Multivariate analysis of various factors affecting background liver and mediastinal standardized uptake values

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuruva, Manohar; Mittal, Bhagwant Rai; Abrar, Mohammed Labeeb; Kashyap, Raghava; Bhattacharya, Anish

2012-01-01

Standardized uptake value (SUV) is the most commonly used semi-quantitative PET parameter. Various response assessment criteria grade the tumor uptake relative to liver or mediastinal uptake. However various factors can affect the background SUV values. This prospective study was carried out to assess the variability of liver and mediastinal SUVs normalized to lean body mass (SUL-L, SUL-M), body surface area (SUB-L, SUB-M), and body weight (SUW-L, SUW-M) and their dependence on various factors which can affect SUV values. Eighty-eight patients who underwent F-18 FDG PET/CT for various oncological indications were prospectively included in this study. SUVs of liver and mediastinum were calculated by ROIs drawn as suggested by Wahl, et al., in PERCIST 1.0 criteria. Multivariate linear regression analysis was done to assess for the various factors influencing the SUVs of liver and mediastinum. Factors assessed were age, sex, weight, blood glucose level, diabetic status, and uptake period. A P value less than 0.01 was considered significant. SUL-L, SUL-M, SUB-L, SUB-M, SUW-L, SUW-M were not affected significantly by age, sex, blood glucose levels, diabetic status. The uptake period had a statistically significant effect on SUL-L (P = 0.007) and SUW-L (P = 0.008) with a progressive decrease with increasing uptake time. Body weight showed a statistically significant effect on SUW-L (P = 0.001) while SUL-L and SUB-L were not dependent on weight. SUB-L was least dependent on weight (P = 0.851) when compared with SUL-L (P = 0.425). However SUL-L was also not affected statistically significantly by variations in body weight (P = 0.425). Mediastinal SUVs were not significantly affected by any of the factors. As mediastinal SUVs are not affected significantly by any of the factors, it can be considered as background when wide variations occur in uptake times or weight of the patient when comparing two PET/CT studies to evaluate response

Dimensions of adult attachment are significantly associated with specific affective temperament constellations in a Hungarian university sample.

Science.gov (United States)

Lang, Andras; Papp, Barbara; Gonda, Xenia; Dome, Peter; Rihmer, Zoltan

2016-02-01

Related to emotion regulation and mental health, adult attachment and affective temperaments are relevant research topics of contemporary psychiatry and clinical psychology. However, to date, only one study investigated the relationship between these two constructs. Thus, we aimed to further reveal adult attachment's association with affective temperaments. Affective temperament and adult attachment dimensions of 1469 Hungarian university students were assessed with self-report measures (Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa and San Diego autoquestionnaire and Experiences in Close Relationships Scale, respectively). Age and measured variables were compared between genders with ANOVAs. Associations between attachment dimensions and affective temperaments were examined with Pearson's correlations and partial correlations; the moderation effect of age and gender on these relationships was tested with PROCESS macro. Using Fisher r-to-z transformation, we also compared our results with the findings of the previous study. Cohen's ds were used to report effect size and Cronbach's alphas were computed as indices of internal reliability. Significant correlations were found between attachment dimensions and affective temperaments. Correlations were especially robust between attachment anxiety and depressive, cyclothymic and anxious temperaments. Contrasted with the results of the previous study, hyperthymic temperament was negatively related to attachment avoidance and anxious temperament was significantly more strongly correlated with attachment anxiety in our study. We used a previous version of the adult attachment measure. Our sample differed from the target sample in several ways. Participants were not screened for mental disorders. Findings highlight that adult attachment dimensions are significantly associated with affective temperaments. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A systematic experimental investigation of significant parameters affecting model tire hydroplaning

Science.gov (United States)

Wray, G. A.; Ehrlich, I. R.

1973-01-01

The results of a comprehensive parametric study of model and small pneumatic tires operating on a wet surface are presented. Hydroplaning inception (spin down) and rolling restoration (spin up) are discussed. Conclusions indicate that hydroplaning inception occurs at a speed significantly higher than the rolling restoration speed. Hydroplaning speed increases considerably with tread depth, surface roughness and tire inflation pressure of footprint pressure, and only moderately with increased load. Water film thickness affects spin down speed only slightly. Spin down speed varies inversely as approximately the one-sixth power of film thickness. Empirical equations relating tire inflation pressure, normal load, tire diameter and water film thickness have been generated for various tire tread and surface configurations.

Parallel factor analysis PARAFAC of process affected water

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ewanchuk, A.M.; Ulrich, A.C.; Sego, D. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Alostaz, M. [Thurber Engineering Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada)

2010-07-01

A parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) of oil sands process-affected water was presented. Naphthenic acids (NA) are traditionally described as monobasic carboxylic acids. Research has indicated that oil sands NA do not fit classical definitions of NA. Oil sands organic acids have toxic and corrosive properties. When analyzed by fluorescence technology, oil sands process-affected water displays a characteristic peak at 290 nm excitation and approximately 346 nm emission. In this study, a parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) was used to decompose process-affected water multi-way data into components representing analytes, chemical compounds, and groups of compounds. Water samples from various oil sands operations were analyzed in order to obtain EEMs. The EEMs were then arranged into a large matrix in decreasing process-affected water content for PARAFAC. Data were divided into 5 components. A comparison with commercially prepared NA samples suggested that oil sands NA is fundamentally different. Further research is needed to determine what each of the 5 components represent. tabs., figs.

Evaluation of Clinical Gait Analysis parameters in patients affected by Multiple Sclerosis: Analysis of kinematics.

Science.gov (United States)

Severini, Giacomo; Manca, Mario; Ferraresi, Giovanni; Caniatti, Luisa Maria; Cosma, Michela; Baldasso, Francesco; Straudi, Sofia; Morelli, Monica; Basaglia, Nino

2017-06-01

Clinical Gait Analysis is commonly used to evaluate specific gait characteristics of patients affected by Multiple Sclerosis. The aim of this report is to present a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of the changes in Clinical Gait Analysis parameters in patients affected by Multiple Sclerosis. In this study a sample of 51 patients with different levels of disability (Expanded Disability Status Scale 2-6.5) was analyzed. We extracted a set of 52 parameters from the Clinical Gait Analysis of each patient and used statistical analysis and linear regression to assess differences among several groups of subjects stratified according to the Expanded Disability Status Scale and 6-Minutes Walking Test. The impact of assistive devices (e.g. canes and crutches) on the kinematics was also assessed in a subsample of patients. Subjects showed decreased range of motion at hip, knee and ankle that translated in increased pelvic tilt and hiking. Comparison between the two stratifications showed that gait speed during 6-Minutes Walking Test is better at discriminating patients' kinematics with respect to Expanded Disability Status Scale. Assistive devices were shown not to significantly impact gait kinematics and the Clinical Gait Analysis parameters analyzed. We were able to characterize disability-related trends in gait kinematics. The results presented in this report provide a small atlas of the changes in gait characteristics associated with different disability levels in the Multiple Sclerosis population. This information could be used to effectively track the progression of MS and the effect of different therapies. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Analysis of Factors Affecting Inflation in Indonesia: an Islamic Perspective

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Elis Ratna Wulan

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This study aims to determine the factors affecting inflation. The research is descriptive quantitative in nature. The data used are reported exchange rates, interest rates, money supply and inflation during 2008-2012. The research data was analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis. The results showed in the year 2008-2012 the condition of each variable are (1 the rate of inflation has a negative trend, (2 the interest rate has a negative trend, (3 the money supply has a positive trend, (4 the value of exchange rate has a positive trend. The test results by using multiple linear regression analysis result that variable interest rates, the money supply and the exchange rate of the rupiah significant effect on the rate of inflation.

Emulsion oil droplet size significantly affects satiety: A pre-ingestive approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Lett, Aaron M; Norton, Jennifer E; Yeomans, Martin R

2016-01-01

Previous research has demonstrated that the manipulation of oil droplet size within oil-in-water emulsions significantly affects sensory characteristics, hedonics and expectations of food intake, independently of energy content. Smaller oil droplets enhanced perceived creaminess, increased Liking and generated greater expectations of satiation and satiety, indicating that creaminess is a satiety-relevant sensory cue within these systems. This paper extends these findings by investigating the effect of oil droplet size (d4,3: 2 and 50 μm) on food intake and appetite. Male participants (n = 34 aged 18-37; BMI of 22.7 ± 1.6 kg/m(2); DEBQ restricted eating score of 1.8 ± 0.1.) completed two test days, where they visited the laboratory to consume a fixed-portion breakfast, returning 3 h later for a "drink", which was the emulsion preload containing either 2 or 50 μm oil droplets. This was followed 20 min later with an ad libitum pasta lunch. Participants consumed significantly less at the ad libitum lunch after the preload containing 2 μm oil droplets than after the 50 μm preload, with an average reduction of 12% (62.4 kcal). Despite the significant differences in intake, no significant differences in sensory characteristics were noted. The findings show that the impact that an emulsion has on satiety can be enhanced without producing significantly perceivable differences in sensory properties. Therefore, by introducing a processing step which results in a smaller droplets, emulsion based liquid food products can be produced that enhance satiety, allowing covert functional redesign. Future work should consider the mechanism responsible for this effect. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Does the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect significantly affect the A-H premium of the stocks?

Science.gov (United States)

Hui, Eddie C. M.; Chan, Ka Kwan Kevin

2018-02-01

Since the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect ("the Connect") was launched in late 2014, more and more Mainland investors have invested in Hong Kong listed shares, and vice versa, increasing the transaction volume of the stock market on both sides. However, only a few studies investigated how the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect affected the pricing dynamics of stocks listed in both Shanghai and Hong Kong. Applying linear regression, this study investigates how the Connect affects the H-share discounts of 12 stocks cross-listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong. A new feature of our model is that we add a dummy variable so as to be the first study to examine the effect of the China financial crisis on the A-H premium of the stocks. We find that the A-H premium of all stocks widens significantly after the Connect is launched, implying immatureness or even inefficiency of China's financial market. Furthermore, the result shows that trading activities in the mainland market affects the A-H premium more significantly than trading activities in the Hong Kong market do. This implies that China's financial market plays a dominant role in the Connect.

The multilevel analysis of surface acting and mental health: A moderation of positive group affective tone

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Meng-Shiu; Huang, Jui-Chan; Wu, Tzu-Jung

2017-06-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship among surface acting, mental health, and positive group affective tone. According to the prior theory, this study attempts to establish a comprehensive research framework among these variables, and furthermore tests the moderating effect of positive group affective tone. Data were collected from 435 employees in 52 service industrial companies by questionnaire, and this study conducted multilevel analysis. The results showed that surface acting will negatively affect the mental health. In addition, the positive group affective tone have significant moderating effect on the relationship among surface acting and mental health. Finally, this study discusses managerial implications and highlights future research suggestions.

LOD significance thresholds for QTL analysis in experimental populations of diploid species

Science.gov (United States)

Van Ooijen JW

1999-11-01

Linkage analysis with molecular genetic markers is a very powerful tool in the biological research of quantitative traits. The lack of an easy way to know what areas of the genome can be designated as statistically significant for containing a gene affecting the quantitative trait of interest hampers the important prediction of the rate of false positives. In this paper four tables, obtained by large-scale simulations, are presented that can be used with a simple formula to get the false-positives rate for analyses of the standard types of experimental populations with diploid species with any size of genome. A new definition of the term 'suggestive linkage' is proposed that allows a more objective comparison of results across species.

Neonicotinoid insecticides negatively affect performance measures of non‐target terrestrial arthropods: a meta‐analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Main, Anson; Webb, Elisabeth B.; Goyne, Keith W.; Mengel, Doreen C.

2018-01-01

Neonicotinoid insecticides are currently the fastest‐growing and most widely used insecticide class worldwide. Valued for their versatility in application, these insecticides may cause deleterious effects in a range of non‐target (beneficial) arthropods. However, it remains unclear whether strong patterns exist in terms of their major effects, if broad measures of arthropod performance are negatively affected, or whether different functional groups are equally vulnerable. Here, we present a meta‐analysis of 372 observations from 44 field and laboratory studies that describe neonicotinoid effects on 14 arthropod orders across five broad performance measures: abundance, behavior, condition, reproductive success, and survival. Across studies, neonicotinoids negatively affected all performance metrics evaluated; however, magnitude of the effects varied. Arthropod behavior and survival were the most negatively affected and abundance was the least negatively affected. Effects on arthropod functional groups were inconsistent. Pollinator condition, reproductive success, and survival were significantly lower in neonicotinoid treatments compared to untreated controls; whereas, neonicotinoid effects on detritivores were not significant. Although magnitude of arthropod response to neonicotinoids varied among performance measures and functional groups, we documented a consistent negative relationship between exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides in published studies and beneficial arthropod performance.

Economic Analysis of Factors Affecting Technical Efficiency of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Economic Analysis of Factors Affecting Technical Efficiency of Smallholders ... socio-economic characteristics which influence technical efficiency in maize production. ... Ministry of Agriculture and livestock, records, books, reports and internet.

Structural brain network analysis in families multiply affected with bipolar I disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Forde, Natalie J; O'Donoghue, Stefani; Scanlon, Cathy; Emsell, Louise; Chaddock, Chris; Leemans, Alexander; Jeurissen, Ben; Barker, Gareth J; Cannon, Dara M; Murray, Robin M; McDonald, Colm

2015-10-30

Disrupted structural connectivity is associated with psychiatric illnesses including bipolar disorder (BP). Here we use structural brain network analysis to investigate connectivity abnormalities in multiply affected BP type I families, to assess the utility of dysconnectivity as a biomarker and its endophenotypic potential. Magnetic resonance diffusion images for 19 BP type I patients in remission, 21 of their first degree unaffected relatives, and 18 unrelated healthy controls underwent tractography. With the automated anatomical labelling atlas being used to define nodes, a connectivity matrix was generated for each subject. Network metrics were extracted with the Brain Connectivity Toolbox and then analysed for group differences, accounting for potential confounding effects of age, gender and familial association. Whole brain analysis revealed no differences between groups. Analysis of specific mainly frontal regions, previously implicated as potentially endophenotypic by functional magnetic resonance imaging analysis of the same cohort, revealed a significant effect of group in the right medial superior frontal gyrus and left middle frontal gyrus driven by reduced organisation in patients compared with controls. The organisation of whole brain networks of those affected with BP I does not differ from their unaffected relatives or healthy controls. In discreet frontal regions, however, anatomical connectivity is disrupted in patients but not in their unaffected relatives. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Studies of Some Parameters Affecting The Efficiency and Accuracy of The Neutron Activation Analysis Technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdel-Haleem, A.S.; Zaghloul, R.A.; Sroor, A.; Abdel Sabour, M.F.

2000-01-01

The present studies deal with the optimum physical conditions which seriously affect the neutron activation analysis technique efficiency. An experimental work for the efficiency calibration of hyper pure germanium detectors especially for environmental studies is presented. This work showed that the tested parameters, under consideration, distance, mass and measured time, reveal a significant effect on the obtained data. These results, intern, affect the accuracy of the measurements. Further work on the test of other parameters is planned in our laboratory using special treatments and applying special computer programs

Lamotrigine use in patients with binge eating and purging, significant affect dysregulation, and poor impulse control.

Science.gov (United States)

Trunko, Mary Ellen; Schwartz, Terry A; Marzola, Enrica; Klein, Angela S; Kaye, Walter H

2014-04-01

Some patients with symptoms of binge eating and purging are successfully treated with specific serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), but others experience only partial or no benefit. Significant affect dysregulation and poor impulse control may be characteristics that limit responsiveness. We report on the treatment of five patients with bulimia nervosa (BN), anorexia nervosa-binge/purge type (AN-B/P) or eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS), using the anticonvulsant lamotrigine after inadequate response to SSRIs. Following addition of lamotrigine to an antidepressant in four cases, and switch from an antidepressant to lamotrigine in one case, patients experienced substantial improvement in mood reactivity and instability, impulsive drives and behaviors, and eating-disordered symptoms. These findings raise the possibility that lamotrigine, either as monotherapy or as an augmenting agent to antidepressants, may be useful in patients who binge eat and purge, and have significant affect dysregulation with poor impulse control. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Affective mapping: An activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirby, Lauren A J; Robinson, Jennifer L

2017-11-01

Functional neuroimaging has the spatial resolution to explain the neural basis of emotions. Activation likelihood estimation (ALE), as opposed to traditional qualitative meta-analysis, quantifies convergence of activation across studies within affective categories. Others have used ALE to investigate a broad range of emotions, but without the convenience of the BrainMap database. We used the BrainMap database and analysis resources to run separate meta-analyses on coordinates reported for anger, anxiety, disgust, fear, happiness, humor, and sadness. Resultant ALE maps were compared to determine areas of convergence between emotions, as well as to identify affect-specific networks. Five out of the seven emotions demonstrated consistent activation within the amygdala, whereas all emotions consistently activated the right inferior frontal gyrus, which has been implicated as an integration hub for affective and cognitive processes. These data provide the framework for models of affect-specific networks, as well as emotional processing hubs, which can be used for future studies of functional or effective connectivity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Empirical Analysis on Factors Affecting User Behavior in Social Commerce

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Xu Jiayi

2017-02-01

Full Text Available [Purpose/significance] This paper aims to discover the factors affecting user behavior in the derivative situation of e-commerce, social commerce, and explore the sustainable development and related marketing advice of it. [Method/process］This paper put forward a theoretical model of factors affecting user behavior in social commerce by integrating emotional state impact into the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R framework. 277 valid samples were collected by questionnaires and PLS. [Result/conclusion］The results show that information quality and tie strength significantly affect user emotional states, while emotional states positively affect user behavior. In addition, graphic features of business information have indirect effects on user emotional states, while it has direct effect on purchase intention.

Effect of intrinsic motivation on affective responses during and after exercise: latent curve model analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Myoungjin; Kim, Inwoo; Kwon, Sungho

2014-12-01

Understanding the relationship between affect and exercise is helpful in predicting human behavior with respect to exercise participation. The goals of the present study were to investigate individual differences in affective response during and after exercise and to identify the role of intrinsic motivation in affective changes. 30 active male college students (M age = 21.4 yr.) who regularly participated in sports activities volunteered to answer a questionnaire measuring intrinsic motivation toward running activities and performed a 20-min. straight running protocol at heavy intensity (about 70% of VO2max). Participants' affective responses were measured every 5 min. from the beginning of the run to 10 min. after completing the run. Latent curve model analysis indicated that individuals experienced different changes in affective state during exercise, moderated by intrinsic motivation. Higher intrinsic motivation was associated with more positive affect during exercise. There were no significant individual differences in the positive tendency of the participants' affective responses after exercise over time. Intrinsic motivation seems to facilitate positive feelings during exercise and encourages participation in exercise.

A Meta-Analysis: Student Misbehaviors That Affect Classroom Management

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Gülay Dalgıç

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Research on student misbehaviors in classroom have focused on the identification of most frequent misbehaviors and individual practices used by the teachers. However there is still a significant gap about the demographic and other factors that affect teachers’ perceptions of misbehaviors in classrooms. This meta-analysis reviewed the literature in Turkey on student misbehaviors from the views of teachers and demographic factors in theses and published articles between 2000-2012. The sample included 3648 teachers gathered from 16 studies. The results highlight that task avoidance, constant talking with classmates, verbal hostility towards peers and teacher, indifference to study subject during classes, damaging school stuff, and coming late are the most frequent student misbehavior types reported by teachers. Results showed a small relation between perceived student misbehavior and teachers’ teaching field, teacher seniority, educational background of teachers, and number of students in classroom. Gender was not determined as a statistically significant variable in determining teachers’ perceptions of student misbehavior. Practical implications for future research and practices are discussed.

Development and application of a methodology for the analysis of significant human related event trends in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, H.Y.

1981-01-01

A methodology is developed to identify and flag significant trends related to the safety and availability of U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. The development is intended to aid in reducing likelihood of human errors. To assure that the methodology can be easily adapted to various types of classification schemes of operation data, a data bank classified by the Transient Analysis Classification and Evaluation (TRACE) scheme is selected for the methodology. The significance criteria for human-initiated events affecting the systems and for events caused by human deficiencies were developed. Clustering analysis was used to verify the learning trend in multidimensional histograms. A computer code is developed based on the K-Means algorithm and applied to find the learning period in which error rates are monotonously decreasing with plant age. The Freeman-Tukey (F-T) deviates are used to select generic problems identified by a large positive value (here approximately over 2.0) for the deviate. The identified generic problems are: decision errors which are highly associated with reactor startup operations in the learning period of PWR plants (PWRs), response errors which are highly associated with Secondary Non-Nuclear Systems (SNS) in PWRs, and significant errors affecting systems and which are caused by response action are highly associated with startup reactor mode in BWRS

Sensitivity analysis on uncertainty variables affecting the NPP's LUEC with probabilistic approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nuryanti; Akhmad Hidayatno; Erlinda Muslim

2013-01-01

One thing that is quite crucial to be reviewed prior to any investment decision on the nuclear power plant (NPP) project is the calculation of project economic, including calculation of Levelized Unit Electricity Cost (LUEC). Infrastructure projects such as NPP’s project are vulnerable to a number of uncertainty variables. Information on the uncertainty variables which makes LUEC’s value quite sensitive due to the changes of them is necessary in order the cost overrun can be avoided. Therefore this study aimed to do the sensitivity analysis on variables that affect LUEC with probabilistic approaches. This analysis was done by using Monte Carlo technique that simulate the relationship between the uncertainty variables and visible impact on LUEC. The sensitivity analysis result shows the significant changes on LUEC value of AP1000 and OPR due to the sensitivity of investment cost and capacity factors. While LUEC changes due to sensitivity of U 3 O 8 ’s price looks not quite significant. (author)

Heart rate variability analysis in sheep affected by transmissible spongiform encephalopathies

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Konold Timm

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The function of the autonomic nervous system can be assessed by determining heart rate variability (HRV, which is impaired in some brainstem diseases in humans. Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs in sheep are diseases characterised by accumulation of disease-associated prion protein in the brainstem, including nuclei of the parasympathetic nervous system. This study was undertaken to assess whether analysis of HRV can be used as an aid in the diagnosis of TSEs in clinically affected, naturally or experimentally infected sheep. Findings When HRV indices were compared between 41 clinical TSE cases (18 sheep infected with scrapie and 23 sheep infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, 11 control sheep and six sheep reported as scrapie suspects or dosed with BSE brain homogenate, which were not confirmed as TSE cases by postmortem tests, no significant differences were found between the groups. Median heart rate was significantly different but only when sheep were grouped by gender: it was higher in female TSE cases than in control sheep and higher in female than castrated male ovine classical BSE cases. Conclusions HRV analysis was not useful as a diagnostic aid for TSEs of sheep.

Retrospective analysis of factors affecting the efficacy of surgical treatment of the scar.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Z; Shi, X; Zhang, Y; Wang, S; Lei, Z; Liu, X; Fan, D

2014-04-01

The scar is a major problem in the medical profession. Its timely treatment is very important for the better outcome of the scar treatment and for the improvement of the life quality of the patients. The aim of this study was retrospectively analyzed the epidemiological characteristics affecting the efficacy of the scar surgical treatment of the people in the western part of China. Total 414 scar cases were retrospectively analyzed to clarify the epidemiological characteristics and the factors affecting the scar surgical treatment efficacy. The factors included were sex, age, area distribution, treatment seasons, injury sites, injury causes, and the time from scarring to the surgical treatment. All scar cases were surgically treated with the repairing technology including skin graft, flap and soft tissue dilation. There were 206 males and 208 females with the average age 20.53±12.9 years (age range 1-68 years). The patient proportions in the age groups of 0-20, 21-40 and >40 years were 61.4% (254 cases), 29.2% (121 cases), and 9.4% (39 cases) respectively. The patient's attendance rate reached the highest during the summer and winter. Most patients were from the rural areas with an increasing tendency each year. The burn scars were the most abundant and the injury sites were mostly the head and face. Univariate analysis showed that the time from scarring to the surgical treatment and the injury sites were significantly influenced the scar surgical treatment efficacy. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the injured sites of the head and face significantly influenced the scar surgical treatment efficacy. With the development of economy in China, more scar patients especially younger and children visit doctors predominantely from the rural areas. Usually, they get their scars in the exposed area of their bodies (head and face) which seriously affect the patient's appearance and function. Factors influencing the scar surgical treatment efficacy has

A Key Gene, PLIN1, Can Affect Porcine Intramuscular Fat Content Based on Transcriptome Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Bojiang; Weng, Qiannan; Dong, Chao; Zhang, Zengkai; Li, Rongyang; Liu, Jingge; Jiang, Aiwen; Li, Qifa; Jia, Chao; Wu, Wangjun; Liu, Honglin

2018-04-04

Intramuscular fat (IMF) content is an important indicator for meat quality evaluation. However, the key genes and molecular regulatory mechanisms affecting IMF deposition remain unclear. In the present study, we identified 75 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the higher (H) and lower (L) IMF content of pigs using transcriptome analysis, of which 27 were upregulated and 48 were downregulated. Notably, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis indicated that the DEG perilipin-1 ( PLIN1 ) was significantly enriched in the fat metabolism-related peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) signaling pathway. Furthermore, we determined the expression patterns and functional role of porcine PLIN1. Our results indicate that PLIN1 was highly expressed in porcine adipose tissue, and its expression level was significantly higher in the H IMF content group when compared with the L IMF content group, and expression was increased during adipocyte differentiation. Additionally, our results confirm that PLIN1 knockdown decreases the triglyceride (TG) level and lipid droplet (LD) size in porcine adipocytes. Overall, our data identify novel candidate genes affecting IMF content and provide new insight into PLIN1 in porcine IMF deposition and adipocyte differentiation.

A Key Gene, PLIN1, Can Affect Porcine Intramuscular Fat Content Based on Transcriptome Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bojiang Li

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Intramuscular fat (IMF content is an important indicator for meat quality evaluation. However, the key genes and molecular regulatory mechanisms affecting IMF deposition remain unclear. In the present study, we identified 75 differentially expressed genes (DEGs between the higher (H and lower (L IMF content of pigs using transcriptome analysis, of which 27 were upregulated and 48 were downregulated. Notably, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that the DEG perilipin-1 (PLIN1 was significantly enriched in the fat metabolism-related peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR signaling pathway. Furthermore, we determined the expression patterns and functional role of porcine PLIN1. Our results indicate that PLIN1 was highly expressed in porcine adipose tissue, and its expression level was significantly higher in the H IMF content group when compared with the L IMF content group, and expression was increased during adipocyte differentiation. Additionally, our results confirm that PLIN1 knockdown decreases the triglyceride (TG level and lipid droplet (LD size in porcine adipocytes. Overall, our data identify novel candidate genes affecting IMF content and provide new insight into PLIN1 in porcine IMF deposition and adipocyte differentiation.

ANALYSIS OF THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE AVERAGE

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Carmen BOGHEAN

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Productivity in agriculture most relevantly and concisely expresses the economic efficiency of using the factors of production. Labour productivity is affected by a considerable number of variables (including the relationship system and interdependence between factors, which differ in each economic sector and influence it, giving rise to a series of technical, economic and organizational idiosyncrasies. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the underlying factors of the average work productivity in agriculture, forestry and fishing. The analysis will take into account the data concerning the economically active population and the gross added value in agriculture, forestry and fishing in Romania during 2008-2011. The distribution of the average work productivity per factors affecting it is conducted by means of the u-substitution method.

Testing the significance of canonical axes in redundancy analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Legendre, P.; Oksanen, J.; Braak, ter C.J.F.

2011-01-01

1. Tests of significance of the individual canonical axes in redundancy analysis allow researchers to determine which of the axes represent variation that can be distinguished from random. Variation along the significant axes can be mapped, used to draw biplots or interpreted through subsequent

Meteorological analysis of symptom data for people with seasonal affective disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarran, Christophe; Albers, Casper; Sachon, Patrick; Meesters, Ybe

2017-11-01

It is thought that variation in natural light levels affect people with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Several meteorological factors related to luminance can be forecast but little is known about which factors are most indicative of worsening SAD symptoms. The aim of this meteorological analysis is to determine which factors are linked to SAD symptoms. The symptoms of 291 individuals with SAD in and near Groningen have been evaluated over the period 2003-2009. Meteorological factors linked to periods of low natural light (sunshine, global radiation, horizontal visibility, cloud cover and mist) and others (temperature, humidity and pressure) were obtained from weather observation stations. A Bayesian zero adjusted auto-correlated multilevel Poisson model was carried out to assess which variables influence the SAD symptom score BDI-II. The outcome of the study suggests that the variable sunshine duration, for both the current and previous week, and global radiation for the previous week, are significantly linked to SAD symptoms. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Analysis of Economic Factors Affecting Stock Market

OpenAIRE

Xie, Linyin

2010-01-01

This dissertation concentrates on analysis of economic factors affecting Chinese stock market through examining relationship between stock market index and economic factors. Six economic variables are examined: industrial production, money supply 1, money supply 2, exchange rate, long-term government bond yield and real estate total value. Stock market comprises fixed interest stocks and equities shares. In this dissertation, stock market is restricted to equity market. The stock price in thi...

Factors affecting the HIV/AIDS epidemic: An ecological analysis of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Factors affecting the HIV/AIDS epidemic: An ecological analysis of global data. ... Backward multiple linear regression analysis identified the proportion of Muslims, physicians density, and adolescent fertility rate are as the three most prominent factors linked with the national HIV epidemic. Conclusions: The findings support ...

Karyotyping, dermatoglyphic, and sweat pore analysis of five families affected with ectodermal dysplasia.

Science.gov (United States)

Sidhu, Manpreet; Kale, Alka D; Kotrashetti, Vijayalakshmi S

2012-09-01

Hereditary ectodermal dysplasia is a genetic recessive trait characterized by hypohydrosis, hypotrichosis, and hypodontia. The affected individual show characteristic physiognomy like protruded forehead, depressed nasal bridge, periorbital wrinkling, protruded lips, etc. There is marked decrease in sweat and salivary secretion. Due to skin involvement palm and sole ridge patterns are disrupted. In this study an attempt has been made to classify the affected members according to the degree of penetrance by pedigree analysis and also study karyotyping for cytogenetics, dermatoglyphic analysis for the various ridge patterns and variations in the number of sweat glands by sweat pore analysis in affected individuals. A total of five families who were affected with ectodermal dysplasia were considered. Pedigree analysis was drawn up to three generation by obtaining history. Dermatoglyphics and sweat pore analysis was done by obtaining palm and finger print impression using stamp pad ink. Karyotyping was done by collecting 3-5 ml peripheral blood. Karyotyping was prepared using lymphocyte culture. Chromosomes were examined at 20 spreads selected randomly under ×100 magnification. Results were analyzed by calculating mean values and percentage was obtained. Karyotyping did not show any abnormalities, dermatoglyphic analysis and sweat pore counts showed marked variations when compared with normal. Moreover, pedigree analysis confirmed the status of the disease as that of the recessive trait. Large number of affected patients needs to be evaluated for dermatoglypic analysis. Genetic aspect of the disease needs to be looked into the molecular level in an attempt to locate the gene locus responsible for ectodermal dysplasia and its manifestation.

Factors affecting construction performance: exploratory factor analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Soewin, E.; Chinda, T.

2018-04-01

The present work attempts to develop a multidimensional performance evaluation framework for a construction company by considering all relevant measures of performance. Based on the previous studies, this study hypothesizes nine key factors, with a total of 57 associated items. The hypothesized factors, with their associated items, are then used to develop questionnaire survey to gather data. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was applied to the collected data which gave rise 10 factors with 57 items affecting construction performance. The findings further reveal that the items constituting ten key performance factors (KPIs) namely; 1) Time, 2) Cost, 3) Quality, 4) Safety & Health, 5) Internal Stakeholder, 6) External Stakeholder, 7) Client Satisfaction, 8) Financial Performance, 9) Environment, and 10) Information, Technology & Innovation. The analysis helps to develop multi-dimensional performance evaluation framework for an effective measurement of the construction performance. The 10 key performance factors can be broadly categorized into economic aspect, social aspect, environmental aspect, and technology aspects. It is important to understand a multi-dimension performance evaluation framework by including all key factors affecting the construction performance of a company, so that the management level can effectively plan to implement an effective performance development plan to match with the mission and vision of the company.

An empirical analysis of macroeconomic and bank-specific factors affecting liquidity of Indian banks

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Anamika Singh

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates bank-specific and macroeconomic factors that determine the liquidity of Indian banks. To explore the association, we perform OLS, fixed effect and random effect estimates on a data set of 59 banks from 2000 to 2013. Studied bank-specific factors include bank size, profitability, cost of funding, capital adequacy and deposits. GDP, inflation and unemployment are the macroeconomic factors considered. We also perform liquidity trend analysis of Indian banks based on ownership. Findings reveal that bank ownership affects liquidity of banks. Based on panel data analysis, we suggest that bank-specific (except cost of funding and macroeconomic (except unemployment factors significantly affect bank liquidity. These include bank size, deposits, profitability, capital adequacy, GDP and inflation. Further, bank size and GDP were found to have a negative effect on bank liquidity. On the other hand, deposits, profitability, capital adequacy and inflation showed a positive effect on bank liquidity. Cost of funding and unemployment showed an insignificant effect on bank liquidity. Our paper highlights new facts for enhanced understanding of liquidity in emerging economies like India.

Identifying At-Risk Students in General Chemistry via Cluster Analysis of Affective Characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Julia Y. K.; Bauer, Christopher F.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study is to identify academically at-risk students in first-semester general chemistry using affective characteristics via cluster analysis. Through the clustering of six preselected affective variables, three distinct affective groups were identified: low (at-risk), medium, and high. Students in the low affective group…

Biological variability in biomechanical engineering research: Significance and meta-analysis of current modeling practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Douglas; Julias, Margaret; Nauman, Eric

2014-04-11

Biological systems are characterized by high levels of variability, which can affect the results of biomechanical analyses. As a review of this topic, we first surveyed levels of variation in materials relevant to biomechanics, and compared these values to standard engineered materials. As expected, we found significantly higher levels of variation in biological materials. A meta-analysis was then performed based on thorough reviews of 60 research studies from the field of biomechanics to assess the methods and manner in which biological variation is currently handled in our field. The results of our meta-analysis revealed interesting trends in modeling practices, and suggest a need for more biomechanical studies that fully incorporate biological variation in biomechanical models and analyses. Finally, we provide some case study example of how biological variability may provide valuable insights or lead to surprising results. The purpose of this study is to promote the advancement of biomechanics research by encouraging broader treatment of biological variability in biomechanical modeling. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of citations to biomedical articles affected by scientific misconduct.

Science.gov (United States)

Neale, Anne Victoria; Dailey, Rhonda K; Abrams, Judith

2010-06-01

We describe the ongoing citations to biomedical articles affected by scientific misconduct, and characterize the papers that cite these affected articles. The citations to 102 articles named in official findings of scientific misconduct during the period of 1993 and 2001 were identified through the Institute for Scientific Information Web of Science database. Using a stratified random sampling strategy, we performed a content analysis of 603 of the 5,393 citing papers to identify indications of awareness that the cited articles affected by scientific misconduct had validity issues, and to examine how the citing papers referred to the affected articles. Fewer than 5% of citing papers indicated any awareness that the cited article was retracted or named in a finding of misconduct. We also tested the hypothesis that affected articles would have fewer citations than a comparison sample; this was not supported. Most articles affected by misconduct were published in basic science journals, and we found little cause for concern that such articles may have affected clinical equipoise or clinical care.

Proteome Analysis of Human Sebaceous Follicle Infundibula Extracted from Healthy and Acne-Affected Skin

Science.gov (United States)

Bek-Thomsen, Malene; Lomholt, Hans B.; Scavenius, Carsten; Enghild, Jan J.; Brüggemann, Holger

2014-01-01

Acne vulgaris is a very common disease of the pilosebaceous unit of the human skin. The pathological processes of acne are not fully understood. To gain further insight sebaceous follicular casts were extracted from 18 healthy and 20 acne-affected individuals by cyanoacrylate-gel biopsies and further processed for mass spectrometry analysis, aiming at a proteomic analysis of the sebaceous follicular casts. Human as well as bacterial proteins were identified. Human proteins enriched in acne and normal samples were detected, respectively. Normal follicular casts are enriched in proteins such as prohibitins and peroxiredoxins which are involved in the protection from various stresses, including reactive oxygen species. By contrast, follicular casts extracted from acne-affected skin contained proteins involved in inflammation, wound healing and tissue remodeling. Among the most distinguishing proteins were myeloperoxidase, lactotransferrin, neutrophil elastase inhibitor and surprisingly, vimentin. The most significant biological process among all acne-enriched proteins was ‘response to a bacterium’. Identified bacterial proteins were exclusively from Propionibacterium acnes. The most abundant P. acnes proteins were surface-exposed dermatan sulphate adhesins, CAMP factors, and a so far uncharacterized lipase in follicular casts extracted from normal as well as acne-affected skin. This is a first proteomic study that identified human proteins together with proteins of the skin microbiota in sebaceous follicular casts. PMID:25238151

Linkage analysis in nuclear families. 2: Relationship between affected sib-pair tests and lod score analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Knapp, M; Seuchter, S A; Baur, M P

1994-01-01

It is believed that the main advantage of affected sib-pair tests is that their application requires no information about the underlying genetic mechanism of the disease. However, here it is proved that the mean test, which can be considered the most prominent of the affected sib-pair tests, is equivalent to lod score analysis for an assumed recessive mode of inheritance, irrespective of the true mode of the disease. Further relationships of certain sib-pair tests and lod score analysis under specific assumed genetic modes are investigated.

To Identify the Important Soil Properties Affecting Dinoseb Adsorption with Statistical Analysis

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Yiqing Guan

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Investigating the influences of soil characteristic factors on dinoseb adsorption parameter with different statistical methods would be valuable to explicitly figure out the extent of these influences. The correlation coefficients and the direct, indirect effects of soil characteristic factors on dinoseb adsorption parameter were analyzed through bivariate correlation analysis, and path analysis. With stepwise regression analysis the factors which had little influence on the adsorption parameter were excluded. Results indicate that pH and CEC had moderate relationship and lower direct effect on dinoseb adsorption parameter due to the multicollinearity with other soil factors, and organic carbon and clay contents were found to be the most significant soil factors which affect the dinoseb adsorption process. A regression is thereby set up to explore the relationship between the dinoseb adsorption parameter and the two soil factors: the soil organic carbon and clay contents. A 92% of the variation of dinoseb sorption coefficient could be attributed to the variation of the soil organic carbon and clay contents.

Structural mode significance using INCA. [Interactive Controls Analysis computer program

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Frank H.; Downing, John P.; Thorpe, Christopher J.

1990-01-01

Structural finite element models are often too large to be used in the design and analysis of control systems. Model reduction techniques must be applied to reduce the structural model to manageable size. In the past, engineers either performed the model order reduction by hand or used distinct computer programs to retrieve the data, to perform the significance analysis and to reduce the order of the model. To expedite this process, the latest version of INCA has been expanded to include an interactive graphical structural mode significance and model order reduction capability.

Factors that Affect Poverty Areas in North Sumatera Using Discriminant Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Nasution, D. H.; Bangun, P.; Sitepu, H. R.

2018-04-01

In Indonesia, especially North Sumatera, the problem of poverty is one of the fundamental problems that become the focus of government both central and local government. Although the poverty rate decreased but the fact is there are many people who are poor. Poverty happens covers several aspects such as education, health, demographics, and also structural and cultural. This research will discuss about several factors such as population density, Unemployment Rate, GDP per capita ADHK, ADHB GDP per capita, economic growth and life expectancy that affect poverty in Indonesia. To determine the factors that most influence and differentiate the level of poverty of the Regency/City North Sumatra used discriminant analysis method. Discriminant analysis is one multivariate analysis technique are used to classify the data into a group based on the dependent variable and independent variable. Using discriminant analysis, it is evident that the factor affecting poverty is Unemployment Rate.

Does the amount of tagged stool and fluid significantly affect the radiation exposure in low-dose CT colonography performed with an automatic exposure control?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lim, Hyun Kyong; Lee, Kyoung Ho; Kim, So Yeon; Kim, Young Hoon [Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Department of Radiology, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do (Korea, Republic of); Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Bundang (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Kil Joong [Seoul National University College of Medicine, Department of Radiation Applied Life Science, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Bohyoung; Lee, Hyunna [Seoul National University, School of Computer Science and Engineering, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Park, Seong Ho [University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, Asan Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Yanof, Jeffrey H. [Philips Healthcare, CT Clinical Science, Cleveland, OH (United States); Hwang, Seung-sik [Inha University School of Medicine, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Incheon (Korea, Republic of)

2011-02-15

To determine whether the amount of tagged stool and fluid significantly affects the radiation exposure in low-dose screening CT colonography performed with an automatic tube-current modulation technique. The study included 311 patients. The tagging agent was barium (n = 271) or iodine (n = 40). Correlation was measured between mean volume CT dose index (CTDI{sub vol}) and the estimated x-ray attenuation of the tagged stool and fluid (ATT). Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to determine the effect of ATT on CTDI{sub vol} and the effect of ATT on image noise while adjusting for other variables including abdominal circumference. CTDI{sub vol} varied from 0.88 to 2.54 mGy. There was no significant correlation between CTDI{sub vol} and ATT (p = 0.61). ATT did not significantly affect CTDI{sub vol} (p = 0.93), while abdominal circumference was the only factor significantly affecting CTDI{sub vol} (p < 0.001). Image noise ranged from 59.5 to 64.1 HU. The p value for the regression model explaining the noise was 0.38. The amount of stool and fluid tagging does not significantly affect radiation exposure. (orig.)

Does the amount of tagged stool and fluid significantly affect the radiation exposure in low-dose CT colonography performed with an automatic exposure control?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lim, Hyun Kyong; Lee, Kyoung Ho; Kim, So Yeon; Kim, Young Hoon; Kim, Kil Joong; Kim, Bohyoung; Lee, Hyunna; Park, Seong Ho; Yanof, Jeffrey H.; Hwang, Seung-sik

2011-01-01

To determine whether the amount of tagged stool and fluid significantly affects the radiation exposure in low-dose screening CT colonography performed with an automatic tube-current modulation technique. The study included 311 patients. The tagging agent was barium (n = 271) or iodine (n = 40). Correlation was measured between mean volume CT dose index (CTDI vol ) and the estimated x-ray attenuation of the tagged stool and fluid (ATT). Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to determine the effect of ATT on CTDI vol and the effect of ATT on image noise while adjusting for other variables including abdominal circumference. CTDI vol varied from 0.88 to 2.54 mGy. There was no significant correlation between CTDI vol and ATT (p = 0.61). ATT did not significantly affect CTDI vol (p = 0.93), while abdominal circumference was the only factor significantly affecting CTDI vol (p < 0.001). Image noise ranged from 59.5 to 64.1 HU. The p value for the regression model explaining the noise was 0.38. The amount of stool and fluid tagging does not significantly affect radiation exposure. (orig.)

Meta-analytically informed network analysis of resting state FMRI reveals hyperconnectivity in an introspective socio-affective network in depression.

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Leonhard Schilbach

Full Text Available Alterations of social cognition and dysfunctional interpersonal expectations are thought to play an important role in the etiology of depression and have, thus, become a key target of psychotherapeutic interventions. The underlying neurobiology, however, remains elusive. Based upon the idea of a close link between affective and introspective processes relevant for social interactions and alterations thereof in states of depression, we used a meta-analytically informed network analysis to investigate resting-state functional connectivity in an introspective socio-affective (ISA network in individuals with and without depression. Results of our analysis demonstrate significant differences between the groups with depressed individuals showing hyperconnectivity of the ISA network. These findings demonstrate that neurofunctional alterations exist in individuals with depression in a neural network relevant for introspection and socio-affective processing, which may contribute to the interpersonal difficulties that are linked to depressive symptomatology.

The Relationship among Leisure Interests, Personality Traits, Affect, and Mood

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkinson, Todd J.; Hansen, Jo-Ida C.

2006-01-01

The present study examined relationships between leisure interests and the Big Five personality traits, positive and negative affect, and moods. Regression analysis identified particular personality but not mood or affect variables as significant predictors of leisure factor scores. Further exploration through factor analysis revealed factor…

Factors Affecting Green Residential Building Development: Social Network Analysis

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Xiaodong Yang

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Green residential buildings (GRBs are one of the effective practices of energy saving and emission reduction in the construction industry. However, many real estate developers in China are less willing to develop GRBs, because of the factors affecting green residential building development (GRBD. In order to promote the sustainable development of GRBs in China, this paper, based on the perspective of real estate developers, identifies the influential and critical factors affecting GRBD, using the method of social network analysis (SNA. Firstly, 14 factors affecting GRBD are determined from 64 preliminary factors of three main elements, and the framework is established. Secondly, the relationships between the 14 factors are analyzed by SNA. Finally, four critical factors for GRBD, which are on the local economy development level, development strategy and innovation orientation, developer’s acknowledgement and positioning for GRBD, and experience and ability for GRBD, are identified by the social network centrality test. The findings illustrate the key issues that affect the development of GRBs, and provide references for policy making by the government and strategy formulation by real estate developers.

Factors affecting endoglucanase production by Trichoderma reesei ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Jane

2011-08-22

Aug 22, 2011 ... from the ANOVA analysis have a significant value of Pmodel>F= 0.0008 and R2 .... there are various environmental and nutritional factors ... reported to affect cellulase production from wheat straw ... many factors affecting simultaneously the fermentation ..... and control its stability (Kalra and Sandhu, 1986).

Analysis of human error and organizational deficiency in events considering risk significance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Yong Suk; Kim, Yoonik; Kim, Say Hyung; Kim, Chansoo; Chung, Chang Hyun; Jung, Won Dea

2004-01-01

In this study, we analyzed human and organizational deficiencies in the trip events of Korean nuclear power plants. K-HPES items were used in human error analysis, and the organizational factors by Jacobs and Haber were used for organizational deficiency analysis. We proposed the use of CCDP as a risk measure to consider risk information in prioritizing K-HPES items and organizational factors. Until now, the risk significance of events has not been considered in human error and organizational deficiency analysis. Considering the risk significance of events in the process of analysis is necessary for effective enhancement of nuclear power plant safety by focusing on causes of human error and organizational deficiencies that are associated with significant risk

Cross wavelet analysis: significance testing and pitfalls

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D. Maraun

2004-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present a detailed evaluation of cross wavelet analysis of bivariate time series. We develop a statistical test for zero wavelet coherency based on Monte Carlo simulations. If at least one of the two processes considered is Gaussian white noise, an approximative formula for the critical value can be utilized. In a second part, typical pitfalls of wavelet cross spectra and wavelet coherency are discussed. The wavelet cross spectrum appears to be not suitable for significance testing the interrelation between two processes. Instead, one should rather apply wavelet coherency. Furthermore we investigate problems due to multiple testing. Based on these results, we show that coherency between ENSO and NAO is an artefact for most of the time from 1900 to 1995. However, during a distinct period from around 1920 to 1940, significant coherency between the two phenomena occurs.

Intravenous contrast injection significantly affects bone mineral density measured on CT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pompe, Esther; Willemink, Martin J.; Dijkhuis, Gawein R.; Verhaar, Harald J.J.; Hoesein, Firdaus A.A.M.; Jong, Pim A. de [University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Radiology and Internal Medicine-Geriatrics, Postbus 85500, Postbox: E.03.511, GA, Utrecht (Netherlands)

2014-09-05

The objective is to evaluate the effect of intravenous contrast media on bone mineral density (BMD) assessment by comparing unenhanced and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) examinations performed for other indications. One hundred and fifty-two patients (99 without and 53 with malignant neoplasm) who underwent both unenhanced and two contrast-enhanced (arterial and portal venous phase) abdominal CT examinations in a single session between June 2011 and July 2013 were included. BMD was evaluated on the three examinations as CT-attenuation values in Hounsfield Units (HU) in the first lumbar vertebra (L1). CT-attenuation values were significantly higher in both contrast-enhanced phases, compared to the unenhanced phase (p < 0.01). In patients without malignancies, mean ± standard deviation (SD) HU-values increased from 128.8 ± 48.6 HU for the unenhanced phase to 142.3 ± 47.2 HU for the arterial phase and 147.0 ± 47.4 HU for the portal phase (p < 0.01). In patients with malignancies, HU-values increased from 112.1 ± 38.1 HU to 126.2 ± 38.4 HU and 130.1 ± 37.3 HU (p < 0.02), respectively. With different thresholds to define osteoporosis, measurements in the arterial and portal phase resulted in 7-25 % false negatives. Our study showed that intravenous contrast injection substantially affects BMD-assessment on CT and taking this into account may improve routine assessment of low BMD in nonquantitative CT. (orig.)

