to the total severe symptom scores.

Impacts of education level and employment status on health-related quality of life in multiple sclerosis patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Šabanagić-Hajrić, Selma; Alajbegović, Azra

2015-02-01

To evaluate the impacts of education level and employment status on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in multiple sclerosis patients. This study included 100 multiple sclerosis patients treated at the Department of Neurology, Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo. Inclusion criteria were the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score between 1.0 and 6.5, age between 18 and 65 years, stable disease on enrollment. Quality of life (QoL) was evaluated by the Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 questionnaire (MSQoL-54). Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis test were used for comparisons. Linear regression analyses were performed to evaluate prediction value of educational level and employment status in predicting MSQOL-54 physical and mental composite scores. Full employment status had positive impact on physical health (54.85 vs. 37.90; p les than 0.001) and mental health (59.55 vs. 45.90; p les than 0.001) composite scores. Employment status retained its independent predictability for both physical (r(2)=0.105) and mental (r(2)=0.076) composite scores in linear regression analysis. Patients with college degree had slightly higher median value of physical (49.36 vs. 45.30) and mental health composite score (66.74 vs. 55.62) comparing to others, without statistically significant difference. Employment proved to be an important factor in predicting quality of life in multiple sclerosis patients. Higher education level may determine better QOL but without significant predictive value. Sustained employment and development of vocational rehabilitation programs for MS patients living in the country with high unemployment level is an important factor in improving both physical and mental health outcomes in MS patients.

Classification of different degrees of adiposity in sedentary rats

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leopoldo, A.S.; Lima-Leopoldo, A.P. [Departamento de Desportos, Centro de Educação Física e Esportes, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitória, ES (Brazil); Nascimento, A.F.; Luvizotto, R.A.M.; Sugizaki, M.M. [Instituto de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso, Sinop, MT (Brazil); Campos, D.H.S.; Silva, D.C.T. da [Departamento de Clínica Médica, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, SP (Brazil); Padovani, C.R. [Departamento de Bioestatística, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, SP (Brazil); Cicogna, A.C. [Departamento de Clínica Médica, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, SP (Brazil)

2016-02-23

In experimental studies, several parameters, such as body weight, body mass index, adiposity index, and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, have commonly been used to demonstrate increased adiposity and investigate the mechanisms underlying obesity and sedentary lifestyles. However, these investigations have not classified the degree of adiposity nor defined adiposity categories for rats, such as normal, overweight, and obese. The aim of the study was to characterize the degree of adiposity in rats fed a high-fat diet using cluster analysis and to create adiposity intervals in an experimental model of obesity. Thirty-day-old male Wistar rats were fed a normal (n=41) or a high-fat (n=43) diet for 15 weeks. Obesity was defined based on the adiposity index; and the degree of adiposity was evaluated using cluster analysis. Cluster analysis allowed the rats to be classified into two groups (overweight and obese). The obese group displayed significantly higher total body fat and a higher adiposity index compared with those of the overweight group. No differences in systolic blood pressure or nonesterified fatty acid, glucose, total cholesterol, or triglyceride levels were observed between the obese and overweight groups. The adiposity index of the obese group was positively correlated with final body weight, total body fat, and leptin levels. Despite the classification of sedentary rats into overweight and obese groups, it was not possible to identify differences in the comorbidities between the two groups.

Classification of different degrees of adiposity in sedentary rats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leopoldo, A.S.; Lima-Leopoldo, A.P.; Nascimento, A.F.; Luvizotto, R.A.M.; Sugizaki, M.M.; Campos, D.H.S.; Silva, D.C.T. da; Padovani, C.R.; Cicogna, A.C.