Intravenous contrast injection significantly affects bone mineral density measured on CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pompe, Esther; Willemink, Martin J.; Dijkhuis, Gawein R.; Verhaar, Harald J.J.; Hoesein, Firdaus A.A.M.; Jong, Pim A. de

2015-01-01

The objective is to evaluate the effect of intravenous contrast media on bone mineral density (BMD) assessment by comparing unenhanced and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) examinations performed for other indications. One hundred and fifty-two patients (99 without and 53 with malignant neoplasm) who underwent both unenhanced and two contrast-enhanced (arterial and portal venous phase) abdominal CT examinations in a single session between June 2011 and July 2013 were included. BMD was evaluated on the three examinations as CT-attenuation values in Hounsfield Units (HU) in the first lumbar vertebra (L1). CT-attenuation values were significantly higher in both contrast-enhanced phases, compared to the unenhanced phase (p < 0.01). In patients without malignancies, mean ± standard deviation (SD) HU-values increased from 128.8 ± 48.6 HU for the unenhanced phase to 142.3 ± 47.2 HU for the arterial phase and 147.0 ± 47.4 HU for the portal phase (p < 0.01). In patients with malignancies, HU-values increased from 112.1 ± 38.1 HU to 126.2 ± 38.4 HU and 130.1 ± 37.3 HU (p < 0.02), respectively. With different thresholds to define osteoporosis, measurements in the arterial and portal phase resulted in 7-25 % false negatives. Our study showed that intravenous contrast injection substantially affects BMD-assessment on CT and taking this into account may improve routine assessment of low BMD in nonquantitative CT. (orig.)

Copy number variations in affective disorders and meta-analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Line; Hansen, Thomas; Djurovic, Srdjan

2011-01-01

in a combined analysis of three case-control samples from Denmark, Norway and Iceland. A total of 1897 cases (n=1223 unipolar and n=463 bipolar) and 11 231 controls were analyzed for CNVs at the 10 genomic loci, but we found no combined association between these CNVs and affective disorders....

Analysis on factors affecting consumers decision on purchasing simple-type houses

Science.gov (United States)

Rumintang, A.; Sholichin, I.

2018-01-01

In line with the increase of the population and the need of comfortable houses, as affected by modernization era, the house demand is getting higher. Hence, conducting a research on consumers need and want in buying a house should be seriously attempted to succeed marketing activity. Using an analysis consumers’ behavior, the researcher will know few affecting factors related to consumers’ satisfaction in buying a house. Among other, the factors in question include: house price, house condition, facilities, location and accessability. The sample of this research was drawn from the residents of Graha Asri Housing, Taman Bulang Permai, and Sukodono Permai. Based on the analysis and discussion, some conclusions are made as follow: the factors and variables affecting the consumers’ decision on each choice of house is different and also the same variables on three sources of data include housing atmosphere, cleaning service, ease of access to shopping center, health clinics or hospitals, tourism spot, schools, and the bus station.

Affect and craving: positive and negative affect are differentially associated with approach and avoidance inclinations.

Science.gov (United States)

Schlauch, Robert C; Gwynn-Shapiro, Daniel; Stasiewicz, Paul R; Molnar, Danielle S; Lang, Alan R

2013-04-01

Research on reactivity to alcohol and drug cues has either ignored affective state altogether or has focused rather narrowly on the role of negative affect in craving. Moreover, until recently, the relevant analyses of affect and craving have rarely addressed the ambivalence often associated with craving itself. The current study investigated how both negative and positive affect moderate approach and avoidance inclinations associated with cue-elicited craving in a clinical sample diagnosed with substance use disorders. One hundred forty-four patients (age range of 18-65, mean 42.0; n=92 males) were recruited from an inpatient detoxification unit for substance abuse. Participants completed a baseline assessment of both positive and negative affect prior to completing a cue-reactivity paradigm for which they provided self-report ratings of inclinations to approach (use) and avoid (not use) alcohol, cigarettes, and non-psychoactive control substances (food and beverages). Participants with elevated negative affect reported significantly higher approach ratings for cigarette and alcohol cues, whereas those high in positive affect showed significantly higher levels of avoidance inclinations for both alcohol and cigarette cues and also significantly lower approach ratings for alcohol cues, all relative to control cues. Results for negative affect are consistent with previous cue reactivity research, whereas results for positive affect are unique and call attention to its clinical potential for attenuating approach inclinations to substance use cues. Further, positive affect was related to both approach and avoidance inclinations, underscoring the utility of a multidimensional conceptualization of craving in the analysis. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Does diet affect our mood? The significance of folic acid and homocysteine].

Science.gov (United States)

Karakuła, Hanna; Opolska, Aneta; Kowal, Anna; Domański, Maciej; Płotka, Aniela; Perzyński, Janusz

2009-02-01

In recent years, there has been growing interest in the association between national diet and the possibility of developing various mental disorders, as well as between deficiency of such vitamins as, e.g. folic acid, vitamin B12, B6, and others (e.g., omega-3 fatty acids), elevated serum homocysteine level and the functioning of human brain as well as the occurrence of such disorders as dementia, central nervous system vascular disorders and depression. was to present the current state of knowledge about the role of folic acid and homocysteine in the human organism as well as the significance of vitamin deficiency, mainly folic acid and hyperhomocysteinemy for the occurrence of mood disorders. The authors conducted the search of the Internet database Medline (www.pubmed.com) using as key words: depression, mood, homocysteine, vitamin deficiencies: folic acid, B6 and 812 and time descriptors: 1990-2007. In depression, folate, vitamins B12 and B6, as well as unsaturated omega-3 fatty acids deficiency affects the biochemical processes in the CNS, as folic acid and vitamin B12, participate in the metabolism of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), a donator of methyl groups, which play a decisive role in the functioning of the nervous system; they are, among others, active in the formation of neurotransmitters (e.g. serotonin), phospholipids that are a component of neuronal myelin sheaths, and cell receptors. The deficiency of the vitamins in question results in hyperhomocysteinemia (the research shows that approximately 45-55% of patients with depression develop significantly elevated serum homocysteine), which causes a decrease in SAM, followed by impaired methylation and, consequently, impaired metabolism of neurotransmitters, phospholipids, myelin, and receptors. Hyperhomocysteinemia also leads to activation of NMDA receptors, lesions in vascular endothelium, and oxidative stress. All this effects neurotoxicity and promotes the development of various disorders, including

Endometrial thickness significantly affects clinical pregnancy and live birth rates in frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles.

Science.gov (United States)

Bu, Zhiqin; Wang, Keyan; Dai, Wei; Sun, Yingpu

2016-07-01

In order to explore the relationship between endometrial thickness on the day of embryo transfer and pregnancy outcomes in frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycles, we retrospectively analyzed data from 2997 patients undergoing their first FET cycles from January 2010 to December 2012. All patients were divided into three groups (Group A, ≤8 mm; Group B, 9-13 mm; Group C, ≥14 mm) according to the endometrial thickness on embryo transfer day. Compared with patients in the other two groups, patients with thin endometrial thickness in Group A had significantly lower clinical pregnancy rate (33.4%, 41.3% and 45.4%, p birth rate (23.8%, 32.2% and 34.0%, p confidence interval (CI): 1.10-1.77, p birth rate (aOR: 1.50; 95% CI: 1.16-1.95, p < 0.01) were significant. We conclude that for patients undergoing FET, endometrial thickness on the embryo transfer day significantly affects IVF outcomes in cleavage embryo transfer cycles independent of other factors.

PISA 2012 Analysis of School Variables Affecting Problem-Solving Competency: Turkey-Serbia Comparison

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Emine YAVUZ

2017-12-01

Full Text Available According to the OECD's PISA 2012 Turkey problem-solving report, Turkey and Serbia are at the same mathematical literacy level. However, Serbia's average of problem-solving competency is said to be higher than Turkey's. In this study, school variables that affect problem-solving competency of the two countries were examined and compared. The method of the study was causal comparison method, and HLM analysis was performed on data of 4494 students from 147 schools in Turkey sample and 4059 students from 132 schools in Serbia sample separately. As a result of HLM analysis, "obstacle and family donation" variable for Serbia and "abandon, teacher morale and mathematics competition" variable for Turkey were statistically significant. Although it was found that for each countries different variables influence the problem-solving competency, it was quite remarkable that these variables are in common in that they are components of the school climate concept.

Analysis Of The Social-Economic Factors Affecting Output Of Nihort ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Analysis Of The Social-Economic Factors Affecting Output Of Nihort Fruit Adoptors And ... A moderate family size of 6-7 family members are in adopters and ... Extension agents presence is necessary in the study area so as to organise training ...

Factors affecting successful closure of hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus with indomethacin in extremely low birth weight infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Chuan-Zhong; Lee, Jiun

2008-05-01

The incidence of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is high in extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants. Indomethacin has been widely used in the prophylaxis and treatment of hemodynamically significant PDA. This retrospective study was undertaken to identify factors such as birth weight, gestational age, gender, fetal growth retardation, ductal size, timing of the first dose of indomethacin and side effects of indomethacin, which may affect the successful closure of the PDA with indomethacin in ELBW infants. A cohort of 139 ELBW infants who had received indomethacin treatment for PDA during a consecutive period of more than three years (September 2000 to December 2003) was retrospectively analyzed. Administration of indomethacin was associated with closure of PDA in 108 (77.7%) of 139 ELBW infants, and only 19.4% of infants required surgical ligation of the ductus eventually. There was no significant relationship between closure of PDA with gestational age, gender, fetal growth retardation, and ductal size. A higher birth weight and early use of indomethacin after birth could significantly increase the closure rate of PDA (P<0.05). Side effects of indomethacin such as transient oliguria and hyponatremia during indomethacin therapy did not affect PDA closure. Indomethacin is effective for the treatment of PDA in ELBW infants. A higher rate of ductal closure is related to the increase of birth weight. PDA closure with indomethacin is age-related, and early administration of indomethacin could increase PDA closure and reduce the incidence of hyponatremia. There is no significant difference in major morbidities such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) after early treatment. Early screening for hemodynamically significant PDA in ELBW infants and early treatment with indomethacin are recommended.

Network Expansion and Pathway Enrichment Analysis towards Biologically Significant Findings from Microarrays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wu Xiaogang

2012-06-01

Full Text Available In many cases, crucial genes show relatively slight changes between groups of samples (e.g. normal vs. disease, and many genes selected from microarray differential analysis by measuring the expression level statistically are also poorly annotated and lack of biological significance. In this paper, we present an innovative approach - network expansion and pathway enrichment analysis (NEPEA for integrative microarray analysis. We assume that organized knowledge will help microarray data analysis in significant ways, and the organized knowledge could be represented as molecular interaction networks or biological pathways. Based on this hypothesis, we develop the NEPEA framework based on network expansion from the human annotated and predicted protein interaction (HAPPI database, and pathway enrichment from the human pathway database (HPD. We use a recently-published microarray dataset (GSE24215 related to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes (T2D as case study, since this study provided a thorough experimental validation for both genes and pathways identified computationally from classical microarray analysis and pathway analysis. We perform our NEPEA analysis for this dataset based on the results from the classical microarray analysis to identify biologically significant genes and pathways. Our findings are not only consistent with the original findings mostly, but also obtained more supports from other literatures.

How does real affect affect affect recognition in speech?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Truong, Khiet Phuong

2009-01-01

The automatic analysis of affect is a relatively new and challenging multidisciplinary research area that has gained a lot of interest over the past few years. The research and development of affect recognition systems has opened many opportunities for improving the interaction between man and

A large scale survey reveals that chromosomal copy-number alterations significantly affect gene modules involved in cancer initiation and progression

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Cigudosa Juan C

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recent observations point towards the existence of a large number of neighborhoods composed of functionally-related gene modules that lie together in the genome. This local component in the distribution of the functionality across chromosomes is probably affecting the own chromosomal architecture by limiting the possibilities in which genes can be arranged and distributed across the genome. As a direct consequence of this fact it is therefore presumable that diseases such as cancer, harboring DNA copy number alterations (CNAs, will have a symptomatology strongly dependent on modules of functionally-related genes rather than on a unique "important" gene. Methods We carried out a systematic analysis of more than 140,000 observations of CNAs in cancers and searched by enrichments in gene functional modules associated to high frequencies of loss or gains. Results The analysis of CNAs in cancers clearly demonstrates the existence of a significant pattern of loss of gene modules functionally related to cancer initiation and progression along with the amplification of modules of genes related to unspecific defense against xenobiotics (probably chemotherapeutical agents. With the extension of this analysis to an Array-CGH dataset (glioblastomas from The Cancer Genome Atlas we demonstrate the validity of this approach to investigate the functional impact of CNAs. Conclusions The presented results indicate promising clinical and therapeutic implications. Our findings also directly point out to the necessity of adopting a function-centric, rather a gene-centric, view in the understanding of phenotypes or diseases harboring CNAs.

Elemental analysis of the frontal lobe of 'normal' brain tissue and that affected by Alzheimer's disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stedman, J.D.; Spyrou, N.M.

1997-01-01

'Normal' brain tissue and brain tissue affected by Alzheimer's disease has been taken from the frontal lobe of both hemispheres and their elemental compositions in terms of major, minor and trace elements compared. Brain samples were obtained from the MRC Alzheimer's Disease Brain Bank, London. 25 samples were taken from 18 individuals (5 males and 13 females) of mean age 79.9 ± 7.3 years with pathologically confirmed Alzheimer's disease and 26 samples from 15 individuals (8 males and 7 females) of mean age 71.8 ± 13.0 years with no pathological sings of Alzheimer's disease ('normals'). The elemental concentration of the samples were determined by the techniques of Rutherford backscattering (RBS) analysis, particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) analysis and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Na, Mg, Al, Cl, K, Sc, Fe, Zn, Se, Br, Rb and Cs were detected by INAA and significant differences in concentrations were found between concentrations in normal and Alzheimer tissue for the elements. Na, Cl, K, Se, Br and Rb, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Fe, Zn and Cd were detected by PIXE analysis and significant differences found for the elements P, S, Cl, K and Ca. (author)

Emotion Risk-Factor in Patients with Cardiac Diseases: The Role of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies, Positive Affect and Negative Affect (A Case-Control Study).

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Bahremand, Mostafa; Alikhani, Mostafa; Zakiei, Ali; Janjani, Parisa; Aghei, Abbas

2015-05-17

Application of psychological interventions is essential in classic treatments for patient with cardiac diseases. The present study compared cognitive emotion regulation strategies, positive affect, and negative affect for cardiac patients with healthy subjects. This study was a case-control study. Fifty subjects were selected using convenient sampling method from cardiac (coronary artery disease) patients presenting in Imam Ali medical center of Kermanshah, Iran in the spring 2013. Fifty subjects accompanied the patients to the medical center, selected as control group, did not have any history of cardiac diseases. For collecting data, the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire and positive and negative affect scales were used. For data analysis, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) Was applied using the SPSS statistical software (ver. 19.0). In all cognitive emotion regulation strategies, there was a significant difference between the two groups. A significant difference was also detected regarding positive affect between the two groups, but no significant difference was found regarding negative affect. We found as a result that, having poor emotion regulation strategies is a risk factor for developing heart diseases.

Emotion Risk-Factor in Patients With Cardiac Diseases: The Role of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies, Positive Affect and Negative Affect (A Case-Control Study)

Science.gov (United States)

Bahremand, Mostafa; Alikhani, Mostafa; Zakiei, Ali; Janjani, Parisa; Aghaei, Abbas

2016-01-01

Application of psychological interventions is essential in classic treatments for patient with cardiac diseases. The present study compared cognitive emotion regulation strategies, positive affect, and negative affect for cardiac patients with healthy subjects. This study was a case-control study. Fifty subjects were selected using convenient sampling method from cardiac (coronary artery disease) patients presenting in Imam Ali medical center of Kermanshah, Iran in the spring 2013. Fifty subjects accompanied the patients to the medical center, selected as control group, did not have any history of cardiac diseases. For collecting data, the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire and positive and negative affect scales were used. For data analysis, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was applied using the SPSS statistical software (ver. 19.0). In all cognitive emotion regulation strategies, there was a significant difference between the two groups. A significant difference was also detected regarding positive affect between the two groups, but no significant difference was found regarding negative affect. We found as a result that, having poor emotion regulation strategies is a risk factor for developing heart diseases. PMID:26234976

Clinical Significance of Resistin Expression in Osteoarthritis: A Meta-Analysis

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Xiao-Chuan Li

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of literature evaluating human resistin expression as a diagnostic factor in osteoarthritis development and to quantify the overall diagnostic effect. Method. Relevant studies were identified and evaluated for quality through multiple search strategies. Studies analyzing resistin expression in the development of OA were eligible for inclusion. Data from eligible studies were extracted and included into the meta-analysis using a random-effects model. Results. Four case-control studies consisting of a total of 375 OA patients and 214 controls as well as three sex-stratified analyses composed of 53 males and 104 females were incorporated into our meta-analysis. Our results revealed that resistin levels were significantly higher in male OA subjects and OA patients overall. Country-stratified analysis yielded significantly different estimates in resistin levels between male OA subjects and female OA subjects in the Canadian subgroup but not among the French and USA subgroups. Based on the resistin levels in OA cases and controls, resistin levels were heightened in OA patients in the Dutch population. Conclusion. These results support the hypothesis that high expression of resistin represents a significant and reproducible marker of poor progression in OA patients, especially in males.

Uncertainty Flow Facilitates Zero-Shot Multi-Label Learning in Affective Facial Analysis

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Wenjun Bai

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Featured Application: The proposed Uncertainty Flow framework may benefit the facial analysis with its promised elevation in discriminability in multi-label affective classification tasks. Moreover, this framework also allows the efficient model training and between tasks knowledge transfer. The applications that rely heavily on continuous prediction on emotional valance, e.g., to monitor prisoners’ emotional stability in jail, can be directly benefited from our framework. Abstract: To lower the single-label dependency on affective facial analysis, it urges the fruition of multi-label affective learning. The impediment to practical implementation of existing multi-label algorithms pertains to scarcity of scalable multi-label training datasets. To resolve this, an inductive transfer learning based framework, i.e.,Uncertainty Flow, is put forward in this research to allow knowledge transfer from a single labelled emotion recognition task to a multi-label affective recognition task. I.e., the model uncertainty—which can be quantified in Uncertainty Flow—is distilled from a single-label learning task. The distilled model uncertainty ensures the later efficient zero-shot multi-label affective learning. On the theoretical perspective, within our proposed Uncertainty Flow framework, the feasibility of applying weakly informative priors, e.g., uniform and Cauchy prior, is fully explored in this research. More importantly, based on the derived weight uncertainty, three sets of prediction related uncertainty indexes, i.e., soft-max uncertainty, pure uncertainty and uncertainty plus are proposed to produce reliable and accurate multi-label predictions. Validated on our manual annotated evaluation dataset, i.e., the multi-label annotated FER2013, our proposed Uncertainty Flow in multi-label facial expression analysis exhibited superiority to conventional multi-label learning algorithms and multi-label compatible neural networks. The success of our

Analysis of Factors That Affects the Investors in Conducting Business in Indonesia

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Rini Kurnia Sari

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Investment is needed in the development of the economy. With the decentralization of investment is expected to evolve as a whole in every province in Indonesia. Local governments need to improve the quality of economic (GDP / Capita, social (HDI and the infrastructure to attract domestic and foreign investors. Fromthe test results showed that factors affecting investors conducting business in Indonesia is still influenced by GDP/capita, HDI and Infrastructure instead of natural resources.This study uses descriptive analysis and correlation analysis methods to look at the correlation factors that affect investors doing business in Indonesia.

[Analysis of the quality of life in patients affected by scoliosis].

Science.gov (United States)

Leal-Hernández, M; Martínez-Monje, F; Pérez-Valencia, M; García-Romero, R; Mena-Poveda, R; Caballero-Cánovas, J

2017-05-11

To assess the quality of life using the SRS 22 test in patients with scoliosis of 20 or more degrees Cobb. A prospective descriptive study was conducted between April and May 2016 on patients with scoliosis of at least 20 degrees Cobb and aged between 10 and 20 years. A record was made of weight, height, body mass index, and the SR 22 specific quality of life questionnaire for patients with scoliosis was completed. Patients were divided into two groups for analysis: a) scoliosis between 20 and 29 degrees Cobb (n=44); and b) scoliosis with a Cobb of 30 degrees or greater (n=32). There were significant differences in the dimensions that assess pain, image self-perception, and satisfaction with treatment, being valued worse when the degree of scoliosis Cobb is 30 degrees or higher. There were no significant differences in function/activity or mental health. The overall score of the questionnaire was also worse in the group with the highest degree of scoliosis. The weight, height, and BMI showed no significant differences due to the varying degrees of scoliosis. Scoliosis significantly affects the quality of life of people who suffer it, and there is a negative correlation between the severity of scoliosis measured by degrees Cobb and quality of life. Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria (SEMERGEN). Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Analysis of variables affecting drug compliance in schizophrenia

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Shakeel Ansari

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Context: As compliance of the patient during management of schizophrenia is crucial, the current study was conducted to find out the factors that affected compliance. Aims: The aim of the study was to analyze the prevalence of noncompliance and to find out different factors affecting compliance in schizophrenic patients. Materials and Methods: Observational cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 adult schizophrenic patients. Noncompliance was assessed using the rating of medication influence (ROMI scale. Severity of illness was measured using positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS. Results: Prevalence of noncompliance was 37%. Using ROMI scale; positive relationship with psychiatrist, family pressure for taking medications, stigma, and substance abuse were found to be significant factors. Severity of illness was also found as determining factor. Conclusion: To improve the compliance in schizophrenia patients, roles of both psychiatrists and family members are crucial.

On exergy analysis of industrial plants and significance of ambient temperature

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rian, Berit

2011-07-01

The exergy analysis has been a relatively mature theory for more than 30 years. However, it is not that developed in terms of procedures for optimizing systems, which partly explains why it is not that common. Misconceptions and prejudices, even among scientists, are also partly to blame.The main objective of this work was to contribute to the development of an understanding and methodology of the exergy analysis. The thesis was mainly based on three papers, two of which provided very different examples from existing industrial systems in Norway, thus showing the societal perspective in terms of resource utilization and thermodynamics. The last paper and the following investigation were limited to certain aspects of ambient conditions. Two Norwegian operational plants have been studied, one operative for close to 30 years (Kaarstoe steam production and distribution system), while the other has just started its expected 30 years of production (Snoehvit LNG plant). In addition to mapping the current operational status of these plants, the study of the Kaarstoe steam production and distribution system concluded that the potential for increasing the thermodynamic performance by rather cautious actions was significant, whereas the study of the Snoehvit LNG plant showed the considerable profit which the Arctic location provided in terms of reduced fuel consumption. The significance of the ambient temperature led to the study of systems with two ambient bodies (i.e. ambient water and ambient air) of different temperatures, here three different systems were investigated: A regenerative steam injection gas turbine (RSTIG), a simple Linde air liquefaction plant (Air Liq) and an air-source heat pump water heater (HPWH). In particular, the effect of the chosen environment on exergy analysis was negligible for RSTIG, modest for Air Liq and critical for HPWH. It was found that the amount of exergy received from the alternative ambient body, compared to the main exergy flow of

Assessment of chitosan-affected metabolic response by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor bioluminescent imaging-guided transcriptomic analysis.

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Chia-Hung Kao

Full Text Available Chitosan has been widely used in food industry as a weight-loss aid and a cholesterol-lowering agent. Previous studies have shown that chitosan affects metabolic responses and contributes to anti-diabetic, hypocholesteremic, and blood glucose-lowering effects; however, the in vivo targeting sites and mechanisms of chitosan remain to be clarified. In this study, we constructed transgenic mice, which carried the luciferase genes driven by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR, a key regulator of fatty acid and glucose metabolism. Bioluminescent imaging of PPAR transgenic mice was applied to report the organs that chitosan acted on, and gene expression profiles of chitosan-targeted organs were further analyzed to elucidate the mechanisms of chitosan. Bioluminescent imaging showed that constitutive PPAR activities were detected in brain and gastrointestinal tract. Administration of chitosan significantly activated the PPAR activities in brain and stomach. Microarray analysis of brain and stomach showed that several pathways involved in lipid and glucose metabolism were regulated by chitosan. Moreover, the expression levels of metabolism-associated genes like apolipoprotein B (apoB and ghrelin genes were down-regulated by chitosan. In conclusion, these findings suggested the feasibility of PPAR bioluminescent imaging-guided transcriptomic analysis on the evaluation of chitosan-affected metabolic responses in vivo. Moreover, we newly identified that downregulated expression of apoB and ghrelin genes were novel mechanisms for chitosan-affected metabolic responses in vivo.

Affective problems and decline in cognitive state in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

John, A; Patel, U; Rusted, J; Richards, M; Gaysina, D

2018-05-24

Evidence suggests that affective problems, such as depression and anxiety, increase risk for late-life dementia. However, the extent to which affective problems influence cognitive decline, even many years prior to clinical diagnosis of dementia, is not clear. The present study systematically reviews and synthesises the evidence for the association between affective problems and decline in cognitive state (i.e., decline in non-specific cognitive function) in older adults. An electronic search of PubMed, PsycInfo, Cochrane, and ScienceDirect was conducted to identify studies of the association between depression and anxiety separately and decline in cognitive state. Key inclusion criteria were prospective, longitudinal designs with a minimum follow-up period of 1 year. Data extraction and methodological quality assessment using the STROBE checklist were conducted independently by two raters. A total of 34 studies (n = 71 244) met eligibility criteria, with 32 studies measuring depression (n = 68 793), and five measuring anxiety (n = 4698). A multi-level meta-analysis revealed that depression assessed as a binary predictor (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.05-1.76, p = 0.02) or a continuous predictor (B = -0.008, 95% CI -0.015 to -0.002, p = 0.012; OR 0.992, 95% CI 0.985-0.998) was significantly associated with decline in cognitive state. The number of anxiety studies was insufficient for meta-analysis, and they are described in a narrative review. Results of the present study improve current understanding of the temporal nature of the association between affective problems and decline in cognitive state. They also suggest that cognitive function may need to be monitored closely in individuals with affective disorders, as these individuals may be at particular risk of greater cognitive decline.

How Acute Total Sleep Loss Affects the Attending Brain: A Meta-Analysis of Neuroimaging Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Ning; Dinges, David F.; Basner, Mathias; Rao, Hengyi

2015-01-01

Study Objectives: Attention is a cognitive domain that can be severely affected by sleep deprivation. Previous neuroimaging studies have used different attention paradigms and reported both increased and reduced brain activation after sleep deprivation. However, due to large variability in sleep deprivation protocols, task paradigms, experimental designs, characteristics of subject populations, and imaging techniques, there is no consensus regarding the effects of sleep loss on the attending brain. The aim of this meta-analysis was to identify brain activations that are commonly altered by acute total sleep deprivation across different attention tasks. Design: Coordinate-based meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies of performance on attention tasks during experimental sleep deprivation. Methods: The current version of the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) approach was used for meta-analysis. The authors searched published articles and identified 11 sleep deprivation neuroimaging studies using different attention tasks with a total of 185 participants, equaling 81 foci for ALE analysis. Results: The meta-analysis revealed significantly reduced brain activation in multiple regions following sleep deprivation compared to rested wakefulness, including bilateral intraparietal sulcus, bilateral insula, right prefrontal cortex, medial frontal cortex, and right parahippocampal gyrus. Increased activation was found only in bilateral thalamus after sleep deprivation compared to rested wakefulness. Conclusion: Acute total sleep deprivation decreases brain activation in the fronto-parietal attention network (prefrontal cortex and intraparietal sulcus) and in the salience network (insula and medial frontal cortex). Increased thalamic activation after sleep deprivation may reflect a complex interaction between the de-arousing effects of sleep loss and the arousing effects of task performance on thalamic activity. Citation: Ma N, Dinges DF, Basner M, Rao H. How acute total

Significance analysis of lexical bias in microarray data

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Falkow Stanley

2003-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Genes that are determined to be significantly differentially regulated in microarray analyses often appear to have functional commonalities, such as being components of the same biochemical pathway. This results in certain words being under- or overrepresented in the list of genes. Distinguishing between biologically meaningful trends and artifacts of annotation and analysis procedures is of the utmost importance, as only true biological trends are of interest for further experimentation. A number of sophisticated methods for identification of significant lexical trends are currently available, but these methods are generally too cumbersome for practical use by most microarray users. Results We have developed a tool, LACK, for calculating the statistical significance of apparent lexical bias in microarray datasets. The frequency of a user-specified list of search terms in a list of genes which are differentially regulated is assessed for statistical significance by comparison to randomly generated datasets. The simplicity of the input files and user interface targets the average microarray user who wishes to have a statistical measure of apparent lexical trends in analyzed datasets without the need for bioinformatics skills. The software is available as Perl source or a Windows executable. Conclusion We have used LACK in our laboratory to generate biological hypotheses based on our microarray data. We demonstrate the program's utility using an example in which we confirm significant upregulation of SPI-2 pathogenicity island of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium by the cation chelator dipyridyl.

A review and meta-analysis of affective judgments and physical activity in adult populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Rhodes, Ryan E; Fiala, Bonnie; Conner, Mark

2009-12-01

Popular theories of health behavior have often been criticized for neglecting an affective component to behavioral engagement. This study reviewed affective judgment (AJ) constructs employed in physical activity research to assess the relationship with behavior. Studies were eligible if they included: (a) a measure of physical activity; (b) a distinct measure of AJ (e.g., affective attitude, enjoyment, intrinsic motivation); and (c) involved participants with a mean age of 18 years or older. Literature searches were concluded in September, 2009 among five key search engines. This search yielded a total of 10,631 potentially relevant records; of these, 102 passed the eligibility criteria. Random effects meta-analysis procedures with correction for sampling and measurement bias were employed in the analysis. Articles were published between 1989 and 2009, with sample sizes ranging from 15 to 6,739. Of the studies included, 82 were correlational and 20 were experimental, yielding 114 independent samples. The majority of the correlational samples reported a significant positive correlation between AJ and physical activity (83 out of 85), with a summary r of 0.42 (95% CI 0.37 to 0.46) that was invariant across the measures employed, study quality, population sampled and cultural variables. Experimental studies demonstrated that persuasive, information-based, and self-regulatory interventions failed to change AJ; by contrast, environmental and experiential interventions showed promise in their capability to influence AJ. The results point to a medium-effect size relationship between AJ and physical activity. Interventions that change AJ are scarce despite their potential for changing physical activity. Future experimental work designed to evaluate the causal impact ofAJ on physical activity is required.

The Analysis Of Factors Affect The Quality Of Competitive Strategy In Industry SME For Embroidery At Padang City

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dahliana kamener dahlia

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The study aimed to analyze the quality factors of competitive strategy on SME for Industrial embroidery in Padang city. With this research is expected to provide benefits to the industry, especially SMEs Industrial embroidery to be able to improve and consider the factors that can affect the quality of competitive strategy in this industry, which the factors influenced such as Quality Strategic Asset, Environment Adabtability and price strategic to the Quality Strategic Competition. The populations of this study were SME industry for the embroidery product in the city of Padang and used census sampling. Data retrieved from the primary data by spreading questionnaires and the measurement by using a Likert scale. Methods of analysis by using descriptive analysis, multiple regression analysis to test the hyphotheses. The result showed that the quality of asset strategik was postively significant effect the Quality Strategic Competition, and enviromental adaptability and price strategy have positively not significant effect on the Quality Strategic Competition.

The Significance of Barriers to Entry in the Construction Industry

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Gerard de Valence

2012-11-01

Full Text Available This research looks at the significance of barriers that firms considering entry into the construction industry might face. Drawing on the microeconomic characteristics of imperfectly competitive and oligopolistic markets the analysis finds that there are a dozen barriers to entry that affect the industry, but their significance depends on the product type. The discussion covers the question of product homogeneity in construction and evidence for the existence of barriers to entry in concentration levels. Barriers to entry specific to construction are then identified, which leads to an analysis of how they operate and their significance (high, medium or low in different market types, thus increasing our understanding of construction industry dynamics.

The mediational significance of negative/depressive affect in the relationship of childhood maltreatment and eating disorder features in adolescent psychiatric inpatients.

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Hopwood, C J; Ansell, E B; Fehon, D C; Grilo, C M

2011-03-01

Childhood maltreatment is a risk factor for eating disorder and negative/depressive affect appears to mediate this relation. However, the specific elements of eating- and body-related psychopathology that are influenced by various forms of childhood maltreatment remain unclear, and investigations among adolescents and men/boys have been limited. This study investigated the mediating role of negative affect/depression across multiple types of childhood maltreatment and eating disorder features in hospitalized adolescent boys and girls. Participants were 148 adolescent psychiatric inpatients who completed an assessment battery including measures of specific forms of childhood maltreatment (sexual, emotional, and physical abuse), negative/depressive affect, and eating disorder features (dietary restriction, binge eating, and body dissatisfaction). Findings suggest that for girls, negative/depressive affect significantly mediates the relationships between childhood maltreatment and eating disorder psychopathology, although effects varied somewhat across types of maltreatment and eating disorder features. Generalization of mediation effects to boys was limited.

Re-analysis of RNA-Sequencing Data on Apple Stem Grooving Virus infected Apple reveals more significant differentially expressed genes

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Bipin Balan

2017-12-01

Full Text Available RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq technology has enabled the researchers to investigate the host global gene expression changes in plant-virus interactions which helped to understand the molecular basis of virus diseases. The re-analysis of RNA-Seq studies using most updated genome version and the available best analysis pipeline will produce most accurate results. In this study, we re-analysed the Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV infected apple shoots in comparison with that of virus-free in vitro shoots [1] using the most updated Malus x domestica genome downloaded from Phytozome database. The re-analysis was done by using HISAT2 software and Cufflinks program was used to mine the differentially expressed genes. We found that ~20% more reads was mapped to the latest genome using the updated pipeline, which proved the significance of such re-analysis. The comparison of the updated results with that of previous was done. In addition, we performed protein-protein interaction (PPI to investigate the proteins affected by ASGV infection.

Genetic myostatin decrease in the golden retriever muscular dystrophy model does not significantly affect the ubiquitin proteasome system despite enhancing the severity of disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Cotten, Steven W; Kornegay, Joe N; Bogan, Daniel J; Wadosky, Kristine M; Patterson, Cam; Willis, Monte S

2013-01-01

Recent studies suggest that inhibiting the protein myostatin, a negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass, may improve outcomes in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy by enhancing muscle mass. When the dystrophin-deficient golden retriever muscular dystrophy (GRMD) dog was bred with whippets having a heterozygous mutation for the myostatin gene, affected GRMD dogs with decreased myostatin (GRippets) demonstrated an accelerated physical decline compared to related affected GRMD dogs with full myostatin. To examine the role of the ubiquitin proteasome and calpain systems in this accelerated decline, we determined the expression of the muscle ubiquitin ligases MuRF1, Atrogin-1, RNF25, RNF11, and CHIP: the proteasome subunits PSMA6, PSMB4, and PSME1: and calpain 1/2 by real time PCR in the cranial sartorius and vastus lateralis muscles in control, affected GRMD, and GRippet dogs. While individual affected GRMD and GRippet dogs contributed to an increased variability seen in ubiquitin ligase expression, neither group was significantly different from the control group. The affected GRMD dogs demonstrated significant increases in caspase-like and trypsin-like activity in the cranial sartorius; however, all three proteasome activities in the GRippet muscles did not differ from controls. Increased variability in calpain 1 and calpain 2 expression and activity in the affected GRMD and GRippet groups were identified, but no statistical differences from the control group were seen. These studies suggest a role of myostatin in the disease progression of GRMD, which does not significantly involve key components of the ubiquitin proteasome and calpain systems involved in the protein quality control of sarcomere and other structural skeletal muscle proteins.

ML-Ask: Open Source Affect Analysis Software for Textual Input in Japanese

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Michal Ptaszynski

2017-06-01

Full Text Available We present ML-Ask – the first Open Source Affect Analysis system for textual input in Japanese. ML-Ask analyses the contents of an input (e.g., a sentence and annotates it with information regarding the contained general emotive expressions, specific emotional words, valence-activation dimensions of overall expressed affect, and particular emotion types expressed with their respective expressions. ML-Ask also incorporates the Contextual Valence Shifters model for handling negation in sentences to deal with grammatically expressible shifts in the conveyed valence. The system, designed to work mainly under Linux and MacOS, can be used for research on, or applying the techniques of Affect Analysis within the framework Japanese language. It can also be used as an experimental baseline for specific research in Affect Analysis, and as a practical tool for written contents annotation.   Funding statement: This research has been supported by: a Research Grant from the Nissan Science Foundation (years 2009–2010, The GCOE Program founded by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (years 2009–2010, (JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (Project Number: 22-00358 (years 2010–2012, (JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Project Number: 24600001 (years 2012–2015, (JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up (Project Number: 25880003 (years 2013–2015, and (JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Encouragement of Young Scientists (B (Project Number: 15K16044 (years 2015-present, project estimated to end in March 2018.

An Analysis of Factors Affecting the Retention Plans of Junior Male U.S. Army Officers: Evidence from the 1999 DoD Survey of Active Duty Personnel

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Gencer, Umit

2002-01-01

.... Logistic regression analysis is used to identify demographic, tenure, economic, and cognitive characteristics that significantly affect the intention to stay or to quit the military and to assess...

Flavourings significantly affect inhalation toxicity of aerosol generated from electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS).

Science.gov (United States)

Leigh, Noel J; Lawton, Ralph I; Hershberger, Pamela A; Goniewicz, Maciej L

2016-11-01

E-cigarettes or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) are designed to deliver nicotine-containing aerosol via inhalation. Little is known about the health effects of flavoured ENDS aerosol when inhaled. Aerosol from ENDS was generated using a smoking machine. Various types of ENDS devices or a tank system prefilled with liquids of different flavours, nicotine carrier, variable nicotine concentrations and with modified battery output voltage were tested. A convenience sample of commercial fluids with flavour names of tobacco, piña colada, menthol, coffee and strawberry were used. Flavouring chemicals were identified using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. H292 human bronchial epithelial cells were directly exposed to 55 puffs of freshly generated ENDS aerosol, tobacco smoke or air (controls) using an air-liquid interface system and the Health Canada intense smoking protocol. The following in vitro toxicological effects were assessed: (1) cell viability, (2) metabolic activity and (3) release of inflammatory mediators (cytokines). Exposure to ENDS aerosol resulted in decreased metabolic activity and cell viability and increased release of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-10, CXCL1, CXCL2 and CXCL10 compared to air controls. Cell viability and metabolic activity were more adversely affected by conventional cigarettes than most tested ENDS products. Product type, battery output voltage and flavours significantly affected toxicity of ENDS aerosol, with a strawberry-flavoured product being the most cytotoxic. Our data suggest that characteristics of ENDS products, including flavours, may induce inhalation toxicity. Therefore, ENDS users should use the products with caution until more comprehensive studies are performed. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Analysis of the Variables that Affect Bookstore Customer Satisfaction

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Elis Ratna Wulan

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Competition, which becomes more widespread, complex, and intense, drives companies to must be able to see the various opportunities that exist and to identify strategies for creating customer satisfaction. As an example of a company must be able to produce products with good quality, reasonable price, facilities, and companies are able to create a positive image in the eyes of consumers. This strategy is quite important in facing the competitive level of competition with rival firms. This research is aimed to analysis simultaneously or partially positive effect of the facilities, prices and corporate image on customer satisfaction, as well as analyzing the most dominant variable in effecting bookstore customer satisfaction. Data used in this research are primary data from Tmbookstore customer in Cianjur city, West Java Indonesia, which were collected from respondents using valid and reliable questionnaire. A total of 100 respondents were selected from Tmbookstore visitors by accidental sampling. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. Results of the research indicate that product, price, location, and simultaneously affect to bookstore consumer satisfaction. Partially, only two of the three variables that affect bookstore consumer satisfaction namely price and company image. Image of the company is the most a dominant impact on bookstore customer satisfaction.

Analysis of the Variables that Affect Bookstore Customer Satisfaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elis Ratna Wulan

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Competition, which becomes more widespread, complex, and intense, drives companies to must be able to see the various opportunities that exist and to identify strategies for creating customer satisfaction. As an example of a company must be able to produce products with good quality, reasonable price, facilities, and companies are able to create a positive image in the eyes of consumers. This strategy is quite important in facing the competitive level of competition with rival firms. This research is aimed to analysis simultaneously or partially positive effect of the facilities, prices and corporate image on customer satisfaction, as well as analyzing the most dominant variable in effecting bookstore customer satisfaction.  Data used in this research are primary data from Tmbookstore customer in Cianjur city, West Java Indonesia, which were collected from respondents using valid and reliable questionnaire. A total of 100 respondents were selected from Tmbookstore visitors by accidental sampling. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. Results of the research indicate that product, price, location, and simultaneously affect to bookstore consumer satisfaction. Partially, only two of the three variables that affect bookstore consumer satisfaction namely price and company image. Image of the company is the most a dominant impact on bookstore customer satisfaction.

Clinical factors affecting engraftment and transfusion needs in SCT: a single-center retrospective analysis.

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Liesveld, J; Pawlowski, J; Chen, R; Hyrien, O; Debolt, J; Becker, M; Phillips, G; Chen, Y

2013-05-01

Successful utilization of SCT modalities often requires utilization of both red cell and platelet transfusions. In this retrospective evaluation of clinical factors affecting transplant engraftment and transfusion utilization at a single transplant center in 505 patients from 2005 through 2009, we found that graft type, donor type and the conditioning regimen intensity significantly affected both the neutrophil engraftment time (PSCT patients required an average of 6.2 red cell units, and 7.9 platelet transfusions in the first 100 days with a wide s.d. Among auto-SCT patients, 5% required neither RBC nor platelet transfusions. Some reduced-intensity transplants were also associated with no transfusion need, and in allogeneic transplants, conditioning regimen intensity was positively correlated with platelet transfusion events as assessed by multivariate analysis. Other patient characteristics such as gender, graft type, donor type, underlying disease and use of TBI were all independently associated with transfusion needs in SCT patients. Further studies are required to understand the means to minimize transfusions and potential related complications in SCT patients.

Dynamic Synchronization of Teacher-Students Affection in Affective Instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wenhai; Lu, Jiamei

2011-01-01

Based on Bower's affective network theory, the article links the dynamic analysis of affective factors in affective instruction, and presents affective instruction strategic of dynamic synchronization between teacher and students to implement the best ideal mood that promotes students' cognition and affection together. In the process of teaching,…

Affective Norms for 4900 Polish Words Reload (ANPW_R): Assessments for Valence, Arousal, Dominance, Origin, Significance, Concreteness, Imageability and, Age of Acquisition

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Imbir, Kamil K.

2016-01-01

In studies that combine understanding of emotions and language, there is growing demand for good-quality experimental materials. To meet this expectation, a large number of 4905 Polish words was assessed by 400 participants in order to provide a well-established research method for everyone interested in emotional word processing. The Affective Norms for Polish Words Reloaded (ANPW_R) is designed as an extension to the previously introduced the ANPW dataset and provides assessments for eight different affective and psycholinguistic measures of Valence, Arousal, Dominance, Origin, Significance, Concreteness, Imageability, and subjective Age of Acquisition. The ANPW_R is now the largest available dataset of affective words for Polish, including affective scores that have not been measured in any other dataset (concreteness and age of acquisition scales). Additionally, the ANPW_R allows for testing hypotheses concerning dual-mind models of emotion and activation (origin and subjective significance scales). Participants in the current study assessed all 4905 words in the list within 1 week, at their own pace in home sessions, using eight different Self-assessment Manikin (SAM) scales. Each measured dimension was evaluated by 25 women and 25 men. The ANPW_R norms appeared to be reliable in split-half estimation and congruent with previous normative studies in Polish. The quadratic relation between valence and arousal was found to be in line with previous findings. In addition, nine other relations appeared to be better described by quadratic instead of linear function. The ANPW_R provides well-established research materials for use in psycholinguistic and affective studies in Polish-speaking samples. PMID:27486423

Affective Norms for 4900 Polish Words Reload (ANPW_R:Assessments for Valence, Arousal, Dominance, Origin, Significance, Concreteness, Imageability and Age of Acquisition.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kamil Konrad Imbir

2016-07-01

Full Text Available In studies that combine understanding of emotions and language, there is growing demand for good-quality experimental materials. To meet this expectation, a large number of 4905 Polish words was assessed by 400 participants in order to provide a well-established research methodfor everyone interested in emotional word processing. The Affective Norms for Polish Words Reloaded (ANPW_R is designed as an extension to the previously introduced the ANPW dataset and provides assessments for eight different affective and psycholinguistic measures of Valence, Arousal, Dominance, Origin, Significance, Concreteness, Imageability and subjective Age of Acquisition. The ANPW_R is now the largest available dataset of affective words for Polish, including affective scores that have not been measured in any other dataset (concreteness and age of acquisition scales. Additionally, the ANPW_R allows for testing hypotheses concerning dual-mind models of emotion and activation (origin and subjective significance scales. Participants in the current study assessed all 4,905 words in the list within one week, at their own pace in home sessions, using eight different Self-assessment Manikin (SAM scales. Each measured dimension was evaluated by 25 women and 25 men. The ANPW_R norms appeared to be reliable in split-half estimation and congruent with previous normative studies in Polish. The quadratic relation between valence and arousal was found to be in line with previous findings. In addition, nine other relations appeared to be better described by quadratic instead of linear function. The ANPW_R provides well-established research materials for use in psycholinguistic and affective studies in Polish-speaking samples.

Happiness and memory: affective significance of endowment and contrast.

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Liberman, Varda; Boehm, Julia K; Lyubomirsky, Sonja; Ross, Lee D

2009-10-01

Three studies (two conducted in Israel and one in the United States) examined associations between self-rated dispositional happiness and tendencies to treat memories of positive and negative events as sources of enhanced or attenuated happiness through the use of "endowment" and "contrast." Although participants generally endorsed items describing happiness-enhancing tendencies more than happiness-diminishing ones, self-reported happiness was associated with greater endorsement of "positive endowment" items and less endorsement of "negative endowment" items, and also with less endorsement of items that involved contrasting the present with happier times in the past. Only in the American sample, however, was happiness associated with greater endorsement of items that involved contrasting the present with less happy times in the past. These data suggest that relatively unhappy people show somewhat conflicting memorial tendencies vis-à-vis happiness, whereas very happy people show simpler, and less conflicting, tendencies. These findings augment the existing literatures on the affective consequences of memory, which have been concerned more with mood than with temperament and/or have dealt only with a subset of the endowment and contrast tendencies explored in the present work.

How does blastomere removal affect embryonic development? : A time-lapse analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirkegaard, Kirstine; Hindkjær, Johnny Juhl; Ingerslev, Hans Jakob

of the 6-10 cell embryo. It has been argued that blastomere removal does not affect embryonic development, but few studies have focussed on safety of the procedure. Recently, time-lapse studies on mice have suggested that blastomere removal affects embryonic development. The present study was conducted...... to evaluate the effect of blastomere biopsy on early human embryonic development using time-lapse analysis. Materials and methods: Couples undergoing IVF treatment or PGD were requested permission to include embryos in the project. The diagnosis healthy/diseased was made by analysis of a single blastomere....... For PGD 56 human embryos were biopsied 68 hours after fertilisation, the majority at the eight cell stage. As controls 43 non-biopsied embryos at the 6-8 cell stage were selected. All embryos were cultured until 5 days after fertilisation in a time-lapse incubator (EmbryoScope™). Key events such as time...

The Affective Norms for Polish Short Texts (ANPST) Database Properties and Impact of Participants’ Population and Sex on Affective Ratings

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Imbir, Kamil K.

2017-01-01

The Affective Norms for Polish Short Texts (ANPST) dataset (Imbir, 2016d) is a list of 718 affective sentence stimuli with known affective properties with respect to subjectively perceived valence, arousal, dominance, origin, subjective significance, and source. This article examines the reliability of the ANPST and the impact of population type and sex on affective ratings. The ANPST dataset was introduced to provide a recognized method of eliciting affective states with linguistic stimuli more complex than single words and that included contextual information and thus are less ambiguous in interpretation than single word. Analysis of the properties of the ANPST dataset showed that norms collected are reliable in terms of split-half estimation and that the distributions of ratings are similar to those obtained in other affective norms studies. The pattern of correlations was the same as that found in analysis of an affective norms dataset for words based on the same six variables. Female psychology students’ valence ratings were also more polarized than those of their female student peers studying other subjects, but arousal ratings were only higher for negative words. Differences also appeared for all other measured dimensions. Women’s valence ratings were found to be more polarized and arousal ratings were higher than those made by men, and differences were also present for dominance, origin, and subjective significance. The ANPST is the first Polish language list of sentence stimuli and could easily be adapted for other languages and cultures. PMID:28611707

Analysis on Variables Affecting the Creation of Tourist Destination Image: Case Study on Domestic Tourists Visiting

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Khairani

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to examine the variables that affect the image creation of tourism destinations. This research is a case study on domestic tourists visiting Yogyakarta from 2007 to 2009. This research uses an exploratory and descriptive design, conducted once in one period (cross-sectional. A number of 105 domestic tourists were selected as samples by means of non-probability sampling method and snowball sampling technique. The data were analyzed using reliability and validity tests, frequency distributions, and regression analyses. Results showed that overall image was significantly constructed and affected by cognitive and affective evaluations. Cognitive evaluation was significantly affected by the types of information source from books and movies, while affective evaluation was affected significantly by social-psychological motivations. The research also proves that Yogyakarta has fulfilled the requirements to become a tourist destination; respondents showed positive feelings towards the town and also perceived the town positively.

The "Emotional Side" of Entrepreneurship: A Meta-Analysis of the Relation between Positive and Negative Affect and Entrepreneurial Performance.

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Fodor, Oana C; Pintea, Sebastian

2017-01-01

The experience of work in an entrepreneurial context is saturated with emotional experiences. While the literature on the relation between affect and entrepreneurial performance (EP) is growing, there was no quantitative integration of the results so far. This study addresses this gap and meta-analytically integrates the results from 17 studies ( N = 3810) in order to estimate the effect size for the relation between positive (PA) and negative affect (NA), on the one hand, and EP, on the other hand. The meta-analysis includes studies in English language, published until August 2016. The results indicate a significant positive relation between PA and EP, r = 0.18. The overall NA - EP relation was not significant, r = -0.12. Only state NA has a significant negative relation with EP ( r = -0.16). The moderating role of several conceptual (i.e., emotion duration, integrality etc.), sample (i.e., gender, age, education) and methodological characteristics of the studies (i.e., type of measurements etc.) are explored and implications for future research are discussed.

A Study of the Significant Factors That Affect the Job Placement Rates of Students Who Have Completed a HERO Program.

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Instructional Development and Evaluation Associates, Inc., Berkeley, MI.

A three-year study examined the significant factors that affect the job placement rates of students completing a Home Economics Related Occupations (HERO) program. Other purposes of the study were to develop and pilot test a model that could be used to determine factors related to student placement in a variety of vocational education programs and…

Mutational analysis of the Wolfram syndrome gene in two families with chromosome 4p-linked bipolar affective disorder.

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Evans, K L; Lawson, D; Meitinger, T; Blackwood, D H; Porteous, D J

2000-04-03

Bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) is a complex disease with a significant genetic component. Heterozygous carriers of Wolfram syndrome (WFS) are at increased risk of psychiatric illness. A gene for WFS (WFS1) has recently been cloned and mapped to chromosome 4p, in the general region we previously reported as showing linkage to BPAD. Here we present sequence analysis of the WFS1 coding sequence in five affected individuals from two chromosome 4p-linked families. This resulted in the identification of six polymorphisms, two of which are predicted to change the amino acid sequence of the WFS1 protein, however none of the changes segregated with disease status. Am. J. Med. Genet. (Neuropsychiatr. Genet.) 96:158-160, 2000. Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Polynomial regression analysis and significance test of the regression function

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Zhengming; Zhao Juan; He Shengping

2012-01-01

In order to analyze the decay heating power of a certain radioactive isotope per kilogram with polynomial regression method, the paper firstly demonstrated the broad usage of polynomial function and deduced its parameters with ordinary least squares estimate. Then significance test method of polynomial regression function is derived considering the similarity between the polynomial regression model and the multivariable linear regression model. Finally, polynomial regression analysis and significance test of the polynomial function are done to the decay heating power of the iso tope per kilogram in accord with the authors' real work. (authors)

Trait emotional intelligence and mental distress: the mediating role of positive and negative affect.

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Kong, Feng; Zhao, Jingjing; You, Xuqun

2012-01-01

Over the past decade, emotional intelligence (EI) has received much attention in the literature. Previous studies indicated that higher trait or ability EI was associated with greater mental distress. The present study focused on mediating effects of positive and negative affect on the association between trait EI and mental distress in a sample of Chinese adults. The participants were 726 Chinese adults (384 females) with an age range of 18-60 years. Data were collected by using the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale, and the General Health Questionnaire. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that EI was a significant predictor of positive affect, negative affect and mental distress. Further mediation analysis showed that positive and negative affect acted as partial mediators of the relationship between EI and mental distress. Furthermore, effect contrasts showed that there was no significant difference between the specific indirect effects through positive affect and through negative affect. This result indicated that positive affect and negative affect played an equally important function in the association between EI and distress. The significance and limitations of the results are discussed.

The “Emotional Side” of Entrepreneurship: A Meta-Analysis of the Relation between Positive and Negative Affect and Entrepreneurial Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Fodor, Oana C.; Pintea, Sebastian

2017-01-01

The experience of work in an entrepreneurial context is saturated with emotional experiences. While the literature on the relation between affect and entrepreneurial performance (EP) is growing, there was no quantitative integration of the results so far. This study addresses this gap and meta-analytically integrates the results from 17 studies (N = 3810) in order to estimate the effect size for the relation between positive (PA) and negative affect (NA), on the one hand, and EP, on the other hand. The meta-analysis includes studies in English language, published until August 2016. The results indicate a significant positive relation between PA and EP, r = 0.18. The overall NA – EP relation was not significant, r = -0.12. Only state NA has a significant negative relation with EP (r = -0.16). The moderating role of several conceptual (i.e., emotion duration, integrality etc.), sample (i.e., gender, age, education) and methodological characteristics of the studies (i.e., type of measurements etc.) are explored and implications for future research are discussed. PMID:28348534

Analysis of factors that affect shoulder balance after correction surgery in scoliosis: a global analysis of all the curvature types.

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Hong, Jae-Young; Suh, Seung-Woo; Modi, Hitesh N; Yang, Jae-Hyuk; Park, Si-Young

2013-06-01

To identify factors that can affect postoperative shoulder balance in AIS. 89 adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients with six types of curvatures who underwent surgery were included in this study. Whole spine antero-posterior and lateral radiographs were obtained pre- and postoperatively. In radiograms, shape and changes in curvatures were analyzed. In addition, four shoulder parameters and coronal balance were analyzed in an effort to identify factors significantly related to postoperative shoulder balance. In general, all the four shoulder parameters (CHD, CA, CRID, RSH) were slightly increased at final follow up (t test, P shoulder parameters were not significantly different between each curvature types (ANOVA, P > 0.05). Moreover, no significant differences of pre- and postoperative shoulder level between different level of proximal fusion groups (ANOVA, P > 0.05) existed. In the analysis of coronal curvature changes, no difference was observed in every individual coronal curvatures between improved shoulder balance and aggravated groups (P > 0.05). However, the middle to distal curve change ratio was significantly lower in patients with aggravated shoulder balance (P shoulder imbalance showed the higher chance of aggravation after surgery with similar postoperative changes (P shoulder balance. In addition, preoperative shoulder level difference can be a determinant of postoperative shoulder balance.

Structural brain network analysis in families multiply affected with bipolar I disorder

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Forde, Natalie J.; O'Donoghue, Stefani; Scanlon, Cathy; Emsell, Louise; Chaddock, Chris; Leemans, Alexander; Jeurissen, Ben; Barker, Gareth J.; Cannon, Dara M.; Murray, Robin M.; McDonald, Colm

2015-01-01

Disrupted structural connectivity is associated with psychiatric illnesses including bipolar disorder (BP). Here we use structural brain network analysis to investigate connectivity abnormalities in multiply affected BP type I families, to assess the utility of dysconnectivity as a biomarker and its

Design of a Virtual Reality System for Affect Analysis in Facial Expressions (VR-SAAFE); Application to Schizophrenia.

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Bekele, E; Bian, D; Peterman, J; Park, S; Sarkar, N

2017-06-01

Schizophrenia is a life-long, debilitating psychotic disorder with poor outcome that affects about 1% of the population. Although pharmacotherapy can alleviate some of the acute psychotic symptoms, residual social impairments present a significant barrier that prevents successful rehabilitation. With limited resources and access to social skills training opportunities, innovative technology has emerged as a potentially powerful tool for intervention. In this paper, we present a novel virtual reality (VR)-based system for understanding facial emotion processing impairments that may lead to poor social outcome in schizophrenia. We henceforth call it a VR System for Affect Analysis in Facial Expressions (VR-SAAFE). This system integrates a VR-based task presentation platform that can minutely control facial expressions of an avatar with or without accompanying verbal interaction, with an eye-tracker to quantitatively measure a participants real-time gaze and a set of physiological sensors to infer his/her affective states to allow in-depth understanding of the emotion recognition mechanism of patients with schizophrenia based on quantitative metrics. A usability study with 12 patients with schizophrenia and 12 healthy controls was conducted to examine processing of the emotional faces. Preliminary results indicated that there were significant differences in the way patients with schizophrenia processed and responded towards the emotional faces presented in the VR environment compared with healthy control participants. The preliminary results underscore the utility of such a VR-based system that enables precise and quantitative assessment of social skill deficits in patients with schizophrenia.

Significance of genomic instability in breast cancer in atomic bomb survivors: analysis of microarray-comparative genomic hybridization

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Oikawa Masahiro

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background It has been postulated that ionizing radiation induces breast cancers among atomic bomb (A-bomb survivors. We have reported a higher incidence of HER2 and C-MYC oncogene amplification in breast cancers from A-bomb survivors. The purpose of this study was to clarify the effect of A-bomb radiation exposure on genomic instability (GIN, which is an important hallmark of carcinogenesis, in archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE tissues of breast cancer by using microarray-comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH. Methods Tumor DNA was extracted from FFPE tissues of invasive ductal cancers from 15 survivors who were exposed at 1.5 km or less from the hypocenter and 13 calendar year-matched non-exposed patients followed by aCGH analysis using a high-density oligonucleotide microarray. The total length of copy number aberrations (CNA was used as an indicator of GIN, and correlation with clinicopathological factors were statistically tested. Results The mean of the derivative log ratio spread (DLRSpread, which estimates the noise by calculating the spread of log ratio differences between consecutive probes for all chromosomes, was 0.54 (range, 0.26 to 1.05. The concordance of results between aCGH and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH for HER2 gene amplification was 88%. The incidence of HER2 amplification and histological grade was significantly higher in the A-bomb survivors than control group (P = 0.04, respectively. The total length of CNA tended to be larger in the A-bomb survivors (P = 0.15. Correlation analysis of CNA and clinicopathological factors revealed that DLRSpread was negatively correlated with that significantly (P = 0.034, r = -0.40. Multivariate analysis with covariance revealed that the exposure to A-bomb was a significant (P = 0.005 independent factor which was associated with larger total length of CNA of breast cancers. Conclusions Thus, archival FFPE tissues from A-bomb survivors are useful for

Significance of genomic instability in breast cancer in atomic bomb survivors: analysis of microarray-comparative genomic hybridization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oikawa, Masahiro; Yoshiura, Koh-ichiro; Kondo, Hisayoshi; Miura, Shiro; Nagayasu, Takeshi; Nakashima, Masahiro

2011-01-01

It has been postulated that ionizing radiation induces breast cancers among atomic bomb (A-bomb) survivors. We have reported a higher incidence of HER2 and C-MYC oncogene amplification in breast cancers from A-bomb survivors. The purpose of this study was to clarify the effect of A-bomb radiation exposure on genomic instability (GIN), which is an important hallmark of carcinogenesis, in archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues of breast cancer by using microarray-comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH). Tumor DNA was extracted from FFPE tissues of invasive ductal cancers from 15 survivors who were exposed at 1.5 km or less from the hypocenter and 13 calendar year-matched non-exposed patients followed by aCGH analysis using a high-density oligonucleotide microarray. The total length of copy number aberrations (CNA) was used as an indicator of GIN, and correlation with clinicopathological factors were statistically tested. The mean of the derivative log ratio spread (DLRSpread), which estimates the noise by calculating the spread of log ratio differences between consecutive probes for all chromosomes, was 0.54 (range, 0.26 to 1.05). The concordance of results between aCGH and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for HER2 gene amplification was 88%. The incidence of HER2 amplification and histological grade was significantly higher in the A-bomb survivors than control group (P = 0.04, respectively). The total length of CNA tended to be larger in the A-bomb survivors (P = 0.15). Correlation analysis of CNA and clinicopathological factors revealed that DLRSpread was negatively correlated with that significantly (P = 0.034, r = -0.40). Multivariate analysis with covariance revealed that the exposure to A-bomb was a significant (P = 0.005) independent factor which was associated with larger total length of CNA of breast cancers. Thus, archival FFPE tissues from A-bomb survivors are useful for genome-wide aCGH analysis. Our results suggested that A

Significance of genomic instability in breast cancer in atomic bomb survivors: analysis of microarray-comparative genomic hybridization.

Science.gov (United States)

Oikawa, Masahiro; Yoshiura, Koh-ichiro; Kondo, Hisayoshi; Miura, Shiro; Nagayasu, Takeshi; Nakashima, Masahiro

2011-12-07

It has been postulated that ionizing radiation induces breast cancers among atomic bomb (A-bomb) survivors. We have reported a higher incidence of HER2 and C-MYC oncogene amplification in breast cancers from A-bomb survivors. The purpose of this study was to clarify the effect of A-bomb radiation exposure on genomic instability (GIN), which is an important hallmark of carcinogenesis, in archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues of breast cancer by using microarray-comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH). Tumor DNA was extracted from FFPE tissues of invasive ductal cancers from 15 survivors who were exposed at 1.5 km or less from the hypocenter and 13 calendar year-matched non-exposed patients followed by aCGH analysis using a high-density oligonucleotide microarray. The total length of copy number aberrations (CNA) was used as an indicator of GIN, and correlation with clinicopathological factors were statistically tested. The mean of the derivative log ratio spread (DLRSpread), which estimates the noise by calculating the spread of log ratio differences between consecutive probes for all chromosomes, was 0.54 (range, 0.26 to 1.05). The concordance of results between aCGH and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for HER2 gene amplification was 88%. The incidence of HER2 amplification and histological grade was significantly higher in the A-bomb survivors than control group (P = 0.04, respectively). The total length of CNA tended to be larger in the A-bomb survivors (P = 0.15). Correlation analysis of CNA and clinicopathological factors revealed that DLRSpread was negatively correlated with that significantly (P = 0.034, r = -0.40). Multivariate analysis with covariance revealed that the exposure to A-bomb was a significant (P = 0.005) independent factor which was associated with larger total length of CNA of breast cancers. Thus, archival FFPE tissues from A-bomb survivors are useful for genome-wide aCGH analysis. Our results suggested that A

Affective, Normative, and Continuance Commitment Levels across Cultures: A Meta-Analysis

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Meyer, John P.; Stanley, David J.; Jackson, Timothy A.; McInnis, Kate J.; Maltin, Elyse R.; Sheppard, Leah

2012-01-01

With increasing globalization of business and diversity within the workplace, there has been growing interest in cultural differences in employee commitment. We used meta-analysis to compute mean levels of affective (AC; K=966, N=433,129), continuance (CC; K=428, N=199,831), and normative (NC; K=336, N=133,277) organizational commitment for as…

Analysis of efficiency and factors affecting the production of cabbage farming (Brassica oleracea L. in Belung village, Poncokusumo, Malang, Indonesia

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G.M. Ningsih

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research was to analyze the efficiency and the factors that affect the production of cabbage farm in the village of Belung, Poncokusumo, Malang, Indonesia. Samples taken by census the number of respondents 36 farmers. The analysis used is descriptive qualitative and quantitative. Quantitative analysis include analysis of costs, revenues, income, efficiency and Cobb-Douglas. Based on the analysis, known that farmer acceptance is Rp. 43,767,361 and generated revenues of Rp. 30,124,372/ ha. Result relevaled that the Cabbage farm in the village of Belung, Poncokusumo, Malang was highly efficient and profitable with an efficiency of 3.2. Factors that effect significantly on cabbage farming production are labors, lands, pesticides and seeds. Input combinations are already efficient and optimal pesticides and seeds.

Qualitative analysis of interviews of future non-affective psychotic disorder patients and non-psychiatric controls: preliminary results

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Katya Rubinstein

2014-03-01

Conclusions: The findings of this unique historical-prospective qualitative analysis of interviews performed before the onset of psychosis, confirmed previous findings of premorbid abnormality of future non-affective psychosis patients. Using qualitative analysis enabled obtaining a more in-depth understanding of the real-life experience of the premorbid period among patients with non-affective psychotic disorders.

Significance of wave form parameters in stripping chronopotentiometric metal speciation analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Town, R.M.; Leeuwen, van H.P.

2002-01-01

An analysis is presented of the significance of stripping chronopotentiometric (SCP) stripping peak parameters (peak potential, Ep, and peak half-width, w1/2) for determination of metal ion speciation. This study focuses on depletive SCP (low stripping current, I¿ constant), and considers the change

Multiple thrombophilic single nucleotide polymorphisms lack a significant effect on outcomes in fresh IVF cycles: an analysis of 1717 patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Patounakis, George; Bergh, Eric; Forman, Eric J; Tao, Xin; Lonczak, Agnieszka; Franasiak, Jason M; Treff, Nathan; Scott, Richard T

2016-01-01

The aim of the study is to determine if thrombophilic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) affect outcomes in fresh in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles in a large general infertility population. A prospective cohort analysis was performed at a university-affiliated private IVF center of female patients undergoing fresh non-donor IVF cycles. The effect of the following thrombophilic SNPs on IVF outcomes were explored: factor V (Leiden and H1299R), prothrombin (G20210A), factor XIII (V34L), β-fibrinogen (-455G → A), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (4G/5G), human platelet antigen-1 (a/b9L33P), and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (C677T and A1298C). The main outcome measures included positive pregnancy test, clinical pregnancy, embryo implantation, live birth, and pregnancy loss. Patients (1717) were enrolled in the study, and a total of 4169 embryos were transferred. There were no statistically significant differences in positive pregnancy test, clinical pregnancy, embryo implantation, live birth, or pregnancy loss in the analysis of 1717 patients attempting their first cycle of IVF. Receiver operator characteristics and logistic regression analyses showed that outcomes cannot be predicted by the cumulative number of thrombophilic mutations present in the patient. Individual and cumulative thrombophilic SNPs do not affect IVF outcomes. Therefore, initial screening for these SNPs is not indicated.

Elements affecting wound healing time: An evidence based analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Khalil, Hanan; Cullen, Marianne; Chambers, Helen; Carroll, Matthew; Walker, Judi

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify the predominant client factors and comorbidities that affected the time taken for wounds to heal. A prospective study design used the Mobile Wound Care (MWC) database to capture and collate detailed medical histories, comorbidities, healing times and consumable costs for clients with wounds in Gippsland, Victoria. There were 3,726 wounds documented from 2,350 clients, so an average of 1.6 wounds per client. Half (49.6%) of all clients were females, indicating that there were no gender differences in terms of wound prevalence. The clients were primarily older people, with an average age of 64.3 years (ranging between 0.7 and 102.9 years). The majority of the wounds (56%) were acute and described as surgical, crush and trauma. The MWC database categorized the elements that influenced wound healing into 3 groups--factors affecting healing (FAH), comorbidities, and medications known to affect wound healing. While there were a multitude of significant associations, multiple linear regression identified the following key elements: age over 65 years, obesity, nonadherence to treatment plan, peripheral vascular disease, specific wounds associated with pressure/friction/shear, confirmed infection, and cerebrovascular accident (stroke). Wound healing is a complex process that requires a thorough understanding of influencing elements to improve healing times.© 2015 by the Wound Healing Society. © 2015 by the Wound Healing Society.

Analysis of Factors Affecting Women of Childbearing Age to Screen Using Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid.

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Sidabutar, Sondang; Martini, Santi; Wahyuni, Chatarina Umbul

2017-02-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate patient factors such as knowledge, attitude, motivation, perception, socio-economic status and travel time to health facilities and assess how these factors affected patients' decision to pursue cervical cancer screening with visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA). A total of 80 women of childbearing age who visited Kenjeran and Balongsari Public Health Centers for health assessments were involved in this study. Patients who agreed to participate in the study underwent a verbal questionnaire to evaluate various factors. Bivariate analysis concluded that knowledge, attitude, motivation, perception, socioeconomic status, and travel time to health facilities were significantly different between women who received VIA screening and women who did not receive VIA screening ( p motivation, perception, socio-economic status, and the travel time to health facilities accounted for 2.920-fold, 2.043-fold, 3.704-fold, 2.965-fold, 3.198-fold and 2.386-fold possibility, respectively, of patients to pursue cervical cancer screening with VIA. Multivariate analysis showed that perception, socio-economic status, and travel time to health facilities were the most important factors influencing whether or not women pursued VIA screening. Knowledge, attitude, motivation, perception, socio-economic status, and travel time to health facilities appears to affect women's' decision to pursue cervical cancer screening with VIA, with the largest intake being the motivational factor.

An actor-partner interdependence analysis of associations between affect and parenting behavior among couples.

Science.gov (United States)

Murdock, Kyle W; Lovejoy, M Christine; Oddi, Kate B

2014-03-01

Prior studies evaluating associations between parental affect and parenting behavior have typically focused on either mothers or fathers despite evidence suggesting that affect and parenting behavior may be interdependent among couples. This study addressed this gap in the literature by evaluating associations between self-reported affect and parenting behavior using an actor-partner interdependence analysis among a sample of 53 mother-father dyads of 3- to 5-year-old children. Results suggested that mothers' and fathers' negative affect, as well as mothers' and fathers' positive affect, were positively associated. Both mothers' and fathers' negative affect were negatively associated with fathers' positive affect. Mothers' and fathers' harsh/negative parenting behavior, and supportive/engaged parenting behavior, were positively associated. Furthermore, mothers' negative affect was positively associated with mothers' and fathers' harsh/negative parenting behavior while mothers' positive affect was negatively associated with mothers' harsh/negative behavior and positively associated with mothers' supportive/engaged behavior. Fathers' negative affect was positively associated with fathers' supportive/engaged parenting behavior, while fathers' positive affect was positively associated with mothers' and fathers' supportive/engaged behavior. Results highlight the importance of conceptualizing and measuring characteristics of both mothers and fathers, if applicable, when researching the dynamics of interpersonal relationships within families. © 2014 FPI, Inc.

USE OF TREND IMPACT ANALYSIS AFFECTS PROJECTIONS OF EUCALYPTUS CULTIVATION IN BRAZIL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samir Lotfi

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Eucalyptus forestry is an important source of competitive advantage for Brazil and, since eucalyptus is a basic raw material for industrial segments that are undergoing great expansion, monitoring the growth rate of cultivated area is increasingly relevant.This study resorted to Trend Impact Analysis (TIA to forecast the planting of eucalyptus in Brazil’s reforested areas, adjusting the linear regression of historical data in the light of three events that were under way or that will probably influence the trend: timber funds, the world financial crisis and Biomass to Liquid (BTL technology.The results allow one to infer that, in the short term, eucalyptus cultivation will expand at a rate similar to that of the linear curve, adversely affected by the world crisis and positively affected by timber funds.By 2016, however, the expansion of eucalyptus plantations is expected, largely because of the commercial scale of BTL technology.Key words: Trend Impact Analysis. Eucalyptus. Future Studies.

Investigation and proposal of the system to affect nuclear fuel type authorization and analysis code certification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-03-01

In order to develop the system to affect more advanced and rational regulations of nuclear fuels and earlier introduction of new technologies in nuclear power plants, domestic and overseas safety regulation systems and state of their implementation for water cooled reactor fuel and safety analysis code had been investigated and new regulation system to affect nuclear fuel type authorization and analysis code certification was proposed. Topical report system for common parts related with nuclear fuel type authorization and analysis code certification was firstly proposed for knowledge base. Maintaining consistent safety examination supported by experts, introduction of domestic efficient system for lead irradiation test fuel, and analysis code certification and quality assurance were also proposed. (T. Tanaka)

Factors affecting mortality in older trauma patients-A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sammy, Ian; Lecky, Fiona; Sutton, Anthea; Leaviss, Joanna; O'Cathain, Alicia

2016-06-01

Major trauma in older people is a significant health burden in the developed world. The aging of the population has resulted in larger numbers of older patients suffering serious injury. Older trauma patients are at greater risk of death from major trauma, but the reasons for this are less well understood. The aim of this review was to identify the factors affecting mortality in older patients suffering major injury. A systematic review of Medline, Cinhal and the Cochrane database, supplemented by a manual search of relevant papers was undertaken, with meta-analysis. Multi-centre cohort studies of existing trauma registries that reported risk-adjusted mortality (adjusted odds ratios, AOR) in their outcomes and which analysed patients aged 65 and older as a separate cohort were included in the review. 3609 papers were identified from the electronic databases, and 28 from manual searches. Of these, 15 papers fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Demographic variables (age and gender), pre-existing conditions (comorbidities and medication), and injury-related factors (injury severity, pattern and mechanism) were found to affect mortality. The 'oldest old', aged 75 and older, had higher mortality rates than younger patients, aged 65-74 years. Older men had a significantly higher mortality rate than women (cumulative odds ratio 1.51, 95% CI 1.37-1.66). Three papers reported a higher risk of death in patients with pre-existing conditions. Two studies reported increased mortality in patients on warfarin (cumulative odds ratio 1.32, 95% CI 1.05-1.66). Higher mortality was seen in patients with lower Glasgow coma scores and systolic blood pressures. Mortality increased with increased injury severity and number of injuries sustained. Low level falls were associated with higher mortality than motor vehicle collisions (cumulative odds ratio 2.88, 95% CI 1.26-6.60). Multiple factors contribute to mortality risk in older trauma patients. The relation between these factors and

Analysis of the factors affecting the poverty in rural areas around gold mine areas in West Sumbawa Regency

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Ibrahim

2016-04-01

Full Text Available West Sumbawa Regencyis one of the regencies that are rich of natural resources managed by PT. Newmont Nusa Tenggara. However, local communities around the gold mine areas have generally to date been poor. This study was aimed to (1 examine the effect of material poverty, physical weakness, isolation, vulnerability, and powerlessness on poverty, and (2 describe the distribution of rural povertybased on land slope mapsin gold mine areas in West Sumbawa Regency.This study applied a survey technique, observation, and structured interviews to collect data. The processing and analysis of data was carried out by a quantitative method using a multiple regression analysis. The results of the study showed that the factors significantly affecting the poverty among rural communities around gold mine areas were material poverty, physical weakness, isolation, vulnerability and powerlessness (R2 = 0.715. However, the mostly dominant factor affecting the poverty was powerlessness (t = 19.715. Meanwhile, the distribution of poverty based on topographic sites showed that the poverty occurred in villages with plain topography (Goa Village, terrain topography (Maluk Village, wave topography (Belo Village, and hilly topography (Sekongkang Bawah Village. The poverties occurred in all the villages were mostly affected by powerlessness with t values of 3.489, 13.921, 11.828, and 6.504, respectively. This condition was due to minimum access and communication by local communities to local government and the gold mining company of PT. Newmont Nusa Tenggara

Reproductive allocation in plants as affected by elevated carbon dioxide and other environmental changes: a synthesis using meta-analysis and graphical vector analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xianzhong; Taub, Daniel R; Jablonski, Leanne M

2015-04-01

Reproduction is an important life history trait that strongly affects dynamics of plant populations. Although it has been well documented that elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere greatly enhances biomass production in plants, the overall effect of elevated CO2 on reproductive allocation (RA), i.e., the proportion of biomass allocated to reproductive structures, is little understood. We combined meta-analysis with graphical vector analysis to examine the overall effect of elevated CO2 on RA and how other environmental factors, such as low nutrients, drought and elevated atmospheric ozone (O3), interacted with elevated CO2 in affecting RA in herbaceous plants. Averaged across all species of different functional groups and environmental conditions, elevated CO2 had little effect on RA (-0.9%). RA in plants of different reproductive strategies and functional groups, however, differed in response to elevated CO2. For example, RA in iteroparous wild species decreased by 8%, while RA in iteroparous crops increased significantly (+14%) at elevated CO2. RA was unaffected by CO2 in plants grown with no stress or in low-nutrient soils. RA decreased at elevated CO2 and elevated O3, but increased in response to elevated CO2 in drought-stressed plants, suggesting that elevated CO2 could ameliorate the adverse effect of drought on crop production to some extent. Our results demonstrate that elevated CO2 and other global environmental changes have the potential to greatly alter plant community composition through differential effects on RA of different plant species and thus affect the dynamics of natural and agricultural ecosystems in the future.

Continuous Analysis of Affect from Voice and Face

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gunes, Hatice; Nicolaou, Mihalis A.; Pantic, Maja; Salah, Albert Ali; Gevers, Theo

2011-01-01

Human affective behavior is multimodal, continuous and complex. Despite major advances within the affective computing research field, modeling, analyzing, interpreting and responding to human affective behavior still remains a challenge for automated systems as affect and emotions are complex

Prognostic significance of glypican-3 in hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiao, Wei-Kai; Qi, Chao-Ying; Chen, Dong; Li, Shao-Qiang; Fu, Shun-Jun; Peng, Bao-Gang; Liang, Li-Jian

2014-01-01

Glypican-3(GPC3) has been implicated in tumor development and progression for several years. However, the prognostic significance of GPC3 expression in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is controversial. We performed a meta-analysis of available studies to assess whether GPC3 can be used as a prognostic factor in patients with HCC. We searched PubMed and Ovid EBM Reviews databases and evaluated the reference list of relevant articles for studies that assessed the prognostic relevance of GPC3 in patients with HCC. Meta-analysis was performed using hazard ratio (HR) or odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) as effect measures. A meta-analysis of eight studies included 1070 patients was carried out to evaluate the association between GPC3 and overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in HCC patients. The relation between GPC3 and tumor pathological features was also assessed. Our analysis results indicated that high GPC3 expression predicted poor OS (HR: 1.96, 95% CI: 1.51–2.55) and DFS (HR: 1.99, 95% CI: 1.57-2.51) of patients with HCC. GPC3 overexpression was significantly associated with high tumor grade (OR: 3.30, 95% CI: 2.04–5.33), late TNM stage (OR: 2.26, 95% CI: 1.00–5.12), and the presence of vascular invasion (OR: 2.43, 95% CI: 1.23–4.82). GPC3 overexpression indicates a poor prognosis for patients with HCC, and it may also have predictive potential for HCC invasion and metastasis

A shift from significance test to hypothesis test through power analysis in medical research.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, G

2006-01-01

Medical research literature until recently, exhibited substantial dominance of the Fisher's significance test approach of statistical inference concentrating more on probability of type I error over Neyman-Pearson's hypothesis test considering both probability of type I and II error. Fisher's approach dichotomises results into significant or not significant results with a P value. The Neyman-Pearson's approach talks of acceptance or rejection of null hypothesis. Based on the same theory these two approaches deal with same objective and conclude in their own way. The advancement in computing techniques and availability of statistical software have resulted in increasing application of power calculations in medical research and thereby reporting the result of significance tests in the light of power of the test also. Significance test approach, when it incorporates power analysis contains the essence of hypothesis test approach. It may be safely argued that rising application of power analysis in medical research may have initiated a shift from Fisher's significance test to Neyman-Pearson's hypothesis test procedure.

An experiment with spectral analysis of emotional speech affected by orthodontic appliances

Science.gov (United States)

Přibil, Jiří; Přibilová, Anna; Ďuračková, Daniela

2012-11-01

The contribution describes the effect of the fixed and removable orthodontic appliances on spectral properties of emotional speech. Spectral changes were analyzed and evaluated by spectrograms and mean Welch’s periodograms. This alternative approach to the standard listening test enables to obtain objective comparison based on statistical analysis by ANOVA and hypothesis tests. Obtained results of analysis performed on short sentences of a female speaker in four emotional states (joyous, sad, angry, and neutral) show that, first of all, the removable orthodontic appliance affects the spectrograms of produced speech.

About the significance of biological factors affecting pregnancy a married couple

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. V. Yarman

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A brief review of the literature analysis of the importance and interdependence of the main factors influencing the occurrence of pregnancy as a pair in the treatment of infertility, such as the woman's age, ovarian reserve, the semen of a man and the duration of infertility. The review also presents the data concerning the practical implications of sexual constitution and sexual maturation in men and women in the pubertal period. When evaluating male fertility invariably significant factor in the prediction of pregnancy are, impregnating ability to ejaculate. Infertility is more common in males with delayed development in the pubertal period with a weak type of sexual constitution. Results of treatment of male infertility, the dynamics of the semen and pregnancy of the couple on the background of pathogenetic therapy correlates with the type of sexual constitution. Widely deployed discussion about the existence of the male equivalent of female menopause mainly concerns the problems of men's sexual health. Of exceptional importance for the prediction of treatment of infertility has ovarian reserve, which is closely associated with age women. Formation of menstrual function occurs in the pubertal period of sexual development, in this age of menarche is the leading symptom of type of sexual constitution of women that do not change throughout the life hereafter. The presence of menstrual function and even ovulation does not reflect the reproductive capacity of women. Insufficient information content of the chronological age of a woman, as an indicator of the reproductive capacity of ovarian dictates the necessity of the development of tests that determine individual biological age of a woman, perhaps connected with the type of sexual constitution. In this regard, the study of sexual constitution partners is of great scientific and practical interest.

About the significance of biological factors affecting pregnancy a married couple

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. V. Yarman

2014-11-01

Full Text Available A brief review of the literature analysis of the importance and interdependence of the main factors influencing the occurrence of pregnancy as a pair in the treatment of infertility, such as the woman's age, ovarian reserve, the semen of a man and the duration of infertility. The review also presents the data concerning the practical implications of sexual constitution and sexual maturation in men and women in the pubertal period. When evaluating male fertility invariably significant factor in the prediction of pregnancy are, impregnating ability to ejaculate. Infertility is more common in males with delayed development in the pubertal period with a weak type of sexual constitution. Results of treatment of male infertility, the dynamics of the semen and pregnancy of the couple on the background of pathogenetic therapy correlates with the type of sexual constitution. Widely deployed discussion about the existence of the male equivalent of female menopause mainly concerns the problems of men's sexual health. Of exceptional importance for the prediction of treatment of infertility has ovarian reserve, which is closely associated with age women. Formation of menstrual function occurs in the pubertal period of sexual development, in this age of menarche is the leading symptom of type of sexual constitution of women that do not change throughout the life hereafter. The presence of menstrual function and even ovulation does not reflect the reproductive capacity of women. Insufficient information content of the chronological age of a woman, as an indicator of the reproductive capacity of ovarian dictates the necessity of the development of tests that determine individual biological age of a woman, perhaps connected with the type of sexual constitution. In this regard, the study of sexual constitution partners is of great scientific and practical interest.

Long-term influences of parental divorce on offspring affective disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sands, Amy; Thompson, Ellen J; Gaysina, Darya

2017-08-15

The prevalence of divorce in Western countries has increased in recent decades. However, there is no recent systematic review and/or meta-analysis of studies testing for long-term effects of parental divorce on offspring affective disorders. The present study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published since 1980 testing for the association between parental divorce and offspring depression and anxiety in adulthood. PUBMED, Science Direct, Medline, PsychInfo, and PsychArticles databases were searched for eligible studies. Random-effect meta-analyses were used to synthesize effect sizes and to test whether associations of parental divorce with offspring affective disorders differed among three publication periods (i.e., before 1996, 1996-2005, 2006-2015). In total, 29 studies were eligible for the systematic review, and 18 studies were included in the meta-analyses (depression: n=21,581; anxiety: n=2472). There was significant association between parental divorce and offspring depression (OR=1.56; 95%CI [1.31, 1.86]), but not anxiety (OR=1.16; 95%CI [0.98, 1.38]). The effect of parental divorce on offspring depression was not weaker in the reports published in more recent decades. There is limited research in relation to offspring anxiety in adulthood. Parental divorce is associated with an increased risk of adult offspring depression, with no indication of the effect being weaker in recent publications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

T-2 mycotoxin treatment of newborn rat pups does not significantly affect nervous system functions in adulthood.

Science.gov (United States)

Varró, Petra; Béldi, Melinda; Kovács, Melinda; Világi, Ildikó

2018-03-01

T-2 toxin is primarily produced by Fusarium sp. abundant under temperate climatic conditions. Its main harmful effect is the inhibition of protein synthesis. Causing oxidative stress, it also promotes lipid peroxidation and changes plasma membrane phospholipid composition; this may lead to nervous system alterations. The aim of the present study was to examine whether a single dose of T-2 toxin administered at newborn age has any long-lasting effects on nervous system functions. Rat pups were treated on the first postnatal day with a single intraperitoneal dose of T-2 toxin (0.2 mg/bwkg). Body weight of treated pups was lower during the second and third week of life, compared to littermates; later, weight gain was recovered. At young adulthood, behavior was tested in the open field, and no difference was observed between treated and control rats. Field potential recordings from somatosensory cortex and hippocampus slices did not reveal any significant difference in neuronal network functions. In case of neocortical field EPSP, the shape was slightly different in treated pups. Long-term synaptic plasticity was also comparable in both groups. Seizure susceptibility of the slices was not different, either. In conclusion, T-2 toxin did not significantly affect basic nervous system functions at this dose.

Gender Differences in Affective Reactions to First Coitus.

Science.gov (United States)

Guggino, Julie M.; Ponzetti, James J., Jr.

1997-01-01

Examined 87 college men's and 122 college women's affective reactions to first sexual intercourse. Results show that women were significantly more likely to report less pleasure, satisfaction, and excitement than men, and more sadness, guilt, nervousness, tension, embarrassment, and fear. Used factor analysis to group emotions into coherent…

THE NIGERIAN GAS MASTER-PLAN, INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES, ISSUES AFFECTING POWER SECTOR: AN ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. INGWE

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The Nigerian Gas Master-Plan, Investment Opportunities, Challenges, Issues Affecting Power Sector: an Analysis. The objective of this article is to contribute towards understanding of the Nigerian Gas Master Plan (NGMP/Plan and its bifurcations with key socio-economic development factors. I applied the method of discourse to bring to being some points that have hitherto been unknown about the Master-plan and its inter-relationships and bifurcations. Elaborated here are the spectacular gains that have accrued to the Latin American country, Trinidad and Tobago, from its recent development of natural gas resources. This was considered suitable and significant here for highlighting that if such spectacular achievements could be realized from Trinidad and Tobago’s relatively smaller gas deposit (15.3 tcf, probable reserves (8.4 tcf, possible reserves (6.2 tcf would be by far greater considering Nigeria’s larger natural gas reserves (184 tcf wealth as earlier stated. I show that the Plan is well designed relevant to addressing Nigeria’s current development needs generally. It presents potentials for stimulating Nigeria’s economic growth by harnessing the country’s abundant natural gas reserves. The Plan enumerates/ elaborates huge investment opportunities. Some challenges likely to be faced in the implementation/management of the Plan are already being surmounted as recent reports show that some of its key investments have been realized and the required infrastructure are being provided. Regarding the issues in the Master-plan that are likely to affect and are affecting Nigeria’s power sector development, I reckon that they are mostly positive factors due to the way the plan promises to stimulate electricity generation in our country.

Factor Analysis on Criteria Affecting Lean Retrofit for Energy Efficient Initiatives in Higher Learning Institution Buildings

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Abidin Nur IzieAdiana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The expansion of Higher Learning Institution (HLI is a global concerns on energy demand due to campus act like a small city. Intensive mode of operation of a building is correlated to the energy utilization. Improvement in the current energy efficiency is crucial effort to minimize the environmental effect through minimisation of energy in operation by retrofitting and upgrade the existing building system or components to be more efficient. Basically, there are three recommended steps for the improvement known as lean initiatives, green technology and clean energy in response to becoming zero energy solutions for building. The deliberation of this paper is aimed to highlight the criteria affecting in retrofitting of existing building in HLI with lean initiatives in order to achieve energy efficiency and reduction of energy comsumption. Attention is devoted to reviewing the lean energy retrofitting initiatives criteria for daylighting (side lighting, daylighting (skylight and glazing. The questionnaire survey was employed and distributed to the architects who has an expertise in green building design. Factor analysis was adopted as a method of analysis by using Principal Component with Varimax Rotation. The result is presented through summarizing the sub-criteria according to its importance with a factor loading 0.50 and above. The result found that majority of the criteria developed achieved the significant factor loading value and in accordance with the protocal of analysis. In conclusion the results from analysis of this paper assists the stakeholders in assessing the significant criteria based on the desired lean energy retrofitting initiatives and also provides a huge contribution for future planning improvement in existing buildings to become an energy efficient building.

Questions of time and affect: a person's affectivity profile, time perspective, and well-being.

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, Danilo; Sailer, Uta; Nima, Ali Al; Archer, Trevor

2016-01-01

Background. A "balanced" time perspective has been suggested to have a positive influence on well-being: a sentimental and positive view of the past (high Past Positive), a less pessimistic attitude toward the past (low Past Negative), the desire of experiencing pleasure with slight concern for future consequences (high Present Hedonistic), a less fatalistic and hopeless view of the future (low Present Fatalistic), and the ability to find reward in achieving specific long-term goals (high Future). We used the affective profiles model (i.e., combinations of individuals' experience of high/low positive/negative affectivity) to investigate differences between individuals in time perspective dimensions and to investigate if the influence of time perspective dimensions on well-being was moderated by the individual's type of profile. Method. Participants (N = 720) answered to the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule, the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory and two measures of well-being: the Temporal Satisfaction with Life Scale and Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-Being-short version. A Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted to identify differences in time perspective dimensions and well-being among individuals with distinct affective profiles. Four structural equation models (SEM) were used to investigate which time perspective dimensions predicted well-being for individuals in each profile. Results. Comparisons between individuals at the extreme of the affective profiles model suggested that individuals with a self-fulfilling profile (high positive/low negative affect) were characterized by a "balanced" time perspective and higher well-being compared to individuals with a self-destructive profile (low positive/high negative affect). However, a different pattern emerged when individuals who differed in one affect dimension but matched in the other were compared to each other. For instance, decreases in the past negative time perspective

95 a study on affective work skills needs of engineering

African Journals Online (AJOL)

DR. AMINU

analysis of variance (ANOVA) at P< 0.05 level of significant was used to analyse the data. Some of the findings ... Keywords: Affective work skills, Engineering, North Central, Technology ... referred to as non technical abilities, employability.

A shift from significance test to hypothesis test through power analysis in medical research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Singh Girish

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Medical research literature until recently, exhibited substantial dominance of the Fisher′s significance test approach of statistical inference concentrating more on probability of type I error over Neyman-Pearson′s hypothesis test considering both probability of type I and II error. Fisher′s approach dichotomises results into significant or not significant results with a P value. The Neyman-Pearson′s approach talks of acceptance or rejection of null hypothesis. Based on the same theory these two approaches deal with same objective and conclude in their own way. The advancement in computing techniques and availability of statistical software have resulted in increasing application of power calculations in medical research and thereby reporting the result of significance tests in the light of power of the test also. Significance test approach, when it incorporates power analysis contains the essence of hypothesis test approach. It may be safely argued that rising application of power analysis in medical research may have initiated a shift from Fisher′s significance test to Neyman-Pearson′s hypothesis test procedure.

How Game Location Affects Soccer Performance: T-Pattern Analysis of Attack Actions in Home and Away Matches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbara Diana

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The influence of game location on performance has been widely examined in sport contexts. Concerning soccer, game-location affects positively the secondary and tertiary level of performance; however, there are fewer evidences about its effect on game structure (primary level of performance. This study aimed to detect the effect of game location on a primary level of performance in soccer. In particular, the objective was to reveal the hidden structures underlying the attack actions, in both home and away matches played by a top club (Serie A 2012/2013—First Leg. The methodological approach was based on systematic observation, supported by digital recordings and T-pattern analysis. Data were analyzed with THEME 6.0 software. A quantitative analysis, with nonparametric Mann–Whitney test and descriptive statistics, was carried out to test the hypotheses. A qualitative analysis on complex patterns was performed to get in-depth information on the game structure. This study showed that game tactics were significantly different, with home matches characterized by a more structured and varied game than away matches. In particular, a higher number of different patterns, with a higher level of complexity and including more unique behaviors was detected in home matches than in the away ones. No significant differences were found in the number of events coded per game between the two conditions. THEME software, and the corresponding T-pattern detection algorithm, enhance research opportunities by going further than frequency-based analyses, making this method an effective tool in supporting sport performance analysis and training.

How Game Location Affects Soccer Performance: T-Pattern Analysis of Attack Actions in Home and Away Matches.

Science.gov (United States)

Diana, Barbara; Zurloni, Valentino; Elia, Massimiliano; Cavalera, Cesare M; Jonsson, Gudberg K; Anguera, M Teresa

2017-01-01

The influence of game location on performance has been widely examined in sport contexts. Concerning soccer, game-location affects positively the secondary and tertiary level of performance; however, there are fewer evidences about its effect on game structure (primary level of performance). This study aimed to detect the effect of game location on a primary level of performance in soccer. In particular, the objective was to reveal the hidden structures underlying the attack actions, in both home and away matches played by a top club (Serie A 2012/2013-First Leg). The methodological approach was based on systematic observation, supported by digital recordings and T-pattern analysis. Data were analyzed with THEME 6.0 software. A quantitative analysis, with nonparametric Mann-Whitney test and descriptive statistics, was carried out to test the hypotheses. A qualitative analysis on complex patterns was performed to get in-depth information on the game structure. This study showed that game tactics were significantly different, with home matches characterized by a more structured and varied game than away matches. In particular, a higher number of different patterns, with a higher level of complexity and including more unique behaviors was detected in home matches than in the away ones. No significant differences were found in the number of events coded per game between the two conditions. THEME software, and the corresponding T-pattern detection algorithm, enhance research opportunities by going further than frequency-based analyses, making this method an effective tool in supporting sport performance analysis and training.

Empirical Look at the Factors Affecting Perception of Business Ethics in Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vedat Akman

2011-07-01

Full Text Available This study aims to explore the influence of gender, age, education, profession and sector choices towards factors affecting business ethics in Turkey. Self-administered questionnaire with scale of 1-5 was used to measure attitudes towards business ethics (1= "strongly agree" to 5="strongly disagree" with reasonable good score on Cronbach's realibility test. With Cronbach alpha of .692 and KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Meaure of Sampling Adequecy .746 (which sould be greater than .5 for a satisfactor analysis we proceeded to our analysis successfully.  Choice job, sector, age and gender were significant determinants to factors affecting perception of business ethics but education level was not a significant determinant.

Perceived health in lung cancer patients: the role of positive and negative affect.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirsch, Jameson K; Floyd, Andrea R; Duberstein, Paul R

2012-03-01

To examine the association of affective experience and health-related quality of life in lung cancer patients, we hypothesized that negative affect would be positively, and positive affect would be negatively, associated with perceived health. A sample of 133 English-speaking lung cancer patients (33% female; mean age = 63.68 years old, SD = 9.37) completed a battery of self-report surveys. Results of our secondary analysis indicate that trait negative affect was significantly associated with poor physical and social functioning, greater role limitations due to emotional problems, greater bodily pain, and poor general health. Positive affect was significantly associated with adaptive social functioning, fewer emotion-based role limitations, and less severe bodily pain. In a full model, positive affect was significantly associated with greater levels of social functioning and general health, over and above the effects of negative affect. Reduction of negative affect is an important therapeutic goal, but the ability to maintain positive affect may result in greater perceived health. Indeed, engagement in behaviors that result in greater state positive affect may, over time, result in dispositional changes and enhancement of quality of life.

[The relationship of empathic-affective responses toward others' positive affect with prosocial behaviors and aggressive behaviors].

Science.gov (United States)

Sakurai, Shigeo; Hayama, Daichi; Suzuki, Takashi; Kurazumi, Tomoe; Hagiwara, Toshihiko; Suzuki, Miyuki; Ohuchi, Akiko; Chizuko, Oikawa

2011-06-01

The purposes of this study were to develop and validate the Empathic-Affective Response Scale, and to examine the relationship of empathic-affective responses with prosocial behaviors and aggressive behaviors. Undergraduate students (N = 443) participated in a questionnaire study. The results of factor analysis indicated that empathic-affective responses involved three factors: (a) sharing and good feeling toward others' positive affect, (b) sharing of negative affect and (c) sympathy toward others' negative affect. Correlations with other empathy-related scales and internal consistency suggested that this scale has satisfactory validity and reliability. Cluster analysis revealed that participants were clustered into four groups: high-empathic group, low-empathic group, insufficient positive affective response group and insufficient negative affective response group. Additional analysis showed the frequency of prosocial behaviors in high-empathic group was highest in all groups. On the other hand, the frequency of aggressive behaviors in both insufficient positive affective response group and low-empathic group were higher than others' groups. The results indicated that empathic-affective responses toward positive affect are also very important to predict prosocial behaviors and aggressive behaviors.

Callosotomy affects performance IQ: A meta-analysis of individual participant data.

Science.gov (United States)

Westerhausen, René; Karud, Celine M R

2018-02-05

Morphometric neuroimaging studies on healthy adult individuals regularly report a positive association between intelligence test performance (IQ) and structural properties of the corpus callosum (CC). At the same time, studies examining the effect of callosotomy on epilepsy patients report only negligible changes in IQ as result of the surgery, partially contradicting the findings of the morphometry studies. Objective of the present meta-analysis of individual participant data (IPD) of 87 cases from 16 reports was to re-investigate the effect of callosotomy on full scale IQ as well as on the verbal and performance subscale under special consideration of two possible moderating factors: pre-surgical IQ levels and the extent of the surgery (complete vs. anterior transsection). The main finding was that callosotomy selectively affects performance IQ, whereby the effect is modulated by the pre-surgical level of performance. Patients with an above-median pre-surgery performance IQ level show a significant average decrease of -5.44 (CI 95% : - 8.33 to - 2.56) IQ points following the surgery, while the below-median group does not reveal a significant change in IQ (mean change: 1.01 IQ points; CI 95% : -1.83 to 3.86). Thus, the present analyses support the notion that callosotomy has a negative effect on the patients' performance IQ, but only in those patients, who at least have an average performance levels before the surgery. This observation also lends support to the findings of previous morphometry studies, indicating that the frequently observed CC-IQ correlation might indeed reflect a functional contribution of callosal interhemispheric connectivity to intelligence-test performance. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

How acute total sleep loss affects the attending brain: a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Ning; Dinges, David F; Basner, Mathias; Rao, Hengyi

2015-02-01

Attention is a cognitive domain that can be severely affected by sleep deprivation. Previous neuroimaging studies have used different attention paradigms and reported both increased and reduced brain activation after sleep deprivation. However, due to large variability in sleep deprivation protocols, task paradigms, experimental designs, characteristics of subject populations, and imaging techniques, there is no consensus regarding the effects of sleep loss on the attending brain. The aim of this meta-analysis was to identify brain activations that are commonly altered by acute total sleep deprivation across different attention tasks. Coordinate-based meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies of performance on attention tasks during experimental sleep deprivation. The current version of the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) approach was used for meta-analysis. The authors searched published articles and identified 11 sleep deprivation neuroimaging studies using different attention tasks with a total of 185 participants, equaling 81 foci for ALE analysis. The meta-analysis revealed significantly reduced brain activation in multiple regions following sleep deprivation compared to rested wakefulness, including bilateral intraparietal sulcus, bilateral insula, right prefrontal cortex, medial frontal cortex, and right parahippocampal gyrus. Increased activation was found only in bilateral thalamus after sleep deprivation compared to rested wakefulness. Acute total sleep deprivation decreases brain activation in the fronto-parietal attention network (prefrontal cortex and intraparietal sulcus) and in the salience network (insula and medial frontal cortex). Increased thalamic activation after sleep deprivation may reflect a complex interaction between the de-arousing effects of sleep loss and the arousing effects of task performance on thalamic activity. © 2015 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.