2016-01-01

In experimental studies, several parameters, such as body weight, body mass index, adiposity index, and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, have commonly been used to demonstrate increased adiposity and investigate the mechanisms underlying obesity and sedentary lifestyles. However, these investigations have not classified the degree of adiposity nor defined adiposity categories for rats, such as normal, overweight, and obese. The aim of the study was to characterize the degree of adiposity in rats fed a high-fat diet using cluster analysis and to create adiposity intervals in an experimental model of obesity. Thirty-day-old male Wistar rats were fed a normal (n=41) or a high-fat (n=43) diet for 15 weeks. Obesity was defined based on the adiposity index; and the degree of adiposity was evaluated using cluster analysis. Cluster analysis allowed the rats to be classified into two groups (overweight and obese). The obese group displayed significantly higher total body fat and a higher adiposity index compared with those of the overweight group. No differences in systolic blood pressure or nonesterified fatty acid, glucose, total cholesterol, or triglyceride levels were observed between the obese and overweight groups. The adiposity index of the obese group was positively correlated with final body weight, total body fat, and leptin levels. Despite the classification of sedentary rats into overweight and obese groups, it was not possible to identify differences in the comorbidities between the two groups

Body Consciousness, Illness-Related Impairment, and Patient Adherence in Hemodialysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, Alan J.; And Others

1996-01-01

Examined the joint effects of private body consciousness (PBC) and degree of illness-related physical impairment on treatment regimen adherence in a sample of 52 hemodialysis patients. Predicted the effect of PBC on adherence would vary as a function of patients' level of illness-related physical impairment. Results are discussed in terms of…

Annealing of natural metamict zircons. I low degree of radiation damage

CERN Document Server

Colombo, M

1998-01-01

In-situ time dependent high temperature X-ray powder diffraction was used to investigate the ordering process occurring during annealing of natural zircons with a low degree of radiation damage. It was possible to distinguish two stages of this process. Firstly, the diffusion of defects induced by alpha-particles, this stage contributes only to a certain degree of relaxation in the unit cell. In the second stage there is some degree of recrystallization. A hkl-dependence in the variation of the integrated intensity is observed and the increase in the volume of crystalline zircon is therefore related to a process of migration of dislocations.

Opposite Degree Algorithm and Its Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao-Guang Yue

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The opposite (Opposite Degree, referred to as OD algorithm is an intelligent algorithm proposed by Yue Xiaoguang et al. Opposite degree algorithm is mainly based on the concept of opposite degree, combined with the idea of design of neural network and genetic algorithm and clustering analysis algorithm. The OD algorithm is divided into two sub algorithms, namely: opposite degree - numerical computation (OD-NC algorithm and opposite degree - Classification computation (OD-CC algorithm.

A critical reflection on subjectivity in examination of higher degrees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Collins C Ngwakwe

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This paper is a critical reflection on seemingly embedded subjectivity in external examination of higher degrees. The paper is significant given that education is a vital pillar of sustainable development; hence, identification of obscure obstacles to this goal is imperative for an equitable and sustainable education that is devoid of class, race and gender. Adopting a critical review approach, the paper rummaged some related researches that bemoan apparent subjectivity amongst some examiners of higher degrees. Findings show a regrettable and seemingly obscured subjectivity and/or misjudgement that constitute an impediment in higher degrees examination process. Thus the paper highlights that whilst it is understandable that misjudgement or error is innate in every human endeavour including higher degree examination, however an error caused by examiner’s partisanship and/or maladroitness in the research focus may be avoidable. In conclusion, the paper stresses that prejudice or ineptitude in higher degree examination should be bridled by inter alia implementing the policy of alternative assessor; checking the pedigree of examiner’s assessment experience and an opportunity for the supervisor/s to present a rebuttal in circumstances where one examiner’s opinion is fraught with apparent subjectivity.

Acute effects of monounsaturated fat on postprandial lipemia and gene expression in first-degree relatives of subjects with type 2 diabetes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pietraszek, A; Gregersen, S; Pedersen, S B

2014-01-01

Background/Objectives:Subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and their nondiabetic first-degree relatives (REL) have increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Postprandial triglyceridemia (PPL), influenced by diet, is an independent risk factor for CVD. Dietary fat elicits increased PPL in T2D...... compared with nondiabetic controls, but our knowledge of PPL responses to fat in REL is sparse. Our aim was to test the hypothesis that REL respond to a monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) challenge with a higher PPL response compared with controls who have no family history of T2D (CON) and that MUFAs exert...