How motivation affects academic performance: a structural equation modelling analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kusurkar, R A; Ten Cate, Th J; Vos, C M P; Westers, P; Croiset, G

2013-03-01

Few studies in medical education have studied effect of quality of motivation on performance. Self-Determination Theory based on quality of motivation differentiates between Autonomous Motivation (AM) that originates within an individual and Controlled Motivation (CM) that originates from external sources. To determine whether Relative Autonomous Motivation (RAM, a measure of the balance between AM and CM) affects academic performance through good study strategy and higher study effort and compare this model between subgroups: males and females; students selected via two different systems namely qualitative and weighted lottery selection. Data on motivation, study strategy and effort was collected from 383 medical students of VU University Medical Center Amsterdam and their academic performance results were obtained from the student administration. Structural Equation Modelling analysis technique was used to test a hypothesized model in which high RAM would positively affect Good Study Strategy (GSS) and study effort, which in turn would positively affect academic performance in the form of grade point averages. This model fit well with the data, Chi square = 1.095, df = 3, p = 0.778, RMSEA model fit = 0.000. This model also fitted well for all tested subgroups of students. Differences were found in the strength of relationships between the variables for the different subgroups as expected. In conclusion, RAM positively correlated with academic performance through deep strategy towards study and higher study effort. This model seems valid in medical education in subgroups such as males, females, students selected by qualitative and weighted lottery selection.

A Study of the Significant Factors That Affect the Job Placement Rates of Students Who Have Completed a HERO Program. Year 2 Report.

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Instructional Development and Evaluation Associates, Inc., Berkeley, MI.

A three-year study examined the significant factors that affect the job placement rates of students completing a Home Economics Related Occupations (HERO) program. Other purposes of the study were to develop and pilot test a model that could be used to determine factors related to student placement in a variety of vocational education programs and…

A Study of the Significant Factors That Affect the Job Placement Rates of Students Who Have Completed a HERO Program. Year Summary Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Instructional Development and Evaluation Associates, Inc., Berkeley, MI.

A three-year study examined the significant factors that affect the job placement rates of students completing a Home Economics Related Occupations (HERO) program. Other purposes of the study were to develop and pilot test a model that could be used to determine factors related to student placement in a variety of vocational education programs and…

Smoking cessation programmes in radon affected areas: can they make a significant contribution to reducing radon-induced lung cancers?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Denman, A.R.; Groves-Kirkby, C.J.; Timson, K.; Shield, G.; Rogers, S.; Phillips, P.S.

2008-01-01

Domestic radon levels in parts of the UK are sufficiently high to increase the risk of lung cancer in the occupants. Public health campaigns in Northamptonshire, a designated radon affected area with 6.3% of homes having average radon levels over the UK action level of 200 Bq m -3 , have encouraged householders to test for radon and then to carry out remediation in their homes, but have been only partially successful. Only 40% of Northamptonshire houses have been tested, and only 15% of householders finding raised levels proceed to remediate. Of those who did remediate, only 9% smoked, compared to a countywide average of 28.8%. This is unfortunate, since radon and smoking combine to place the individual at higher risk by a factor of around 4, and suggests that current strategies to reduce domestic radon exposure are not reaching those most at risk. During 2004-5, the NHS Stop Smoking Services in Northamptonshire assisted 2,808 smokers to quit to the 4-week stage, with some 30% of 4-week quitters remaining quitters at 1 year. We consider whether smoking cessation campaigns make significant contributions to radon risk reduction on their own, by assessing individual occupants' risk of developing lung cancer from knowledge of their age, gender, and smoking habits, together with he radon level in their house. The results demonstrate that smoking cessation programmes have significant added value in radon affected areas, and contribute a greater health benefit than reducing radon levels in the smokers' homes, whilst they remain smokers. Additionally, results are presented from a questionnaire-based survey of quitters, addressing their reasons for seeking help in quitting smoking, and whether knowledge of radon risks influenced this decision. The impact of these findings on future public health campaigns to reduce the impact of radon and smoking are discussed. (author)

ANALYSIS OF FACTORS AFFECTING POST-POWER SYNDROME AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN THE ELDERLY

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Retno Indarwati

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Quality of life is the individual's perception of their place in life in the context of the cultural system and values in which they live, along with their goals, expectations, and worries. Retirement is an adaptable period that results in a change of role, changes in social interactions, and limited financial resources. Aim: This study aims to analyze the factors that affect post power syndrome and quality of life of the elderly. Methods: The design of this research was a correlation study with a cross-sectional approach. The population consisted of 44 retired elderly individuals. Purposive sampling was applied to the determined sample size. The independent variables were physiological stressors, psychological stressors and aging attitudes. The dependent variables were post-power syndrome and the quality of life of elderly people. The data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling- Partial Least Square (SEM-PLS with a significance t statistic ≥ 1.96. Results: The findings showed all of the significant indicators measured to the variable factor. Physical stressor factors affect post-power syndrome with a t value of 2,366, and psychological stress factors affect post-power syndrome with a t value of 3,326. Aging behavior factors affects post-power syndrome with a t statistic of 5.296 and the post-power syndrome effect on the quality of life of the elderly has a t value of 7,689. Conclusion: There were significant effects in relation to physiological stressor factors, psychological stress factors, and aging attitudes towards post-power syndrome. There was an influence of post-power syndrome on the quality of elderly life.

Questions of time and affect: a person’s affectivity profile, time perspective, and well-being

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Sailer, Uta; Nima, Ali Al; Archer, Trevor

2016-01-01

Background. A “balanced” time perspective has been suggested to have a positive influence on well-being: a sentimental and positive view of the past (high Past Positive), a less pessimistic attitude toward the past (low Past Negative), the desire of experiencing pleasure with slight concern for future consequences (high Present Hedonistic), a less fatalistic and hopeless view of the future (low Present Fatalistic), and the ability to find reward in achieving specific long-term goals (high Future). We used the affective profiles model (i.e., combinations of individuals’ experience of high/low positive/negative affectivity) to investigate differences between individuals in time perspective dimensions and to investigate if the influence of time perspective dimensions on well-being was moderated by the individual’s type of profile. Method. Participants (N = 720) answered to the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule, the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory and two measures of well-being: the Temporal Satisfaction with Life Scale and Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-Being-short version. A Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted to identify differences in time perspective dimensions and well-being among individuals with distinct affective profiles. Four structural equation models (SEM) were used to investigate which time perspective dimensions predicted well-being for individuals in each profile. Results. Comparisons between individuals at the extreme of the affective profiles model suggested that individuals with a self-fulfilling profile (high positive/low negative affect) were characterized by a “balanced” time perspective and higher well-being compared to individuals with a self-destructive profile (low positive/high negative affect). However, a different pattern emerged when individuals who differed in one affect dimension but matched in the other were compared to each other. For instance, decreases in the past negative time

Questions of time and affect: a person’s affectivity profile, time perspective, and well-being

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danilo Garcia

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Background. A “balanced” time perspective has been suggested to have a positive influence on well-being: a sentimental and positive view of the past (high Past Positive, a less pessimistic attitude toward the past (low Past Negative, the desire of experiencing pleasure with slight concern for future consequences (high Present Hedonistic, a less fatalistic and hopeless view of the future (low Present Fatalistic, and the ability to find reward in achieving specific long-term goals (high Future. We used the affective profiles model (i.e., combinations of individuals’ experience of high/low positive/negative affectivity to investigate differences between individuals in time perspective dimensions and to investigate if the influence of time perspective dimensions on well-being was moderated by the individual’s type of profile. Method. Participants (N = 720 answered to the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule, the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory and two measures of well-being: the Temporal Satisfaction with Life Scale and Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-Being-short version. A Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA was conducted to identify differences in time perspective dimensions and well-being among individuals with distinct affective profiles. Four structural equation models (SEM were used to investigate which time perspective dimensions predicted well-being for individuals in each profile. Results. Comparisons between individuals at the extreme of the affective profiles model suggested that individuals with a self-fulfilling profile (high positive/low negative affect were characterized by a “balanced” time perspective and higher well-being compared to individuals with a self-destructive profile (low positive/high negative affect. However, a different pattern emerged when individuals who differed in one affect dimension but matched in the other were compared to each other. For instance, decreases in the past negative

Negative affect reduces performance in implicit sequence learning.

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Junchen Shang

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: It is well documented that positive rather than negative moods encourage integrative processing of conscious information. However, the extent to which implicit or unconscious learning can be influenced by affective states remains unclear. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A Serial Reaction Time (SRT task with sequence structures requiring integration over past trials was adopted to examine the effect of affective states on implicit learning. Music was used to induce and maintain positive and negative affective states. The present study showed that participants in negative rather than positive states learned less of the regularity. Moreover, the knowledge was shown by a Bayesian analysis to be largely unconscious as participants were poor at recognizing the regularity. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The results demonstrated that negative rather than positive affect inhibited implicit learning of complex structures. Our findings help to understand the effects of affective states on unconscious or implicit processing.

Analysis of factors affecting the effect of stope leaching

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xie Wangnan; Dong Chunming

2014-01-01

The industrial test and industrial trial production of stope leaching were carried out at Taoshan orefield of Dabu deposit. The results of test and trial production showed obvious differences in leaching rate and leaching time. Compared with industrial trial production of stope leaching, the leaching rate of industrial test was higher, and leaching time was shorter. It was considered that the blasting method and liquid arrangement were the main factors affecting the leaching rate and leaching time according to analysis. So we put forward the following suggestions: the technique of deep hole slicing tight-face blasting was used to reduce the yield of lump ores, the effective liquid arrangement methods were adopted to make the lixiviant infiltrating throughout whole ore heap, and bacterial leaching was introduced. (authors)

Histological staining methods preparatory to laser capture microdissection significantly affect the integrity of the cellular RNA.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hongyang; Owens, James D; Shih, Joanna H; Li, Ming-Chung; Bonner, Robert F; Mushinski, J Frederic

2006-04-27

Gene expression profiling by microarray analysis of cells enriched by laser capture microdissection (LCM) faces several technical challenges. Frozen sections yield higher quality RNA than paraffin-imbedded sections, but even with frozen sections, the staining methods used for histological identification of cells of interest could still damage the mRNA in the cells. To study the contribution of staining methods to degradation of results from gene expression profiling of LCM samples, we subjected pellets of the mouse plasma cell tumor cell line TEPC 1165 to direct RNA extraction and to parallel frozen sectioning for LCM and subsequent RNA extraction. We used microarray hybridization analysis to compare gene expression profiles of RNA from cell pellets with gene expression profiles of RNA from frozen sections that had been stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), Nissl Stain (NS), and for immunofluorescence (IF) as well as with the plasma cell-revealing methyl green pyronin (MGP) stain. All RNAs were amplified with two rounds of T7-based in vitro transcription and analyzed by two-color expression analysis on 10-K cDNA microarrays. The MGP-stained samples showed the least introduction of mRNA loss, followed by H&E and immunofluorescence. Nissl staining was significantly more detrimental to gene expression profiles, presumably owing to an aqueous step in which RNA may have been damaged by endogenous or exogenous RNAases. RNA damage can occur during the staining steps preparatory to laser capture microdissection, with the consequence of loss of representation of certain genes in microarray hybridization analysis. Inclusion of RNAase inhibitor in aqueous staining solutions appears to be important in protecting RNA from loss of gene transcripts.

[Factors affecting residual stones after percutaneous nephrolithotomy in patients with renal calculus].

Science.gov (United States)

Qiao, Mingzhou; Zhang, Haifang; Zhou, Chenlong

2015-11-24

To explore the factors affecting the residual stones after percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) in patients with renal calculus. A retrospective analysis was performed for 1 200 patients who were affected by renal calculus and treated with PCNL between Jan 2008 and May 2014 in People's Hospital of Anyang City. Among those patients, 16 were diagnosed as bilateral renal stone and had two successive operations. The size, location and number of stones, previous history of surgery, the degree of hydronephrosis, urinary infection were included in the univariate analysis. Significant factors in univariate analysis were included in the multivariate analysis to determine factors affecting stone residual. A total of 385 cases developed stone residual after surgery. The overall residual rate was 31.7%. In univariate analysis, renal pelvis combined with caliceal calculus (P=0.006), stone size larger than 4 cm (P=0.005), stone number more than 4 (P=0.002), the amount of bleeding more than 200 ml (P=0.025), operation time longer than 120 minutes (P=0.028) were associated with an increased rate of stone residual. When subjected to the Cox multivariate analysis, the independent risk factors for residual stones were renal pelvis combined with caliceal calculus (P=0.049), stone size larger than 4 cm (P=0.038) and stone number more than 4 (P=0.018). Factors affecting the incidence of residual stones after PCNL are the size, location and number of stones. Larger size stone and the presence of renal pelvis combined with caliceal calculus are significantly associated with residual stones. Nevertheless, stone number less than 4 indicates an increased stone clearance rate.

Soil mulching significantly enhances yields and water and nitrogen use efficiencies of maize and wheat: a meta-analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Wei; Hu, Chunsheng; Oenema, Oene

2015-11-01

Global crop yields are limited by water and nutrient availability. Soil mulching (with plastic or straw) reduces evaporation, modifies soil temperature and thereby affects crop yields. Reported effects of mulching are sometimes contradictory, likely due to differences in climatic conditions, soil characteristics, crop species, and also water and nitrogen (N) input levels. Here we report on a meta-analysis of the effects of mulching on wheat and maize, using 1310 yield observations from 74 studies conducted in 19 countries. Our results indicate that mulching significantly increased yields, WUE (yield per unit water) and NUE (yield per unit N) by up to 60%, compared with no-mulching. Effects were larger for maize than wheat, and larger for plastic mulching than straw mulching. Interestingly, plastic mulching performed better at relatively low temperature while straw mulching showed the opposite trend. Effects of mulching also tended to decrease with increasing water input. Mulching effects were not related to soil organic matter content. In conclusion, soil mulching can significantly increase maize and wheat yields, WUE and NUE, and thereby may contribute to closing the yield gap between attainable and actual yields, especially in dryland and low nutrient input agriculture. The management of soil mulching requires site-specific knowledge.

Soil mulching significantly enhances yields and water and nitrogen use efficiencies of maize and wheat: a meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Wei; Hu, Chunsheng; Oenema, Oene

2015-11-20

Global crop yields are limited by water and nutrient availability. Soil mulching (with plastic or straw) reduces evaporation, modifies soil temperature and thereby affects crop yields. Reported effects of mulching are sometimes contradictory, likely due to differences in climatic conditions, soil characteristics, crop species, and also water and nitrogen (N) input levels. Here we report on a meta-analysis of the effects of mulching on wheat and maize, using 1310 yield observations from 74 studies conducted in 19 countries. Our results indicate that mulching significantly increased yields, WUE (yield per unit water) and NUE (yield per unit N) by up to 60%, compared with no-mulching. Effects were larger for maize than wheat, and larger for plastic mulching than straw mulching. Interestingly, plastic mulching performed better at relatively low temperature while straw mulching showed the opposite trend. Effects of mulching also tended to decrease with increasing water input. Mulching effects were not related to soil organic matter content. In conclusion, soil mulching can significantly increase maize and wheat yields, WUE and NUE, and thereby may contribute to closing the yield gap between attainable and actual yields, especially in dryland and low nutrient input agriculture. The management of soil mulching requires site-specific knowledge.

Analysis Of Factors Affecting Demand Red Chili Pepper Capsicum Annum L In Solok And Effort Fulfillment

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Zulfitriyana

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Research on the analysis of the factors that influence the demand for red chilli Capsicum annuum L in Solok and compliance efforts implemented in March s.d April 2016. The purpose of this study consisted of 1 analyze the factors affecting the demand for red chili in Solok 2 analyze the elasticity of demand for red chili in Solok 3 know the effort that can be done to meet the demand of red chilli in Solok. To achieve the objectives of the first and second use secondary data for 15 fifteen years and to achieve the objectives the third used primary data. The method used is descriptive analytical method a method that is used to describe phenomena that exist which takes place in the present or past. The variables were observed in this study is the X1 price of red chilli X2 the price of green chili X3 onion prices X4 population X5 income and Y the number of requests red chili which is then analyzed by multiple linear regression elasticity of demand and SWOT. The results of that research addressing the factors that influence the demand for red chili in Solok is the price of red chilli itself the price of green chili as a substitute goods the number of population and income while onion prices affect the amount of red chili demand in Solok. But simultaneously variable X1 red chili prices X2 the price of green chili X3 onion prices X4 population and X5 income strongly influence demand red chili in Solok where the F test results show that F count F table 212.262 3600 with a significance level 0.000 0.010 and the most influential variable is the variable X4 population with the greatest value of beta Coefficients is 1100. Based on analysis of the elasticity of demand is known that red chili pepper is a normal good is inelastic to price elasticity coefficient value amp603p of -0.120. Green chili is substituting goods and shallots are complements of red chili with cross elasticity coefficient amp603px1 and amp603px2 respectively by 0293 and -0.635. While the

ARE MACRO AND MICRO ENVIRONMENT AFFECTING MANAGEMENT OF FRESH WATER RESOURCES? A CASE FROM IRAN WITH PESTLE ANALYSIS.

Science.gov (United States)

Atighechian, Golrokh; Maleki, Mohammadreza; Aryankhesal, Aidin; Jahangiri, Katayoun

2016-07-24

Oil spill in fresh water can affect ecological processes and accordingly it can influence human health. Iran, due to having 58.8 % of the world oil reserves, is highly vulnerable to water contamination by oil products. The aim of this study was to determine environmental factors affecting the management of the oil spill into one of the river in Iran using the PESTLE analysis. This was a qualitative case study conducted in 2015 on an oil spill incident in Iran and its roots from a disaster management approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for data collection. Seventy managers and staffs with those responsible or involved in oil spill incident management were recruited to the study. Qualitative content analysis approach was employed for the data analysis. Document analysis was used to collect additional information. Findings of the present study indicated that different factors affected the management of the event of oil spill onto one of the central river and consequently the management of drink water resources. Using this analysis, managers can plan for such events and develop scenarios for them to have better performance for the future events.

The impact of positive affect on health cognitions and behaviours: a meta-analysis of the experimental evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Cameron, David S; Bertenshaw, Emma J; Sheeran, Paschal

2015-01-01

Several reviews suggest that positive affect is associated with improved longevity, fewer physical symptoms, and biological indicators of good health. It is possible that positive affect could influence these outcomes by promoting healthful cognitions and behaviours. The present review identified conceptual pathways from positive affect to health cognitions and behaviour, and used random effects meta-analysis to quantify the impact of positive affect inductions (versus neutral affect conditions) on these outcomes. Literature searches located 54 independent tests that could be included in the review. Across all studies, the findings revealed no reliable effects on intentions (d+ = -.12, 95% CI = -.32 to .08, k = 15) or behaviour (d+ = .15, 95% CI = -.03 to .33, k = 23). There were four reliable effects involving specific cognitions and behaviours, but little clear evidence for generalised benefits or adverse effects of positive emotions on health-related cognitions or actions. Conclusions must be cautious given the paucity of tests available for analysis. The review offers suggestions about research designs that might profitably be deployed in future studies, and calls for additional tests of the impact of discrete positive emotions on health cognitions and behaviour.

Long-term affected energy production of waste to energy technologies identified by use of energy system analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Münster, Marie; Meibom, Peter

2010-01-01

Affected energy production is often decisive for the outcome of consequential life-cycle assessments when comparing the potential environmental impact of products or services. Affected energy production is however difficult to determine. In this article the future long-term affected energy...... production is identified by use of energy system analysis. The focus is on different uses of waste for energy production. The Waste-to-Energy technologies analysed include co-combustion of coal and waste, anaerobic digestion and thermal gasification. The analysis is based on optimization of both investments...... and production of electricity, district heating and bio-fuel in a future possible energy system in 2025 in the countries of the Northern European electricity market (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Germany). Scenarios with different CO2 quota costs are analysed. It is demonstrated that the waste...

Quantitative analysis of factors affecting intraoperative precision and stability of optoelectronic and electromagnetic tracking systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wagner, A.; Schicho, K.; Birkfellner, W.; Figl, M.; Seemann, R.; Koenig, F.; Kainberger, Franz; Ewers, R.

2002-01-01

This study aims to provide a quantitative analysis of the factors affecting the actual precision and stability of optoelectronic and electromagnetic tracking systems in computer-aided surgery under real clinical/intraoperative conditions. A 'phantom-skull' with five precisely determined reference distances between marker spheres is used for all measurements. Three optoelectronic and one electromagnetic tracking systems are included in this study. The experimental design is divided into three parts: (1) evaluation of serial- and multislice-CT (computed tomography) images of the phantom-skull for the precision of distance measurements by means of navigation software without a digitizer, (2) digitizer measurements under realistic intraoperative conditions with the factors OR-lamp (radiating into the field of view of the digitizer) or/and 'handling with ferromagnetic surgical instruments' (in the field of view of the digitizer) and (3) 'point-measurements' to analyze the influence of changes in the angle of inclination of the stylus axis. Deviations between reference distances and measured values are statistically investigated by means of analysis of variance. Computerized measurements of distances based on serial-CT data were more precise than based on multislice-CT data. All tracking systems included in this study proved to be considerably less precise under realistic OR conditions when compared to the technical specifications in the manuals of the systems. Changes in the angle of inclination of the stylus axis resulted in deviations of up to 3.40 mm (mean deviations for all systems ranging from 0.49 to 1.42 mm, variances ranging from 0.09 to 1.44 mm), indicating a strong need for improvements of stylus design. The electromagnetic tracking system investigated in this study was not significantly affected by small ferromagnetic surgical instruments

A new detrended semipartial cross-correlation analysis: Assessing the important meteorological factors affecting API

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen, Chen-Hua

2015-01-01

To analyze the unique contribution of meteorological factors to the air pollution index (API), a new method, the detrended semipartial cross-correlation analysis (DSPCCA), is proposed. Based on both a detrended cross-correlation analysis and a DFA-based multivariate-linear-regression (DMLR), this method is improved by including a semipartial correlation technique, which is used to indicate the unique contribution of an explanatory variable to multiple correlation coefficients. The advantages of this method in handling nonstationary time series are illustrated by numerical tests. To further demonstrate the utility of this method in environmental systems, new evidence of the primary contribution of meteorological factors to API is provided through DMLR. Results show that the most important meteorological factors affecting API are wind speed and diurnal temperature range, and the explanatory ability of meteorological factors to API gradually strengthens with increasing time scales. The results suggest that DSPCCA is a useful method for addressing environmental systems. - Highlights: • A detrended multiple linear regression is shown. • A detrended semipartial cross correlation analysis is proposed. • The important meteorological factors affecting API are assessed. • The explanatory ability of meteorological factors to API gradually strengthens with increasing time scales.

A new detrended semipartial cross-correlation analysis: Assessing the important meteorological factors affecting API

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shen, Chen-Hua, E-mail: shenandchen01@163.com [College of Geographical Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210046 (China); Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource, Nanjing 210046 (China); Key Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment of Ministry of Education, Nanjing 210046 (China)

2015-12-04

To analyze the unique contribution of meteorological factors to the air pollution index (API), a new method, the detrended semipartial cross-correlation analysis (DSPCCA), is proposed. Based on both a detrended cross-correlation analysis and a DFA-based multivariate-linear-regression (DMLR), this method is improved by including a semipartial correlation technique, which is used to indicate the unique contribution of an explanatory variable to multiple correlation coefficients. The advantages of this method in handling nonstationary time series are illustrated by numerical tests. To further demonstrate the utility of this method in environmental systems, new evidence of the primary contribution of meteorological factors to API is provided through DMLR. Results show that the most important meteorological factors affecting API are wind speed and diurnal temperature range, and the explanatory ability of meteorological factors to API gradually strengthens with increasing time scales. The results suggest that DSPCCA is a useful method for addressing environmental systems. - Highlights: • A detrended multiple linear regression is shown. • A detrended semipartial cross correlation analysis is proposed. • The important meteorological factors affecting API are assessed. • The explanatory ability of meteorological factors to API gradually strengthens with increasing time scales.

The In-Out dispositional affective style questionnaire (IN-OUT DASQ: an exploratory factorial analysis

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Viridiana eMazzola

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The issue of individual differences has always been an important area of research in psychology and, more recently, neuroimaging. A major source of interindividual variability stems from differences in basic affective dispositions. In order to make a contribution to this field of research, we have developed a new type of assessment - the In-Out Dispositional Affective Style Questionnaire (IN-OUT DASQ - to measure the proneness between two different ways of feeling situated: a predominantly body-bound one in the case of the inward tendency and an externally anchored one in the case of the outward tendency (Arciero and Bondolfi, 2009. The IN-OUT DASQ contains 2 scales of 7 items each, Self-centric engagement (SCE and Other-centric engagement (OCE, as a disposition index for inwardness and outwardness respectively. The exploratory factor analysis in sample 1 (n= 292 confirmed a two-factor solution. Confirmatory factor analysis in sample 2 (n= 300 showed the good fit of this two-factor model. Next, we examined construct validity also investigating the correlations between the IN-OUT DASQ, the Big Five Questionnaire and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule in sample 3 (n=153. The SCE and OCE scales had robust internal consistency and reliability, and therefore the capacity to discriminate higher inward and outward participants was stronger in SCE. Although further validation research is required, the present study suggests the IN-OUT DASQ has the potential to be a measurement tool for detecting individual differences in social behavior and social affective neuroscience.

Histological staining methods preparatory to laser capture microdissection significantly affect the integrity of the cellular RNA

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Li Ming-Chung

2006-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Gene expression profiling by microarray analysis of cells enriched by laser capture microdissection (LCM faces several technical challenges. Frozen sections yield higher quality RNA than paraffin-imbedded sections, but even with frozen sections, the staining methods used for histological identification of cells of interest could still damage the mRNA in the cells. To study the contribution of staining methods to degradation of results from gene expression profiling of LCM samples, we subjected pellets of the mouse plasma cell tumor cell line TEPC 1165 to direct RNA extraction and to parallel frozen sectioning for LCM and subsequent RNA extraction. We used microarray hybridization analysis to compare gene expression profiles of RNA from cell pellets with gene expression profiles of RNA from frozen sections that had been stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E, Nissl Stain (NS, and for immunofluorescence (IF as well as with the plasma cell-revealing methyl green pyronin (MGP stain. All RNAs were amplified with two rounds of T7-based in vitro transcription and analyzed by two-color expression analysis on 10-K cDNA microarrays. Results The MGP-stained samples showed the least introduction of mRNA loss, followed by H&E and immunofluorescence. Nissl staining was significantly more detrimental to gene expression profiles, presumably owing to an aqueous step in which RNA may have been damaged by endogenous or exogenous RNAases. Conclusion RNA damage can occur during the staining steps preparatory to laser capture microdissection, with the consequence of loss of representation of certain genes in microarray hybridization analysis. Inclusion of RNAase inhibitor in aqueous staining solutions appears to be important in protecting RNA from loss of gene transcripts.

Common pitfalls in statistical analysis: "P" values, statistical significance and confidence intervals

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Priya Ranganathan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In the second part of a series on pitfalls in statistical analysis, we look at various ways in which a statistically significant study result can be expressed. We debunk some of the myths regarding the ′P′ value, explain the importance of ′confidence intervals′ and clarify the importance of including both values in a paper

Mobile phones affect multiple sperm quality traits: a meta-analysis [v1; ref status: indexed, http://f1000r.es/ny

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Madhukar Shivajirao Dama

2013-02-01

Full Text Available As mobile phone usage is growing rapidly, there is a need for a comprehensive analysis of the literature to inform scientific debates about the adverse effects of mobile phone radiation on sperm quality traits. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis of the eligible published research studies on human males of reproductive age. Eleven studies were eligible for this analysis. Based on the meta-analysis, mobile phone use was significantly associated with deterioration in semen quality (Hedges’s g = -0.547; 95% CI: -0.713, -0.382; p < 0.001. The traits particularly affected adversely were sperm concentration, sperm morphology, sperm motility, proportion of non-progressive motile sperm (%, proportion of slow progressive motile sperm (%, and sperm viability. Direct exposure of spermatozoa to mobile phone radiation with in vitro study designs also significantly deteriorated the sperm quality (Hedges’s g = -2.233; 95% CI: -2.758, -1.708; p < 0.001, by reducing straight line velocity, fast progressive motility, Hypo-osmotic swelling (HOS test score, major axis (µm, minor axis (µm, total sperm motility, perimeter (µm, area (µm2, average path velocity, curvilinear velocity, motile spermatozoa, and  acrosome reacted spermatozoa (%. The strength of evidence for the different outcomes varied from very low to very high. The analysis shows that mobile phone use is possibly associated with a number of deleterious effects on the spermatozoa.

Detection of Quantitative Trait Loci Affecting Fat Deposition Traits in Pigs

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B. H. Choi

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Quantitative trait loci (QTL associated with fat deposition traits in pigs are important gene positions in a chromosome that influence meat quality of pork. For QTL study, a three generation resource population was constructed from a cross between Korean native boars and Landrace sows. A total of 240 F2 animals from intercross of F1 were produced. 80 microsatellite markers covering chromosomes 1 to 10 were selected to genotype the resource population. Intervals between adjacent markers were approximately 19 cM. Linkage analysis was performed using CRIMAP software version 2.4 with a FIXED option to obtain the map distances. For QTL analysis, the public web-based software, QTL express (http://www.qtl.cap.ed.ac.uk was used. Two significant and two suggestive QTL were identified on SSC 6, 7, and 8 as affecting body fat and IMF traits. For QTL affecting IMF, the most significant association was detected between marker sw71 and sw1881 on SSC 6, and a suggestive QTL was identified between sw268 and sw205 on SSC8. These QTL accounted for 26.58% and 12.31% of the phenotypic variance, respectively. A significant QTL affecting IMF was detected at position 105 cM between markers sw71 and sw1881 on SSC 6.

Alexithymia Components Are Differentially Related to Explicit Negative Affect But Not Associated with Explicit Positive Affect or Implicit Affectivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Suslow, Thomas; Donges, Uta-Susan

2017-01-01

Alexithymia represents a multifaceted personality construct defined by difficulties in recognizing and verbalizing emotions and externally oriented thinking. According to clinical observations, experience of negative affects is exacerbated and experience of positive affects is decreased in alexithymia. Findings from research based on self-report indicate that all alexithymia facets are negatively associated with the experience of positive affects, whereas difficulties identifying and describing feelings are related to heightened negative affect. Implicit affectivity, which can be measured using indirect assessment methods, relates to processes of the impulsive system. The aim of the present study was to examine, for the first time, the relations between alexithymia components and implicit and explicit positive and negative affectivity in healthy adults. The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were administered to two hundred and forty-one healthy individuals along with measures of depression and trait anxiety. Difficulties identifying feelings were correlated with explicit negative trait affect, depressive mood and trait anxiety. Difficulties describing feelings showed smaller but also significant correlations with depressive mood and trait anxiety but were not correlated with explicit state or trait affect as assessed by the PANAS. Externally oriented thinking was not significantly correlated with any of the implicit and explicit affect measures. According to our findings, an externally oriented, concrete way of thinking appears to be generally unrelated to dispositions to develop positive or negative affects. Difficulties identifying feelings seem to be associated with increased conscious negative affects but not with a heightened disposition to develop negative affects at an automatic response level.

Alexithymia Components Are Differentially Related to Explicit Negative Affect But Not Associated with Explicit Positive Affect or Implicit Affectivity

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Thomas Suslow

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Alexithymia represents a multifaceted personality construct defined by difficulties in recognizing and verbalizing emotions and externally oriented thinking. According to clinical observations, experience of negative affects is exacerbated and experience of positive affects is decreased in alexithymia. Findings from research based on self-report indicate that all alexithymia facets are negatively associated with the experience of positive affects, whereas difficulties identifying and describing feelings are related to heightened negative affect. Implicit affectivity, which can be measured using indirect assessment methods, relates to processes of the impulsive system. The aim of the present study was to examine, for the first time, the relations between alexithymia components and implicit and explicit positive and negative affectivity in healthy adults. The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS were administered to two hundred and forty-one healthy individuals along with measures of depression and trait anxiety. Difficulties identifying feelings were correlated with explicit negative trait affect, depressive mood and trait anxiety. Difficulties describing feelings showed smaller but also significant correlations with depressive mood and trait anxiety but were not correlated with explicit state or trait affect as assessed by the PANAS. Externally oriented thinking was not significantly correlated with any of the implicit and explicit affect measures. According to our findings, an externally oriented, concrete way of thinking appears to be generally unrelated to dispositions to develop positive or negative affects. Difficulties identifying feelings seem to be associated with increased conscious negative affects but not with a heightened disposition to develop negative affects at an automatic response level.

Revisiting the Affect Regulation Model of Binge Eating: A Meta-Analysis of Studies using Ecological Momentary Assessment

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Haedt-Matt, Alissa A.; Keel, Pamela K.

2011-01-01

The affect regulation model of binge eating, which posits that patients binge eat to reduce negative affect (NA), has received support from cross-sectional and laboratory-based studies. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) involves momentary ratings and repeated assessments over time and is ideally suited to identify temporal antecedents and consequences of binge eating. This meta-analytic review includes EMA studies of affect and binge eating. Electronic database and manual searches produced 36 EMA studies with N = 968 participants (89% Caucasian women). Meta-analyses examined changes in affect before and after binge eating using within-subjects standardized mean gain effect sizes (ES). Results supported greater NA preceding binge eating relative to average affect (ES = .63) and affect before regular eating (ES = .68). However, NA increased further following binge episodes (ES = .50). Preliminary findings suggested that NA decreased following purging in Bulimia Nervosa (ES = −.46). Moderators included diagnosis (with significantly greater elevations of NA prior to bingeing in Binge Eating Disorder compared to Bulimia Nervosa) and binge definition (with significantly smaller elevations of NA before binge versus regular eating episodes for the DSM definition compared to lay definitions of binge eating). Overall, results fail to support the affect regulation model of binge eating and challenge reductions in NA as a maintenance factor for binge eating. However, limitations of this literature include unidimensional analyses of NA and inadequate examination of affect during binge eating as binge eating may regulate only specific facets of affect or may reduce NA only during the episode. PMID:21574678

Anxiety, affect, self-esteem, and stress: mediation and moderation effects on depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Nima, Ali Al; Rosenberg, Patricia; Archer, Trevor; Garcia, Danilo

2013-01-01

Mediation analysis investigates whether a variable (i.e., mediator) changes in regard to an independent variable, in turn, affecting a dependent variable. Moderation analysis, on the other hand, investigates whether the statistical interaction between independent variables predict a dependent variable. Although this difference between these two types of analysis is explicit in current literature, there is still confusion with regard to the mediating and moderating effects of different variables on depression. The purpose of this study was to assess the mediating and moderating effects of anxiety, stress, positive affect, and negative affect on depression. Two hundred and two university students (males  = 93, females  = 113) completed questionnaires assessing anxiety, stress, self-esteem, positive and negative affect, and depression. Mediation and moderation analyses were conducted using techniques based on standard multiple regression and hierarchical regression analyses. The results indicated that (i) anxiety partially mediated the effects of both stress and self-esteem upon depression, (ii) that stress partially mediated the effects of anxiety and positive affect upon depression, (iii) that stress completely mediated the effects of self-esteem on depression, and (iv) that there was a significant interaction between stress and negative affect, and between positive affect and negative affect upon depression. The study highlights different research questions that can be investigated depending on whether researchers decide to use the same variables as mediators and/or moderators.

Developing Automatic Form and Design System Using Integrated Grey Relational Analysis and Affective Engineering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen-Yuan Liu

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In the modern highly competitive marketplace and global market environment, product quality improvements that abridge development time and reduce the production costs are effective methods for promoting the business competitiveness of a product in shorter lifecycles. Since the design process is the best time to control such parameters, systematically designing the processes to develop a product that more closely fits the demand requirements for the market is a key factor for developing a successful product. In this paper, a combined affective engineering method and grey relational analysis are used to develop a product design process. First, design image scale technology is used to acquire the best the design criteria factors, and then affective engineering methods are used to set the relationships between customer needs and production factors. Finally, grey relational analysis is used to select the optimal design strategy. Using this systematic design method, a higher quality product can be expanded upon in a shorter lead-time for improving business competition.

Do recruitment ties affect wages? An analysis using matched employer-employee data from Vietnam

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Anna Folke; Rand, John; Torm, Nina Elisabeth

2011-01-01

This paper examines the extent to which recruitment ties affect individual wage outcomes in small and medium scale manufacturing firms. Based on a unique matched employer–employee dataset from Vietnam the authors find that there is a significant positive wage premium associated with obtaining a job...... through an informal contact, when controlling for standard determinants of wage compensation. Moreover, they show that the mechanism through which informal contacts affect wages depends on the type of recruitment tie used. The findings are robust across location, firm size categories, and different worker...

Meta-analysis of variables affecting mouse protection efficacy of whole organism Brucella vaccines and vaccine candidates

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Vaccine protection investigation includes three processes: vaccination, pathogen challenge, and vaccine protection efficacy assessment. Many variables can affect the results of vaccine protection. Brucella, a genus of facultative intracellular bacteria, is the etiologic agent of brucellosis in humans and multiple animal species. Extensive research has been conducted in developing effective live attenuated Brucella vaccines. We hypothesized that some variables play a more important role than others in determining vaccine protective efficacy. Using Brucella vaccines and vaccine candidates as study models, this hypothesis was tested by meta-analysis of Brucella vaccine studies reported in the literature. Results Nineteen variables related to vaccine-induced protection of mice against infection with virulent brucellae were selected based on modeling investigation of the vaccine protection processes. The variable "vaccine protection efficacy" was set as a dependent variable while the other eighteen were set as independent variables. Discrete or continuous values were collected from papers for each variable of each data set. In total, 401 experimental groups were manually annotated from 74 peer-reviewed publications containing mouse protection data for live attenuated Brucella vaccines or vaccine candidates. Our ANOVA analysis indicated that nine variables contributed significantly (P-value Brucella vaccine protection efficacy: vaccine strain, vaccination host (mouse) strain, vaccination dose, vaccination route, challenge pathogen strain, challenge route, challenge-killing interval, colony forming units (CFUs) in mouse spleen, and CFU reduction compared to control group. The other 10 variables (e.g., mouse age, vaccination-challenge interval, and challenge dose) were not found to be statistically significant (P-value > 0.05). The protection level of RB51 was sacrificed when the values of several variables (e.g., vaccination route, vaccine viability, and

Reconceptualizing resistance: sociology and the affective dimension of resistance.

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Hynes, Maria

2013-12-01

This paper re-examines the sociological study of resistance in light of growing interest in the concept of affect. Recent claims that we are witness to an 'affective turn' and calls for a 'new sociological empiricism' sensitive to affect indicate an emerging paradigm shift in sociology. Yet, mainstream sociological study of resistance tends to have been largely unaffected by this shift. To this end, this paper presents a case for the significance of affect as a lens by which to approach the study of resistance. My claim is not simply that the forms of actions we would normally recognize as resistance have an affective dimension. Rather, it is that the theory of affect broadens 'resistance' beyond the purview of the two dominant modes of analysis in sociology; namely, the study of macropolitical forms, on the one hand, and the micropolitics of everyday resistance on the other. This broadened perspective challenges the persistent assumption that ideological forms of power and resistance are the most pertinent to the contemporary world, suggesting that much power and resistance today is of a more affective nature. In making this argument, it is a Deleuzian reading of affect that is pursued, which opens up to a level of analysis beyond the common understanding of affect as emotion. I argue that an affective approach to resistance would pay attention to those barely perceptible transitions in power and mobilizations of bodily potential that operate below the conscious perceptions and subjective emotions of social actors. These affective transitions constitute a new site at which both power and resistance operate. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2013.

Examination of Parameters Affecting the House Prices by Multiple Regression Analysis and its Contributions to Earthquake-Based Urban Transformation

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Denli, H. H.; Durmus, B.

2016-12-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors which may affect the apartment prices with multiple linear regression analysis models and visualize the results by value maps. The study is focused on a county of Istanbul - Turkey. Totally 390 apartments around the county Umraniye are evaluated due to their physical and locational conditions. The identification of factors affecting the price of apartments in the county with a population of approximately 600k is expected to provide a significant contribution to the apartment market.Physical factors are selected as the age, number of rooms, size, floor numbers of the building and the floor that the apartment is positioned in. Positional factors are selected as the distances to the nearest hospital, school, park and police station. Totally ten physical and locational parameters are examined by regression analysis.After the regression analysis has been performed, value maps are composed from the parameters age, price and price per square meters. The most significant of the composed maps is the price per square meters map. Results show that the location of the apartment has the most influence to the square meter price information of the apartment. A different practice is developed from the composed maps by searching the ability of using price per square meters map in urban transformation practices. By marking the buildings older than 15 years in the price per square meters map, a different and new interpretation has been made to determine the buildings, to which should be given priority during an urban transformation in the county.This county is very close to the North Anatolian Fault zone and is under the threat of earthquakes. By marking the apartments older than 15 years on the price per square meters map, both older and expensive square meters apartments list can be gathered. By the help of this list, the priority could be given to the selected higher valued old apartments to support the economy of the country

Uncertainties in criticality analysis which affect the storage and transportation of LWR fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Napolitani, D.G.

1989-01-01

Satisfying the design criteria for subcriticality with uncertainties affects: the capacity of LWR storage arrays, maximum allowable enrichment, minimum allowable burnup and economics of various storage options. There are uncertainties due to: calculational method, data libraries, geometric limitations, modelling bias, the number and quality of benchmarks performed and mechanical uncertainties in the array. Yankee Atomic Electric Co. (YAEC) has developed and benchmarked methods to handle: high density storage rack designs, pin consolidation, low density moderation and burnup credit. The uncertainties associated with such criticality analysis are quantified on the basis of clean criticals, power reactor criticals and intercomparison of independent analysis methods

Prognostic significance of smoking in addition to established risk factors in patients with Dukes B and C colorectal cancer: a retrospective analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Diamantis, N; Xynos, I D; Amptulah, S; Karadima, M; Skopelitis, H; Tsavaris, N

2013-01-01

To investigate the prognostic significance of smoking in addition to established risk factors in patients with Dukes stage B and C colorectal cancer (CRC). 291 consecutive non-selected CRC patients were studied retrospectively. Twenty-three variables were examined using a regression statistical model to identify relevant prognostic factors related to disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). On multivariate analysis DFS was found to be negatively affected in patients with a smoking history of ≤10 pack-years vs. non-smokers (p<0.016). Additionally, performance status (PS)<90 (p<0.001), Dukes stage C (p<0.001) and elevated tumor markers (p<0.001) at the time of diagnosis were found to adversely affect DFS. Smoking also had a significant association with relapse. Patients with a smoking history of ≤10 pack-years had 2.45 (p<0.018) higher risk of recurrence compared to patients with no smoking history. OS was influenced by Karnofsky performance status (PS), Dukes stage, and elevated tumor markers. In particular patients with PS< 90 had a 4.69-fold higher risk of death (p<0.001) than patients with better PS. Stage C disease was associated with 2.27-fold higher risk of death (p<0.001) than stage B disease, and patients with elevated tumor markers at the time of diagnosis had 2.74-fold higher risk of death (p<0.014) when compared to those whose tumor markers were normal at presentation. Our study associates smoking and relapse incidence in non-clinical- trial CRC patients and reiterates the prognostic significance of PS, stage and tumor markers at the time of diagnosis.

Significant aspects of the external event analysis methodology of the Jose Cabrera NPP PSA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barquin Duena, A.; Martin Martinez, A.R.; Boneham, P.S.; Ortega Prieto, P.

1994-01-01

This paper describes the following advances in the methodology for Analysis of External Events in the PSA of the Jose Cabrera NPP: In the Fire Analysis, a version of the COMPBRN3 CODE, modified by Empresarios Agrupados according to the guidelines of Appendix D of the NUREG/CR-5088, has been used. Generic cases were modelled and general conclusions obtained, applicable to fire propagation in closed areas. The damage times obtained were appreciably lower than those obtained with the previous version of the code. The Flood Analysis methodology is based on the construction of event trees to represent flood propagation dependent on the condition of the communication paths between areas, and trees showing propagation stages as a function of affected areas and damaged mitigation equipment. To determine temporary evolution of the flood area level, the CAINZO-EA code has been developed, adapted to specific plant characteristics. In both the Fire and Flood Analyses a quantification methodology has been adopted, which consists of analysing the damages caused at each stage of growth or propagation and identifying, in the Internal Events models, the gates, basic events or headers to which safe failure (probability 1) due to damages is assigned. (Author)

A critical discussion of null hypothesis significance testing and statistical power analysis within psychological research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jones, Allan; Sommerlund, Bo

2007-01-01

The uses of null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) and statistical power analysis within psychological research are critically discussed. The article looks at the problems of relying solely on NHST when dealing with small and large sample sizes. The use of power-analysis in estimating...... the potential error introduced by small and large samples is advocated. Power analysis is not recommended as a replacement to NHST but as an additional source of information about the phenomena under investigation. Moreover, the importance of conceptual analysis in relation to statistical analysis of hypothesis...

Vocal Affect Recognition and Psychopathy: Converging Findings Across Traditional and Cluster Analytic Approaches to Assessing the Construct

Science.gov (United States)

Bagley, Amy D.; Abramowitz, Carolyn S.; Kosson, David S.

2010-01-01

Deficits in emotion processing have been widely reported to be central to psychopathy. However, few prior studies have examined vocal affect recognition in psychopaths, and these studies suffer from significant methodological limitations. Moreover, prior studies have yielded conflicting findings regarding the specificity of psychopaths’ affect recognition deficits. This study examined vocal affect recognition in 107 male inmates under conditions requiring isolated prosodic vs. semantic analysis of affective cues and compared subgroups of offenders identified via cluster analysis on vocal affect recognition. Psychopaths demonstrated deficits in vocal affect recognition under conditions requiring use of semantic cues and conditions requiring use of prosodic cues. Moreover, both primary and secondary psychopaths exhibited relatively similar emotional deficits in the semantic analysis condition compared to nonpsychopathic control participants. This study demonstrates that psychopaths’ vocal affect recognition deficits are not due to methodological limitations of previous studies and provides preliminary evidence that primary and secondary psychopaths exhibit generally similar deficits in vocal affect recognition. PMID:19413412

Factors affecting the survival of the “at risk” newborn at Korle Bu ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The type of delivery other than the spontaneous vaginal route also affects the outcome, though the relationship was not statistically significant. Logistic regression analysis showed that maturity, birthweight and time from birth to admission to NICU were the most significant factors associated with the survival of the neonate.

Testing the Grandchildren's Received Affection Scale using Affection Exchange Theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Mansson, Daniel H

2013-04-01

The purpose of this study was to test the Grandchildren's Received Affection Scale (GRAS) using Affection Exchange Theory (Floyd, 2006). In accordance with Affection Exchange Theory, it was hypothesized that grandchildren's scores on the Trait Affection Received Scale (i.e., the extent to which individuals by nature receive affection) would be related significantly and positively to their reports of received affection from their grandparents (i.e., their scores on the GRAS). Additionally, a research question was asked to explore if grandchildren's received affection from their grandparents is dependent on their grandparent's biological sex or lineage (i.e., maternal vs paternal). Thus, young adult grandchildren (N = 422) completed the GRAS and the Trait Affection Received Scale. The results of zero-order Pearson correlational analyses provided support for the hypothesis, whereas the results of MANOVAs tests only partially support extant grandparent-grandchild theory and research. These findings broaden the scope of Affection Exchange Theory and also bolster the GRAS's utility in future grandparent-grandchild affectionate communication research.

An analysis of disruptions in aerospace/defense organizations that affect the supply chain

Science.gov (United States)

Dickerson, Toscha L.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether or not functions of procurement organizations structures' and aerospace suppliers were perceived as disruptions and to identify their effects on lead time and costs within a supply chain. An analysis of employees' perception of centralized and decentralized procurement functions, aerospace and defense suppliers, lead times of goods and services, price increases, and schedule delays was conducted. Prior studies are limited in regards to understanding how specific procurement functions affects an organization procurement structure. This non-experimental quantitative study allowed for a survey to be administered to aerospace and defense companies throughout the United States to obtain information from sourcing and procurement professionals with 5 or more years of experience. The current study utilized a 10 question survey based on the 5- point Likert -type scale to determine the findings. Through descriptive and inferential statistics, using regression analysis, standard deviation, and P-value; findings indicated that the majority of the participants surveyed perceived both centralized and decentralized procurement functions affected lead time and cost of goods and services resulted in a positive effect and were considered as supply chain disruptions.

Factors That Affect Suicidal Attempt Risk Among Korean Elderly Adults: A Path Analysis

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Junsoo Ro

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Among the Korean elderly (those 65 years of age and older, the suicide rate is 80.3/100 000 people, which is ten times higher than the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average. Because South Korea is rapidly becoming an aging population, this high elderly suicidal rate will only get worse. Although the size of the elderly suicide problem is quite large, previous research in South Korea has surveyed restricted areas and not the entire country. Even though the factors that affect elderly suicide are complicated, there has been little research into these influencing factors. Thus, this research uses the national survey data (Community Health Survey that was obtained in 2009. Additionally, we analyze factors affecting elderly suicidal ideation and attempts as well as the paths of these effects. Methods: Community Health Survey data obtained by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2009 was used for this study. We additionally examined the factors that affect suicide with chi-squared tests, t-tests, Pearson’s correlation test, and path analysis. Results: Depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation are the only factors that directly affect suicidal attempts. Demographic, behavioral, and physical activity factors have indirect effects on suicidal attempts. Conclusions: Depression has the strongest influence on suicidal ideation and attempts. Demographic, behavioral, and physical activity factors affect suicidal attempts mostly through depressive symptoms. In addition, there is a path that suggests that demographic, behavioral, and physical activity factors affect suicidal attempts not through depression symptoms but only through suicidal ideation. This means that the elderly who do not have depression symptoms attempt suicide according to their own situations and characteristics.

DASS-GUI: a user interface for identification and analysis of significant patterns in non-sequential data.

Science.gov (United States)

Hollunder, Jens; Friedel, Maik; Kuiper, Martin; Wilhelm, Thomas

2010-04-01

Many large 'omics' datasets have been published and many more are expected in the near future. New analysis methods are needed for best exploitation. We have developed a graphical user interface (GUI) for easy data analysis. Our discovery of all significant substructures (DASS) approach elucidates the underlying modularity, a typical feature of complex biological data. It is related to biclustering and other data mining approaches. Importantly, DASS-GUI also allows handling of multi-sets and calculation of statistical significances. DASS-GUI contains tools for further analysis of the identified patterns: analysis of the pattern hierarchy, enrichment analysis, module validation, analysis of additional numerical data, easy handling of synonymous names, clustering, filtering and merging. Different export options allow easy usage of additional tools such as Cytoscape. Source code, pre-compiled binaries for different systems, a comprehensive tutorial, case studies and many additional datasets are freely available at http://www.ifr.ac.uk/dass/gui/. DASS-GUI is implemented in Qt.

How do mean division shares affect growth and development

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Shao Liang Frank

2017-01-01

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

Exogenous abscisic acid significantly affects proteome in tea plant (Camellia sinensis) exposed to drought stress

Science.gov (United States)

Tea [Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze] is an important economic crop, and drought is the most important abiotic stress affecting yield and quality. Abscisic acid (ABA) is an important phytohormone responsible for activating drought resistance. Increased understanding of ABA effects on tea plant unde...

Analysis of usability factors affecting purchase intention in online e-commerce sites

Science.gov (United States)

Perdana, R. A.; Suzianti, A.

2017-03-01

The growing number of internet users plays a significant role in the emergence of a variety of online e-commerce sites to meet the needs of Indonesians. However, there are still some problems faced by the users in using e-commerce sites. Therefore, a research related to user experience on their purchase intention to foster e-commerce sites is required. This study is conducted to find out the relationship between usability factors on e-commerce users’ purchase intention using a case study by using SEM to analyse the usability of the website. The result of this study shows that credibility, readability and telepresence are usability factors that directly affect purchase intention, while simplicity, consistency and interactivity are usability factors that indirectly affect purchase intention. Therefore, we can conclude that Indonesian consumers are on the Early Majority phase in adopting Company A.

Affect and Learning : a computational analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Broekens, Douwe Joost

2007-01-01

In this thesis we have studied the influence of emotion on learning. We have used computational modelling techniques to do so, more specifically, the reinforcement learning paradigm. Emotion is modelled as artificial affect, a measure that denotes the positiveness versus negativeness of a situation

The clinical significance of determination of adrenal medulla in patients with chronic cor pulmonale and analysis of its relevant factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tian Yingchun; Zha Jinshun

2002-01-01

In order to find the function of adrenal medulla in the development of chronic cor pulmonale and the effect of smoking, anoxia and lung's work on adrenal medulla, the authors determined adrenal medulla in 63 patients with acute cor pulmonale (Group A) and 60 controls (Group B). The authors tried to find out the effect of the patients' age, course of disease, history of smoking, malfunction of lung on adrenal medulla by multiple regressive analysis. Adrenal medulla is significantly higher in Group A than that of in Group B (P 2 both contribute to the conclusion that smoking is an independent factor to affect the adrenal medulla. The study shows that the adrenal medulla in patients with cor pulmonale is higher than that of normal people, and that the level of adrenal medulla is dependent on the degree of seriousness of the disease, obstructive ventilatory disturbance and anoxia

Analysis of the heat affected zone in CO2 laser cutting of stainless steel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Madić Miloš J.

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an investigation into the effect of the laser cutting parameters on the heat affected zone in CO2 laser cutting of AISI 304 stainless steel. The mathematical model for the heat affected zone was expressed as a function of the laser cutting parameters such as the laser power, cutting speed, assist gas pressure and focus position using the artificial neural network. To obtain experimental database for the artificial neural network training, laser cutting experiment was planned as per Taguchi’s L27 orthogonal array with three levels for each of the cutting parameter. Using the 27 experimental data sets, the artificial neural network was trained with gradient descent with momentum algorithm and the average absolute percentage error was 2.33%. The testing accuracy was then verified with 6 extra experimental data sets and the average predicting error was 6.46%. Statistically assessed as adequate, the artificial neural network model was then used to investigate the effect of the laser cutting parameters on the heat affected zone. To analyze the main and interaction effect of the laser cutting parameters on the heat affected zone, 2-D and 3-D plots were generated. The analysis revealed that the cutting speed had maximum influence on the heat affected zone followed by the laser power, focus position and assist gas pressure. Finally, using the Monte Carlo method the optimal laser cutting parameter values that minimize the heat affected zone were identified.

Significant improvement of accuracy and precision in the determination of trace rare earths by fluorescence analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ozawa, L.; Hersh, H.N.

1976-01-01

Most of the rare earths in yttrium, gadolinium and lanthanum oxides emit characteristic fluorescent line spectra under irradiation with photons, electrons and x rays. The sensitivity and selectivity of the rare earth fluorescences are high enough to determine the trace amounts (0.01 to 100 ppM) of rare earths. The absolute fluorescent intensities of solids, however, are markedly affected by the synthesis procedure, level of contamination and crystal perfection, resulting in poor accuracy and low precision for the method (larger than 50 percent error). Special care in preparation of the samples is required to obtain good accuracy and precision. It is found that the accuracy and precision for the determination of trace (less than 10 ppM) rare earths by fluorescence analysis improved significantly, while still maintaining the sensitivity, when the determination is made by comparing the ratio of the fluorescent intensities of the trace rare earths to that of a deliberately added rare earth as reference. The variation in the absolute fluorescent intensity remains, but is compensated for by measuring the fluorescent line intensity ratio. Consequently, the determination of trace rare earths (with less than 3 percent error) is easily made by a photoluminescence technique in which the rare earths are excited directly by photons. Accuracy is still maintained when the absolute fluorescent intensity is reduced by 50 percent through contamination by Ni, Fe, Mn or Pb (about 100 ppM). Determination accuracy is also improved for fluorescence analysis by electron excitation and x-ray excitation. For some rare earths, however, accuracy by these techniques is reduced because indirect excitation mechanisms are involved. The excitation mechanisms and the interferences between rare earths are also reported

Anxiety, affect, self-esteem, and stress: mediation and moderation effects on depression.

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Ali Al Nima

Full Text Available Mediation analysis investigates whether a variable (i.e., mediator changes in regard to an independent variable, in turn, affecting a dependent variable. Moderation analysis, on the other hand, investigates whether the statistical interaction between independent variables predict a dependent variable. Although this difference between these two types of analysis is explicit in current literature, there is still confusion with regard to the mediating and moderating effects of different variables on depression. The purpose of this study was to assess the mediating and moderating effects of anxiety, stress, positive affect, and negative affect on depression.Two hundred and two university students (males  = 93, females  = 113 completed questionnaires assessing anxiety, stress, self-esteem, positive and negative affect, and depression. Mediation and moderation analyses were conducted using techniques based on standard multiple regression and hierarchical regression analyses.The results indicated that (i anxiety partially mediated the effects of both stress and self-esteem upon depression, (ii that stress partially mediated the effects of anxiety and positive affect upon depression, (iii that stress completely mediated the effects of self-esteem on depression, and (iv that there was a significant interaction between stress and negative affect, and between positive affect and negative affect upon depression.The study highlights different research questions that can be investigated depending on whether researchers decide to use the same variables as mediators and/or moderators.

Anxiety, Affect, Self-Esteem, and Stress: Mediation and Moderation Effects on Depression

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Nima, Ali Al; Rosenberg, Patricia; Archer, Trevor; Garcia, Danilo

2013-01-01

Background Mediation analysis investigates whether a variable (i.e., mediator) changes in regard to an independent variable, in turn, affecting a dependent variable. Moderation analysis, on the other hand, investigates whether the statistical interaction between independent variables predict a dependent variable. Although this difference between these two types of analysis is explicit in current literature, there is still confusion with regard to the mediating and moderating effects of different variables on depression. The purpose of this study was to assess the mediating and moderating effects of anxiety, stress, positive affect, and negative affect on depression. Methods Two hundred and two university students (males  = 93, females  = 113) completed questionnaires assessing anxiety, stress, self-esteem, positive and negative affect, and depression. Mediation and moderation analyses were conducted using techniques based on standard multiple regression and hierarchical regression analyses. Main Findings The results indicated that (i) anxiety partially mediated the effects of both stress and self-esteem upon depression, (ii) that stress partially mediated the effects of anxiety and positive affect upon depression, (iii) that stress completely mediated the effects of self-esteem on depression, and (iv) that there was a significant interaction between stress and negative affect, and between positive affect and negative affect upon depression. Conclusion The study highlights different research questions that can be investigated depending on whether researchers decide to use the same variables as mediators and/or moderators. PMID:24039896

Factors affecting outcome in ocular myasthenia gravis.

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Mazzoli, Marco; Ariatti, Alessandra; Valzania, Franco; Kaleci, Shaniko; Tondelli, Manuela; Nichelli, Paolo F; Galassi, Giuliana

2018-01-01

50%-60% of patients with ocular myasthenia gravis (OMG) progress to generalized myasthenia gravis (GMG) within two years. The aim of our study was to explore factors affecting prognosis of OMG and to test the predictive role of several independent clinical variables. We reviewed a cohort of 168 Caucasian patients followed from September 2000 to January 2016. Several independent variables were considered as prognostic factors: gender, age of onset, results on electrophysiological tests, presence and level of antibodies against acetylcholine receptors (AChR Abs), treatments, thymic abnormalities. The primary outcome was the progression to GMG and/or the presence of bulbar symptoms. Secondary outcomes were either achievement of sustained minimal manifestation status or worsening in ocular quantitative MG subscore (O-QMGS) or worsening in total QMG score (T-QMGS), assessed by Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) quantitative scores. Changes in mental and physical subscores of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) were assessed with SF-36 questionnaire. Variance analysis was used to interpret the differences between AChR Ab titers at different times of follow up among the generalized and non-generalized patients. Conversion to GMG occurred in 18.4% of patients; it was significantly associated with sex, later onset of disease and anti-AChR Ab positivity. Antibody titer above the mean value of 25.8 pmol/mL showed no significant effect on generalization. Sex and late onset of disease significantly affected T-QMGS worsening. None of the other independent variables significantly affected O-QMGS and HRQoL. Sex, later onset and anti-AChR Ab positivity were significantly associated with clinical worsening.

Approaches that Affect Consumer-Based Brand Equity

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Denise Santos de Oliveira

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Current studies on factors affecting the dimensions of consumer-based brand equity have been dispersed, applicable to specific contexts and not systematized in the literature. So, the purpose of this paper is to identify and categorize factors that create, increase or decrease each of the consumer-based brand equity dimensions: brand associations, brand awareness, perceived quality and brand loyalty. The extensive analysis of literature shows that there are significant differences between factors affecting each of the brand equity dimensions. Factors that positively affect one dimension cannot have the same effect on another. Moreover, it notes that the effect of such factors is variations when analyzed in different sectors and economic contexts. The main contribution of this research lies in the fact that it provides a research panorama already conducted on factors affecting the dimensions of consumer-based brand equity, indicating a potential for development of future studies. This research also enriches the literature categorizing the factors identified in the literature in four sets that allow the future targeting studies.

Non-Targeted Metabolomics Analysis of Golden Retriever Muscular Dystrophy-Affected Muscles Reveals Alterations in Arginine and Proline Metabolism, and Elevations in Glutamic and Oleic Acid In Vivo

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Abdullah, Muhammad; Kornegay, Joe N.; Honcoop, Aubree; Parry, Traci L.; Balog-Alvarez, Cynthia J.; Muehlbauer, Michael J.; Newgard, Christopher B.; Patterson, Cam

2017-01-01

Background: Like Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), the Golden Retriever Muscular Dystrophy (GRMD) dog model of DMD is characterized by muscle necrosis, progressive paralysis, and pseudohypertrophy in specific skeletal muscles. This severe GRMD phenotype includes moderate atrophy of the biceps femoris (BF) as compared to unaffected normal dogs, while the long digital extensor (LDE), which functions to flex the tibiotarsal joint and serves as a digital extensor, undergoes the most pronounced atrophy. A recent microarray analysis of GRMD identified alterations in genes associated with lipid metabolism and energy production. Methods: We, therefore, undertook a non-targeted metabolomics analysis of the milder/earlier stage disease GRMD BF muscle versus the more severe/chronic LDE using GC-MS to identify underlying metabolic defects specific for affected GRMD skeletal muscle. Results: Untargeted metabolomics analysis of moderately-affected GRMD muscle (BF) identified eight significantly altered metabolites, including significantly decreased stearamide (0.23-fold of controls, p = 2.89 × 10−3), carnosine (0.40-fold of controls, p = 1.88 × 10−2), fumaric acid (0.40-fold of controls, p = 7.40 × 10−4), lactamide (0.33-fold of controls, p = 4.84 × 10−2), myoinositol-2-phosphate (0.45-fold of controls, p = 3.66 × 10−2), and significantly increased oleic acid (1.77-fold of controls, p = 9.27 × 10−2), glutamic acid (2.48-fold of controls, p = 2.63 × 10−2), and proline (1.73-fold of controls, p = 3.01 × 10−2). Pathway enrichment analysis identified significant enrichment for arginine/proline metabolism (p = 5.88 × 10−4, FDR 4.7 × 10−2), where alterations in L-glutamic acid, proline, and carnosine were found. Additionally, multiple Krebs cycle intermediates were significantly decreased (e.g., malic acid, fumaric acid, citric/isocitric acid, and succinic acid), suggesting that altered energy metabolism may be underlying the observed GRMD BF muscle

Prognostic significance of p53 expression in patients with esophageal cancer: a meta-analysis

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Wang, Lianghai; Yu, Xiaodan; Li, Jing; Zhang, Zhiyu; Hou, Jun; Li, Feng

2016-01-01

The prognostic value of p53 protein expression in esophageal cancer has been evaluated, but the results remain inconclusive and no consensus has yet been achieved. This meta-analysis was conducted to quantitatively assess the prognostic significance of p53 expression in esophageal cancer. Publications that assessed the clinical or prognostic significance of p53 expression in esophageal cancer and were published before July 1, 2015 were identified by searching the PubMed and EMBASE databases. A meta-analysis was performed to clarify the association between p53 expression and the clinical outcomes. A total of 36 publications met the criteria and included 4577 cases. Analysis of these data showed that p53 expression in esophageal cancer was significantly associated with poorer 5-year survival (RR = 1.30, 95 % CI: 1.11–1.51, P = 0.0008). Subgroup analyses according to histological type, continent of the patients, and cut-off value revealed the similar results. The results also indicated that p53 expression was highly associated with advanced TNM stages (I/II vs. III/IV, OR = 0.74, 95 % CI: 0.55–0.99, P = 0.04), lymph node metastasis (OR = 0.77, 95 % CI: 0.66–0.90, P = 0.001), and distant metastasis (OR = 0.46, 95 % CI: 0.26–0.80, P = 0.006). However, p53 expression in the included studies was not significantly associated with tumor size (≤ 5 cm vs. > 5 cm, OR = 1.13, 95 % CI: 0.92–1.40, P = 0.24), tumor location (upper + middle vs. lower, OR = 0.91, 95 % CI: 0.70–1.17, P = 0.45), grade of differentiation (well + moderate vs. poor, OR = 1.10, 95 % CI: 0.90–1.34, P = 0.35), and the depth of invasion (T1/T2 vs. T3/T4, OR = 0.86, 95 % CI: 0.71–1.03, P = 0.09). This meta-analysis showed that p53 expression may be a useful biomarker for predicting poorer prognosis in patients with esophageal cancer

An information value based analysis of physical and climatic factors affecting dengue fever and dengue haemorrhagic fever incidence

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Tripathi Nitin

2005-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Vector-borne diseases are the most dreaded worldwide health problems. Although many campaigns against it have been conducted, Dengue Fever (DF and Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF are still the major health problems of Thailand. The reported number of dengue incidences in 1998 for the Thailand was 129,954, of which Sukhothai province alone reported alarming number of 682. It was the second largest epidemic outbreak of dengue after 1987. Government arranges the remedial facilities as and when dengue is reported. But, the best way to control is to prevent it from happening. This will be possible only when knowledge about the relationship of DF/DHF with climatic and physio-environmental agents is discovered. This paper explores empirical relationship of climatic factors rainfall, temperature and humidity with the DF/DHF incidences using multivariate regression analysis. Also, a GIS based methodology is proposed in this paper to explore the influence of physio-environmental factors on dengue incidences. Remotely sensed data provided important data about physical environment and have been used for many vector borne diseases. Information Values (IV method was utilised to derive influence of various factors in the quantitative terms. Researchers have not applied this type of analysis for dengue earlier. Sukhothai province was selected for the case study as it had high number of dengue cases in 1998 and also due to its diverse physical setting with variety of land use/land cover types. Results Preliminary results demonstrated that physical factors derived from remotely sensed data could indicate variation in physical risk factors affecting DF/DHF. A composite analysis of these three factors with dengue incidences was carried out using multivariate regression analysis. Three empirical models ER-1, ER-2 and ER-3 were evaluated. It was found that these three factors have significant relation with DF/DHF incidences and can be related to

Analysis of queuing mine-cars affecting shaft station radon concentrations in Quzhou uranium mine, eastern China

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Changshou Hong

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Shaft stations of underground uranium mines in China are not only utilized as waiting space for loaded mine-cars queuing to be hoisted but also as the principal channel for fresh air taken to working places. Therefore, assessment of how mine-car queuing processes affect shaft station radon concentration was carried out. Queuing network of mine-cars has been analyzed in an underground uranium mine, located in Quzhou, Zhejiang province of Eastern China. On the basis of mathematical analysis of the queue network, a MATLAB-based quasi-random number generating program utilizing Monte-Carlo methods was worked out. Extensive simulations were then implemented via MATALB operating on a DELL PC. Thereafter, theoretical calculations and field measurements of shaft station radon concentrations for several working conditions were performed. The queuing performance measures of interest, like average queuing length and waiting time, were found to be significantly affected by the utilization rate (positively correlated. However, even with respect to the “worst case”, the shaft station radon concentration was always lower than 200 Bq/m3. The model predictions were compared with the measuring results, and a satisfactory agreement was noted. Under current working conditions, queuing-induced variations of shaft station radon concentration of the study mine are not remarkable. Keywords: Hoist and Transport Systems, Mine-cars, Queuing Simulation, Radon Concentration, Underground Uranium Mine

Association between social interaction and affect in nursing home residents with dementia.

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Jao, Ying-Ling; Loken, Eric; MacAndrew, Margaret; Van Haitsma, Kimberly; Kolanowski, Ann

2018-06-01

Social interactions that lead to positive affect are fundamental to human well-being. However, individuals with dementia are challenged to achieve positive social interaction. It is unclear how social interactions influence affect in people with dementia. This study examined the association between social interactions and affect in nursing home residents with dementia. This repeated measures study used baseline data from a clinical trial in which 126 residents from 12 nursing homes were enrolled. Participants were video recorded twice daily on five days. Ratings of social interaction and affect were taken from the videotapes using the Interacting with People subscale of the Passivity in Dementia and the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Apparent Affect Rating Scale. Linear mixed models were used for analysis. Social interaction was significantly related to higher interest and pleasure at within- and between-person levels. Social interaction significantly predicted anxiety and sadness at the between-person level only. Residents with higher cognitive function also displayed greater pleasure. Greater interest and anxiety was evident during the afternoon hours. This study supports the impact of social interactions on positive and negative affect. Findings can guide intervention development, aimed at promoting positive social interactions and improving affect for people with dementia.

The effect of psychotherapeutic interventions on positive and negative affect in depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

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Boumparis, Nikolaos; Karyotaki, Eirini; Kleiboer, Annet; Hofmann, Stefan G; Cuijpers, Pim

2016-09-15

Depression is a mental disorder characterized by high and dysregulated negative affect in addition to diminished positive affect. To our knowledge, there has been no systematic review of the impact of psychotherapeutic interventions on these affective dimensions. Two comprehensive literature searches for all randomized controlled trials of psychotherapy in adults with depression were performed. The first from 1996 to December 31, 2014 and the second from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015. The primary outcome was the mean score of positive and negative affect. Depressive symptoms were measured to be included as a predictor in the meta-regression analyses. Ten studies with 793 adults with depression were included. All studies assessed positive and negative affect. Psychotherapeutic interventions resulted in significantly increased positive affect (g=0.41; 95% CI: 0.16-0.66 p=0.001), and significantly decreased negative affect (g=0.32; 95% CI: 0.15-0.78, p=0.001) in depressed adults. Because of the small number and substantial heterogeneity of the existing studies the meta-regression analyses produced conflicting results. As a consequence, we were unable to sufficiently demonstrate whether NA and depressive symptoms are in fact correlated or not. Given the small number and heterogeneity of the included studies, the findings should be considered with caution. Psychotherapeutic interventions demonstrate low to moderate effects in enhancing positive and reducing negative affect in depressed adults. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Detecting Novelty and Significance

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

2013-01-01

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

Long-term affected energy production of waste to energy technologies identified by use of energy system analysis.

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Münster, M; Meibom, P

2010-12-01

Affected energy production is often decisive for the outcome of consequential life-cycle assessments when comparing the potential environmental impact of products or services. Affected energy production is however difficult to determine. In this article the future long-term affected energy production is identified by use of energy system analysis. The focus is on different uses of waste for energy production. The Waste-to-Energy technologies analysed include co-combustion of coal and waste, anaerobic digestion and thermal gasification. The analysis is based on optimization of both investments and production of electricity, district heating and bio-fuel in a future possible energy system in 2025 in the countries of the Northern European electricity market (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Germany). Scenarios with different CO(2) quota costs are analysed. It is demonstrated that the waste incineration continues to treat the largest amount of waste. Investments in new waste incineration capacity may, however, be superseded by investments in new Waste-to-Energy technologies, particularly those utilising sorted fractions such as organic waste and refuse derived fuel. The changed use of waste proves to always affect a combination of technologies. What is affected varies among the different Waste-to-Energy technologies and is furthermore dependent on the CO(2) quota costs and on the geographical scope. The necessity for investments in flexibility measures varies with the different technologies such as storage of heat and waste as well as expansion of district heating networks. Finally, inflexible technologies such as nuclear power plants are shown to be affected. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Elemental composition changes in citrus affected by the CVC disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nadai Fernandes de, A.A.; Tagliaferro, F.S.; Turra, C.; Franca de, E.J.; Bacchi, M.A.

2008-01-01

The citrus variegated chlorosis (CVC) disease results in serious economical losses for the Brazilian citriculture. The influence of CVC disease on the elemental composition of citrus plants was investigated. Leaves of sweet orange varieties Hamlin, Pera Rio and Valencia were collected from healthy and CVC-affected trees for chemical characterization by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Significant differences between healthy and CVC-affected leaves were identified for Ca, Ce, Co, Eu, Fe, K, La, Na, Nd, Rb, Sc and Sm. Rare earth elements presented consistently higher mass fractions in the healthy leaves. (author)

PARAMETERS AFFECTING THE STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF A TUNNEL STRUCTURE EXPOSED TO FIRE

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Omid Pouran

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Behaviour of cut-and-cover tunnels exposed to fire should be analysed by using a realistic structural model that takes account of mechanical and thermal effects on the structure. This has been performed with the aid of Finite Element (FE software package called SOFiSTiK in parallel, for two types of elements as a scope of research project financed by the German Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen BAST. Since the stiffness of the structure at elevated temperatures is highly affected, a realistic model of structural behaviour of the tunnel could be only achieved by considering the nonlinear analysis of the structure. This has been performed for a 2–cell cut and cover tunnel by taking account of simultaneous reduction of stiffness and strength and the time-dependent increasing indirect effects due to axial constraints and temperature gradients induced by elevated temperatures. The thermal analyses have been performed and the effects were implemented into the structural model by the multi-layered strain model. The stress–strain model proposed by EN 1992-1-2 is implemented for the elevated temperature. Since there was sufficient amount of Polypropylene fibres in the concrete mixtures, modelling of spalling was excluded from the analysis. The critical corresponding stresses and material behaviour are compared and interpreted at different time stages. The main parameters affecting the accuracy and convergence of the results of structural analysis for the used model are identified: defining a realistic fire action, using concrete material model fulfilling the requirements of fire situation in tunnels, defining appropriate time intervals for load implementations. These parameters along with other parameters, which influence the results to a lesser degree, are identified and investigated in this paper.

Negative affect, negative urgency, thought suppression, and bulimic symptoms: a moderated mediation analysis in a sample at-risk for bulimic symptoms.

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Lavender, Jason M; Green, Daniel; Anestis, Michael D; Tull, Matthew T; Gratz, Kim L

2015-05-01

Research suggests that negative affect, negative urgency, and thought suppression are related to bulimic symptoms, either directly or indirectly. This study examined associations between these constructs in a sample at-risk for bulimic symptoms. Participants (N = 80) recruited from a residential substance abuse treatment facility completed self-report questionnaires. A regression-based bootstrapping approach was used to examine the indirect effect of negative affect on bulimic symptoms through negative urgency and the moderating role of thought suppression in the association between negative affect and negative urgency. Results revealed a significant indirect effect, significant moderation, and a significant moderated mediation effect, with an indirect effect of negative affect on bulimic symptoms through negative urgency, conditional upon low to moderate (but not high) levels of thought suppression. These findings suggest that negative affect may promote rash actions, particularly in the context of low to moderate thought suppression, leading to increased risk of bulimic symptoms. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

A Psychometric Analysis of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children-Parent Version in a School Sample

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Ebesutani, Chad; Okamura, Kelsie; Higa-McMillan, Charmaine; Chorpita, Bruce F.

2011-01-01

The current study was the 1st to examine the psychometric properties of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children-Parent Version (PANAS-C-P) using a large school-based sample of children and adolescents ages 8 to 18 (N = 606). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a 2-factor (correlated) model of positive affect (PA) and negative…

Common pitfalls in statistical analysis: “P” values, statistical significance and confidence intervals

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Ranganathan, Priya; Pramesh, C. S.; Buyse, Marc

2015-01-01

In the second part of a series on pitfalls in statistical analysis, we look at various ways in which a statistically significant study result can be expressed. We debunk some of the myths regarding the ‘P’ value, explain the importance of ‘confidence intervals’ and clarify the importance of including both values in a paper PMID:25878958

ANALYSIS OF PARAMETERS AFFECTING THE QUALITY OF A CUTTING MACHINE

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Iveta Onderová

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The quality of cutting machines is affected by several factors that can be directly or indirectly influenced by manufacturers, technicians and users of machine tools. The most critical qualitative evaluation parameters of machine tools include accuracy and stability. Investigations of accuracy and repeatable positioning accuracy were essential for the research presented in this paper. The aim was to develop and experimentally verify the design of a methodology for cutting centers aimed at achieving the desired working precision. Before working on the topic described here, it was necessary to make several scientific analyses, which are summarized in this paper. We can build on the initial working hypothesis that by improving the technological parameters (e.g. by increasing the working speed of the machine, or by improving the precision of the positioning the quality of the cutting machine will also be improved. For the purposes of our study, several investigated parameters were set affecting positioning accuracy, such as rigidity, positioning speed, etc. First, the stiffness of the portal structure of the cutting machine was analyzed. FEM analysis was used to investigate several alternative structures of the cutting machine, and also an innovative solution for beam mounting. The second step was to integrate two types of drives into the design of the cutting machine. The first drive is a classic rack and pinion drive for cutting machines. To increase (improve the working speed of the machine, linear motors were designed as an alternative drive. The portal of the cutting machine was designed for a working speed of 260mmin−1 and acceleration of 25 m. s−2. The third step was based on the results of the analysis. In collaboration with Microstep, an experimental cutting machine in a portal version was produced using linear synchronous motors driving the portal on both sides, and with direct linear metering of its position. In the fourth step, an

Patterns of physiological and affective responses to vehicle pass-by noises

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Gert Notbohm

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Traffic noise is considered causing annoyance and severe health effects like cardiovascular disease (CVD. The present laboratory study examines the importance of individual factors, namely age, gender and personality traits on short term physiological and affective response to vehicle pass-by noises. Four groups of subjects (20-30 vs. 40-55 year-old male or female, n = 66 in total were exposed to a series of vehicle pass-by noises. Physiological responses (finger-pulse amplitude [FPA], skin conductance level [SCL] were registered during the exposure; affective responses and judgements regarding the sounds were assessed by questionnaires. Noise sensitivity and sensation seeking were measured by validated questionnaires. The results show different patterns of response depending on age, gender and personality. The strongest sympathetic stress reaction as measured by SCL was found for the older female group. In regression analysis, the SCL response was predicted by the female gender and low score of sensation seeking only (adjusted R2 = 0.139. The FPA response was strongest among the young men and age was the only significant predictor. For affective responses of pleasantness and activation, regression analysis proved noise sensitivity and sensation seeking to be significant predictors (adjusted R2 = 0.187 respectively 0.154. Age, gender and personality influence physiological and affective reactions to traffic noise, which might affect health conditions. Especially, a potential risk of older women for CVD owing to noise should be investigated further. Individual sensitiveness in terms of noise sensitivity or sensation seeking proves to be important for explaining differences in response to noise.

Dim Light Melatonin Onset and Affect in Adolescents With an Evening Circadian Preference.

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Dolsen, Michael R; Harvey, Allison G

2018-01-01

A shift toward an evening circadian preference and the onset of mood problems often occur during adolescence. Although these changes are linked to poorer outcomes, few studies have considered how positive and negative affect are related to the circadian rhythm during adolescence. This study examined the relationship between evening and morning affect ratings and dim light melatonin onset (DLMO), a measure of endogenous circadian rhythm. Age and sex were tested as moderators. This study is based on a subset of 163 (94 female, age = 14.7) adolescents with an evening circadian preference from a National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-funded study. Participants provided saliva for melatonin analysis and rated evening and morning affect. Higher evening negative affect was related to a later DLMO. Evening positive affect was not significantly related to DLMO timing. Age but not sex was a significant moderator such that higher negative and lower positive affect were related to a later DLMO for 10- to 13-year-olds, whereas higher positive affect was related to a later DLMO for 17- to 18-year-olds. DLMO was not significantly related to morning affect ratings. There is evidence that higher negative and lower positive affect may be related to the shift toward an evening circadian preference observed in adolescents, particularly for younger adolescents. Copyright © 2017 The Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Performance of nuclear power plants and analysis of some factors affecting their operational reliability and economy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kozak, M.; Havel, S.

1989-09-01

In Czechoslovakia, there are eight WWER 440 type reactors in operation at present. Since their introduction into operation, nuclear power plants in Czechoslovakia have exhibited high reliability. In the paper, total parameters of reliability with an analysis of causes affecting negatively their annual utilization are presented. Existence of a computerized information system for acquisition, recording and evaluation of reliability-significant data from operation and its feedback to designers and manufacturers of nuclear power plant equipment and components is a basic requirement of a systematic assurance of the needed level of nuclear power plant reliability. The information system is used simultaneously also for realistic evaluation of aging of equipment and systems. Analysis of the state of equipment is important mainly in the final stage of the NPP during consideration of further extension of its service life. Environmental effects of the Czechoslovak NPPs are very low (favourable). It follows from comparison of annual dose equivalents of the Czechoslovak NPPs operational personnel with the foreign NPPs that the values recorded in Czechoslovakia belong to the lowest ones. In conclusion, some ways of assurance of operational safety and reliability of the Czechoslovak nuclear power plants including the role of the State regulatory body are briefly discussed. (author). 3 tabs

Factors affecting quality of social interaction park in Jakarta

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Mangunsong, N. I.

2018-01-01

The existence of social interactions park in Jakarta is an oasis in the middle of a concrete jungle. Parks is a response to the need for open space as a place of recreation and community interaction. Often the social interaction parks built by the government does not function as expected, but other functions such as a place to sell, trash, unsafe so be rarely visited by visitors. The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors that affect the quality of social interaction parks in Jakarta by conducting descriptive analysis and correlation analysis of the variables assessment. The results of the analysis can give an idea of social interactions park based on community needs and propose the development of social interactioncity park. The object of study are 25 social interaction parks in 5 municipalities of Jakarta. The method used is descriptive analysis method, correlation analysis using SPSS 19 and using crosstab, chi-square tests. The variables are 5 aspects of Design, Plants composition: Selection type of plant (D); the beauty and harmony (Ind); Maintenance and fertility (P); Cleanliness and Environmental Health (BS); Specificity (Drainage, Multi Function garden, Means, Concern/Mutual cooperation, in dense settlements) (K). The results of analysis show that beauty is the most significant correlation with the value of the park followed by specificity, cleanliness and maintenance. Design was not the most significant variable affecting the quality of the park. The results of this study can be used by the Department of Parks and Cemeteries as input in managing park existing or to be developed and to improve the quality of social interaction park in Jakarta.

Dietary restriction of rodents decreases aging rate without affecting initial mortality rate -- a meta-analysis.

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Simons, Mirre J P; Koch, Wouter; Verhulst, Simon

2013-06-01

Dietary restriction (DR) extends lifespan in multiple species from various taxa. This effect can arise via two distinct but not mutually exclusive ways: a change in aging rate and/or vulnerability to the aging process (i.e. initial mortality rate). When DR affects vulnerability, this lowers mortality instantly, whereas a change in aging rate will gradually lower mortality risk over time. Unraveling how DR extends lifespan is of interest because it may guide toward understanding the mechanism(s) mediating lifespan extension and also has practical implications for the application of DR. We reanalyzed published survival data from 82 pairs of survival curves from DR experiments in rats and mice by fitting Gompertz and also Gompertz-Makeham models. The addition of the Makeham parameter has been reported to improve the estimation of Gompertz parameters. Both models separate initial mortality rate (vulnerability) from an age-dependent increase in mortality (aging rate). We subjected the obtained Gompertz parameters to a meta-analysis. We find that DR reduced aging rate without affecting vulnerability. The latter contrasts with the conclusion of a recent analysis of a largely overlapping data set, and we show how the earlier finding is due to a statistical artifact. Our analysis indicates that the biology underlying the life-extending effect of DR in rodents likely involves attenuated accumulation of damage, which contrasts with the acute effect of DR on mortality reported for Drosophila. Moreover, our findings show that the often-reported correlation between aging rate and vulnerability does not constrain changing aging rate without affecting vulnerability simultaneously. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and the Anatomical Society.

Urdu translation and validation of shorter version of Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) on Pakistani bank employees.

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Akhter, Noreen

2017-10-01

To translate, adapt and validate shorter version of positive affect and negative affect scale on Pakistani corporate employees. This cross-sectional study was conducted in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi from October 2014 to December 2015. The study was completed into two independent parts. In part one, the scale was translated by forward translation. Then it was pilot-tested and administered on customer services employees from commercial banks and the telecommunication sector. Data of the pilot study was analysed by using exploratory factor analysis to extract the initial factor of positive affect and negative affect scale. Part two comprised the main study. Commercial bank employees were included in the sample using convenient sampling technique. Data of the main study was analysed using confirmatory factor analysis in order to establish construct validity of positive affect and negative affect scale. There were145 participants in the first part of the study and 495 in the second. Results of confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the two-factor structure of positive affect and negative affect scale suggesting that the scale has two distinct domains, i.e. positive affect and negative affect. The shorter version of positive affect and negative affect scale was found to be a valid and reliable measure.

PATH ANALYSIS OF RECORDING SYSTEM INNOVATION FACTORS AFFECTING ADOPTION OF GOAT FARMERS

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S. Okkyla

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to evaluate the path analysis of recording system innovation factorsaffecting adoption of goat farmers. This study was conducted from January to February 2014 inPringapus District, Semarang Regency by using survey method. For determining the location, this studyused purposive sampling method. The amount of respondents were determined by quota samplingmethod. Total respondents randomly chosed were 146 farmers. The data were descriptively andquantitatively analyzed by using path analysis of statistical package for the social science (SPSS 16.Independent variables in this study were internal factor, motivation, innovation characteristics,information source, and dependent variable was adoption. Analysis of linear regression showed thatthere was no significant effect of internal factor on adoption, so that it was important to use the trimmingmethod in path analysis. The result of path analysis showed that the influence of motivation, innovationcharacteristics and information source on adoption were 0.168; 0.720 and 0.09, respectively. Innovationcharacteristics were the greatest effect on adoption. In conclusion, by improving innovationcharacteristics of respondent through motivation and information source may significantly increase theadoption of recording system in goat farmers.

Method of extracting significant trouble information of nuclear power plants using probabilistic analysis technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimada, Yoshio; Miyazaki, Takamasa

2005-01-01

In order to analyze and evaluate large amounts of trouble information of overseas nuclear power plants, it is necessary to select information that is significant in terms of both safety and reliability. In this research, a method of efficiently and simply classifying degrees of importance of components in terms of safety and reliability while paying attention to root-cause components appearing in the information was developed. Regarding safety, the reactor core damage frequency (CDF), which is used in the probabilistic analysis of a reactor, was used. Regarding reliability, the automatic plant trip probability (APTP), which is used in the probabilistic analysis of automatic reactor trips, was used. These two aspects were reflected in the development of criteria for classifying degrees of importance of components. By applying these criteria, a simple method of extracting significant trouble information of overseas nuclear power plants was developed. (author)

Religion, Time Use, and Affective Well-Being

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Chaeyoon Lim

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This study examines whether religious people experience more positive affect and less negative affect in everyday life and, if they do, whether it is because of the differences in how they allocate time to different activities or because they feel differently during similar activities. Using the well-being module from the 2010–13 American Time Use Survey (ATUS, I show that churchgoers enjoy a significantly higher level of affective well-being on Sunday than non-churchgoers do. The supplementary analysis of the Gallup Daily Poll data suggests that this higher level of affective well-being among churchgoers is found throughout the rest of the week as well. Further analyses of the ATUS demonstrate that about 40 percent of the affective well-being gap between churchgoers and non-churchgoers on Sunday can be explained by how they spend their time differently. Churchgoers spend more time on Sunday participating in pleasant activities shared with family members and friends than non-churchgoers do. More than half of the gap, however, remains unexplained, implying that it has to do with how they feel during similar activities rather than the activities in which they participate. I discuss the implications of these findings on the mechanisms underlying the link between religion and subjective well-being.

DRD2 and PPP1R1B (DARPP-32 polymorphisms independently confer increased risk for autism spectrum disorders and additively predict affected status in male-only affected sib-pair families

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Hettinger Joe A

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The neurotransmitter dopamine (DA modulates executive functions, learning, and emotional processing, all of which are impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs. Our previous findings suggest a role for dopamine-related genes in families with only affected males. Methods We examined two additional genes which affect DA function, the DRD2 and PPP1R1B (DARPP-32 genes, in a cohort of 112 male-only affected sib-pair families. Selected polymorphisms spanning these genes were genotyped and both family-based and population-based tests were carried out for association analysis. General discriminant analysis was used to examine the gene-gene interactions in predicting autism susceptibility. Results There was a significantly increased frequency of the DRD2 rs1800498TT genotype (P = 0.007 in affected males compared to the comparison group, apparently due to over-transmission of the T allele (P = 0.0003. The frequency of the PPP1R1B rs1495099CC genotype in affected males was also higher than that in the comparison group (P = 0.002 due to preferential transmission of the C allele from parents to affected children (P = 0.0009. Alleles rs1800498T and rs1495099C were associated with more severe problems in social interaction (P = 0.0002 and P = 0.0016, respectively and communication (P = 0.0004 and P = 0.0046, and increased stereotypic behaviours (P = 0.0021 and P = 0.00072. General discriminant analysis found that the DRD2 and PPP1R1B genes additively predicted ASDs (P = 0.00011; Canonical R = 0.26 and explain ~7% of the variance in our families. All findings remained significant following corrections for multiple testing. Conclusion Our findings support a role for the DRD2 and PPP1R1B genes in conferring risk for autism in families with only affected males and show an additive effect of these genes towards prediction of affected status in our families.

Personality Polygenes, Positive Affect, and Life Satisfaction

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Weiss, Alexander; Baselmans, Bart M. L.; Hofer, Edith; Yang, Jingyun; Okbay, Aysu; Lind, Penelope A.; Miller, Mike B.; Nolte, Ilja M.; Zhao, Wei; Hagenaars, Saskia P.; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; Matteson, Lindsay K.; Snieder, Harold; Faul, Jessica D.; Hartman, Catharina A.; Boyle, Patricia A.; Tiemeier, Henning; Mosing, Miriam A.; Pattie, Alison; Davies, Gail; Liewald, David C.; Schmidt, Reinhold; De Jager, Philip L.; Heath, Andrew C.; Jokela, Markus; Starr, John M.; Oldehinkel, Albertine J.; Johannesson, Magnus; Cesarini, David; Hofman, Albert; Harris, Sarah E.; Smith, Jennifer A.; Keltikangas-Järvinen, Liisa; Pulkki-Råback, Laura; Schmidt, Helena; Smith, Jacqui; Iacono, William G.; McGue, Matt; Bennett, David A.; Pedersen, Nancy L.; Magnusson, Patrik K. E.; Deary, Ian J.; Martin, Nicholas G.; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Bartels, Meike; Luciano, Michelle

2016-01-01

Approximately half of the variation in wellbeing measures overlaps with variation in personality traits. Studies of non-human primate pedigrees and human twins suggest that this is due to common genetic influences. We tested whether personality polygenic scores for the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) domains and for item response theory (IRT) derived extraversion and neuroticism scores predict variance in wellbeing measures. Polygenic scores were based on published genome-wide association (GWA) results in over 17,000 individuals for the NEO-FFI and in over 63,000 for the IRT extraversion and neuroticism traits. The NEO-FFI polygenic scores were used to predict life satisfaction in 7 cohorts, positive affect in 12 cohorts, and general wellbeing in 1 cohort (maximal N = 46,508). Meta-analysis of these results showed no significant association between NEO-FFI personality polygenic scores and the wellbeing measures. IRT extraversion and neuroticism polygenic scores were used to predict life satisfaction and positive affect in almost 37,000 individuals from UK Biobank. Significant positive associations (effect sizes personality domains. PMID:27546527

Factors affecting incidence of dry socket: a prospective community-based study.

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Parthasarathi, Krishnan; Smith, Andrew; Chandu, Arun

2011-07-01

Dry socket, or alveolar osteitis, can occur because of the removal of teeth. No clear etiology has been acknowledged; however, numerous risk factors have been proposed and tested. We report on the results of a prospective, multicenter study of the incidence and factors affecting the occurrence of alveolar osteitis at the Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne and Community Dental Clinics in Melbourne, Australia. Ethics approval was gained from the University of Melbourne and Dental Health Services Victoria. The data were analyzed in a descriptive fashion, and the factors affecting alveolar osteitis were assessed using logistic regression analysis. The incidence of alveolar osteitis was 2.3% of all teeth extracted, with 4.2% of all patients experiencing alveolar osteitis in a public dental setting. Multivariate analysis revealed operator experience, perioperative crown and root fractures, periodontal disease, posterior teeth, and, interestingly, the use of mental health medications to be significant independent risk factors for the development of alveolar osteitis. No alveolar osteitis was reported in patients taking antibiotics, the oral contraceptive pill, bisphosphonates, or oral steroid drugs. Smoking and extraction technique (either operative or nonoperative) were also not found to significantly affect the development of alveolar osteitis. Copyright © 2011 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Similarity, trust in institutions, affect, and populism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scholderer, Joachim; Finucane, Melissa L.

-based evaluations are fundamental to human information processing, they can contribute significantly to other judgments (such as the risk, cost-effectiveness, trustworthiness) of the same stimulus object. Although deliberation and analysis are certainly important in some decision-making circumstances, reliance...... on affect is a quicker, easier, and a more efficient way of navigating in a complex and uncertain world. Hence, many theorists give affect a direct and primary role in motivating behavior. Taken together, the results provide uncannily strong support for the value-similarity hypothesis, strengthening...... types of information about gene technology. The materials were attributed to different institutions. The results indicated that participants' trust in an institution was a function of the similarity between the position advocated in the materials and participants' own attitudes towards gene technology...

Affective reading and strategic hermeneutics

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Riccardo Frangi

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This paper deals mainly with three issues: how people interact with linguistically codified messages in everyday life? How this affects people’s behaviour? And how does this thing relates to practicing philosophy? These three issues are faced with the help two concepts: “affective reading” regards the first two of them, while “strategic hermeneutics” regards the last one. This paper thus starts with the analysis of the meaning of affective reading and tries to show how this way of reading is practiced on everyday basis to organize our actions. Then the focus turns to philosophical applications of the affective reading to show how much it affects our discipline. Strategic hermeneutics takes here its place on the stage. Indeed, this concept is the application of affective reading as a philosophical tool and method. Hence, it’s shown how to use this kind of tool with a theoretical analysis and an example given. At the end of the paper I’ve tried to display how this philosophical method affects the foundation and development of the philosopher’s ego under the prospective of Lacan’s theory of Oedipus’ complex.

Factors affecting RAIU in hyperthyroidism patients: an analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fang Yi; Liu Jianfeng; Zhang Xiuli

2003-01-01

Objective: To analyze the factors affecting thyroid radioiodine uptake (RAIU) of hyperthyroidism patients. Methods; RAIU was performed in 106 hyperthyroidism patients. Some factors were studied to analyze influences on the peak of RAIU, including patients' age and sex, gland weight, taking antithyroid drugs (ATD) or not, time of ATD taking and withdrawal. Results: Patients' RAIU peak had no significant difference for different ages and sex (F=1.68, P=0.1439). If preparation was performed according to the requirements before RAIU measurement, taking ATD or not had no influence on RAIU (t=1.1362, P=0.2625). RAIU peak was different between patients whose gland weight was ≤ 30 g and >30 g. Conclusions: Age and sex have no influence on RAIU. As long as ATD was discontinued at least one week before RAIU measurement, time of taking ATD and discontinuation have no influence on RAIU, and the result of measurement coincide with that of patients who do not take medicine. RAIU peak has relation with gland weight, and RAIU of people with gland weight ≤30 g was lower than that of people with gland weight >30 g

Introduction: Affective Ecologies and Conservation

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Neera M Singh

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Engaging the affective and materialist turn in the social sciences, this special section elaborates on how analytical attention on affect and affective relations is central to understanding human-nature relations and to conservation interventions. The contributors to this section use conceptual resources from affect theory, new materialism, and indigenous ontologies to illustrate the practical significance of paying attention to affect in understanding nature-society relations. This introduction reviews these conceptual resources to make a case for affective political ecology.

A meta-analysis of the published research on the affective, cognitive, and behavioral effects of corporal punishment.

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Paolucci, Elizabeth Oddone; Violato, Claudio

2004-05-01

The present study is a meta-analysis of the published research on the effects of corporal punishment on affective, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes. The authors included 70 studies published between 1961 and 2000 and involving 47,751 people. Most of the studies were published between 1990 and 2000 (i.e., 53 or 68%) and were conducted in the United States (65 or 83.3%). Each of the dependent variables was coded, and effect sizes (ds) were computed. Average unweighted and weighted ds for each of the outcome variables were .35 and .20 for affective outcomes, .33 and .06 for cognitive outcomes, and .25 and .21 for behavioral outcomes, respectively. The analyses suggested small negative behavioral and emotional effects of corporal punishment and almost no effect of such punishment on cognition. Analyses of several potentially moderating variables, such as gender or socioeconomic status, and the frequency or age of first experience of corporal punishment, the relationship of the person administering the discipline, and the technique of the discipline all had no affect on effect size outcome. There was insufficient data about a number of the moderator variables to conduct meaningful analyses. The results of the present meta-analysis suggest that exposure to corporal punishment does not substantially increase the risk to youth of developing affective, cognitive, or behavioral pathologies.

Whole-lesion apparent diffusion coefficient histogram analysis: significance in T and N staging of gastric cancers.