Characterization of the Degree of Food Processing in Relation With Its Health Potential and Effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Fardet, Anthony

2018-01-01

Up today technological processes are intended to produce safe and palatable food products. Yet, it is also expected that processing produces healthy and sustainable foods. However, due to the dramatic increase of chronic diseases prevalence worldwide, i.e., obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and some cancers, ultraprocessing has been pointed out as producing unhealthy foods, rich in energy and poor in protective micronutrients and fiber, i.e., "empty" calories. Indeed the 1980s saw massive arrivals of ultraprocessed foods in supermarkets, i.e., fractionated-recombined foods with added ingredients and/or additives. Epidemiological studies clearly emphasized that populations adhering the most to ultraprocessed foods, e.g., processed meat, refined grains, ultraprocessed plant-based foods, and/or sweetened beverages, exhibited the higher prevalence of chronic diseases. This prompted researchers to classify foods according to their degree of processing as with the international NOVA classification (i.e., un/minimally processed, processed, and ultraprocessed foods). More and more studies showed that such a classification makes sense for health. Overall one distinguishes three categories of processes: mechanical, thermal, and fermentative treatments, this latter being the more favorable to food health potential. This chapter has therefore several ambitions: (1) to review association between degree of food processing and chronic disease risk prevalence; (2) to explore the impact of technological processes on food health potential considering both matrix and compositional effects; (3) to discuss the need for classifying food according to their degree of processing in future epidemiological studies; and (4) to analyze consequences of adhering to a more holistic paradigm in both food processing and nutrition. © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Relations between vegetation and water level in groundwater dependent terrestrial ecosystems (GWDTEs)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munch Johansen, Ole; Andersen, Dagmar Kappel; Ejrnæs, Rasmus

2018-01-01

, management and conservation of fens are constrained by limited knowledge on the relations between vegetation and measurable hydrological conditions. This study investigates the relations between vegetation and water level dynamics in groundwater dependent wetlands in Denmark. A total of 35 wetland sites...... across Denmark were included in the study. The sites represent a continuum of wetlands with respect to vegetation and hydrological conditions. Water level was measured continuously using pressure transducers at each site. Metrics expressing different hydrological characteristics, such as mean water level...... and low and high water level periods, were calculated based on the water level time series. A complete plant species list was recorded in plots covering 78.5 m2 at each site. Community metrics such as total number of species and the number of bryophytes were generated from the species lists and Ellenberg...

Managing coopetition through horizontal supply chain relations : Linking dyadic and network levels of analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wilhelm, Miriam M.

2011-01-01

A growing research stream has expanded the level of analysis beyond single buyer-supplier relations to the network, including supplier-supplier relations. These supplier-supplier relations may constitute a missing link between the traditional analysis of the dyadic and the network level of analysis

Managing coopetition through horizontal supply chain relations : Linking dyadic and network levels of analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wilhelm, Miriam M.

A growing research stream has expanded the level of analysis beyond single buyer-supplier relations to the network, including supplier-supplier relations. These supplier-supplier relations may constitute a missing link between the traditional analysis of the dyadic and the network level of analysis

Changes in Holocene relative sea-level and coastal morphology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hede, Mikkel Ulfeldt; Sander, Lasse; Clemmensen, Lars B

2015-01-01

Changes in relative sea-level (RSL) during the Holocene are reconstructed based on ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data collected across a raised beach ridge system on the island of Samsø, Denmark. The internal architecture of the beach ridge and swale deposits is divided into characteristic radar...... ridge progradation through time. The vertical levels of identified downlap points are combined with an age model based on optically stimulated luminescence-dated samples to reconstruct RSL for the past c. 5000 years. Overall, the reconstruction shows that the period between c. 4800 and 3800 yr BP...

Physical Activity Level of Ambulatory Stroke Patients: Is it Related to Neuropsychological Factors?

Science.gov (United States)

Ersöz Hüseyinsinoğlu, Burcu; Kuran Aslan, Gökşen; Tarakci, Devrim; Razak Özdinçler, Arzu; Küçükoğlu, Hayriye; Baybaş, Sevim

2017-06-01

Physical inactivity is an important risk factor for stroke and stroke recurrence. There is insufficient knowledge about the physical activity (PA) level in stroke patients who are ambulatory in the subacute phase. Our aim was to compare the PA level between ambulatory stroke patients and a population of the same age and to investigate neuropsychological factors that could affect the PA level in the same stroke group. Eighty-five subacute stroke patients and 58 healthy subjects were included. Patients' demographic features, disease-related features, and comorbidities were recorded. The PA level was assessed by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Version and a pedometer (OMRON Walking style II). The Apathy Rating Scale was applied to determine the apathy level. Depression level was investigated by the Geriatric Depression Scale. The standardized Mini-mental State Examination was performed to assess the cognitive status. The PA level was significantly higher in the healthy group than in the stroke group (plevel of men was significantly higher than that of women (p=0.03). Participants who were classified as level 4 had a lower PA level than those who were classified as level 5 according to the Functional Ambulation Category. There was no relationship between the PA level and the apathy, cognitive, and depression levels in the stroke patients (p>0.05). Subacute stroke patients have a lower PA level than healthy subjects. This is not related to neuropsychological factors. The reasons for minor deficits related to ambulation should be researched further while developing strategies for increasing the PA level of subacute stroke patients.

Assessment of competence in higher education: the case of a master's degree

OpenAIRE

Triadó-Ivern, Xavier; Aparicio-Chueca, Pilar; Elasri-Ejjaberi, Amal

2013-01-01

Competency implementation is a task that has gradually been incorporated by teachers in Spanish universities with the entry into the EHEA. However, it is still far from reaching optimal levels of competency assessment. This article allows for reflection on some good practices and the difficulties and limitations that appear when we want to implement a change in teaching methods, as a part of master degree. The results indicate the degree to which have been evaluated and acquired both generic ...

Fracture toughness testing of V-4Cr-4Ti at 25{degrees}C and -196{degrees}C

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, H.X.; Kurtz, R.J. [Pacific Northwest National Lab., Richland, WA (United States)

1996-10-01

Measurements of the fracture toughness of the production-scale heat (832665) of V-4Cr-4Ti have been performed at 25{degrees}C and {minus}196{degrees}C using compact tension (CT) specimens. Test specimens were vacuum annealed at either 1000{degrees}C for 1 hour (HT1) or 1050{degrees}C for two hours (HT2). Specimens given the HT1 treatment were annealed after final machining, whereas the HT2 specimens received the 1050{degrees}C anneal at Teledyne Wah Chang prior to final machining. Following machining HT2 specimens were then vacuum annealed at 180{degrees}C for two hours to remove hydrogen. Specimens treated using HT1 had a partially recrystallized microstructure and those treated using HT2 had a fully recrystallized microstructure. The fracture toughness at 25{degrees}C was determined by J-integral tests and at {minus}196{degrees}C by ASTM E 399 type tests. Toughness values obtained at {minus}196{degrees}C were converted to J-integral values for comparison to the 25{degrees}C data. The 25{degrees}C fracture toughness was very high with none of the specimens giving valid results per ASTM criteria. Specimens fractured by microvoid coalescence. The fracture toughness at {minus}196{degrees}C was much lower than that at 25{degrees}C and the fracture surface showed predominantly cleavage features. The present results show a transition from ductile to brittle behavior with decreasing test temperature which is not observed from one-third scale Charpy impact tests. The fracture toughness at {minus}196{degrees}C was still quite high, however, at about 75 kJ/m{sup 2}. Delaminations in planes normal to the thickness direction were seen at both test temperatures. Fracture surfaces inside the delaminations exhibited nearly 100% cleavage facets. The cause of the brittle delaminations was not determined, but will be a subject for further investigation.

Sedation-related complications in gastrointestinal endoscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Amornyotin, Somchai

2013-11-16

Sedation practices for gastrointestinal endoscopic (GIE) procedures vary widely in different countries depending on health system regulations and local circumstances. The goal of procedural sedation is the safe and effective control of pain and anxiety, as well as to provide an appropriate degree of memory loss or decreased awareness. Sedation-related complications in gastrointestinal endoscopy, once occurred, can lead to significant morbidity and occasional mortality in patients. The risk factors of these complications include the type, dose and mode of administration of sedative agents, as well as the patient's age and underlying medical diseases. Complications attributed to moderate and deep sedation levels are more often associated with cardiovascular and respiratory systems. However, sedation-related complications during GIE procedures are commonly transient and of a mild degree. The risk for these complications while providing any level of sedation is greatest when caring for patients already medically compromised. Significant unwanted complications can generally be prevented by careful pre-procedure assessment and preparation, appropriate monitoring and support, as well as post-procedure management. Additionally, physicians must be prepared to manage these complications. This article will review sedation-related complications during moderate and deep sedation for GIE procedures and also address their appropriate management.