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Liu, Song; Zhang, Yujuan; Chen, Ling; Guan, Wenxian; Guan, Yue; Ge, Yun; He, Jian; Zhou, Zhengyang

2017-10-02

Whole-lesion apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histogram analysis has been introduced and proved effective in assessment of multiple tumors. However, the application of whole-volume ADC histogram analysis in gastrointestinal tumors has just started and never been reported in T and N staging of gastric cancers. Eighty patients with pathologically confirmed gastric carcinomas underwent diffusion weighted (DW) magnetic resonance imaging before surgery prospectively. Whole-lesion ADC histogram analysis was performed by two radiologists independently. The differences of ADC histogram parameters among different T and N stages were compared with independent-samples Kruskal-Wallis test. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to evaluate the performance of ADC histogram parameters in differentiating particular T or N stages of gastric cancers. There were significant differences of all the ADC histogram parameters for gastric cancers at different T (except ADC min and ADC max ) and N (except ADC max ) stages. Most ADC histogram parameters differed significantly between T1 vs T3, T1 vs T4, T2 vs T4, N0 vs N1, N0 vs N3, and some parameters (ADC 5% , ADC 10% , ADC min ) differed significantly between N0 vs N2, N2 vs N3 (all P histogram parameters held great potential in differentiating different T and N stages of gastric cancers preoperatively.

Do cigarette and alcohol affect semen analysis?

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Mehmet Zeynel Keskin

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Objectives: There are a number of studies about the effect of cigarette and alcohol on semen parameters in the literature. There is not a consensus on the relationship between use of cigarette and alchol and semen parameters in those studies. The number of studies in which cigarette and alcohol use are evaluated together is limited. This study was aimed to analyze the effect of cigarette and/or alcohol use on semen parameters. Methods: In this prospective study, 762 patients who applied to an hospital urology polyclinic between January 2015 and March 2015 due to infertility, were questioned for alcohol and cigarette use in anamnesis. The remaining 356 patients were included in our study. Then, semen analysis of the patients was performed. The patients were divided into five groups according to cigarette use, into five groups according to alcohol use and into four groups according to cigarette and/or alcohol use. Significant differences were analyzed between the groups in terms of semen volume, semen concentration, total motility, forward motility and morphological (normality, head anomaly, neck anomaly, tail anomaly values. Results: According to cigarette use, only in group 4 (who use more than 20 package-years cigarette semen volume was significantly lower than the control group (Mann-Whitney U, p = 0.009. There was no significant difference in any of the other parameters and groups compared with the control group (Mann-Whitney U, p > 0,05 Conclusion:According to our study, using more than 20 package- years cigarette decreases semen volume. The reason of this result might be the fact that the threshold value, from which the effect of cigarette and alcohol use on the semen parameters has to be determined.

The prognostic factors affecting survival in muscle invasive bladder cancer treated with radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, Woong Ki; Oh, Bong Ryoul; Ahn, Sung Ja; Nah, Byung Sik; Kwon, Dong Deuk; Park, Kwang Sung; Ryu, Soo Bang; Park, Yang Il

2002-01-01

This study analyzed the prognostic factors affecting the survival rate and evaluated the role of radiation therapy in muscle-invading bladder cancer. Twenty eight patient with bladder cancer who completed planned definitive radiotherapy in the Departments of Therapeutic Radiology and Urology, Chonnam National University Hospital between Jan. 1986 to Dec. 1998 were retrospectively analyzed. The reviews were performed based on the patients' medical records. There were 21 males and 7 females in this study. The median of age was 72 years old ranging from 49 to 84 years. All patients were confirmed as having transitional cell carcinoma with histological grade 1 in one patient, grade 2 in 15, grade 3 in 9, and uniformed in 3. Radiation therapy was performed using a linear accelerator with 6 or 10 MV X-rays. Radiation was delivered daily with a 1.8 or 2.0 Gy fraction size by 4 ports (anterior-posterior, both lateral, alternatively) or 3 ports (Anterior and both lateral). The median radiation dose delivered to the isocenter of the target volume was 61.24 Gy ranging from 59 to 66.6 Gy. The survival rate was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariate analysis was performed on the prognostic factors affecting the survival rate. The survival rate was 76%, 46%, 33%, 33% at 1, 2, 3, 5 years, respectively, with 19 months of median survival. The potential factors of age (less than 70 years vs above 70), sex, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hydronephrosis, T-stage (T3a vs T3b), TUR, chemotherapy, total duration of radiotherapy, radiation dose (less than 60 Gy vs above 60 Gy), and the treatment response were investigated with uni- and multivariate analysis. In univariate analysis, the T-stage (ρ 0.078) and radiation dose (ρ = 0.051) were marginally significant, and the treatment response (ρ = 0.011) was a statistically significant factor on the survival rate. Multivariate analysis showed there were no significant prognostic factors affecting the survival rate. The

The prognostic factors affecting survival in muscle invasive bladder cancer treated with radiotherapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chung, Woong Ki; Oh, Bong Ryoul; Ahn, Sung Ja; Nah, Byung Sik; Kwon, Dong Deuk; Park, Kwang Sung; Ryu, Soo Bang; Park, Yang Il [Chonnam National University Medical School, Chonnam National University Hospital, Kwangju (Korea, Republic of)

2002-06-15

This study analyzed the prognostic factors affecting the survival rate and evaluated the role of radiation therapy in muscle-invading bladder cancer. Twenty eight patient with bladder cancer who completed planned definitive radiotherapy in the Departments of Therapeutic Radiology and Urology, Chonnam National University Hospital between Jan. 1986 to Dec. 1998 were retrospectively analyzed. The reviews were performed based on the patients' medical records. There were 21 males and 7 females in this study. The median of age was 72 years old ranging from 49 to 84 years. All patients were confirmed as having transitional cell carcinoma with histological grade 1 in one patient, grade 2 in 15, grade 3 in 9, and uniformed in 3. Radiation therapy was performed using a linear accelerator with 6 or 10 MV X-rays. Radiation was delivered daily with a 1.8 or 2.0 Gy fraction size by 4 ports (anterior-posterior, both lateral, alternatively) or 3 ports (Anterior and both lateral). The median radiation dose delivered to the isocenter of the target volume was 61.24 Gy ranging from 59 to 66.6 Gy. The survival rate was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariate analysis was performed on the prognostic factors affecting the survival rate. The survival rate was 76%, 46%, 33%, 33% at 1, 2, 3, 5 years, respectively, with 19 months of median survival. The potential factors of age (less than 70 years vs above 70), sex, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hydronephrosis, T-stage (T3a vs T3b), TUR, chemotherapy, total duration of radiotherapy, radiation dose (less than 60 Gy vs above 60 Gy), and the treatment response were investigated with uni- and multivariate analysis. In univariate analysis, the T-stage ({rho} 0.078) and radiation dose ({rho} = 0.051) were marginally significant, and the treatment response ({rho} = 0.011) was a statistically significant factor on the survival rate. Multivariate analysis showed there were no significant prognostic factors affecting the survival

Physics education students’ cognitive and affective domains toward ecological phenomena

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Napitupulu, N. D.; Munandar, A.; Redjeki, S.; Tjasyono, B.

2018-05-01

Environmental education is become prominent in dealing with natural phenomena that occur nowadays. Studying environmental physics will lead students to have conceptual understanding which are importent in enhancing attitudes toward ecological phenomena that link directry to cognitive and affective domains. This research focused on the the relationship of cognitive and affective domains toward ecological phenomena. Thirty-seven Physics Education students participated in this study and validated sources of data were collected to eksplore students’ conceptual understanding as cognitive domain and to investigate students’ attitudes as affective domain. The percentage of cognitive outcome and affective outcome are explore. The features of such approaches to environmental learning are discussion through analysis of contribution of cognitive to develop the attitude ecological as affective outcome. The result shows that cognitive domains do not contribute significantly to affective domain toward ecological henomena as an issue trend in Central Sulawesi although students had passed Environmental Physics instruction for two semester. In fact, inferior knowledge in a way actually contributes to the attitude domain caused by the prior knowledge that students have as ombo as a Kaili local wisdom.

The Significance of Regional Analysis in Applied Geography.

Science.gov (United States)

Sommers, Lawrence M.

Regional analysis is central to applied geographic research, contributing to better planning and policy development for a variety of societal problems facing the United States. The development of energy policy serves as an illustration of the capabilities of this type of analysis. The United States has had little success in formulating a national…

Next generation sequencing analysis reveals that the ribonucleases RNase II, RNase R and PNPase affect bacterial motility and biofilm formation in E. coli.

Science.gov (United States)

Pobre, Vânia; Arraiano, Cecília M

2015-02-14

The RNA steady-state levels in the cell are a balance between synthesis and degradation rates. Although transcription is important, RNA processing and turnover are also key factors in the regulation of gene expression. In Escherichia coli there are three main exoribonucleases (RNase II, RNase R and PNPase) involved in RNA degradation. Although there are many studies about these exoribonucleases not much is known about their global effect in the transcriptome. In order to study the effects of the exoribonucleases on the transcriptome, we sequenced the total RNA (RNA-Seq) from wild-type cells and from mutants for each of the exoribonucleases (∆rnb, ∆rnr and ∆pnp). We compared each of the mutant transcriptome with the wild-type to determine the global effects of the deletion of each exoribonucleases in exponential phase. We determined that the deletion of RNase II significantly affected 187 transcripts, while deletion of RNase R affects 202 transcripts and deletion of PNPase affected 226 transcripts. Surprisingly, many of the transcripts are actually down-regulated in the exoribonuclease mutants when compared to the wild-type control. The results obtained from the transcriptomic analysis pointed to the fact that these enzymes were changing the expression of genes related with flagellum assembly, motility and biofilm formation. The three exoribonucleases affected some stable RNAs, but PNPase was the main exoribonuclease affecting this class of RNAs. We confirmed by qPCR some fold-change values obtained from the RNA-Seq data, we also observed that all the exoribonuclease mutants were significantly less motile than the wild-type cells. Additionally, RNase II and RNase R mutants were shown to produce more biofilm than the wild-type control while the PNPase mutant did not form biofilms. In this work we demonstrate how deep sequencing can be used to discover new and relevant functions of the exoribonucleases. We were able to obtain valuable information about the

An empirical analysis of mental state talk and affect regulation in two single-cases of psychodynamic child therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Halfon, Sibel; Bekar, Ozlem; Gürleyen, Büşra

2017-06-01

Literature has shown the importance of mentalizing techniques in symptom remission and emotional understanding; however, no study to date has looked at the dynamic relations between mental state talk and affect regulation in the psychotherapy process. From a psychodynamic perspective, the emergence of the child's capacity to regulate affect through the therapist's reflection on the child's mental states is a core aspect of treatment. In an empirical investigation of 2 single cases with separation anxiety disorder, who were treated in long-term psychodynamic play therapy informed with mentalization principles, the effect of therapists' and children's use of mental state talk on children's subsequent capacity to regulate affect in play was assessed. One case was a positive outcome case, whereas the other did not show symptomatic improvement at the end of treatment. Children's and therapists' utterances in the sessions were coded using the Coding System for Mental State Talk in Narratives, and children's play was coded by Children's Play Therapy Instrument, which generated an index of children's "affect regulation." Time-series Granger Causality tests showed that even though both therapists' use of mental state talk significantly predicted children's subsequent affect regulation, the association between child's mental state talk and affect regulation was only supported for the child who showed clinically significant symptom reduction. This study provided preliminary support that mental state talk in psychodynamic psychotherapy facilitates emotion regulation in play. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Factors affecting medication adherence in community-managed patients with hypertension based on the principal component analysis: evidence from Xinjiang, China.

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Zhang, Yuji; Li, Xiaoju; Mao, Lu; Zhang, Mei; Li, Ke; Zheng, Yinxia; Cui, Wangfei; Yin, Hongpo; He, Yanli; Jing, Mingxia

2018-01-01

The analysis of factors affecting the nonadherence to antihypertensive medications is important in the control of blood pressure among patients with hypertension. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between factors and medication adherence in Xinjiang community-managed patients with hypertension based on the principal component analysis. A total of 1,916 community-managed patients with hypertension, selected randomly through a multi-stage sampling, participated in the survey. Self-designed questionnaires were used to classify the participants as either adherent or nonadherent to their medication regimen. A principal component analysis was used in order to eliminate the correlation between factors. Factors related to nonadherence were analyzed by using a χ 2 -test and a binary logistic regression model. This study extracted nine common factors, with a cumulative variance contribution rate of 63.6%. Further analysis revealed that the following variables were significantly related to nonadherence: severity of disease, community management, diabetes, and taking traditional medications. Community management plays an important role in improving the patients' medication-taking behavior. Regular medication regimen instruction and better community management services through community-level have the potential to reduce nonadherence. Mild hypertensive patients should be monitored by community health care providers.

Towards an intelligent framework for multimodal affective data analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Poria, Soujanya; Cambria, Erik; Hussain, Amir; Huang, Guang-Bin

2015-03-01

An increasingly large amount of multimodal content is posted on social media websites such as YouTube and Facebook everyday. In order to cope with the growth of such so much multimodal data, there is an urgent need to develop an intelligent multi-modal analysis framework that can effectively extract information from multiple modalities. In this paper, we propose a novel multimodal information extraction agent, which infers and aggregates the semantic and affective information associated with user-generated multimodal data in contexts such as e-learning, e-health, automatic video content tagging and human-computer interaction. In particular, the developed intelligent agent adopts an ensemble feature extraction approach by exploiting the joint use of tri-modal (text, audio and video) features to enhance the multimodal information extraction process. In preliminary experiments using the eNTERFACE dataset, our proposed multi-modal system is shown to achieve an accuracy of 87.95%, outperforming the best state-of-the-art system by more than 10%, or in relative terms, a 56% reduction in error rate. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A longitudinal mediation analysis of the effect of negative-self-schemas on positive symptoms via negative affect.

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Jaya, E S; Ascone, L; Lincoln, T M

2018-06-01

Cognitive models postulate that negative-self-schemas (NSS) cause and maintain positive symptoms and that negative affect mediates this link. However, only few studies have tested the temporal mediation claim systematically using an appropriate design. A longitudinal cohort design in an online community sample (N = 962) from Germany, Indonesia, and the USA was used. NSS, negative affect and positive symptoms were measured at four time-points (T0-T3) over a 1-year period. Cross-lagged panel and longitudinal mediation analyses with structural equation modeling were used to test the temporal mediation. Independent cross-lagged panel models showed a significant unidirectional longitudinal path from NSS to positive symptoms (T2-T3, β = 0.18, p negative affect (T0-T1, γ = 0.14, p negative affect at T1 and T2 to positive symptoms at T3 (unstandardized indirect effect coefficient = 0.020, p affective pathway from NSS to positive symptoms via negative affect. Specifically, our data indicate that NSS and negative affect influence each other and build up over the course of several months before leading on to positive symptoms. We conclude that interrupting this process by targeting NSS and negative affect early in the process could be a promising strategy to prevent the exacerbation of positive symptoms.

A Genetically Informed Cross-lagged Analysis of Autistic-Like Traits and Affective Problems in Early Childhood

Science.gov (United States)

Micalizzi, Lauren; Ronald, Angelica; Saudino, Kimberly J.

2015-01-01

A genetically informed cross-lagged model was applied to twin data to explore etiological links between autistic-like traits and affective problems in early childhood. The sample comprised 310 same-sex twin pairs (143 monozygotic and 167 dizygotic; 53% male). Autistic-like traits and affective problems were assessed at ages 2 and 3 using parent ratings. Both constructs were related within and across age (r = .30−.53) and showed moderate stability (r = .45−.54). Autistic-like traits and affective problems showed genetic and environmental influences at both ages. Whereas at age 2, the covariance between autistic-like traits and affective problems was entirely due to environmental influences (shared and nonshared), at age 3, genetic factors also contributed to the covariance between constructs. The stability paths, but not the cross-lagged paths, were significant, indicating that there is stability in both autistic-like traits and affective problems but they do not mutually influence each other across age. Stability effects were due to genetic, shared, and nonshared environmental influences. Substantial novel genetic and nonshared environmental influences emerge at age 3 and suggest change in the etiology of these constructs over time. During early childhood, autistic-like traits tend to occur alongside affective problems and partly overlapping genetic and environmental influences explain this association. PMID:26456961

Using Artificial Neural Networks to Determine Significant Factors Affecting the Pricing of WPT Effluent for Industrial Uses in Isfahan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masoud Mirmohamadsaseghi

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The evidence indicates increasing trend of use of municipal wastewater treatment effluent as an alternative source of water both in developed and developing countries. Proper pricing of this unconventional water is one of the most effective economic tools to encourage optimum use of fresh water resources. In this study, artificial neural network is employed to identify and assess the factors affecting effluent tariffs supplied to local industries in Isfahan region. Given the wide variety of factors involved in the ultimate value of wastewater traement plant effluent, an assortment of relevant factors  has been considered in this study; the factors include the population served by the treatment plant, volume of effluent produced, maintenance, repair and replacement. costs of operating plants, topography, different water uses in the region, industrial wastewater collection fees, unit cost of pipe and fittings, and the volumes of water supplied from springs and aqueducts  in the region. Neural network modeling is used as a tool to determine the significance of each factor for pricing effluent. Based on the available data and the neural network models, the effects of different model architectures with different intermediate layers and numbers of nodes in each layer on the price of wastewater were investigated to develop aand adopt a final neural network model. Results indicate that the proposed neural network model enjoys a high potential and has been well capable of determining the weights of the parameter affecting in pricing effluent. Based on the the results of this study, the factors with the greatest role in effluent pricing are unit cost of pipe and fittings, industrial use of water, and the costs of plant maintentance, repair and replacement.

Significance of operator variation and the angle of illumination in lineament analysis on synoptic images. [LANDSAT geological investigations

Science.gov (United States)

Siegal, B. S.; Short, N. M.

1977-01-01

The significance of operator variation and the angle of illumination in acquired imagery is analyzed for lineament analysis. Five operators analyzed a LANDSAT image and four photographs of a plastic relief map illuminated at a low angle from varying directions of the Prescott, Arizona region. Significant differences were found in both number and length of the lineaments recognized by the different investigators for the images. The actual coincidence of lineaments recognized by the investigators for the same image is exceptionally low. Even the directional data on lineament orientation is significantly different from operator to operator and from image to image. Cluster analysis of the orientation data displays a clustering by operators rather than by images. It is recommended that extreme caution be taken before attempting to compare different investigators' results in lineament analysis.

Institutional issues affecting transportation of nuclear materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reese, R.T.; Luna, R.E.

1980-01-01

The institutional issues affecting transportation of nuclear materials in the United States represent significant barriers to meeting future needs in the transport of radioactive waste materials to their ultimate repository. While technological problems which must be overcome to perform such movements seem to be within the state-of-the-art, the timely resolution of these institutional issues seems less assured. However, the definition of these issues, as attempted in this paper, together with systematic analysis of cause and possible solutions are the essential elements of the Transportation Technology Center's Institutional Issues Program

Affective processes in human-automation interactions.

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Merritt, Stephanie M

2011-08-01

This study contributes to the literature on automation reliance by illuminating the influences of user moods and emotions on reliance on automated systems. Past work has focused predominantly on cognitive and attitudinal variables, such as perceived machine reliability and trust. However, recent work on human decision making suggests that affective variables (i.e., moods and emotions) are also important. Drawing from the affect infusion model, significant effects of affect are hypothesized. Furthermore, a new affectively laden attitude termed liking is introduced. Participants watched video clips selected to induce positive or negative moods, then interacted with a fictitious automated system on an X-ray screening task At five time points, important variables were assessed including trust, liking, perceived machine accuracy, user self-perceived accuracy, and reliance.These variables, along with propensity to trust machines and state affect, were integrated in a structural equation model. Happiness significantly increased trust and liking for the system throughout the task. Liking was the only variable that significantly predicted reliance early in the task. Trust predicted reliance later in the task, whereas perceived machine accuracy and user self-perceived accuracy had no significant direct effects on reliance at any time. Affective influences on automation reliance are demonstrated, suggesting that this decision-making process may be less rational and more emotional than previously acknowledged. Liking for a new system may be key to appropriate reliance, particularly early in the task. Positive affect can be easily induced and may be a lever for increasing liking.

Prenatal exposure to TCDD triggers significant modulation of microRNA expression profile in the thymus that affects consequent gene expression.

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Narendra P Singh

Full Text Available MicroRNAs (miRs are a class of small RNAs that regulate gene expression. There are over 700 miRs encoded in the mouse genome and modulate most of the cellular pathways and functions by controlling gene expression. However, there is not much known about the pathophysiological role of miRs. TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, an environmental contaminant is well known to induce severe toxicity (acute and chronic with long-term effects. Also, in utero exposure of fetus to TCDD has been shown to cause thymic atrophy and alterations in T cell differentiation. It is also relevant to understand "the fetal basis of adult disease" hypothesis, which proposes that prenatal exposure to certain forms of nutritional and environmental stress can cause increased susceptibility to clinical disorders later in life. In the current study, therefore, we investigated the effects of prenatal exposure to TCDD on miR profile in fetal thymocytes and searched for their possible role in causing thymic atrophy and alterations in the expression of apoptotic genes.miR arrays of fetal thymocytes post exposure to TCDD and vehicle were performed. Of the 608 mouse miRs screened, 78 miRs were altered more than 1.5 fold and 28 miRs were changed more than 2 fold in fetal thymocytes post-TCDD exposure when compared to vehicle controls. We validated the expression of several of the miRs using RT-PCR. Furthermore, several of the miRs that were downregulated contained highly complementary sequence to the 3'-UTR region of AhR, CYP1A1, Fas and FasL. Also, the Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software and database was used to analyze the 78 miRs that exhibited significant expression changes and revealed that as many as 15 pathways may be affected.These studies revealed that TCDD-mediated alterations in miR expression may be involved in the regulation of its toxicity including cancer, hepatic injury, apoptosis, and cellular development.

Factors affecting cognitive function according to gender in community-dwelling elderly individuals

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Miwon Kim

2017-11-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES This study aimed to identify the factors affecting the cognitive function of elderly people in a community by gender. METHODS We obtained 4,878 secondary data of people aged ≥65 years in 2016 at a dementia prevention center in Gyeyang-gu, Incheon. Data were obtained through Mini-Mental Status Examination optimized for screening dementia and a questionnaire. The data were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and hierarchical regression. RESULTS There were significant differences in cognitive function according to gender, and the differences were significant even when age was controlled, but gender differences disappeared when education was controlled. Age, education, social activities, number of comorbid diseases, and alcohol drinking affected cognitive function through interaction with gender, but interaction with gender disappeared when education was controlled. Regression analysis showed that depression, cohabitant, social activities etc., had a significant impact on both men and women under controlled education and age. In men, the effect of social activities was greater than that of women, and hyperlipidemia had the effect only in women. CONCLUSIONS The differences in gender-related cognitive functions were due to differences in gender education period. The period of education is considered to have a great influence on cognitive function in relation to the economic level, occupation, and social activity.

ANALYSIS OF THE LICENSED TOURIST GUIDES’ EVOLUTION OF ROMANIA AND CRITICAL ISSUES AFFECTING THEIR ACTIVITY

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Corina TĂTAR

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The study refers to the licensed tourist guides of Romania during 1998-2016, namely their numerical evolution during this time series as well as an analysis of their numerical evolution by different types of tourist guides, be they national, local or specialized. The statistical analysis showed an increment from 24 tourist guides in the year 1998 to 4,335 licensed tour guides in 2016. The analysis is supplemented by current issues and shortcomings affecting the tourist guiding activity of Romania, as revealed by the tourist guides present at the annual tourist guides’ national conferences, various stringent problems raised and debated within these encounters and highlighted by this study as well as proposals for a better functioning for this segment of tourism entrepreneurs.

Analysis of affective disorders in patients with vascular dementia

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D. V. Zakharchenko

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The outpatient records of 147 patients followed up for diagnosed vascular dementia were analyzed to assess the relationship between affective disorders and severe cognitive impairments. It was found that 7% of the examinees had a history of depressive states. Estimating the development time for vascular dementia could divide the patients into 2 groups: 1 60% of the patients in whom cognitive impairments began to determine its clinical picture just within the first 2 years after identification of affective disorders and 2 40%, in whom cognitive impairments occurred 10—20 years later. In both groups, mental disorders occurred at an equal age in the presence of depressive disorders; in Group 1, vascular dementia developed nearly twice as often as that in Group 2. At the same time, the occurrence of cognitive impairments in Group 1 patients just in the early disease stages is indicative of the organic genesis of affective disorders, as confirmed by the moderately rapid progression of psychopathological symptoms, such as sharpening of personality traits, increased rigidity of psychic processes, emotional lability, variations in affective symptomatology, inadequate remissions, and the presence of neurological symptoms. Another type of a ratio of depressive to severe cognitive disorders was found in the elderly persons in Group 2. The long existence of affective disorders without signs of cognitive diminution leads one to say that they have recurrent depressive disorder with further addition of a comorbid vascular process. These patients showed a fairly high severity of affective pathology that was responsible for more frequent admissions, as well as a phase course with relatively pure remissions without any clear intellectual-mnestic reduction and a predominance of hysterical character traits.

Does metformin affect ovarian morphology in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome? A retrospective cross-sectional preliminary analysis.

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Falbo, Angela; Orio, Francesco; Venturella, Roberta; Rania, Erika; Materazzo, Caterina; Tolino, Achille; Zullo, Fulvio; Palomba, Stefano

2009-05-31

The significance of polycystic ovarian morphology and its relation to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is unclear, but probably it is associated with higher androgen and insulin levels and lower sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) in absence of identifiable differences in gonadotropin dynamics. The aim of this study was to evaluate ovarian morphology in patients affected by PCOS with different ovulatory responses to metformin. In this cross-sectional analysis, we studied 20 young normal-weight PCOS patients who had received a six-month course of metformin treatment. Ten of these patients remained anovulatory (anovulatory group), whereas other ten became ovulatory, but failed to conceive (ovulatory group). Other ten age- and body mass index (BMI)-matched PCOS subjects were also enrolled as controls and observed without any treatment (control group). After six months of metformin, in both PCOS treated groups, a similar improvement in testosterone (T) and insulin resistance indexes was observed. Moreover, in one (10.0%) and nine (90.0%) subjects from anovulatory and ovulatory PCOS groups, respectively, ovarian morphology changed, whereas a significant reduction in ovarian dimension was observed in the PCOS ovulatory group only. PCOS patients under metformin administration demonstrate a change in ovarian morphology closely related to ovulatory response.

Affective mediators of a physical activity intervention for depression in multiple sclerosis.

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Kratz, Anna L; Ehde, Dawn M; Bombardier, Charles H

2014-02-01

Previous analyses showed that a telephone-based intervention to increase physical activity in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) and depression resulted in significantly improved depressive symptoms compared to a wait-list control group. The aim of this study was to test positive affect and negative affect as mediators of the effect of the physical activity counseling on depressive symptoms. Ninety-two adults with MS, who met diagnostic criteria for either major depression or dysthymia and who reported low levels of physical activity, were randomized 1:1 to a 12-week telephone-based motivational interviewing (MI) intervention to improve physical activity (n = 44) or to a 12-week wait-list control group (n = 48). Self-reported positive and negative affect, physical activity, and depressive symptoms were gathered at baseline and postintervention. Path-analysis was used to test whether positive affect and negative affect mediated the positive effects of the intervention on depressive symptoms. Both positive and negative affect were significant mediators of the effects of the intervention on depressive symptoms; however, only positive affect mediated the association between changes in physical activity and improved depressive symptoms. Findings support physical activity and positive affect as key mediators of the MI treatment effect on improved mood. Decreases in negative affect were also evident in the treatment group, but were not related to improved physical activity. Findings may suggest the use of exercise-based interventions in conjunction with treatments that specifically target negative affective mechanisms for depression. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Dual purpose or not? The significant factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bak, W.; Roland, V.

1999-01-01

The development of spent fuel storage systems requires consideration of many factors in making design decisions. A significant issue affecting the design is the need to incorporate transportability of the canister or cask system design, which results in major changes to the storage system design. This paper presents a review of the significant factors affecting storage system design to incorporate transportation requirements and looks at the trends in both the United States and Europe where Transnucleaire and its US affiliated companies Transnuclear Inc., Transnuclear West and PacTec are active. A discussion is also presented relative to the pros and cons of whether the spent fuel storage system vendor should anticipate these transportation needs in the design of their systems. (author)

Does Early Versus Delayed Active Range of Motion Affect Rotator Cuff Healing After Surgical Repair? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

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Kluczynski, Melissa A; Isenburg, Maureen M; Marzo, John M; Bisson, Leslie J

2016-03-01

The timing of passive range of motion (ROM) after surgical repair of the rotator cuff (RC) has been shown to affect healing. However, it is unknown if early or delayed active ROM affects healing. To determine whether early versus delayed active ROM affects structural results of RC repair surgery. Systematic review and meta-analysis. A systematic review of articles published between January 2004 and April 2014 was conducted. Structural results were compared for early (repair method. A total of 37 studies (2251 repairs) were included in the analysis, with 10 (649 repairs) in the early group and 27 (1602 repairs) in the delayed group. For tears ≤3 cm, the risk of a structural tendon defect was higher in the early versus delayed group for transosseous plus single-row suture anchor repairs (39.7% vs 24.3%; RR, 1.63 [95% CI, 1.28-2.08]). For tears >3 cm, the risk of a structural tendon defect was higher in the early versus delayed group for suture bridge repairs (48% vs 17.5%; RR, 2.74 [95% CI, 1.59-4.73]) and all repair methods combined (40.5% vs 26.7%; RR, 1.52 [95% CI, 1.17-1.97]). For tears >5 cm, the risk of structural tendon defect was higher in the early versus delayed group for suture bridge repairs (100% vs 16.7%; RR, 6.00 [95% CI, 1.69-21.26]). There were no statistically significant associations for tears measuring ≤1, 1-3, or 3-5 cm. Early active ROM was associated with increased risk of a structural defect for small and large RC tears, and thus might not be advisable after RC repair. © 2015 The Author(s).

360-MAM-Affect: Sentiment Analysis with the Google Prediction API and EmoSenticNet

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Eleanor Mulholland

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Online recommender systems are useful for media asset management where they select the best content from a set of media assets. We have developed an architecture for 360-MAM- Select, a recommender system for educational video content. 360-MAM-Select will utilise sentiment analysis and gamification techniques for the recommendation of media assets. 360-MAM-Select will increase user participation with digital content through improved video recommendations. Here, we discuss the architecture of 360-MAM-Select and the use of the Google Prediction API and EmoSenticNet for 360-MAM-Affect, 360-MAM-Select's sentiment analysis module. Results from testing two models for sentiment analysis, Sentiment Classifier (Google Prediction API and EmoSenticNetClassifer (Google Prediction API + EmoSenticNet are promising. Future work includes the implementation and testing of 360-MAM-Select on video data from YouTube EDU and Head Squeeze.

Land use type significantly affects microbial gene transcription in soil.

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Nacke, Heiko; Fischer, Christiane; Thürmer, Andrea; Meinicke, Peter; Daniel, Rolf

2014-05-01

Soil microorganisms play an essential role in sustaining biogeochemical processes and cycling of nutrients across different land use types. To gain insights into microbial gene transcription in forest and grassland soil, we isolated mRNA from 32 sampling sites. After sequencing of generated complementary DNA (cDNA), a total of 5,824,229 sequences could be further analyzed. We were able to assign nonribosomal cDNA sequences to all three domains of life. A dominance of bacterial sequences, which were affiliated to 25 different phyla, was found. Bacterial groups capable of aromatic compound degradation such as Phenylobacterium and Burkholderia were detected in significantly higher relative abundance in forest soil than in grassland soil. Accordingly, KEGG pathway categories related to degradation of aromatic ring-containing molecules (e.g., benzoate degradation) were identified in high abundance within forest soil-derived metatranscriptomic datasets. The impact of land use type forest on community composition and activity is evidently to a high degree caused by the presence of wood breakdown products. Correspondingly, bacterial groups known to be involved in lignin degradation and containing ligninolytic genes such as Burkholderia, Bradyrhizobium, and Azospirillum exhibited increased transcriptional activity in forest soil. Higher solar radiation in grassland presumably induced increased transcription of photosynthesis-related genes within this land use type. This is in accordance with high abundance of photosynthetic organisms and plant-infecting viruses in grassland.

An exploration of antecedents of positive affect among the elderly: a cross-sectional study

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2016-01-01

Abstract Background: Positive affect contributes to the healthy life style, which, in turn, explains life satisfaction and psychological well-being among the elderly. Existent literature has reinforced that physical activity participation influences development of positive affect for the elderly. Because of the increased life constraints and physical problems, however, maintenance of positive affect might be challenging for elderly people. Methods : Data were drawn from a sample of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. A total sample of 3845 males and 3912 females aged between 65 and 103 years from 16 European countries was analyzed. Perception of life constraints, health problems, physical activity engagement and positive affect were measured by a structured questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis and a technique of structural equation modelling were employed using Amos 18 to examine the hypothesized relationships between study variables. Results: Perceived life constraints and physical problems significantly affected the acquisition of positive affect among the elderly. Physical activity was found to have a significant path coefficient towards the measure of positive attitude and emotion. Physical activity was also a significant mediator between physical problems and positive affect. Conclusions: This study extended our understanding of how the perception of life constraints and health problems influence the elderly’s daily experience. Study finding reinforced the goodness of physical activity participation to enhance positive affect among the elderly. We should administer sustainable and evidence-based physical activity including interventions and infrastructure to improve positive affect and psychological well-bing among the elderly. PMID:25829500

An exploration of antecedents of positive affect among the elderly: a cross-sectional study.

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Lee, Sunwoo

2016-02-01

Positive affect contributes to the healthy life style, which, in turn, explains life satisfaction and psychological well-being among the elderly. Existent literature has reinforced that physical activity participation influences development of positive affect for the elderly. Because of the increased life constraints and physical problems, however, maintenance of positive affect might be challenging for elderly people. Data were drawn from a sample of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. A total sample of 3845 males and 3912 females aged between 65 and 103 years from 16 European countries was analyzed. Perception of life constraints, health problems, physical activity engagement and positive affect were measured by a structured questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis and a technique of structural equation modelling were employed using Amos 18 to examine the hypothesized relationships between study variables. Perceived life constraints and physical problems significantly affected the acquisition of positive affect among the elderly. Physical activity was found to have a significant path coefficient towards the measure of positive attitude and emotion. Physical activity was also a significant mediator between physical problems and positive affect. This study extended our understanding of how the perception of life constraints and health problems influence the elderly's daily experience. Study finding reinforced the goodness of physical activity participation to enhance positive affect among the elderly. We should administer sustainable and evidence-based physical activity including interventions and infrastructure to improve positive affect and psychological well-bing among the elderly. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Prognostic and clinical significance of histone deacetylase 1 expression in breast cancer: A meta-analysis.

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Qiao, Weiqiang; Liu, Heyang; Liu, Ruidong; Liu, Qipeng; Zhang, Ting; Guo, Wanying; Li, Peng; Deng, Miao

2018-05-05

There are conflicting reports about the role of histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) in breast cancer prognosis. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the prognostic significance of HDAC1 in breast cancer. We searched different databases to identify studies evaluating the association between HDAC1 expression and its prognostic value in breast cancer. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and odds radios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated from these studies to assess specific correlation. Our meta-analysis of four databases identified 7 eligible studies with 1429 total patients. We found that HDAC1 over-expression did not correlate with disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in breast cancer. Subgroup analysis indicated an association between up-regulated HDAC1 expression and better OS (HR = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.23-0.97; P = 0.04) in Asian breast cancer patients. However, false-positive report probability (FPRP) analysis and trial sequential analysis (TSA) indicated that the results need further validation. Furthermore, HDAC1 over-expression was associated with positive estrogen receptor (ER) expression (OR, 3.30; 95% CI, 1.11-9.83; P = 0.03) and negative human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) expression (OR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.22-2.61; P = 0.003), but there were no significant differences between patients based on age, tumor size, lymph node metastasis, nuclear grade, or progesterone receptor (PR) expression. Overall, our meta-analysis demonstrated an association between increased HDAC1 expression and better OS in Asian breast cancer patients. In addition, HDAC1 over-expression correlated with positive ER and negative HER2 expression in breast cancer. However, researches in large patients' randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are needed to confirm the results. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Psychological and social factors affecting Internet searches on suicide in Korea: a big data analysis of Google search trends.

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Song, Tae Min; Song, Juyoung; An, Ji-Young; Hayman, Laura L; Woo, Jong-Min

2014-01-01

The average mortality rate for death by suicide among OECD countries is 12.8 per 100000, and 33.5 for Korea. The present study analyzed big data extracted from Google to identify factors related to searches on suicide in Korea. Google search trends for the search words of suicide, stress, exercise, and drinking were obtained for 2004-2010. Analyzing data by month, the relationship between the actual number of suicides and search words per year was examined using multi-level models. Both suicide rates and Google searches on suicide in Korea increased since 2007. An unconditional slope model indicated stress and suicide-related searches were positively related. A conditional model showed that factors associated with suicide by year directly affected suicide-related searches. The interaction between stress-related searches and the actual number of suicides was significant. A positive relationship between stress- and suicide-related searches further confirmed that stress affects suicide. Taken together and viewed in context of the big data analysis, our results point to the need for a tailored prevention program. Real-time big data can be of use in indicating increases in suicidality when search words such as stress and suicide generate greater numbers of hits on portals and social network sites.

Prognostic Factors Affecting Locally Recurrent Rectal Cancer and Clinical Significance of Hemoglobin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rades, Dirk; Kuhn, Hildegard; Schultze, Juergen; Homann, Nils; Brandenburg, Bernd; Schulte, Rainer; Krull, Andreas; Schild, Steven E.; Dunst, Juergen

2008-01-01

Purpose: To investigate potential prognostic factors, including hemoglobin levels before and during radiotherapy, for associations with survival and local control in patients with unirradiated locally recurrent rectal cancer. Patients and Methods: Ten potential prognostic factors were investigated in 94 patients receiving radiotherapy for recurrent rectal cancer: age (≤68 vs. ≥69 years), gender, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (0-1 vs. 2-3), American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage (≤II vs. III vs. IV), grading (G1-2 vs. G3), surgery, administration of chemotherapy, radiation dose (equivalent dose in 2-Gy fractions: ≤50 vs. >50 Gy), and hemoglobin levels before (<12 vs. ≥12 g/dL) and during (majority of levels: <12 vs. ≥12 g/dL) radiotherapy. Multivariate analyses were performed, including hemoglobin levels, either before or during radiotherapy (not both) because these are confounding variables. Results: Improved survival was associated with better performance status (p < 0.001), lower AJCC stage (p = 0.023), surgery (p = 0.011), chemotherapy (p = 0.003), and hemoglobin levels ≥12 g/dL both before (p = 0.031) and during (p < 0.001) radiotherapy. On multivariate analyses, performance status, AJCC stage, and hemoglobin levels during radiotherapy maintained significance. Improved local control was associated with better performance status (p = 0.040), lower AJCC stage (p = 0.010), lower grading (p = 0.012), surgery (p < 0.001), chemotherapy (p < 0.001), and hemoglobin levels ≥12 g/dL before (p < 0.001) and during (p < 0.001) radiotherapy. On multivariate analyses, chemotherapy, grading, and hemoglobin levels before and during radiotherapy remained significant. Subgroup analyses of the patients having surgery demonstrated the extent of resection to be significantly associated with local control (p = 0.011) but not with survival (p = 0.45). Conclusion: Predictors for outcome in patients who received radiotherapy for locally

Prognostic and clinicopathological significance of platelet to lymphocyte ratio in esophageal cancer: a meta-analysis.

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Deng, Juhong; Zhang, Peng; Sun, Yue; Peng, Ping; Huang, Yu

2018-03-01

The prognostic and clinicopathological significance of the platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) has been studied in various cancers. However, studies examining the role of PLR in esophageal cancer have not yielded consistent results. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to study the prognostic and clinicopathological significance of PLR in esophageal cancer patients. We performed a literature search in three major databases: PubMed, Web of Science and Embase (up until May 1, 2017). The clinicopathologic significance of PLR and its prognostic significance were analyzed. Our meta-analysis consisted of 13 studies with 4,621 patients. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) showed that a high PLR was associated with poor survival of esophageal cancer [HR =1.283; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.173-1.404; Panalysis revealed that elevated PLR was associated with poor survival in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (HR =1.281; 95% CI: 1.098-1.493; P=0.002). The pooled odds ratio (OR) indicated that high PLR was also associated with the depth of tumor invasion (OR =1.543, 95% CI: 1.269-1.876, P<0.001), lymph node metastasis (OR =1.427, 95% CI: 1.195-1.705, P<0.001), tumor length (OR =1.81, 95% CI: 1.331-2.461, P<0.001), and Tumor stage (OR =1.459, 95% CI: 1.235-1.724, P<0.001). Our results demonstrate that elevated PLR was significantly associated with poor prognosis of esophageal cancer. Furthermore, the high PLR might predict worse clinicopathological features of esophageal cancer patients.

A thermographic study on eyes affected by Age-related Macular Degeneration: Comparison among various forms of the pathology and analysis of risk factors

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Matteoli, Sara; Finocchio, Lucia; Biagini, Ilaria; Giacomelli, Giovanni; Sodi, Andrea; Corvi, Andrea; Virgili, Gianni; Rizzo, Stanislao

2016-05-01

The aims of this study are to investigate (1) the ocular thermographic profiles in eyes affected by Age related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and age-matched controls to detect possible hemodynamic abnormalities that could be involved in the pathogenesis of the disease, (2) whether any risk factors associated with the disease could affect the development of a form of AMD rather than another. Thirty-four eyes with Age-Related Maculopathy (ARM), 41 eyes with dry AMD, 60 eyes affected by wet AMD, and 74 eyes with fibrotic AMD were included in the study. The control group consisted of 48 healthy eyes. Exclusion criteria were represented by any other ocular diseases other than AMD, tear film abnormalities, systemic cardiovascular abnormalities, systemic diseases and a body temperature higher than 37.5 °C. A total of 210 eyes without pupil dilation were investigated by infrared thermography (FLIR A320). The Ocular Surface Temperature (OST) of five ocular areas was calculated by means of an image processing technique from the infrared images. Two-sample t-test, one-way ANOVA test and multivariate analysis were used for statistical analyses. ANOVA analyses showed no significant differences among AMD groups (P-value > 0.05), however, OST in AMD patients was significantly lower than in controls (P-value < 0.0001). Smokers showed higher possibility (P-value = 0.012) of developing wet AMD instead of dry AMD. Infrared thermography may be a helpful, non-invasive and not time-consuming method to be used in the management of patients with this common degenerative maculopathy.

Analysis of factors affecting the quality of life of those suffering from Crohn's disease.

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Chrobak-Bień, Joanna; Gawor, Anna; Paplaczyk, Małgorzata; Małecka-Panas, Ewa; Gąsiorowska, Anita

2017-08-31

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease of unknown etiology. Its chronic nature, as well as symptoms of intestinal and overall significantly impedes the daily functioning of patients. Alternately occurring periods of exacerbation and remission are the cause of reduced quality of life of patients. Understanding the factors that caused the decrease in the quality of life, it allows us to understand the behavior and the situation of the patient and the ability to cope with stress caused by the disease. The aim of the study was to analyze the factors affecting the quality of life of people with Crohn's disease. The study group consisted of 50 people diagnosed with Crohn's disease. Respondents were treated at the Department of General Surgery and Colorectal Medical University of Lodz and Gastroenterological Clinic at the University Clinical Hospital No. 1 in Lodz. Quality of Life Survey was carried out by a diagnostic survey using a research tool SF-36v2 and surveys of its own design. Analysis of the results demonstrated that the quality of life of patients with Crohn's disease was reduced, especially during exacerbations. Evaluation of the quality of life of respondents in physical terms was slightly higher than in the mental aspect. Higher education subjects and the lack of need for surgical treatment significantly improves the quality of life. The occurrence of chronic disease reduces the quality of life of respondents. Elderly patients are better able to adapt to the difficult situation caused by the disease. The quality of life of women and men is at a similar level and patients in remission of the disease have a better quality of life of patients during exacerbations.

Influence of affective significance on different levels of processing using pupil dilation in an analogical reasoning task.

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Prehn, Kristin; Heekeren, Hauke R; van der Meer, Elke

2011-02-01

The present study investigates the interaction of cognition and emotion in decision making, using an analogical reasoning task. In this task, two word pairs were presented simultaneously. Each word pair could be characterized by an associative conceptual relation (object, actor, or location relation) as well as an emotional relation (negative, neutral, or positive valence). Both types of relations were equally task-relevant: Participants had to identify both types of relations, to compare them, and to decide whether or not the word pairs were analogous, i.e., corresponding in both conceptual and emotional relations. Behavioral data showed that emotional relations were identified preferentially and faster than conceptual relations. Pupil dilations reflected the descending difficulty of the conditions and were greatest in amplitude when both conceptual and emotional correspondence was shown, intermediate when only one type of relation (either the emotional or the conceptual) corresponded, and least when neither correspondence existed. Additionally, a negative valence of the word material slowed down response times and increased pupil dilation relative to positive and neutral items. In summary, pupil and response time data together support recent (neurobiological) models concerning the interaction of emotion and cognition by showing that affective significance leads to a processing advantage at a cognitively lower level of information processing (here, identification or retrieval of relations from long-term memory) but can also distract people from higher level cognitive processes (here, from the controlled comparison of retrieved relations). Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Boundary element inverse analysis for rebar corrosion detection: Study on the 2004 tsunami-affected structure in Aceh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Fonna

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Evaluation of rebar/reinforcing-steel corrosion for the 2004 tsunami-affected reinforced concrete (RC buildings in Aceh was conducted using half-cell potential mapping technique. However, the results only show qualitative meaning as corrosion risk rather than the corrosion itself, such as the size and location of corrosion. In this study, boundary element inverse analysis was proposed to be performed to detect rebar corrosion of the 2004 tsunami-affected structure in Aceh, using several electrical potential measurement data on the concrete surface. One RC structure in Peukan Bada, an area heavily damaged by the tsunami, was selected for the study. In 2004 the structure was submerged more than 5 m by the tsunami. Boundary element inverse analysis was developed by combining the boundary element method (BEM and particle swarm optimization (PSO. The corrosion was detected by evaluating measured and calculated electrical potential data. The measured and calculated electrical potential on the concrete surface was obtained by using a half-cell potential meter and by performing BEM, respectively. The solution candidates were evaluated by employing PSO. Simulation results show that boundary element inverse analysis successfully detected the size and location of corrosion for the case study. Compared with the actual corrosion, the error of simulation result was less than 5%. Hence, it shows that boundary element inverse analysis is very promising for further development to detect rebar corrosion. Keywords: Inverse analysis, Boundary element method, PSO, Corrosion, Reinforced concrete

Clinical significance of quantitative analysis of facial nerve enhancement on MRI in Bell's palsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Mee Hyun; Kim, Jinna; Jeon, Ju Hyun; Cho, Chang Il; Yoo, Eun Hye; Lee, Won-Sang; Lee, Ho-Ki

2008-11-01

Quantitative analysis of the facial nerve on the lesion side as well as the normal side, which allowed for more accurate measurement of facial nerve enhancement in patients with facial palsy, showed statistically significant correlation with the initial severity of facial nerve inflammation, although little prognostic significance was shown. This study investigated the clinical significance of quantitative measurement of facial nerve enhancement in patients with Bell's palsy by analyzing the enhancement pattern and correlating MRI findings with initial severity of facial palsy and clinical outcome. Facial nerve enhancement was measured quantitatively by using the region of interest on pre- and postcontrast T1-weighted images in 44 patients diagnosed with Bell's palsy. The signal intensity increase on the lesion side was first compared with that of the contralateral side and then correlated with the initial degree of facial palsy and prognosis. The lesion side showed significantly higher signal intensity increase compared with the normal side in all of the segments except for the mastoid segment. Signal intensity increase at the internal auditory canal and labyrinthine segments showed correlation with the initial degree of facial palsy but no significant difference was found between different prognostic groups.

Affective design identification on the development of batik convection product

Science.gov (United States)

Prastawa, H.; Purwaningsih, R.

2017-11-01

The affective design is increasingly applied to product development in order to meet the desires and preferences of customers. Batik is a traditional Indonesian culture containing historical and cultural values. The development of batik design is one of the efforts to strengthen the identity and superiority of Indonesia’s creative industries as well as to preserve batik as the cultural heritage of the nation. Batik product designs offered by the manufacturers do not necessarily correspond with the wishes of consumers, especially the affective values involved. Therefore it is necessary to identify consumer perceptions of convection- based batik product in the form of clothing and fabrics, especially the affective value as the consideration for the designer or manufacturer to develop design alternatives to batik convection products. This research aims to obtain information on consumer affective value, to identify the affective value perception differences among X and Y Generation and to classify affective value in the corresponding cluster of the batik products convection. This study uses Kansei engineering to determine the perception of affective design in the form of Kansei word. Cluster Analysis was used to form clusters that classify affective value of the same class. The results showed that there were 16 pairs of Kansei word which was worth as an affective consumer desire, the 3 indicators that had significant differences among X and Y Generation and 4 clusters with different characteristics.