A quantitative measure for degree of automation and its relation to system performance and mental load.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Z G; Macwan, A P; Wieringa, P A

1998-06-01

In this paper we quantitatively model degree of automation (DofA) in supervisory control as a function of the number and nature of tasks to be performed by the operator and automation. This model uses a task weighting scheme in which weighting factors are obtained from task demand load, task mental load, and task effect on system performance. The computation of DofA is demonstrated using an experimental system. Based on controlled experiments using operators, analyses of the task effect on system performance, the prediction and assessment of task demand load, and the prediction of mental load were performed. Each experiment had a different DofA. The effect of a change in DofA on system performance and mental load was investigated. It was found that system performance became less sensitive to changes in DofA at higher levels of DofA. The experimental data showed that when the operator controlled a partly automated system, perceived mental load could be predicted from the task mental load for each task component, as calculated by analyzing a situation in which all tasks were manually controlled. Actual or potential applications of this research include a methodology to balance and optimize the automation of complex industrial systems.

Population prevalence of first- and second-degree family history of breast and ovarian cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Moghimi-Dehkordi, B; Safaee, A; Vahedi, M; Pourhoseingholi, M A; Pourhoseingholi, A; Zali, M R

2011-12-01

Family cancer history is an important risk factor for common cancers, thus, recognizing pattern of familial cancer can help us to identify individuals who may have higher chance to develop specified cancers. This cross-sectional survey assessed family history of cancer in first- and second degree relatives. Totally, 7,300 persons aged > or = 20 years selected by random sampling from Tehran general population. Age- and sex-specified prevalence of breast and ovarian cancer in respondent's family was calculated. Of all, 279(4.3%) individuals reported a history of breast or ovarian cancer in their relatives. The prevalence of breast cancer family history was 1.8% among first-degree relatives and 2.5% among second- degree relatives. For ovarian cancer, first- and second-degree prevalence ranged from 0.05 to 0.12%. Those with family history of cancer were more often young and female. Overall, the estimates of prevalence presented here are likely to be conservative compared with actual current prevalence because of some limitations. While family history is an important risk factor for common cancers such as breast cancer, recognizing pattern of familial cancer that signify increased risk can help us to identify individuals who may have higher chance to develop specified cancers.

Comparison of two-stage thermophilic (68 degrees C/55 degrees C) anaerobic digestion with one-stage thermophilic (55 degrees C) digestion of cattle manure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, H.B.; Mladenovska, Zuzana; Westermann, Peter

2004-01-01

A two-stage 68degreesC/55degreesC anaerobic degradation process for treatment of cattle manure was studied. In batch experiments, an increase of the specific methane yield, ranging from 24% to 56%, was obtained when cattle manure and its fractions (fibers and liquid) were pretreated at 68degrees......, was compared with a conventional single-stage reactor running at 55degreesC with 15-days HRT. When an organic loading of 3 g volatile solids (VS) per liter per day was applied, the two-stage setup had a 6% to 8% higher specific methane yield and a 9% more effective VS-removal than the conventional single......-stage reactor. The 68degreesC reactor generated 7% to 9% of the total amount of methane of the two-stage system and maintained a volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration of 4.0 to 4.4 g acetate per liter. Population size and activity of aceticlastic methanogens, syntrophic bacteria, and hydrolytic...

Does regional disadvantage affect health-related sport and physical activity level? A multi-level analysis of individual behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Wicker, Pamela; Downward, Paul; Lera-López, Fernando