Factors affecting vegetable preference in adolescents: stages of change and social cognitive theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Woo, Taejung; Lee, Kyung-Hea

2017-08-01

Despite the importance of consuming sufficient amounts of vegetables, daily vegetable intake among adolescents in Korea is lower than the current dietary recommendation. The objective of this study was to examine determinants affecting vegetable preference in order to suggest a stage-tailored education strategy that can promote vegetable consumption in adolescents. Adolescents (n = 400, aged 16-17 years) from two high schools participated in a cross-sectional study. Survey variables were vegetable preference, the social cognitive theory (SCT) and stages of change (SOC) constructs. Based on vegetable preference, subjects were classified into two groups: a low-preference group (LPG) and a high-preference group (HPG). SOC was subdivided into pre-action and action/maintenance stages. To compare SCT components and SOC related to vegetable preference, chi-squared and t-tests, along with stepwise multiple-regression analysis, were applied. In the LPG, a similar number of subjects were classified into each stage. Significant differences in self-efficacy, affective attitudes, and vegetable accessibility at home and school were detected among the stages. Subjects in the HPG were mainly at the maintenance stage (81%), and there were significant differences among the stages regarding self-efficacy, affective attitudes, and parenting practice. In the predictions of vegetable preference, self-efficacy and parenting practice had a significant effect in the "pre-action" stage. In the action/maintenance stage, outcome expectation, affective attitudes, and vegetable accessibility at school had significant predictive value. In predicting the vegetable preference for all subjects, 42.8% of the predictive variance was accounted for by affective attitudes, self-efficacy, and vegetable accessibility at school. The study revealed that different determinants affect adolescent vegetable preference in each stage. Self-efficacy and affective attitudes are important determinants affecting

A Test of the Relationships among Perceptions of Justice, Job Satisfaction, Affective Commitment and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

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Harif Amali Rifai

2005-06-01

Full Text Available This study examines factors influencing organizational citizenship behavior in an organization. These factors include procedural justice, distributive justice, job satisfaction and commitment. Although previous studies have investigated commitment as antecedent of OCB, most of them did not specifically explain the type of commitment hypothesized. In terms of commitment, this study utilizes the specific type of commitment, i.e. affective commitment. The theoretical model proposes both distributive justice and procedural justice as antecedents of job satisfaction and job satisfaction has an effect on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB through affective commitment. SEM analysis of survey data from 383 nurses who are working for private hospitals in Indonesia supports that the theoretical model has met goodness-of-fit criterions. The findings concluded that there are significant relationships between both procedural justice and distributive justice and job satisfaction. Job satisfaction has a significant impact for developing affective commitment. The results also support that affective commitment is a significant predictor of organizational citizenship behavior.

Issues affecting advanced passive light-water reactor safety analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beelman, R.J.; Fletcher, C.D.; Modro, S.M.

1992-01-01

Next generation commercial reactor designs emphasize enhanced safety through improved safety system reliability and performance by means of system simplification and reliance on immutable natural forces for system operation. Simulating the performance of these safety systems will be central to analytical safety evaluation of advanced passive reactor designs. Yet the characteristically small driving forces of these safety systems pose challenging computational problems to current thermal-hydraulic systems analysis codes. Additionally, the safety systems generally interact closely with one another, requiring accurate, integrated simulation of the nuclear steam supply system, engineered safeguards and containment. Furthermore, numerical safety analysis of these advanced passive reactor designs wig necessitate simulation of long-duration, slowly-developing transients compared with current reactor designs. The composite effects of small computational inaccuracies on induced system interactions and perturbations over long periods may well lead to predicted results which are significantly different than would otherwise be expected or might actually occur. Comparisons between the engineered safety features of competing US advanced light water reactor designs and analogous present day reactor designs are examined relative to the adequacy of existing thermal-hydraulic safety codes in predicting the mechanisms of passive safety. Areas where existing codes might require modification, extension or assessment relative to passive safety designs are identified. Conclusions concerning the applicability of these codes to advanced passive light water reactor safety analysis are presented

ANALYSIS OF LANDSCAPE ELEMENTS THAT AFFECT PROPERTY VALUE BASED ON THE PERCEPTION OF HOUSING RESIDENTS IN SURABAYA

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Nita Setiawati Wibisono

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This research is done to determine landscape elements that affect property value based on housing residents’ perception in Surabaya residential areas. The landscape elements that used in this research are natural elements such as vegetation and soil; and man-made element such as garden statue, road pattern, road width and hierarchy, park and plant, artificial lake, and road equipment. Purposive sampling technique is used to represent respondents in the residential areas that provide landscape elements in East and West Surabaya. Data analysis technique uses validity and reliability test, analysis factor, binary logistic regression, and the average of variable test. The result shows that majority of the residents of East Surabaya and West Surabaya residential areas approved that landscape consist of park and plant, road width and hierarchies, and road pattern affect their residential property values. The residents are also willing to contribute about 7.4% of their house price to improve the appearance of the residential landscape.

Real-time Physiological Emotion Detection Mechanisms: Effects of Exercise and Affect Intensity.

Science.gov (United States)

Leon, E; Clarke, G; Sepulveda, F; Callaghan, V

2005-01-01

The development of systems capable of recognizing and categorising emotions is of interest to researchers in various scientific areas including artificial intelligence. The traditional notion that emotions and rationality are two separate realms has gradually been challenged. The work of neurologists has shown the strong relationship between emotional episodes and the way humans think and act. Furthermore, emotions not only regulate human decisions but could also contribute to a more satisfactory response to the environment, i.e., faster and more precise actions. In this paper an analysis of physiological signals employed in real-time emotion detection is presented in the context of Intelligent Inhabited Environments (IIE). Two studies were performed to investigate whether physical exertion has a significant effect on bodily signals stemming from emotional episodes with subjects having various degrees of affect intensity: 1) a statistical analysis using the Wilcoxon Test, and 2) a cluster analysis using the Davies-Bouldin Index. Preliminary results demonstrated that the heart rate and skin resistance consistently showed similar changes regardless of the physical stimuli while blood volume pressure did not show a significant change. It was also found that neither physical stress nor affect intensity played a role in the separation of neutral and non-neutral emotional states.

COMT genetic variation confers risk for psychotic and affective disorders: a case control study

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Lencz Todd

2005-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Variation in the COMT gene has been implicated in a number of psychiatric disorders, including psychotic, affective and anxiety disorders. The majority of these studies have focused on the functional Val108/158Met polymorphism and yielded conflicting results, with limited studies examining the relationship between other polymorphisms, or haplotypes, and psychiatric illness. We hypothesized that COMT variation may confer a general risk for psychiatric disorders and have genotyped four COMT variants (Val158Met, rs737865, rs165599, and a SNP in the P2 promoter [-278A/G; rs2097603] in 394 Caucasian cases and 467 controls. Cases included patients with schizophrenia (n = 196, schizoaffective disorder (n = 62, bipolar disorder (n = 82, major depression (n = 30, and patients diagnosed with either psychotic disorder NOS or depressive disorder NOS (n = 24. Results SNP rs2097603, the Val/Met variant and SNP rs165599 were significantly associated (p = 0.004; p = 0.05; p = 0.035 with a broad "all affected" diagnosis. Haplotype analysis revealed a potentially protective G-A-A-A haplotype haplotype (-278A/G; rs737865; Val108/158Met; rs165599, which was significantly underrepresented in this group (p = 0.0033 and contained the opposite alleles of the risk haplotype previously described by Shifman et al. Analysis of diagnostic subgroups within the "all affecteds group" showed an association of COMT in patients with psychotic disorders as well as in cases with affective illness although the associated variants differed. The protective haplotype remained significantly underrepresented in most of these subgroups. Conclusion Our results support the view that COMT variation provides a weak general predisposition to neuropsychiatric disease including psychotic and affective disorders.

Does Choice of Head Size and Neck Geometry Affect Stem Migration in Modular Large-Diameter Metal-on-Metal Total Hip Arthroplasty? A Preliminary Analysis.

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Georgiou, Cs; Evangelou, Kg; Theodorou, Eg; Provatidis, Cg; Megas, Pd

2012-01-01

Due to their theoretical advantages, hip systems combining modular necks and large diameter femoral heads have gradually gained popularity. However, among others, concerns regarding changes in the load transfer patterns were raised. Recent stress analyses have indeed shown that the use of modular necks and big femoral heads causes significant changes in the strain distribution along the femur. Our original hypothesis was that these changes may affect early distal migration of a modular stem. We examined the effect of head diameter and neck geometry on migration at two years of follow-up in a case series of 116 patients (125 hips), who have undergone primary Metal-on-Metal total hip arthroplasty with the modular grit-blasted Profemur®E stem combined with large-diameter heads (>36 mm). We found that choice of neck geometry and head diameter has no effect on stem migration. A multivariate regression analysis including the potential confounding variables of the body mass index, bone quality, canal fill and stem positioning revealed only a negative correlation between subsidence and canal fill in midstem area. Statistical analysis, despite its limitations, did not confirm our hypothesis that choice of neck geometry and/or head diameter affects early distal migration of a modular stem. However, the importance of correct stem sizing was revealed.

Team Regulation in a Simulated Medical Emergency: An In-Depth Analysis of Cognitive, Metacognitive, and Affective Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Duffy, Melissa C.; Azevedo, Roger; Sun, Ning-Zi; Griscom, Sophia E.; Stead, Victoria; Crelinsten, Linda; Wiseman, Jeffrey; Maniatis, Thomas; Lachapelle, Kevin

2015-01-01

This study examined the nature of cognitive, metacognitive, and affective processes among a medical team experiencing difficulty managing a challenging simulated medical emergency case by conducting in-depth analysis of process data. Medical residents participated in a simulation exercise designed to help trainees to develop medical expertise,…

Music and Affective Phenomena: A 20-Year Content and Bibliometric Analysis of Research in Three Eminent Journals

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Diaz, Frank M.; Silveira, Jason M.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to establish trends in the study of music and affective phenomena through a content and bibliometric analysis of three eminent music research journals, the "Journal of Research in Music Education", "Psychology of Music", and "Music Perception", for the years 1990 through 2009. Excluding…

Multi-level significance of vulnerability indicators. Case study: Eastern Romania

Science.gov (United States)

Stanga, I. C.; Grozavu, A.

2012-04-01

Vulnerability assessment aims, most frequently, to emphasize internal fragility of a system comparing to a reference standard, to similar systems or in relation to a given hazard. Internal fragility, either biophysical or structural, may affect the capacity to predict, to prepare for, to cope with or to recover from a disaster. Thus, vulnerability is linked to resilience and adaptive capacity. From local level to global one, vulnerability factors and corresponding indicators are different and their significance must be tested and validated in a well-structured conceptual and methodological framework. In this paper, the authors aim to show the real vulnerability of rural settlements in Eastern Romania in a multi-level approach. The research area, Tutova Hills, counts about 3421 sq.km and more than 200.000 inhabitants in 421 villages characterized by deficient accessibility, lack of endowments, subsistential agriculture, high pressure on natural environment (especially on forest and soil resources), poverty and aging process of population. Factors that could influence the vulnerability of these rural settlements have been inventoried and assigned into groups through a cluster analysis: habitat and technical urban facilities, infrastructure, economical, social and demographical indicators, environment quality, management of emergency situations etc. Firstly, the main difficulty was to convert qualitative variable in quantitative indicators and to standardize all values to make possible mathematical and statistical processing of data. Secondly, the great variability of vulnerability factors, their different measuring units and their high amplitude of variation require different method of standardization in order to obtain values between zero (minimum vulnerability) and one (maximum vulnerability). Final vulnerability indicators were selected and integrated in a general scheme, according to their significance resulted from an appropriate factor analysis: linear and

Factors affecting the sustainability of solid waste management system-the case of Palestine.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Khateeb, Ammar J; Al-Sari, Majed I; Al-Khatib, Issam A; Anayah, Fathi

2017-02-01

Understanding the predictors of sustainability in solid waste management (SWM) systems can significantly contribute to eliminate many waste management problems. In this paper, the sustainability elements of SWM systems of interest are (1) attitudes toward separation at the source, (2) behaviour regarding reuse and/or recycling and (3) willingness to pay for an improved service of SWM. The predictors affecting these three elements were studied in two Palestinian cities: Ramallah and Jericho. The data were collected via structured questionnaires and direct interviews with the respondents, and the analysis utilized a logistic regression model. The results showed that the place of residence and dwelling premises are the significant factors influencing attitudes toward separation at the source; the place of residence and age are the significant factors explaining behaviour regarding reuse and/or recycling; while the dwelling premises, gender, level of education and being received education on waste management are the significant factors affecting willingness to pay for an improved service of SWM.

Affective Ranking of Movie Scenes Using Physiological Signals and Content Analysis

OpenAIRE

Soleymani, Mohammad; Chanel, Guillaume; Kierkels, Joep Johannes Maria; Pun, Thierry

2008-01-01

In this paper, we propose an approach for affective ranking of movie scenes based on the emotions that are actually felt by spectators. Such a ranking can be used for characterizing the affective, or emotional, content of video clips. The ranking can for instance help determine which video clip from a database elicits, for a given user, the most joy. This in turn will permit video indexing and retrieval based on affective criteria corresponding to a personalized user affective profile.A datas...

Environmental tipping points significantly affect the cost−benefit assessment of climate policies

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Yongyang; Judd, Kenneth L.; Lenton, Timothy M.; Lontzek, Thomas S.; Narita, Daiju

2015-01-01

Most current cost−benefit analyses of climate change policies suggest an optimal global climate policy that is significantly less stringent than the level required to meet the internationally agreed 2 °C target. This is partly because the sum of estimated economic damage of climate change across various sectors, such as energy use and changes in agricultural production, results in only a small economic loss or even a small economic gain in the gross world product under predicted levels of climate change. However, those cost−benefit analyses rarely take account of environmental tipping points leading to abrupt and irreversible impacts on market and nonmarket goods and services, including those provided by the climate and by ecosystems. Here we show that including environmental tipping point impacts in a stochastic dynamic integrated assessment model profoundly alters cost−benefit assessment of global climate policy. The risk of a tipping point, even if it only has nonmarket impacts, could substantially increase the present optimal carbon tax. For example, a risk of only 5% loss in nonmarket goods that occurs with a 5% annual probability at 4 °C increase of the global surface temperature causes an immediate two-thirds increase in optimal carbon tax. If the tipping point also has a 5% impact on market goods, the optimal carbon tax increases by more than a factor of 3. Hence existing cost−benefit assessments of global climate policy may be significantly underestimating the needs for controlling climate change. PMID:25825719

Environmental tipping points significantly affect the cost-benefit assessment of climate policies.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Yongyang; Judd, Kenneth L; Lenton, Timothy M; Lontzek, Thomas S; Narita, Daiju

2015-04-14

Most current cost-benefit analyses of climate change policies suggest an optimal global climate policy that is significantly less stringent than the level required to meet the internationally agreed 2 °C target. This is partly because the sum of estimated economic damage of climate change across various sectors, such as energy use and changes in agricultural production, results in only a small economic loss or even a small economic gain in the gross world product under predicted levels of climate change. However, those cost-benefit analyses rarely take account of environmental tipping points leading to abrupt and irreversible impacts on market and nonmarket goods and services, including those provided by the climate and by ecosystems. Here we show that including environmental tipping point impacts in a stochastic dynamic integrated assessment model profoundly alters cost-benefit assessment of global climate policy. The risk of a tipping point, even if it only has nonmarket impacts, could substantially increase the present optimal carbon tax. For example, a risk of only 5% loss in nonmarket goods that occurs with a 5% annual probability at 4 °C increase of the global surface temperature causes an immediate two-thirds increase in optimal carbon tax. If the tipping point also has a 5% impact on market goods, the optimal carbon tax increases by more than a factor of 3. Hence existing cost-benefit assessments of global climate policy may be significantly underestimating the needs for controlling climate change.

Factors Affecting the Productivity of Government Workers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jerry P. Haenisch

2012-01-01

Full Text Available While there have been a variety of studies concerning government worker motivation and productivity, few, if any, studies have focused specifically on state government workers’ perceptions about what factors affect their productivity. With more than 5 million workers employed by state governments in the United States, any improvement in state workplace productivity could have significant financial and service impact for society. In this study, state government workers identified those factors perceived as most affecting their workplace productivity. Data were collected through a survey offered to state government workers in the state of Wyoming. Factor analysis was used to derive key productivity factors from survey responses. The results indicate that state government workers appreciate having freedom and autonomy, like their jobs and the sense of achievement, and welcome teamwork, but feel limited by poor supervision and management, poor communications, and insufficient budgets and staffing. To improve productivity, the workers would eliminate bureaucracy, supervise better, and improve communication.

Cytogenetic damage in lymphocytes of healthy and thyroid tumor-affected children from the Gomel region (Belarus)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roberto, Barale; Gemignani, Federica; Morizzo, Carmela; Lori, Adriana; Rossi, Annamaria; Ballardin, Michela [Dipartimento di Scienze dell`Uomo e dell`Ambiente, Universita di Pisa, Via S. Giuseppe, n. 22, 56100 Pisa (Italy); Antonelli, Alessandro; Di Pretoro, Giancarlo [Clinica Medica II, Universita di Pisa, Via S. Giuseppe 22, Pisa (Italy); Panasiuk, Galina [CISAM, S. Piero a Grado, Pisa (Italy)

1998-08-31

During 1994, 19 thyroid tumor-affected children and 17 healthy children from the Gomel region, one of the areas most polluted by the Chernobyl fallout, were analysed for (1) the presence of in their urine and (2) chromosome aberrations (CA) in circulating lymphocytes. They were compared with 35 healthy children from Pisa, Italy. Tumor-affected children showed significantly (p<0.05) higher levels in their urine as compared to healthy controls from the Gomel region. No radioactivity was found in urine from the Pisa controls. CA frequency was significantly higher in tumor-affected children compared to the Gomel controls, but was not significantly different between Gomel and Pisa controls. However, dicentric chromosomes were found in a significantly (p<0.01) greater proportion in both affected and healthy Gomel children (3.4 and 1.3/1000 cells, respectively) as compared to the Pisa controls (0.4/1000 cells). Multiple regression analysis showed that the proportion of cells with acentric fragments, dicentric and ring chromosomes was significantly correlated (p<0.05) with the amount of excreted in their urine. These findings suggest that children from the Gomel region were still being exposed to radionuclides, which makes it possible to study a dose-effect relationship

Cytogenetic damage in lymphocytes of healthy and thyroid tumor-affected children from the Gomel region (Belarus)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberto, Barale; Gemignani, Federica; Morizzo, Carmela; Lori, Adriana; Rossi, Annamaria; Ballardin, Michela; Antonelli, Alessandro; Di Pretoro, Giancarlo; Panasiuk, Galina

1998-01-01

During 1994, 19 thyroid tumor-affected children and 17 healthy children from the Gomel region, one of the areas most polluted by the Chernobyl fallout, were analysed for (1) the presence of in their urine and (2) chromosome aberrations (CA) in circulating lymphocytes. They were compared with 35 healthy children from Pisa, Italy. Tumor-affected children showed significantly (p<0.05) higher levels in their urine as compared to healthy controls from the Gomel region. No radioactivity was found in urine from the Pisa controls. CA frequency was significantly higher in tumor-affected children compared to the Gomel controls, but was not significantly different between Gomel and Pisa controls. However, dicentric chromosomes were found in a significantly (p<0.01) greater proportion in both affected and healthy Gomel children (3.4 and 1.3/1000 cells, respectively) as compared to the Pisa controls (0.4/1000 cells). Multiple regression analysis showed that the proportion of cells with acentric fragments, dicentric and ring chromosomes was significantly correlated (p<0.05) with the amount of excreted in their urine. These findings suggest that children from the Gomel region were still being exposed to radionuclides, which makes it possible to study a dose-effect relationship

Analysis of prognostic factors affecting mortality in Fournier’s gangrene: A study of 72 cases

Science.gov (United States)

Tarchouli, Mohamed; Bounaim, Ahmed; Essarghini, Mohamed; Ratbi, Moulay Brahim; Belhamidi, Mohamed Said; Bensal, Abdelhak; Zemmouri, Adil; Ali, Abdelmounaim Ait; Sair, Khalid

2015-01-01

Introduction: Fournier’s gangrene is a rapidly progressing necrotizing fasciitis of the perineum and genital area associated with a high mortality rate. We presented our experience in managing this entity and identified prognostic factors affecting mortality. Methods: We carried out a retrospective study of 72 patients treated for Fournier’s gangrene at our institution between January 2005 and December 2014. Patients were divided into survivors and non-survivors and potential prognostic factors were analyzed. Results: Of the 72 patients, 64 were males (89%) and 8 females (11%), with a mean age of 51 years. The most common predisposing factor was diabetes mellitus (38%). The mortality rate was 17% (12 patients died). Statistically significant differences were not found in age, gender, and predisposing factors, except in heart disease (p = 0.038). Individual laboratory parameters significantly correlating with mortality included hemoglobin (p = 0.023), hematocrit (p = 0.019), serum urea (p = 0.009), creatinine (p = 0.042), and potassium (p = 0.026). Severe sepsis on admission and the extent of affected surface area also predicted higher mortality. Others factors, such as duration of symptoms before admission, number of surgical debridement, diverting colostomy and length of hospital stay, did not show significant differences. The median Fournier’s Gangrene Severity Index (FGSI) was significantly higher in non-survivors (p = 0.002). Conclusion: Fournier’s gangrene is a severe surgical emergency requiring early diagnosis and aggressive therapy. Identification of prognostic factors is essential to establish an optimal treatment and to improve outcome. The FGSI is a simple and valid method for predicting disease severity and patient survival. PMID:26600888

Gender role affects experimental pain responses: a systematic review with meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Alabas, O A; Tashani, O A; Tabasam, G; Johnson, M I

2012-10-01

Gender role refers to the culturally and socially constructed meanings that describe how women and men should behave in certain situations according to feminine and masculine roles learned throughout life. The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the relationship between gender role and experimental pain responses in healthy human participants. We searched computerized databases for studies published between January 1950 and May 2011 that had measured gender role in healthy human adults and pain response to noxious stimuli. Studies were entered into a meta-analysis if they calculated a correlation coefficient (r) for gender role and experimental pain. Searches yielded 4465 'hits' and 13 studies were eligible for review. Sample sizes were 67-235 participants and the proportion of female participants was 45-67%. Eight types of gender role instrument were used. Meta-analysis of six studies (406 men and 539 women) found a significant positive correlation between masculine and feminine personality traits and pain threshold and tolerance, with a small effect size (r = 0.17, p = 0.01). Meta-analysis of four studies (263 men and 297 women) found a significant negative correlation between gender stereotypes specific to pain and pain threshold and tolerance, with a moderate effect size (r = -0.41, p Gender stereotypes specific to pain scales showed stronger associations with sex differences in pain sensitivity response than masculine and feminine personality trait scales. © 2012 European Federation of International Association for the Study of Pain Chapters.

Symptom dimensions of affective disorders in migraine patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Louter, M A; Pijpers, J A; Wardenaar, K J; van Zwet, E W; van Hemert, A M; Zitman, F G; Ferrari, M D; Penninx, B W; Terwindt, G M

2015-11-01

A strong association has been established between migraine and depression. However, this is the first study to differentiate in a large sample of migraine patients for symptom dimensions of the affective disorder spectrum. Migraine patients (n=3174) from the LUMINA (Leiden University Medical Centre Migraine Neuro-analysis Program) study and patients with current psychopathology (n=1129), past psychopathology (n=477), and healthy controls (n=561) from the NESDA (Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety) study, were compared for three symptom dimensions of depression and anxiety. The dimensions -lack of positive affect (depression specific); negative affect (nonspecific); and somatic arousal (anxiety specific)- were assessed by a shortened adaptation of the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire (MASQ-D30). Within the migraine group, the association with migraine specific determinants was established. Multivariate regression analyses were conducted. Migraine patients differed significantly (pmigraine patients were predominantly similar to the past psychopathology group. For the somatic arousal dimension, migraine patients scores were more comparable with the current psychopathology group. Migraine specific determinants for high scores on all dimensions were high frequency of attacks and cutaneous allodynia during attacks. This study shows that affective symptoms in migraine patients are especially associated with the somatic arousal component. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ventricular enlargement in patients with affective disorders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murashita, Jun; Kato, Tadafumi; Shioiri, Toshiki; Hamakawa, Inubushi, Toshiro; Hiroshi; Takahashi, Saburo

1994-01-01

Ventricular enlargement was determined using linear measurement on MR images in a total of 71 patients with affective disorders, including bipolar affective disorder (41) and depression (30). Fourty-one healthy persons served as controls. Evans ratio, Huckman number and minimum distance of caudate nuclei (MDCN) were used as indices for ventricular enlargment. No significant difference in Evans ratio was observed between both the group of bipolar affective disorder and the group of depression and the control group. Nor did it correlate with age in any of the groups. Huckman number was significantly higher in the group of bipolar affective disorder than the other two groups. It positively correlated with age in the group of depression. MDCN was significantly increased in the group of bipolar affective disorder, as compared with the control group; and there was a positive correlation between MDCN and age in both the group of dipolar affective disorder and the group of depression. In conclusion, ventricular enlargement was dependent upon aging in affetive disorder patients. This tendency was more noticeable in the group of depression. In addition, atrophy of the caudate nuclei was likely to be severer in the group of dipolar affective disorder than the group of depression. (N.K.)

Affective significance enhances covert attention: roles of anxiety and word familiarity.

Science.gov (United States)

Calvo, Manuel G; Eysenck, Michael W

2008-11-01

To investigate the processing of emotional words by covert attention, threat-related, positive, and neutral word primes were presented parafoveally (2.2 degrees away from fixation) for 150 ms, under gaze-contingent foveal masking, to prevent eye fixations. The primes were followed by a probe word in a lexical-decision task. In Experiment 1, results showed a parafoveal threat-anxiety superiority: Parafoveal prime threat words facilitated responses to probe threat words for high-anxiety individuals, in comparison with neutral and positive words, and relative to low-anxiety individuals. This reveals an advantage in threat processing by covert attention, without differences in overt attention. However, anxiety was also associated with greater familiarity with threat words, and the parafoveal priming effects were significantly reduced when familiarity was covaried out. To further examine the role of word knowledge, in Experiment 2, vocabulary and word familiarity were equated for low- and high-anxiety groups. In these conditions, the parafoveal threat-anxiety advantage disappeared. This suggests that the enhanced covert-attention effect depends on familiarity with words.

The approach to analysis of significance of flaws in ASME section III and section XI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cowan, A.

1979-01-01

ASME III Appendix G and ASME XI Appendix A describe linear elastic fracture mechanics methods to assess the significance of defects in thick-walled pressure vessels for nuclear reactor systems. The assessment of fracture toughness, Ksub(Ic), is based upon recommendations made by a Task Group of the USA Pressure Vessel Research Committee and is dependent upon correlations with drop weight and Charpy V-notch data to give a lower bound of fracture toughness Ksub(IR). The methods used in the ASME Appendices are outlined noting that, whereas ASME III Appendix G defines a procedure for obtaining allowable pressure vessel loadings for normal service in the presence of a defect, ASME XI Appendix A defines methods for assessing the significance of defects (found by volumetric inspection) under normal and emergency and faulted conditions. The methods of analysis are discussed with respect to material properties, flaw characterisation, stress analysis and recommended safety factors; a short discussion is given on the applicability of the data and methods to other materials and non-nuclear structures. (author)

Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of FOXP3+ tumor infiltrating lymphocytes in patients with breast cancer: a meta-analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, Daqing; Gao, Zhaohua; Cai, Zhengang; Wang, Meixian; He, Jianjun

2015-01-01

The prognostic significance of FOXP3+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in patients with breast cancer remains controversial. The aims of our meta-analysis are to evaluate its association with clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic significance in patients with breast cancer. PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Database and the Ovid Database were systematically searched (up to April 2015). The meta-analysis was performed using hazard ratio (HR), odds ratio (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) as effect measures. Using the random-effects model, statistical analysis was performed using Stata software, version 12.0. Seventeen studies including 8277 patients with breast cancer were analyzed. The meta-analysis indicated that the incidence difference of FOXP3+ TILs was significant when comparing the lymph node positive group to negative group (OR = 1.305, 95 % CI [1.071, 1.590]), the histological grade III group to the I–II group (OR = 3.067, 95 % CI [2.288, 4.111]), the ER positive group to the negative group (OR = 0.435, 95 % CI [0.287, 0.660]), the PR positive group to the negative group (OR = 0.493, 95 % CI [0.296, 0.822]), the HER2 positive group to the negative group (OR = 1.896, 95 % CI [1.335, 2.692]), the TNBC group to the non TNBC group (OR = 2.456, 95 % CI [1.801, 3.348]). The detection of FOXP3+ TILs was significantly correlated with the recurrence-free survival (RFS) of patients (HR = 1.752, 95 % CI [1.188–2.584]) and the overall survival (OS) of patients (HR =1.447, 95 % CI [1.037–2.019]). Our meta-analysis demonstrates that the presence of high levels of FOXP3+ TILs is associated with prognosis for breast cancer patients and predicts lymph node metastasis, hormone receptor and HER-2 status

Cognitive-Affective Dimensions of Female Orgasm: The Role of Automatic Thoughts and Affect During Sexual Activity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tavares, Inês M.; Laan, Ellen T. M.; Nobre, Pedro J.

2017-01-01

Cognitive-affective factors contribute to female sexual dysfunctions, defined as clinically significant difficulties in the ability to respond sexually or to experience sexual pleasure. Automatic thoughts and affect presented during sexual activity are acknowledged as maintenance factors for these

Emotion Analysis of Telephone Complaints from Customer Based on Affective Computing.

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Shuangping; Dai, Yonghui; Ji, Jun; Wang, Jinzhao; Sun, Hai

2015-01-01

Customer complaint has been the important feedback for modern enterprises to improve their product and service quality as well as the customer's loyalty. As one of the commonly used manners in customer complaint, telephone communication carries rich emotional information of speeches, which provides valuable resources for perceiving the customer's satisfaction and studying the complaint handling skills. This paper studies the characteristics of telephone complaint speeches and proposes an analysis method based on affective computing technology, which can recognize the dynamic changes of customer emotions from the conversations between the service staff and the customer. The recognition process includes speaker recognition, emotional feature parameter extraction, and dynamic emotion recognition. Experimental results show that this method is effective and can reach high recognition rates of happy and angry states. It has been successfully applied to the operation quality and service administration in telecom and Internet service company.

Emotion Analysis of Telephone Complaints from Customer Based on Affective Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuangping Gong

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Customer complaint has been the important feedback for modern enterprises to improve their product and service quality as well as the customer’s loyalty. As one of the commonly used manners in customer complaint, telephone communication carries rich emotional information of speeches, which provides valuable resources for perceiving the customer’s satisfaction and studying the complaint handling skills. This paper studies the characteristics of telephone complaint speeches and proposes an analysis method based on affective computing technology, which can recognize the dynamic changes of customer emotions from the conversations between the service staff and the customer. The recognition process includes speaker recognition, emotional feature parameter extraction, and dynamic emotion recognition. Experimental results show that this method is effective and can reach high recognition rates of happy and angry states. It has been successfully applied to the operation quality and service administration in telecom and Internet service company.

Tuning to the significant: neural and genetic processes underlying affective enhancement of visual perception and memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Markovic, Jelena; Anderson, Adam K; Todd, Rebecca M

2014-02-01

Emotionally arousing events reach awareness more easily and evoke greater visual cortex activation than more mundane events. Recent studies have shown that they are also perceived more vividly and that emotionally enhanced perceptual vividness predicts memory vividness. We propose that affect-biased attention (ABA) - selective attention to emotionally salient events - is an endogenous attentional system tuned by an individual's history of reward and punishment. We present the Biased Attention via Norepinephrine (BANE) model, which unifies genetic, neuromodulatory, neural and behavioural evidence to account for ABA. We review evidence supporting BANE's proposal that a key mechanism of ABA is locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) activity, which interacts with activity in hubs of affective salience networks to modulate visual cortex activation and heighten the subjective vividness of emotionally salient stimuli. We further review literature on biased competition and look at initial evidence for its potential as a neural mechanism behind ABA. We also review evidence supporting the role of the LC-NE system as a driving force of ABA. Finally, we review individual differences in ABA and memory including differences in sensitivity to stimulus category and valence. We focus on differences arising from a variant of the ADRA2b gene, which codes for the alpha2b adrenoreceptor as a way of investigating influences of NE availability on ABA in humans. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Joint analysis of quantitative trait loci and major-effect causative mutations affecting meat quality and carcass composition traits in pigs.

Science.gov (United States)

Cherel, Pierre; Pires, José; Glénisson, Jérôme; Milan, Denis; Iannuccelli, Nathalie; Hérault, Frédéric; Damon, Marie; Le Roy, Pascale

2011-08-29

Detection of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) affecting meat quality traits in pigs is crucial for the design of efficient marker-assisted selection programs and to initiate efforts toward the identification of underlying polymorphisms. The RYR1 and PRKAG3 causative mutations, originally identified from major effects on meat characteristics, can be used both as controls for an overall QTL detection strategy for diversely affected traits and as a scale for detected QTL effects. We report on a microsatellite-based QTL detection scan including all autosomes for pig meat quality and carcass composition traits in an F2 population of 1,000 females and barrows resulting from an intercross between a Pietrain and a Large White-Hampshire-Duroc synthetic sire line. Our QTL detection design allowed side-by-side comparison of the RYR1 and PRKAG3 mutation effects seen as QTLs when segregating at low frequencies (0.03-0.08), with independent QTL effects detected from most of the same population, excluding any carrier of these mutations. Large QTL effects were detected in the absence of the RYR1 and PRKGA3 mutations, accounting for 12.7% of phenotypic variation in loin colour redness CIE-a* on SSC6 and 15% of phenotypic variation in glycolytic potential on SSC1. We detected 8 significant QTLs with effects on meat quality traits and 20 significant QTLs for carcass composition and growth traits under these conditions. In control analyses including mutation carriers, RYR1 and PRKAG3 mutations were detected as QTLs, from highly significant to suggestive, and explained 53% to 5% of the phenotypic variance according to the trait. Our results suggest that part of muscle development and backfat thickness effects commonly attributed to the RYR1 mutation may be a consequence of linkage with independent QTLs affecting those traits. The proportion of variation explained by the most significant QTLs detected in this work is close to the influence of major-effect mutations on the least affected

Joint analysis of quantitative trait loci and major-effect causative mutations affecting meat quality and carcass composition traits in pigs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iannuccelli Nathalie

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Detection of quantitative trait loci (QTLs affecting meat quality traits in pigs is crucial for the design of efficient marker-assisted selection programs and to initiate efforts toward the identification of underlying polymorphisms. The RYR1 and PRKAG3 causative mutations, originally identified from major effects on meat characteristics, can be used both as controls for an overall QTL detection strategy for diversely affected traits and as a scale for detected QTL effects. We report on a microsatellite-based QTL detection scan including all autosomes for pig meat quality and carcass composition traits in an F2 population of 1,000 females and barrows resulting from an intercross between a Pietrain and a Large White-Hampshire-Duroc synthetic sire line. Our QTL detection design allowed side-by-side comparison of the RYR1 and PRKAG3 mutation effects seen as QTLs when segregating at low frequencies (0.03-0.08, with independent QTL effects detected from most of the same population, excluding any carrier of these mutations. Results Large QTL effects were detected in the absence of the RYR1 and PRKGA3 mutations, accounting for 12.7% of phenotypic variation in loin colour redness CIE-a* on SSC6 and 15% of phenotypic variation in glycolytic potential on SSC1. We detected 8 significant QTLs with effects on meat quality traits and 20 significant QTLs for carcass composition and growth traits under these conditions. In control analyses including mutation carriers, RYR1 and PRKAG3 mutations were detected as QTLs, from highly significant to suggestive, and explained 53% to 5% of the phenotypic variance according to the trait. Conclusions Our results suggest that part of muscle development and backfat thickness effects commonly attributed to the RYR1 mutation may be a consequence of linkage with independent QTLs affecting those traits. The proportion of variation explained by the most significant QTLs detected in this work is close to the

Different continuous cropping spans significantly affect microbial community membership and structure in a vanilla-grown soil as revealed by deep pyrosequencing.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Wu; Zhao, Qingyun; Zhao, Jun; Xun, Weibing; Li, Rong; Zhang, Ruifu; Wu, Huasong; Shen, Qirong

2015-07-01

In the present study, soil bacterial and fungal communities across vanilla continuous cropping time-series fields were assessed through deep pyrosequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions. The results demonstrated that the long-term monoculture of vanilla significantly altered soil microbial communities. Soil fungal diversity index increased with consecutive cropping years, whereas soil bacterial diversity was relatively stable. Bray-Curtis dissimilarity cluster and UniFrac-weighted principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) revealed that monoculture time was the major determinant for fungal community structure, but not for bacterial community structure. The relative abundances (RAs) of the Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Basidiomycota phyla were depleted along the years of vanilla monoculture. Pearson correlations at the phyla level demonstrated that Actinobacteria, Armatimonadetes, Bacteroidetes, Verrucomicrobia, and Firmicutes had significant negative correlations with vanilla disease index (DI), while no significant correlation for fungal phyla was observed. In addition, the amount of the pathogen Fusarium oxysporum accumulated with increasing years and was significantly positively correlated with vanilla DI. By contrast, the abundance of beneficial bacteria, including Bradyrhizobium and Bacillus, significantly decreased over time. In sum, soil weakness and vanilla stem wilt disease after long-term continuous cropping can be attributed to the alteration of the soil microbial community membership and structure, i.e., the reduction of the beneficial microbes and the accumulation of the fungal pathogen.

Nestin-Cre Mice Are Affected by Hypopituitarism, Which Is Not Due to Significant Activity of the Transgene in the Pituitary Gland

Science.gov (United States)

Galichet, Christophe; Lovell-Badge, Robin; Rizzoti, Karine

2010-01-01

Nestin-Cre mice express Cre recombinase under control of the rat nestin promoter and central nervous system (CNS) enhancer. While endogenous Nestin is expressed in some other tissues including the pituitary gland, Nestin-Cre mice induce recombination predominantly in the CNS. For this reason, they have been widely used to explore gene function or cell fate in the latter. Pituitary hormonal deficiencies, or hypopituitarism, are associated with a wide range of symptoms and with a significant morbidity. These can have a neural and/or a pituitary origin as the gland's secretions are controlled by the hypothalamus. We report here that Nestin-Cre mice themselves are affected by mild hypopituitarism. Hence, physiological consequences are expected, especially in combination with defects resulting from Cre mediated deletion of any gene under investigation. To further investigate the origin of this phenotype, we re-examined the activity of the transgene. We compared it with expression of Nestin itself in the context of the hypothalamo-pituitary axis, especially in the light of a recent report showing pituitary Nestin-Cre activity, which contrasts with previous data. Our results disagree with those of this recent study and do not support the claim that Nestin positive cells are present in the pituitary anlagen, the Rathke's pouch (RP). Moreover we did not observe any significant activity in the post-natal pituitary, in agreement with the initial report. PMID:20625432

Factors affecting medication adherence in community-managed patients with hypertension based on the principal component analysis: evidence from Xinjiang, China

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Zhang YJ

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Yuji Zhang,* Xiaoju Li,* Lu Mao, Mei Zhang, Ke Li, Yinxia Zheng, Wangfei Cui, Hongpo Yin, Yanli He, Mingxia Jing Department of Public Health, Shihezi University School of Medicine, Shihezi, Xinjiang, China *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: The analysis of factors affecting the nonadherence to antihypertensive medications is important in the control of blood pressure among patients with hypertension. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between factors and medication adherence in Xinjiang community-managed patients with hypertension based on the principal component analysis.Patients and methods: A total of 1,916 community-managed patients with hypertension, selected randomly through a multi-stage sampling, participated in the survey. Self-designed questionnaires were used to classify the participants as either adherent or nonadherent to their medication regimen. A principal component analysis was used in order to eliminate the correlation between factors. Factors related to nonadherence were analyzed by using a χ2-test and a binary logistic regression model.Results: This study extracted nine common factors, with a cumulative variance contribution rate of 63.6%. Further analysis revealed that the following variables were significantly related to nonadherence: severity of disease, community management, diabetes, and taking traditional medications.Conclusion: Community management plays an important role in improving the patients’ medication-taking behavior. Regular medication regimen instruction and better community management services through community-level have the potential to reduce nonadherence. Mild hypertensive patients should be monitored by community health care providers. Keywords: hypertension, medication adherence, factors, principal component analysis, community management, China

A multilevel structural equation modeling analysis of vulnerabilities and resilience resources influencing affective adaptation to chronic pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Sturgeon, John A; Zautra, Alex J; Arewasikporn, Anne

2014-02-01

The processes of individual adaptation to chronic pain are complex and occur across multiple domains. We examined the social, cognitive, and affective context of daily pain adaptation in individuals with fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis. By using a sample of 260 women with fibromyalgia or osteoarthritis, we examined the contributions of pain catastrophizing, negative interpersonal events, and positive interpersonal events to daily negative and positive affect across 30days of daily diary data. Individual differences and daily fluctuations in predictor variables were estimated simultaneously by utilizing multilevel structural equation modeling techniques. The relationships between pain and negative and positive affect were mediated by stable and day-to-day levels of pain catastrophizing as well as day-to-day positive interpersonal events, but not negative interpersonal events. There were significant and independent contributions of pain catastrophizing and positive interpersonal events to adaptation to pain and pain-related affective dysregulation. These effects occur both between persons and within a person's everyday life. Copyright © 2013 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A putative Lynch syndrome family carrying MSH2 and MSH6 variants of uncertain significance-functional analysis reveals the pathogenic one

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kantelinen, Jukka; Hansen, Thomas V O; Kansikas, Minttu

2011-01-01

Inherited pathogenic mutations in the mismatch repair (MMR) genes, MSH2, MLH1, MSH6, and PMS2 predispose to Lynch syndrome (LS). However, the finding of a variant or variants of uncertain significance (VUS) in affected family members complicates the risk assessment. Here, we describe a putative LS...

Work–Family Conflict and Mental Health Among Female Employees: A Sequential Mediation Model via Negative Affect and Perceived Stress

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Shiyi; Da, Shu; Guo, Heng; Zhang, Xichao

2018-01-01

After the implementation of the universal two-child policy in 2016, more and more working women have found themselves caught in the dilemma of whether to raise a baby or be promoted, which exacerbates work–family conflicts among Chinese women. Few studies have examined the mediating effect of negative affect. The present study combined the conservation of resources model and affective events theory to examine the sequential mediating effect of negative affect and perceived stress in the relationship between work–family conflict and mental health. A valid sample of 351 full-time Chinese female employees was recruited in this study, and participants voluntarily answered online questionnaires. Pearson correlation analysis, structural equation modeling, and multiple mediation analysis were used to examine the relationships between work–family conflict, negative affect, perceived stress, and mental health in full-time female employees. We found that women’s perceptions of both work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict were significant negatively related to mental health. Additionally, the results showed that negative affect and perceived stress were negatively correlated with mental health. The 95% confidence intervals indicated the sequential mediating effect of negative affect and stress in the relationship between work–family conflict and mental health was significant, which supported the hypothesized sequential mediation model. The findings suggest that work–family conflicts affected the level of self-reported mental health, and this relationship functioned through the two sequential mediators of negative affect and perceived stress. PMID:29719522

Work-Family Conflict and Mental Health Among Female Employees: A Sequential Mediation Model via Negative Affect and Perceived Stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Shiyi; Da, Shu; Guo, Heng; Zhang, Xichao

2018-01-01

After the implementation of the universal two-child policy in 2016, more and more working women have found themselves caught in the dilemma of whether to raise a baby or be promoted, which exacerbates work-family conflicts among Chinese women. Few studies have examined the mediating effect of negative affect. The present study combined the conservation of resources model and affective events theory to examine the sequential mediating effect of negative affect and perceived stress in the relationship between work-family conflict and mental health. A valid sample of 351 full-time Chinese female employees was recruited in this study, and participants voluntarily answered online questionnaires. Pearson correlation analysis, structural equation modeling, and multiple mediation analysis were used to examine the relationships between work-family conflict, negative affect, perceived stress, and mental health in full-time female employees. We found that women's perceptions of both work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict were significant negatively related to mental health. Additionally, the results showed that negative affect and perceived stress were negatively correlated with mental health. The 95% confidence intervals indicated the sequential mediating effect of negative affect and stress in the relationship between work-family conflict and mental health was significant, which supported the hypothesized sequential mediation model. The findings suggest that work-family conflicts affected the level of self-reported mental health, and this relationship functioned through the two sequential mediators of negative affect and perceived stress.

Work–Family Conflict and Mental Health Among Female Employees: A Sequential Mediation Model via Negative Affect and Perceived Stress

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shiyi Zhou

2018-04-01

Full Text Available After the implementation of the universal two-child policy in 2016, more and more working women have found themselves caught in the dilemma of whether to raise a baby or be promoted, which exacerbates work–family conflicts among Chinese women. Few studies have examined the mediating effect of negative affect. The present study combined the conservation of resources model and affective events theory to examine the sequential mediating effect of negative affect and perceived stress in the relationship between work–family conflict and mental health. A valid sample of 351 full-time Chinese female employees was recruited in this study, and participants voluntarily answered online questionnaires. Pearson correlation analysis, structural equation modeling, and multiple mediation analysis were used to examine the relationships between work–family conflict, negative affect, perceived stress, and mental health in full-time female employees. We found that women’s perceptions of both work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict were significant negatively related to mental health. Additionally, the results showed that negative affect and perceived stress were negatively correlated with mental health. The 95% confidence intervals indicated the sequential mediating effect of negative affect and stress in the relationship between work–family conflict and mental health was significant, which supported the hypothesized sequential mediation model. The findings suggest that work–family conflicts affected the level of self-reported mental health, and this relationship functioned through the two sequential mediators of negative affect and perceived stress.

A study on heat-flow analysis of friction stir welding on a rotation affected zone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Sung Wook; Jang, Beom Seon; Kim, Jae Woong

2014-01-01

In recent years, as interest in environmental protection and energy conservation rose, technological development for lightweight efficiency of transport equipment, such as aircrafts, railcars, automobiles and vessels, have been briskly proceeding. This has led to an expansion of the application of lightweight alloys such as aluminum and magnesium. For the welding of these lightweight alloys, friction stir welding has been in development by many researchers. Heat-flow analysis of friction stir welding is one such research. The flow and energy equation is solved using the computational fluid dynamic commercial program 'Fluent'. In this study, a rotation affected zone concept is imposed. The rotation affected zone is a constant volume. In this volume, flow is rotated the same as the tool rotation speed and so plastic dissipation occurs. Through this simulation, the temperature distribution results are calculated and the simulation results are compared with the experimental results.

Prioritization of the Factors Affecting Bank Efficiency Using Combined Data Envelopment Analysis and Analytical Hierarchy Process Methods

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Mehdi Fallah Jelodar

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Bank branches have a vital role in the economy of all countries. They collect assets from various sources and put them in the hand of those sectors that need liquidity. Due to the limited financial and human resources and capitals and also because of the unlimited and new customers’ needs and strong competition between banks and financial and credit institutions, the purpose of this study is to provide an answer to the question of which of the factors affecting performance, creating value, and increasing shareholder dividends are superior to others and consequently managers should pay more attention to them. Therefore, in this study, the factors affecting performance (efficiency in the areas of management, personnel, finance, and customers were segmented and obtained results were ranked using both methods of Data Envelopment Analysis and hierarchical analysis. In both of these methods, the leadership style in the area of management; the recruitment and resource allocation in the area of financing; the employees’ satisfaction, dignity, and self-actualization in the area of employees; and meeting the new needs of customers got more weights.

Asymmetric warming significantly affects net primary production, but not ecosystem carbon balances of forest and grassland ecosystems in northern China.

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Hongxin; Feng, Jinchao; Axmacher, Jan C; Sang, Weiguo

2015-03-13

We combine the process-based ecosystem model (Biome-BGC) with climate change-scenarios based on both RegCM3 model outputs and historic observed trends to quantify differential effects of symmetric and asymmetric warming on ecosystem net primary productivity (NPP), heterotrophic respiration (Rh) and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of six ecosystem types representing different climatic zones of northern China. Analysis of covariance shows that NPP is significant greater at most ecosystems under the various environmental change scenarios once temperature asymmetries are taken into consideration. However, these differences do not lead to significant differences in NEP, which indicates that asymmetry in climate change does not result in significant alterations of the overall carbon balance in the dominating forest or grassland ecosystems. Overall, NPP, Rh and NEP are regulated by highly interrelated effects of increases in temperature and atmospheric CO2 concentrations and precipitation changes, while the magnitude of these effects strongly varies across the six sites. Further studies underpinned by suitable experiments are nonetheless required to further improve the performance of ecosystem models and confirm the validity of these model predictions. This is crucial for a sound understanding of the mechanisms controlling the variability in asymmetric warming effects on ecosystem structure and functioning.

Asymmetric warming significantly affects net primary production, but not ecosystem carbon balances of forest and grassland ecosystems in northern China

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Hongxin; Feng, Jinchao; Axmacher, Jan C.; Sang, Weiguo

2015-03-01

We combine the process-based ecosystem model (Biome-BGC) with climate change-scenarios based on both RegCM3 model outputs and historic observed trends to quantify differential effects of symmetric and asymmetric warming on ecosystem net primary productivity (NPP), heterotrophic respiration (Rh) and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of six ecosystem types representing different climatic zones of northern China. Analysis of covariance shows that NPP is significant greater at most ecosystems under the various environmental change scenarios once temperature asymmetries are taken into consideration. However, these differences do not lead to significant differences in NEP, which indicates that asymmetry in climate change does not result in significant alterations of the overall carbon balance in the dominating forest or grassland ecosystems. Overall, NPP, Rh and NEP are regulated by highly interrelated effects of increases in temperature and atmospheric CO2 concentrations and precipitation changes, while the magnitude of these effects strongly varies across the six sites. Further studies underpinned by suitable experiments are nonetheless required to further improve the performance of ecosystem models and confirm the validity of these model predictions. This is crucial for a sound understanding of the mechanisms controlling the variability in asymmetric warming effects on ecosystem structure and functioning.