2017-11-01

This study examines the role of regional government quality in health-related participation in sport and physical activity among adults (18-64 years) in 28 European countries. The importance of the analysis rests in the relative autonomy that regional and local governments have over policy decisions connected with sport and physical activity. While existing studies have focussed on economic and infrastructural investment and expenditure, this research investigates the quality of regional governments across 208 regions within 28 European countries. The individual-level data stem from the 2013 Eurobarometer 80.2 (n = 18,675) and were combined with regional-level data from Eurostat. An individual's level of participation in sport and physical activity was measured by three variables reflecting whether an individual's activity level is below, meets, or exceeds the recommendations of the World Health Organization. The results of multi-level analyses reveal that regional government quality has a significant and positive association with individual participation in sport and physical activity at a level meeting or exceeding the guidelines. The impact is much larger than that of regional gross domestic product per capita, indicating that regional disadvantage in terms of political quality is more relevant than being disadvantaged in terms of economic wealth.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CHRONOTHERAPY IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS WITH AN INSUFFICIENT DEGREE OF SLEEP-TIME SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE DECLINE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petrenko O. V.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Blood pressure (BP circadian rhythm violation, manifested as an insufficient degree of its sleep-time relative decline, is an independent cardiovascular risk factor. The main method of the correction is chronotherapeutic approach, when at least one antihypertensive drug is taken at bedtime. However, most researchers focus on normalizing the daily profile of systolic blood pressure (SBP and do not pay enough attention to changes in the daily profile of diastolic blood pressure (DBP and blood pressure in general. The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of the chronotherapeutic approach on the SBP and DBP levels and the DBP daily profile in hypertensive patients with an insufficient degree of sleep-time relative SBP decline. The study included 12 patients with arterial hypertension (AH with an insufficient degree of sleep-time relative SBP decline. Participants were divided into two groups: group 1 included patients who take at least one antihypertensive drug at bedtime, group 2 – patients who take all antihypertensive drugs in the morning. All patients underwent 24-hour blood pressure monitoring using the computer system «Cardiosens» (KhAI Medica, Ukraine, with the oscillometric method of BP measuring when enrolling in the study and after 3 months. The type of SBP and DBP diurnal profile, the mean values of SBP, DBP and hyperbaric indices were determined and compared between groups 1 and 2 at each visit, as well as within groups between visits. The results showed that the SBP daily profile normalization in patients with insufficient degree of sleep-time relative SBP decline from group 2 was achieved only in 11 % of cases, and in group 1 SBP and DBP daily profile normalized in 1/3 patients. In some patients from group 2 SBP and DBP daily profile converted into the overdipper type, while in group 1 overdippers did not appear at the end of the study. It was concluded that conversion of daily DBP profile to overdipper as a consequence

Serum levels of lipid metabolites in age-related macular degeneration.

Science.gov (United States)

Orban, Tivadar; Johnson, William M; Dong, Zhiqian; Maeda, Tadao; Maeda, Akiko; Sakai, Tsutomu; Tsuneoka, Hiroshi; Mieyal, John J; Palczewski, Krzysztof

2015-11-01

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a neurodegenerative disease that causes adult-onset blindness. There are 2 forms of this progressive disease: wet and dry. Currently there is no cure for AMD, but several treatment options have started to emerge making early detection critical for therapeutic success. Analysis of the eyes of Abca4(-/-)Rdh8(-/-) mice that display light-induced retinal degeneration indicates that 11-cis-retinal and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) levels were significantly decreased as compared with the eyes of control dark-adapted C57BL/6J mice. In addition, exposure to intense light correlated with higher levels of prostaglandin G2 in the eyes of Abca4(-/-)Rdh8(-/-) mice. Intense light exposure also lowered DHA levels in the eyes of wild-type C57BL/6J mice without discernible retinal degeneration. Analysis of human serum from patients with AMD recapitulated these dysregulated DHA levels and revealed dysregulation of arachidonic acid (AA) levels as well (∼32% increase in patients with AMD compared with average levels in healthy individuals). From these observations, we then built a statistical model that included levels of DHA and AA from human serum. This model had a 74% probability of correctly identifying patients with AMD from controls. Addition of a genetic analysis for one of the most prevalent amino acid substitutions in the age-related maculopathy susceptibility 2 gene linked to AMD, Ala(69)→Ser, did not improve the statistical model. Thus, we have characterized a reliable method with the potential to detect AMD without a genetic component, paving the way for a larger-scale clinical evaluation. Our studies on mouse models along with the analysis of human serum suggest that our small molecule-based model may serve as an effective tool to estimate the risk of developing AMD. © FASEB.

The dynamic nature of relative sea level in Southeast Asia: tectonic effects and human impacts (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, E.; Qiu, Q.; Feng, L.; Lubis, A.; Meltzner, A. J.; Tsang, L. L.; Daly, P.; McCaughey, J.; Banerjee, P.; Rubin, C. M.; Sieh, K.

2013-12-01

Simeulue a station has been subsiding, on average, by ~39 mm/yr since 2005, with higher rates immediately after the earthquake). Photos and stories from people in affected communities bring life to these coastline changes. Further afield, viscoelastic relaxation of the mantle causes widespread regional changes. For example, postseismic deformation following the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake has caused subsidence of 20-30 mm/yr along the Thai coastline. This subsidence - and therefore relative sea-level rise - will continue for many years to come. One question this raises is the degree to which countries close to tectonic plate boundaries should consider tectonic effects in their planning for future sea-level change. For example, in the event of an earthquake occurring on the Mentawai patch of the Sunda megathrust (an event which has been forecast based on paleogeodetic data), Singapore could face up to 15 cm of subsidence in the decades following the earthquake.

BS degree in nuclear engineering or a nuclear option

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams on, T.G.

1988-01-01

Many nuclear engineering educators are concerned about the health of nuclear engineering academic departments. As part of a review of the BS nuclear engineering degree program at the University of Virginia, the authors surveyed several local utilities with operating nuclear plants about their needs for nuclear engineering graduates. The perception of many of the utility executives about a nuclear engineering degree and about a nuclear option in another engineering curriculum does not agree with the way the authors view these two degrees. The responses to two of the survey questions were of particular interest: (1) does your company have a preference between nuclear engineering graduates and graduates in other fields with a nuclear option? (2) what do you consider to be a minimum level of education in nuclear engineering for a nuclear option in mechanical engineering? All of the four utilities that were surveyed stated a preference for mechanical or electrical engineers with a nuclear option, although two indicated that there are certain jobs for which a nuclear engineering graduate is desired

Topography of gastritis and its severity in 864 first degree relatives of gastric cancer patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Zendehdel, Nasrin; Massarrat, Sadegh; Sheykholeslami, Arghavan; Rakhshani, Naser; Saeidi, Sandra; Rafiee, Reza; Nobakht, Hosein; Tabib, Seyed Masoud; Saliminejhad, Mehrdad; Dooghaie Moghadam, Masoud; Nasiri, Jafar; Azimi, Kourosh; Fakhar, Reza; Babaei, Mehdi; Didehvar, Reza; Mohammadi, Nosratollah; Tavazoee, Mehdi; Malekzadeh, Reza

2010-11-01

Studies on gastric mucosal histological findings among first degree relatives (FDR) of gastric cancer (GC) patients are scarce. The aim is to evaluate the topography and the severity of gastritis among FDR of GC patients. A total of 989 subjects who were FDR of GC patients, ages 40-65 years underwent gastroscopies. When no gross lesion was found, five specimens were evaluated according to the Sydney Classification and one for urease testing in order to determine the type of gastritis and its severity. Of the 989 subjects, 107 had significant lesions, including two with GC and one with esophageal cancer. The 864 subjects who had complete morphological data taken from five gastric areas (two from the antrum and three from the corpus) comprised 419 males (mean age 48.5±7 years) and 445 females (mean age 47±6.4 years). The H. pylori rate was 76.6%. Normal mucosa was seen in 6.9%, antrum-restricted gastritis in 7.4%, antrum-predominant gastritis in 63.5% and corpus-predominant gastritis in 20% (both had >80% H. pylori infection) and corpus-restricted gastritis in 2%. More atrophy was seen in the antrum and corpus of FDR females than males. The severity did not differ between those with one or more GC patients' relatives. Forty-nine percent of FDR had atrophy and 9.4% intestinal metaplasia (IM) in the corpus. After the age of 40, there was progression of intestinal metaplasia from 12.2 to 27.3% in the antrum and from 6.7% to 26.2% in the corpus during two decades. No high grade dysplasia was found in this mid-age population. Only one-fifth of FDR have H. pylori-induced corpus-predominant gastritis who are at risk for cancer and suitable for eradication. Corpus-restricted gastritis is a rare disease in this area.

Relative and absolute level populations in beam-foil--excited neutral helium