Sensitivity Analysis of Corrosion Rate Prediction Models Utilized for Reinforced Concrete Affected by Chloride

Science.gov (United States)

Siamphukdee, Kanjana; Collins, Frank; Zou, Roger

2013-06-01

Chloride-induced reinforcement corrosion is one of the major causes of premature deterioration in reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Given the high maintenance and replacement costs, accurate modeling of RC deterioration is indispensable for ensuring the optimal allocation of limited economic resources. Since corrosion rate is one of the major factors influencing the rate of deterioration, many predictive models exist. However, because the existing models use very different sets of input parameters, the choice of model for RC deterioration is made difficult. Although the factors affecting corrosion rate are frequently reported in the literature, there is no published quantitative study on the sensitivity of predicted corrosion rate to the various input parameters. This paper presents the results of the sensitivity analysis of the input parameters for nine selected corrosion rate prediction models. Three different methods of analysis are used to determine and compare the sensitivity of corrosion rate to various input parameters: (i) univariate regression analysis, (ii) multivariate regression analysis, and (iii) sensitivity index. The results from the analysis have quantitatively verified that the corrosion rate of steel reinforcement bars in RC structures is highly sensitive to corrosion duration time, concrete resistivity, and concrete chloride content. These important findings establish that future empirical models for predicting corrosion rate of RC should carefully consider and incorporate these input parameters.

Resilience As A Mediator Between Affect, Coping Styles, Support and Life Satisfaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ozlem Kelle

2018-06-01

Full Text Available As humans, we are always targets of many positive and negative life events in which we would show differences in dealing with those events. In this study, the aim was to investigate how individuals react to stressful situations through the concept of resilience. Therefore it was aimed to test the role of individual characteristics of affect and coping styles in addition to receiving support from family and social environment on resilience. The role of resilience in life satisfaction was also investigated. A survey was used including demographic questions, ego resilience scale, positive and negative affect scale, stress coping styles inventory, and satisfaction with life scale. Target of the study was individuals who were over 18 years of age and 403 participants were reached through snowball sampling. Seventy six percent of the participants were female (n=310 and 24% of them were male (n=93. Hypothesized model was tested by using path analysis. Study results showed that positive affect, optimistic coping style and confident coping style were significant predictors of resilience as individual characteristics in addition to receiving social support. Resilience was found as a significant predictor of life satisfaction. Moreover, resilience was also found as a significant mediator of the relationships between positive affect, optimistic coping, confident coping styles, receiving social support and life satisfaction. Importance of the study in the field of psychology and suggestions for future research were also discussed with relevant literature.

The role of maternal affect attunement in dyadic and triadic communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Legerstee, Maria; Markova, Gabriela; Fisher, Tamara

2007-05-01

The influence of maternal affect attunement on the relationship between gaze monitoring during dyadic communication at 3 months and coordinated attention during triadic communication at 5, 7 and 10 months was examined in a longitudinal study. Although most infants engaged in gaze monitoring at 3 months and in coordinated attention at 5, 7 and 10 months, a regression analysis revealed that gaze monitoring at 3 months significantly predicted coordinated attention at 10 months only when maternal affect attunement was high. These findings are discussed in terms of theories that emphasize the role of social interaction in the development of meaningful communication and continuity in mental state awareness during the first year of life.

Haplotype analysis and a novel allele-sharing method refines a chromosome 4p locus linked to bipolar affective disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Le Hellard, Stephanie; Lee, Andrew J; Underwood, Sarah; Thomson, Pippa A; Morris, Stewart W; Torrance, Helen S; Anderson, Susan M; Adams, Richard R; Navarro, Pau; Christoforou, Andrea; Houlihan, Lorna M; Detera-Wadleigh, Sevilla; Owen, Michael J; Asherson, Philip; Muir, Walter J; Blackwood, Douglas H R; Wray, Naomi R; Porteous, David J; Evans, Kathryn L

2007-03-15

Bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) and schizophrenia (SCZ) are common conditions. Their causes are unknown, but they include a substantial genetic component. Previously, we described significant linkage of BPAD to a chromosome 4p locus within a large pedigree (F22). Others subsequently have found evidence for linkage of BPAD and SCZ to this region. We constructed high-resolution haplotypes for four linked families, calculated logarithm of the odds (LOD) scores, and developed a novel method to assess the extent of allele sharing within genes between the families. We describe an increase in the F22 LOD score for this region. Definition and comparison of the linked haplotypes allowed us to prioritize two subregions of 3.8 and 4.4 Mb. Analysis of the extent of allele sharing within these subregions identified 200 kb that shows increased allele sharing between families. Linkage of BPAD to chromosome 4p has been strengthened. Haplotype analysis in the additional linked families refined the 20-Mb linkage region. Development of a novel allele-sharing method allowed us to bridge the gap between conventional linkage and association studies. Description of a 200-kb region of increased allele sharing prioritizes this region, which contains two functional candidate genes for BPAD, SLC2A9, and WDR1, for subsequent studies.

How culture affects management?

OpenAIRE

Billi, Lorena

2012-01-01

The study is about how culture affects management. Culture can have many different meanings. Management has also many different ways to be approached. While doing research about cultures, the study will try to analyze how the culture affects the management. The study starts with a full explanation of the meaning of culture. Some previous analysis and studies are added to illustrate my study on the subject. The effect culture has on management is studied at different levels. The study does not...

Factors that affect the ecological footprint depending on the different income levels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sheng-Tung Chen

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The ecological footprint provides a method for measuring how much lands can support the consumption of the natural resources. Development and biocapacity debates revolve mainly around the factors that affect the ecological footprint and the approaches to improve the environmental quality. Therefore, we conducted the panel analysis of data for 99 countries from 1981 to 2006 to determine what factors affect the ecological footprint. The empirical results show that the effect of GDP per capita on the ecological footprint varies for different income levels. The effect of urbanization is significantly positive across income levels, which means that the higher the rate of urbanization in high or low income country, the higher the ecological footprint. As developing countries pursue economic development, there will be an impact on the environment. The developed countries may seek to develop their economies through activities that are more detrimental to the environment. Additionally, the export of goods and services divided by GDP is significant, which means that the higher the volume of exports, the greater the burden on the environment. However, this effect is not significant across different income level models. The income effect may explain the diverse effects of export on the environment. Therefore, panel data analysis and income classification are necessary to discuss the effect of export on the environment.

Analysis on Factors Affecting Seedling Establishment in Rice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ju LUO

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Elongations of coleoptile and mesocotyl are related directly to rice seedling establishment in soil and height of plant is related to lodging in rice production. Twelve typical rice cultivars with different lengths of coleoptile and mesocotyl (long, medium and short were selected by screening the lengths of coleoptile and mesocotyl in 1500 accessions. The seedling establishments of these typical cultivars were compared under the combinations of different sowing depths and flooding durations, and two semi-dwarf varieties (G140, Zhong 96–21 with good seedling establishments and optimum mesocotyl lengths were found. The length of mesocotyl was completely fitted negative binomial distribution and the length of coleoptile was nearly fitted lognormal distribution. Analysis of the relationships among mesocotyl, coleoptile, seeding depth, flooding duration, and their interactions to seedling establishment percentage showed that there existed significant relations among mesocotyl, coleoptile, mesocotyl × coleoptile, seeding depth, flooding duration and mesocotyl × sowing depth in the experiment for seedling establishment.

How Does Procedural Fairness Affect Performance Evaluation System Satisfaction? (Evidence from a UK Police Force

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Sholihin Mahfud

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates whether, and if so, how procedural fairness affects performance evaluation system satisfaction in a UK Police Force. Employing a survey method with samples of detective inspectors and detective chief inspectors with significant managerial responsibilities in a UK Police Force, this study finds that procedural fairness affects performance evaluation system satisfaction. Further analysis reveals that the effect of procedural fairness on performance evaluation system satisfaction is mediated by trust. This study provides empirical evidence on how procedural fairness affects performance evaluation system satisfaction. The results of this study may benefit the designer of performance evaluation systems in police organizations.

Bonding strategies for MIH-affected enamel and dentin.

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Krämer, Norbert; Bui Khac, Ngoc-Han Nana; Lücker, Susanne; Stachniss, Vitus; Frankenberger, Roland

2018-02-01

Aim of the present study was to evaluate resin composite adhesion to dental hard tissues affected by molar incisor hypomineralisation (MIH). 94 freshly extracted human molars and incisors (53 suffering MIH) were used. 68 teeth (35 with MIH) were used for μ-TBS tests in enamel and dentin, 26 (18 with MIH) for qualitative evaluation. Specimens were bonded with Clearfil SE Bond, Scotchbond Universal, and OptiBond FL. For MIH affected enamel, additional OptiBond FL groups with NaOCl and NaOCl+Icon were investigated. Beside fractographic analysis, also qualitative evaluations were performed using SEM at different magnifications as well as histological sectioning. Highest μ-TBS values were recorded with dentin specimens (ANOVA, mod. LSD, p0.05). Pre-test failures did not occur in dentin specimens. Sound enamel specimens exhibited significantly higher μ-TBS values than MIH enamel (p0.05), however, it caused less pre-test failures (pMIH enamel is the limiting factor in adhesion to MIH teeth. MIH-affected dentin may be bonded conventionally. Copyright © 2017 The Academy of Dental Materials. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thinking versus feeling: differentiating between cognitive and affective components of perceived cancer risk.

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Janssen, Eva; van Osch, Liesbeth; Lechner, Lilian; Candel, Math; de Vries, Hein

2012-01-01

Despite the increased recognition of affect in guiding probability estimates, perceived risk has been mainly operationalised in a cognitive way and the differentiation between rational and intuitive judgements is largely unexplored. This study investigated the validity of a measurement instrument differentiating cognitive and affective probability beliefs and examined whether behavioural decision making is mainly guided by cognition or affect. Data were obtained from four surveys focusing on smoking (N=268), fruit consumption (N=989), sunbed use (N=251) and sun protection (N=858). Correlational analyses showed that affective likelihood was more strongly correlated with worry compared to cognitive likelihood and confirmatory factor analysis provided support for a two-factor model of perceived likelihood instead of a one-factor model (i.e. cognition and affect combined). Furthermore, affective likelihood was significantly associated with the various outcome variables, whereas the association for cognitive likelihood was absent in three studies. The findings provide support for the construct validity of the measures used to assess cognitive and affective likelihood. Since affective likelihood might be a better predictor of health behaviour than the commonly used cognitive operationalisation, both dimensions should be considered in future research.

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

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

2016-12-01

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

Assessing Statistically Significant Heavy-Metal Concentrations in Abandoned Mine Areas via Hot Spot Analysis of Portable XRF Data.

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Kim, Sung-Min; Choi, Yosoon

2017-06-18

To develop appropriate measures to prevent soil contamination in abandoned mining areas, an understanding of the spatial variation of the potentially toxic trace elements (PTEs) in the soil is necessary. For the purpose of effective soil sampling, this study uses hot spot analysis, which calculates a z -score based on the Getis-Ord Gi* statistic to identify a statistically significant hot spot sample. To constitute a statistically significant hot spot, a feature with a high value should also be surrounded by other features with high values. Using relatively cost- and time-effective portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) analysis, sufficient input data are acquired from the Busan abandoned mine and used for hot spot analysis. To calibrate the PXRF data, which have a relatively low accuracy, the PXRF analysis data are transformed using the inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) data. The transformed PXRF data of the Busan abandoned mine are classified into four groups according to their normalized content and z -scores: high content with a high z -score (HH), high content with a low z -score (HL), low content with a high z -score (LH), and low content with a low z -score (LL). The HL and LH cases may be due to measurement errors. Additional or complementary surveys are required for the areas surrounding these suspect samples or for significant hot spot areas. The soil sampling is conducted according to a four-phase procedure in which the hot spot analysis and proposed group classification method are employed to support the development of a sampling plan for the following phase. Overall, 30, 50, 80, and 100 samples are investigated and analyzed in phases 1-4, respectively. The method implemented in this case study may be utilized in the field for the assessment of statistically significant soil contamination and the identification of areas for which an additional survey is required.

Assessing Statistically Significant Heavy-Metal Concentrations in Abandoned Mine Areas via Hot Spot Analysis of Portable XRF Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sung-Min Kim

2017-06-01

Full Text Available To develop appropriate measures to prevent soil contamination in abandoned mining areas, an understanding of the spatial variation of the potentially toxic trace elements (PTEs in the soil is necessary. For the purpose of effective soil sampling, this study uses hot spot analysis, which calculates a z-score based on the Getis-Ord Gi* statistic to identify a statistically significant hot spot sample. To constitute a statistically significant hot spot, a feature with a high value should also be surrounded by other features with high values. Using relatively cost- and time-effective portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF analysis, sufficient input data are acquired from the Busan abandoned mine and used for hot spot analysis. To calibrate the PXRF data, which have a relatively low accuracy, the PXRF analysis data are transformed using the inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES data. The transformed PXRF data of the Busan abandoned mine are classified into four groups according to their normalized content and z-scores: high content with a high z-score (HH, high content with a low z-score (HL, low content with a high z-score (LH, and low content with a low z-score (LL. The HL and LH cases may be due to measurement errors. Additional or complementary surveys are required for the areas surrounding these suspect samples or for significant hot spot areas. The soil sampling is conducted according to a four-phase procedure in which the hot spot analysis and proposed group classification method are employed to support the development of a sampling plan for the following phase. Overall, 30, 50, 80, and 100 samples are investigated and analyzed in phases 1–4, respectively. The method implemented in this case study may be utilized in the field for the assessment of statistically significant soil contamination and the identification of areas for which an additional survey is required.

Association analysis of the chromosome 4p-located G protein-coupled receptor 78 (GPR78) gene in bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia.

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Underwood, S L; Christoforou, A; Thomson, P A; Wray, N R; Tenesa, A; Whittaker, J; Adams, R A; Le Hellard, S; Morris, S W; Blackwood, D H R; Muir, W J; Porteous, D J; Evans, K L

2006-04-01

The orphan G protein-coupled receptor 78 (GPR78) gene lies within a region of chromosome 4p where we have previously shown linkage to bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) in a large Scottish family. GPR78 was screened for single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and a linkage disequilibrium map was constructed. Six tagging SNPs were selected and tested for association on a sample of 377 BPAD, 392 schizophrenia (SCZ) and 470 control individuals. Using standard chi(2) statistics and a backwards logistic regression approach to adjust for the effect of sex, SNP rs1282, located approximately 3 kb upstream of the coding region, was identified as a potentially important variant in SCZ (chi(2) P=0.044; LRT P=0.065). When the analysis was restricted to females, the strength of association increased to an uncorrected allele P-value of 0.015 (odds ratios (OR)=1.688, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.104-2.581) and uncorrected genotype P-value of 0.015 (OR=5.991, 95% CI: 1.545-23.232). Under the recessive model, the genotype P-value improved further to 0.005 (OR=5.618, 95% CI: 1.460-21.617) and remained significant after correcting for multiple testing (P=0.017). No single-marker association was detected in the SCZ males, in the BPAD individuals or with any other SNP. Haplotype analysis of the case-control samples revealed several global and individual haplotypes, with P-values <0.05, all but one of which contained SNP rs1282. After correcting for multiple testing, two haplotypes remained significant in both the female BPAD individuals (P=0.038 and 0.032) and in the full sample of affected female individuals (P=0.044 and 0.033). Our results provide preliminary evidence for the involvement of GPR78 in susceptibility to BPAD and SCZ in the Scottish population. Molecular Psychiatry (2006) 11, 384-394. doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001786; published online 3 January 2006.

Health-related quality of life, depression, and self-esteem in adolescents with leprosy-affected parents: results of a cross-sectional study in Nepal.

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Yamaguchi, Nobuko; Poudel, Krishna C; Jimba, Masamine

2013-01-10

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that has an impact on the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) of sufferers as well as their children. To date, no study has investigated the effects of parental leprosy on the well-being of adolescent children. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Lalitpur and Kathmandu districts of Nepal. Adolescents with leprosy-affected parents (n = 102; aged 11-17 years) and those with parents unaffected by leprosy (n = 115; 11-17 years) were investigated. Self-reported data from adolescents were collected using the Kinder Lebensqualität Fragebogen (KINDLR) questionnaire to assess HRQOL, the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), and the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare scores between the two groups. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to explore the determinants of HRQOL for adolescents with leprosy-affected parents. ANCOVA revealed that the KINDLR and RSES scores were significantly lower among adolescents with leprosy-affected parents compared with unaffected parents. However, the scores of "Friends" and "School" subscales of KINDLR were similar between the two groups. The CES-D score was significantly higher among adolescents with leprosy-affected parents than for adolescents with unaffected parents. The KINDLR scores for adolescents with both parents affected (n = 41) were significantly lower than the scores for those with one parent affected (n = 61). Multiple regression analysis revealed that adolescents with leprosy-affected parents who had higher levels of depressive symptoms were more likely to have lower KINDLR scores. A similar result was seen for adolescents where both parents had leprosy. Adolescents with leprosy-affected parents had higher levels of depressive symptoms, lower levels of self-esteem, and lower HRQOL compared with adolescents whose parents were unaffected by leprosy. Thus, mental health support

Factors Affecting Online Groupwork Interest: A Multilevel Analysis

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Du, Jianxia; Xu, Jianzhong; Fan, Xitao

2013-01-01

The purpose of the present study is to examine the personal and contextual factors that may affect students' online groupwork interest. Using the data obtained from graduate students in an online course, both student- and group-level predictors for online groupwork interest were analyzed within the framework of hierarchical linear modeling…

Ground transport stress affects bacteria in the rumen of beef cattle: A real-time PCR analysis.

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Deng, Lixin; He, Cong; Zhou, Yanwei; Xu, Lifan; Xiong, Huijun

2017-05-01

Transport stress syndrome often appears in beef cattle during ground transportation, leading to changes in their capacity to digest food due to changes in rumen microbiota. The present study aimed to analyze bacteria before and after cattle transport. Eight Xianan beef cattle were transported over 1000 km. Rumen fluid and blood were sampled before and after transport. Real-time PCR was used to quantify rumen bacteria. Cortisol and adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) were measured. Cortisol and ACTH were increased on day 1 after transportation and decreased by day 3. Cellulolytic bacteria (Fibrobacter succinogenes and Ruminococcus flavefaciens), Ruminococcus amylophilus and Prevotella albensis were increased at 6 h and declined by 15 days after transport. There was a significant reduction in Succinivibrio dextrinosolvens, Prevotella bryantii, Prevotella ruminicola and Anaerovibrio lipolytica after transport. Rumen concentration of acetic acid increased after transport, while rumen pH and concentrations of propionic and butyric acids were decreased. Body weight decreased by 3 days and increased by 15 days after transportation. Using real-time PCR analysis, we detected changes in bacteria in the rumen of beef cattle after transport, which might affect the growth of cattle after transport. © 2016 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

Abnormal neuroendocrine response to clomipramine in hereditary affective psychosis.

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Cordes, Joachim; Larisch, Rolf; Henning, Uwe; Thünker, Johanna; Werner, Christian; Orozco, Guillermo; Mayoral, Fermín; Rivas, Fabio; Auburger, Georg; Tosch, Marco; Rietschel, Marcella; Gaebel, Wolfgang; Müller, Hans-Wilhelm; Klimke, Ansgar

2009-01-01

Blunting of prolactin response after serotonergic stimulation during a major depressive episode has been described by several investigators. In this study, the neuroendocrine responses to clomipramine were assessed in remitted patients suffering from hereditary depression. Twenty remitted patients from 11 large families with multigenerational, multiple cases of major affective disorder (bipolar disorder n=15, recurrent depression n=5, according DSM-IV) and 12 healthy relatives were investigated. After intravenous application of 12.5 mg of the serotonin re-uptake inhibitor clomipramine, serum prolactin and cortisol levels were analysed. Patients and comparison group did not differ significantly with respect to age, baseline prolactin and cortisol concentrations. A gender effect was found in an exploratory analysis for prolactin but not for cortisol and therefore the data for prolactin were analysed separately. After clomipramine infusion, the increase of cortisol was significantly lower in patients than in the comparison group (P=.046). For prolactin, this effect could be found in the male (P=.012) as well as in the female (P=.007) subsample. These results suggest that blunted prolactin and cortisol responses to serotonergic stimulation are characteristic for remitted depressive patients with previous episodes of major affective disorders. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Affect recognition across manic and euthymic phases of bipolar disorder in Han-Chinese patients.

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Pan, Yi-Ju; Tseng, Huai-Hsuan; Liu, Shi-Kai

2013-11-01

Patients with bipolar disorder (BD) have affect recognition deficits. Whether affect recognition deficits constitute a state or trait marker of BD has great etiopathological significance. The current study aims to explore the interrelationships between affect recognition and basic neurocognitive functions for patients with BD across different mood states, using the Diagnostic Analysis of Non-Verbal Accuracy-2, Taiwanese version (DANVA-2-TW) as the index measure for affect recognition. To our knowledge, this is the first study examining affect recognition deficits of BPD across mood states in the Han Chinese population. Twenty-nine manic patients, 16 remitted patients with BD, and 40 control subjects are included in the study. Distinct association patterns between affect recognition and neurocognitive functions are demonstrated for patients with BD and control subjects, implicating alternations in emotion associated neurocognitive processing. Compared to control subjects, manic patients but not remitted subjects perform significantly worse in the recognition of negative emotions as a whole and specifically anger, after adjusting for differences in general intellectual ability and basic neurocognitive functions. Affect recognition deficit may be a relatively independent impairment in BD rather than consequences arising from deficits in other basic neurocognition. The impairments of manic patients in the recognition of negative emotions, specifically anger, may further our understanding of core clinical psychopathology of BD and have implications in treating bipolar patients across distinct mood phases. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Using lexical analysis to identify emotional distress in psychometric schizotypy.

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Abplanalp, Samuel J; Buck, Benjamin; Gonzenbach, Virgilio; Janela, Carlos; Lysaker, Paul H; Minor, Kyle S

2017-09-01

Through the use of lexical analysis software, researchers have demonstrated a greater frequency of negative affect word use in those with schizophrenia and schizotypy compared to the general population. In addition, those with schizotypy endorse greater emotional distress than healthy controls. In this study, our aim was to expand on previous findings in schizotypy to determine whether negative affect word use could be linked to emotional distress. Schizotypy (n=33) and non-schizotypy groups (n=33) completed an open-ended, semi-structured interview and negative affect word use was analyzed using a validated lexical analysis instrument. Emotional distress was assessed using subjective questionnaires of depression and psychological quality of life (QOL). When groups were compared, those with schizotypy used significantly more negative affect words; endorsed greater depression; and reported lower QOL. Within schizotypy, a trend level association between depression and negative affect word use was observed; QOL and negative affect word use showed a significant inverse association. Our findings offer preliminary evidence of the potential effectiveness of lexical analysis as an objective, behavior-based method for identifying emotional distress throughout the schizophrenia-spectrum. Utilizing lexical analysis in schizotypy offers promise for providing researchers with an assessment capable of objectively detecting emotional distress. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Immediate versus delayed intramedullary nailing for open fractures of the tibial shaft: a multivariate analysis of factors affecting deep infection and fracture healing.

Science.gov (United States)

Yokoyama, Kazuhiko; Itoman, Moritoshi; Uchino, Masataka; Fukushima, Kensuke; Nitta, Hiroshi; Kojima, Yoshiaki

2008-10-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate contributing factors affecting deep infection and fracture healing of open tibia fractures treated with locked intramedullary nailing (IMN) by multivariate analysis. We examined 99 open tibial fractures (98 patients) treated with immediate or delayed locked IMN in static fashion from 1991 to 2002. Multivariate analyses following univariate analyses were derived to determine predictors of deep infection, nonunion, and healing time to union. The following predictive variables of deep infection were selected for analysis: age, sex, Gustilo type, fracture grade by AO type, fracture location, timing or method of IMN, reamed or unreamed nailing, debridement time (6 h), method of soft-tissue management, skin closure time (1 week), existence of polytrauma (ISS or =18), existence of floating knee injury, and existence of superficial/pin site infection. The predictive variables of nonunion selected for analysis was the same as those for deep infection, with the addition of deep infection for exchange of pin site infection. The predictive variables of union time selected for analysis was the same as those for nonunion, excluding of location, debridement time, and existence of floating knee and superficial infection. Six (6.1%; type II Gustilo n=1, type IIIB Gustilo n=5) of the 99 open tibial fractures developed deep infections. Multivariate analysis revealed that timing or method of IMN, debridement time, method of soft-tissue management, and existence of superficial or pin site infection significantly correlated with the occurrence of deep infection (Prate in type IIIB + IIIC was significantly higher than those in type I + II and IIIA (P = 0.016). Nonunion occurred in 17 fractures (20.3%, 17/84). Multivariate analysis revealed that Gustilo type, skin closure time, and existence of deep infection significantly correlated with occurrence of nonunion (P < 0.05). Gustilo type and existence of deep infection were significantly correlated

Nonverbal synchrony and affect in dyadic interactions

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Wolfgang eTschacher

2014-11-01

Full Text Available In an experiment on dyadic social interaction, we invited participants to verbal interactions in cooperative, competitive, and 'fun task' conditions. We focused on the link between interactants' affectivity and their nonverbal synchrony, and explored which further variables contributed to affectivity: interactants' personality traits, sex, and the prescribed interaction tasks. Nonverbal synchrony was quantified by the coordination of interactants' body movement, using an automated video-analysis algorithm (Motion Energy Analysis, MEA. Traits were assessed with standard questionnaires of personality, attachment, interactional style, psychopathology and interpersonal reactivity. We included 168 previously unacquainted individuals who were randomly allocated to same-sex dyads (84 females, 84 males, mean age 27.3 years. Dyads discussed four topics of general interest drawn from an urn of eight topics, and finally engaged in a fun interaction. Each interaction lasted five minutes. In between interactions, participants repeatedly assessed their affect. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we found moderate to strong effect sizes for synchrony to occur, especially in competitive and fun task conditions. Positive affect was associated positively with synchrony, negative affect was associated negatively. As for causal direction, data supported the interpretation that synchrony entailed affect rather than vice versa. The link between nonverbal synchrony and affect was strongest in female dyads. The findings extend previous reports of synchrony and mimicry associated with emotion in relationships and suggest a possible mechanism of the synchrony-affect correlation.

Does anaesthesia with nitrous oxide affect mortality or cardiovascular morbidity? A systematic review with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis.

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Imberger, G; Orr, A; Thorlund, K; Wetterslev, J; Myles, P; Møller, A M

2014-03-01

The role of nitrous oxide in modern anaesthetic practice is contentious. One concern is that exposure to nitrous oxide may increase the risk of cardiovascular complications. ENIGMA II is a large randomized clinical trial currently underway which is investigating nitrous oxide and cardiovascular complications. Before the completion of this trial, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis, using Cochrane methodology, on the outcomes that make up the composite primary outcome. We used conventional meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis (TSA). We reviewed 8282 abstracts and selected 138 that fulfilled our criteria for study type, population, and intervention. We attempted to contact the authors of all the selected publications to check for unpublished outcome data. Thirteen trials had outcome data eligible for our outcomes. We assessed three of these trials as having a low risk of bias. Using conventional meta-analysis, the relative risk of short-term mortality in the nitrous oxide group was 1.38 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.22-8.71] and the relative risk of long-term mortality in the nitrous oxide group was 0.94 (95% CI 0.80-1.10). In both cases, TSA demonstrated that the data were far too sparse to make any conclusions. There were insufficient data to perform meta-analysis for stroke, myocardial infarct, pulmonary embolus, or cardiac arrest. This systematic review demonstrated that we currently do not have robust evidence for how nitrous oxide used as part of general anaesthesia affects mortality and cardiovascular complications.

Unemployment and depressive affect: a motivational and attributional analysis.

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Feather, N T; Davenport, P R

1981-09-01

It was hypothesized on the basis of expectancy-valence theory that the negative affect that follows failure to obtain employment will be stronger among those individuals who are more strongly motivated to seek employment than among those who are less motivated. This hypothesis was tested by administering a questionnaire to a sample of 212 unemployed youth contacted through helping agencies in Adelaide, South Australia. Consistent with the hypothesis, the results showed that subjects who indicated in their ratings that they were highly motivated to get a job also provided higher ratings of depressive affect. Those subjects with higher levels of depressive affect were less likely to blame themselves for their unemployment and more likely to blame external difficulties, such as the current economic situation. They also provided higher ratings of the valence or perceived attractiveness of work itself. Their retrospective ratings concerning how confident they were of getting a job on leaving school and how much they needed and tried for a job also tended to be higher than those of the less depressed subjects. Results are discussed in relation to the expectancy-valence approach, Beck's theory of depression, the helplessness theory of depression, and recent discussions of cognitive-effect linkages that employ attribution concepts.

Experimental Analysis for Factors Affecting the Repeatability of Plastics Injection Molding Tests on the Self-developed Apparatus

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Yugang Huang

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 To improve the repeatability of the injection molding test result, the affecting factors were investigated by means of experiments. Besides the traditional processing parameter, the factors of test conditions were also considered. In order to focus on the molding process rather than the molded part, the curve measurement of the melt pressure at the entrance to the nozzle was used as the output characteristic. Experiments for polypropylene (PP showed that the injected volume was the key processing parameter. Within the test conditions, the injection number is the most important factor. According to the analysis the operating procedure was improved effectively. Normal 0 false false false IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Doi: 10.12777/ijse.5.1.6-11 [How to cite this article: Huang, Y., Li, D., Liu, Y. (2013. Experimental Analysis for Factors Affecting the Repeatability of Plastics Injection Molding Tests on the Self-developed Apparatus. International Journal of Science and Engineering, 5(1,6-11. Doi: 10.12777/ijse.5.1.6-11]

The clinicopathological significance and drug target potential of FHIT in breast cancer, a meta-analysis and literature review.

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Su, Yunshu; Wang, Xiaoli; Li, Jun; Xu, Junming; Xu, Lijun

2015-01-01

FHIT is a bona fide tumor-suppressor gene and its loss contributes to tumorigenesis of epithelial cancers including breast cancer (BC). However, the association and clinicopathological significance between FHIT promoter hypermethylation and BC remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to conduct a meta-analysis and literature review to investigate the clinicopathological significance of FHIT methylation in BC. A detailed literature search was performed in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases. The data were extracted and assessed by two reviewers independently. Odds ratios with 95% corresponding confidence intervals were calculated. A total of seven relevant articles were available for meta-analysis, which included 985 patients. The frequency of FHIT hypermethylation was significantly increased in invasive ductal carcinoma compared to benign breast disease, the pooled odds ratio was 8.43, Panalysis indicated that the frequency of FHIT hypermethylation was significantly increased in BC compared to benign breast disease. The rate of FHIT hypermethylation in advanced stages of BC was higher than in earlier stages; however, the difference was not statistically significant. Our data suggested that FHIT methylation could be a diagnostic biomarker of BC carcinogenesis. FHIT is a potential drug target for development of demethylation treatment for patients with BC.

NMR metabolomics of esca disease-affected Vitis vinifera cv. Alvarinho leaves.

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Lima, Marta R M; Felgueiras, Mafalda L; Graça, Gonçalo; Rodrigues, João E A; Barros, António; Gil, Ana M; Dias, Alberto C P

2010-09-01

Esca is a destructive disease that affects vineyards leading to important losses in wine production. Information about the response of Vitis vinifera plants to this disease is scarce, particularly concerning changes in plant metabolism. In order to study the metabolic changes in Vitis plants affected by esca, leaves from both infected and non-affected cordons of V. vinifera cv. Alvarinho (collected in the Vinho Verde region, Portugal) were analysed. The metabolite composition of leaves from infected cordons with visible symptoms [diseased leaves (dl)] and from asymptomatic cordons [healthy leaves (hl)] was evaluated by 1D and 2D (1)H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the NMR spectra showed a clear separation between dl and hl leaves, indicating differential compound production due to the esca disease. NMR/PCA analysis allowed the identification of specific compounds characterizing each group, and the corresponding metabolic pathways are discussed. Altogether, the study revealed a significant increase of phenolic compounds in dl, compared with hl, accompanied by a decrease in carbohydrates, suggesting that dl are rerouting carbon and energy from primary to secondary metabolism. Other metabolic alterations detected comprised increased levels of methanol, alanine, and gamma-aminobutyric acid in dl, which might be the result of the activation of other defence mechanisms.

Application and analysis of debris-flow early warning system in Wenchuan earthquake-affected area

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Liu, D. L.; Zhang, S. J.; Yang, H. J.; Zhao, L. Q.; Jiang, Y. H.; Tang, D.; Leng, X. P.

2016-02-01

The activities of debris flow (DF) in the Wenchuan earthquake-affected area significantly increased after the earthquake on 12 May 2008. The safety of the lives and property of local people is threatened by DFs. A physics-based early warning system (EWS) for DF forecasting was developed and applied in this earthquake area. This paper introduces an application of the system in the Wenchuan earthquake-affected area and analyzes the prediction results via a comparison to the DF events triggered by the strong rainfall events reported by the local government. The prediction accuracy and efficiency was first compared with a contribution-factor-based system currently used by the weather bureau of Sichuan province. The storm on 17 August 2012 was used as a case study for this comparison. The comparison shows that the false negative rate and false positive rate of the new system is, respectively, 19 and 21 % lower than the system based on the contribution factors. Consequently, the prediction accuracy is obviously higher than the system based on the contribution factors with a higher operational efficiency. On the invitation of the weather bureau of Sichuan province, the authors upgraded their prediction system of DF by using this new system before the monsoon of Wenchuan earthquake-affected area in 2013. Two prediction cases on 9 July 2013 and 10 July 2014 were chosen to further demonstrate that the new EWS has high stability, efficiency, and prediction accuracy.

Identifying subgroups of CERME affect research papers

OpenAIRE

Hannula, Markku S.; Garcia Moreno-Esteva, Enrique

2017-01-01

Research in mathematics related affect uses a variety of theoretical frameworks. Three different dimensions have been suggested as significant to characterize concepts in this area: (1) emotional, motivational, and cognitive aspects of affect, (2) state and trait aspects of affect, and (3) physiological, psychological, and sociological level of theorizing affect. In this study, we used the information in reference lists and graph theory to identify Graph Communities (coherent clusters) of res...

Analysis of drivers affecting the use of market premium for renewables in Germany

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Genoese, Massimo; Slednev, Viktor; Fichtner, Wolf

2016-01-01

In this paper, we identify and analyze parameters that determine the profitability of wind power operators in the German market premium model. Based on an empirical analysis of different German wind power profiles from 2007 to mid-2012, we are able to show that the profitability significantly depends on the correlation of the wind power portfolio with the overall wind power feed-in and prediction error in Germany. Significant differences between the wind forecast errors clearing cost of the analyzed portfolios can be identified. Our analysis shows that a wind power operator would profit in most cases from a reduced forecast error, which could be achieved through an improved forecast model and an increased share of the intraday cleared error. Furthermore significant locational portfolio advantages and disadvantages can be identified when comparing the different market values. In general, the empirical analysis shows that a premium of 3.5 €/MWh is suitable to cover the cost of an imperfect forecast. Taking further into account that for 2012 a premium of 12 €/MWh was granted; the direct marketing option can be evaluated as highly attractive, which is furthermore indicated by the rapid increase of the directly marketed wind power and photovoltaic generation. - Highlights: • Wind power operator profitability in the German market premium model is analyzed. • Correlation with the overall wind power feed-in and prediction error is crucial. • Wind forecast error clearing cost of the analyzed portfolios show clear differences. • The direct marketing option of wind power can be evaluated as attractive.

Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, underlying affective vulnerabilities, and smoking for affect regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathew, Amanda R; Cook, Jessica W; Japuntich, Sandra J; Leventhal, Adam M

2015-01-01

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is overrepresented among cigarette smokers. It has been hypothesized that those with PTSD smoke to alleviate negative affect and counteract deficient positive affect commonly associated with the disorder; however, limited research has examined associations between PTSD symptoms, smoking motives, and affective vulnerability factors. In the current study, we examined (1) whether PTSD symptoms were associated with positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement smoking motives; and (2) whether two affective vulnerability factors implicated in PTSD-anxiety sensitivity and anhedonia-mediated relationships between PTSD symptoms and smoking motives. Data were drawn from a community sample of non-treatment-seeking smokers recruited without regard for trauma history (N = 342; 10+ cig/day). We used the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C) to assess overall PTSD symptom severity as well as individual PTSD subfactors. Overall, PTSD symptom severity was significantly associated with negative reinforcement, but not positive reinforcement, smoking motives. Variation in anxiety sensitivity significantly mediated the relation between PTSD symptom severity and negative reinforcement smoking motives, whereas anhedonia did not. Regarding PTSD subfactors, emotional numbing was the only PTSD subfactor associated with smoking rate, while re-experiencing symptoms were uniquely associated with both positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement smoking motives. Findings suggest that anxiety sensitivity may be an important feature associated with PTSD that enhances motivation to smoke for negative reinforcement purposes. Smoking cessation interventions that alleviate anxiety sensitivity and enhance coping with negative affect may be useful for smokers with elevated PTSD symptoms. © American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry.

Freezing fecal samples prior to DNA extraction affects the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio determined by downstream quantitative PCR analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bahl, Martin Iain; Bergström, Anders; Licht, Tine Rask

2012-01-01

Freezing stool samples prior to DNA extraction and downstream analysis is widely used in metagenomic studies of the human microbiota but may affect the inferred community composition. In this study, DNA was extracted either directly or following freeze storage of three homogenized human fecal...

Freezing fecal samples prior to DNA extraction affects the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio determined by downstream quantitative PCR analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bahl, Martin Iain; Bergström, Anders; Licht, Tine Rask

Freezing stool samples prior to DNA extraction and downstream analysis is widely used in metagenomic studies of the human microbiota but may affect the inferred community composition. In this study DNA was extracted either directly or following freeze storage of three homogenized human fecal...

Factors affecting workplace bullying and lateral violence among clinical nurses in Korea: descriptive study.

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Hyunjin; Uhm, Dong Choon; Yoon, Young Joo

2016-04-01

Workplace bullying and lateral violence are serious issues affecting the work life of hospital nurses. The purpose of this study was to identify the selected individual and institutional characteristics for workplace bullying and lateral violence using a conceptual framework. A descriptive survey design was used. A convenience sample of 255 nurses in tertiary hospitals, who had a minimum of 6 months clinical experience, completed the survey. Regression analysis was used to determine factors significantly associated with workplace bullying and lateral violence. The Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised and the Lateral Violence scale were used to measure workplace bullying and lateral violence. A negative affect, individualism and working in hospital specialty units predicted workplace bullying. Individualism, a negative affect, affiliated hospital and working hours predicted verbal abuse whereas the place of employment was significantly associated with lateral violence. The results of this study identified factors that are associated with bullying and violence but did not fully support the conceptual framework. The individual characteristic negative affect was significantly associated with most types of workplace bullying and lateral violence bully whereas the place of employment was an important factor in lateral violence. Nurse managers need to be aware that both individual and institutional factors may impact levels of workplace bullying and lateral violence in their hospitals and need to prepare specific strategies to address these multiple factors. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Genetic analysis of an Indian family with members affected with Waardenburg syndrome and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kapoor, Saketh; Bindu, Parayil Sankaran; Taly, Arun B; Sinha, Sanjib; Gayathri, Narayanappa; Rani, S Vasantha; Chandak, Giriraj Ratan; Kumar, Arun

2012-01-01

Waardenburg syndrome (WS) is characterized by sensorineural hearing loss and pigmentation defects of the eye, skin, and hair. It is caused by mutations in one of the following genes: PAX3 (paired box 3), MITF (microphthalmia-associated transcription factor), EDNRB (endothelin receptor type B), EDN3 (endothelin 3), SNAI2 (snail homolog 2, Drosophila) and SOX10 (SRY-box containing gene 10). Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked recessive disorder caused by mutations in the DMD gene. The purpose of this study was to identify the genetic causes of WS and DMD in an Indian family with two patients: one affected with WS and DMD, and another one affected with only WS. Blood samples were collected from individuals for genomic DNA isolation. To determine the linkage of this family to the eight known WS loci, microsatellite markers were selected from the candidate regions and used to genotype the family. Exon-specific intronic primers for EDN3 were used to amplify and sequence DNA samples from affected individuals to detect mutations. A mutation in DMD was identified by multiplex PCR and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification method using exon-specific probes. Pedigree analysis suggested segregation of WS as an autosomal recessive trait in the family. Haplotype analysis suggested linkage of the family to the WS4B (EDN3) locus. DNA sequencing identified a novel missense mutation p.T98M in EDN3. A deletion mutation was identified in DMD. This study reports a novel missense mutation in EDN3 and a deletion mutation in DMD in the same Indian family. The present study will be helpful in genetic diagnosis of this family and increases the mutation spectrum of EDN3.

Ureteroneocystostomy in primary vesicoureteral reflux: critical retrospective analysis of factors affecting the postoperative urinary tract infection rates

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Hasan Serkan Dogan

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Introduction To determine the parameters affecting the outcome of ureteroneocystostomy (UNC procedure for vesicoureteral reflux (VUR. Materials and Methods Data of 398 patients who underwent UNC procedure from 2001 to 2012 were analyzed retrospectively. Different UNC techniques were used according to laterality of reflux and ureteral orifice configuration. Effects of several parameters on outcome were examined. Disappearance of reflux on control VCUG or absence of any kind of UTI/symptoms in patients without control VCUG was considered as clinical improvement. Results Mean age at operation was 59.2 ± 39.8 months and follow-up was 25.6 ± 23.3 months. Grade of VUR was 1-2, 3 and 4-5 in 17, 79, 302 patients, respectively. Male to female ratio was 163/235. UNC was performed bilaterally in 235 patients and intravesical approach was used in 373 patients. The frequency of voiding dysfunction, scar on preoperative DMSA, breakthrough infection and previous surgery was 28.4%, 70.7%, 49.3% and 22.4%, respectively. Twelve patients (8.9% with postoperative contralateral reflux were excluded from the analysis. Overall clinical improvement rate for UNC was 92%. Gender, age at diagnosis and operation, laterality and grade of reflux, mode of presentation, breakthrough infections (BTI under antibiotic prophylaxis, presence of voiding dysfunction and renal scar, and operation technique did not affect the surgical outcome. However, the clinical improvement rate was lower in patients with a history of previous endoscopic intervention (83.9% vs. 94%. Postoperative UTI rate was 27.2% and factors affecting the occurrence of postoperative UTI were previous failed endoscopic injection on univariate analysis and gender, preoperative BTI, postoperative VUR state, voiding dysfunction on multivariate analysis. Surgery related complication rate was 2% (8/398. These were all low grade complications (blood transfusion in 1, hematoma under incision in 3 and prolonged

Airway inflammation in patients affected by obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Salerno, F G; Carpagnano, E; Guido, P; Bonsignore, M R; Roberti, A; Aliani, M; Vignola, A M; Spanevello, A

2004-01-01

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) has been shown to be associated to upper airway inflammation. The object of the present study was to establish the presence of bronchial inflammation in OSAS subjects. In 16 subjects affected by OSAS, and in 14 healthy volunteers, airway inflammation was detected by the cellular analysis of the induced sputum. OSAS patients, as compared to control subjects, showed a higher percentage of neutrophils (66.7+/-18.9 vs. 25.8+/-15.6) (Pbronchial inflammation characterized by a significant increase in neutrophils.

Classification and analysis of factors that affect stability of oil and gas enterprise staff

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zelinska Haluna Olexiivna

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The relevance of human resources as a strategic goal of sustainable development of oil and gas companies is determined. It is shown that the stability of staff, as the main component of the social components of sustainable enterprise development, research and evaluation needs in terms of an integrated system of factors influence the behavior of staff. Addressing issues related to the management personnel can be based classification study the factors affecting its stability in the formation of high quality human resources strategy. In particular noted that the needs of each employee should become an integral part of the concept of work and life balance. Analysis of the results of the study showed that in areas of oil and gas industry has a number of factors that negatively affect its operation and development, which are caused not only technical, technological and natural factors, but also due to neglect behavioral characteristics personnel. It is found that without understanding of the behavioral characteristics of staff and its values can`t implement a quality model of human resource management and provide optimal scenarios of oil companies in general.

Common problems in the elicitation and analysis of expert opinion affecting probabilistic safety assessments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meyer, M.A.; Booker, J.M.

1990-01-01

Expert opinion is frequently used in probabilistic safety assessment (PSA), particularly in estimating low probability events. In this paper, we discuss some of the common problems encountered in eliciting and analyzing expert opinion data and offer solutions or recommendations. The problems are: that experts are not naturally Bayesian. People fail to update their existing information to account for new information as it becomes available, as would be predicted by the Bayesian philosophy; that experts cannot be fully calibrated. To calibrate experts, the feedback from the known quantities must be immediate, frequent, and specific to the task; that experts are limited in the number of things that they can mentally juggle at a time to 7 {plus minus} 2; that data gatherers and analysts can introduce bias by unintentionally causing an altering of the expert's thinking or answers; that the level of detail the data, or granularity, can affect the analyses; and the conditioning effect poses difficulties in gathering and analyzing of the expert data. The data that the expert gives can be conditioned on a variety of factors that can affect the analysis and the interpretation of the results. 31 refs.

Independent component analysis reveals new and biologically significant structures in micro array data

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Veerla Srinivas

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background An alternative to standard approaches to uncover biologically meaningful structures in micro array data is to treat the data as a blind source separation (BSS problem. BSS attempts to separate a mixture of signals into their different sources and refers to the problem of recovering signals from several observed linear mixtures. In the context of micro array data, "sources" may correspond to specific cellular responses or to co-regulated genes. Results We applied independent component analysis (ICA to three different microarray data sets; two tumor data sets and one time series experiment. To obtain reliable components we used iterated ICA to estimate component centrotypes. We found that many of the low ranking components indeed may show a strong biological coherence and hence be of biological significance. Generally ICA achieved a higher resolution when compared with results based on correlated expression and a larger number of gene clusters with significantly enriched for gene ontology (GO categories. In addition, components characteristic for molecular subtypes and for tumors with specific chromosomal translocations were identified. ICA also identified more than one gene clusters significant for the same GO categories and hence disclosed a higher level of biological heterogeneity, even within coherent groups of genes. Conclusion Although the ICA approach primarily detects hidden variables, these surfaced as highly correlated genes in time series data and in one instance in the tumor data. This further strengthens the biological relevance of latent variables detected by ICA.

Meteorological analysis of symptom data for people with seasonal affective disorder

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sarran, Christophe; Albers, Casper; Sachon, Patrick; Meesters, Ybe

It is thought that variation in natural light levels affect people with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Several meteorological factors related to luminance can be forecast but little is known about which factors are most indicative of worsening SAD symptoms. The aim of this meteorological

Hold it! memory affects attentional dwell time

OpenAIRE

Parks, Emily L.; Hopfinger, Joseph B.

2008-01-01

The allocation of attention, including the initial orienting and the subsequent dwell time, is affected by several bottom-up and top-down factors. How item memory affects these processes, however, remains unclear. Here, we investigated whether item memory affects attentional dwell time by using a modified version of the attentional blink (AB) paradigm. Across four experiments, our results revealed that the AB was significantly affected by memory status (novel vs. old), but critically, this ef...

Interfacial modulation of urban affect

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Samson, Kristine

Urban culture can increasingly be understood as interface culture (Munster) in which urban design, cultural institutions and architecture increasingly operate as affective interfaces distributing and mediating human perception, consumption and social encounters. As noted by Amin and Thrift (2002......, Massey 2006), they also exclude in depth social and human interaction. Through analysis of three examples of urban affective interfaces (The High Line in New York, Superkilen in Copenhagen and Stålsat By, Frederiksværk, the paper examines how affective urban interfaces modulate and mediate urban...... environments as bodily and sensorial experiences. It asks what is mediated through the interface – whether the. It also asks, what is excluded when urban environments become affective interfaces in the global networked city. Whereas urban interface collect and distribute the bodily and sensible in relational...

The affective discourse dynamics of metaphor clustering The affective discourse dynamics of metaphor clustering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lynne Cameron

2010-05-01

Full Text Available

Metaphor is examined in the very different iscourse contexts of the classroom and of reconciliation talk to highlight the neglected affective dimension. The distribution of metaphors across discourse shows clustering at certain points, often where speakers are engaged in critical interpersonal discourse activity. Clusters in classroom talk co-occur with sequences of agenda management where teachers prepare students for upcoming lessons and with giving feedback to students, both of which require careful management of interpersonal and affective issues. Clusters in reconciliation talk co-occur with discourse management and with two situations with significant affective dynamics: appropriation of metaphor and exploration of alternative scenarios.

Metaphor is examined in the very different iscourse contexts of the classroom and of reconciliation talk to highlight the neglected affective dimension. The distribution of metaphors across discourse shows clustering at certain points, often where speakers are engaged in critical interpersonal discourse activity. Clusters in classroom talk co-occur with sequences of agenda management where teachers prepare students for upcoming lessons and with giving feedback to students, both of which require careful management of interpersonal and affective issues. Clusters in reconciliation talk co-occur with discourse management and with two situations with significant affective dynamics: appropriation of metaphor and exploration of alternative scenarios.

Analysis about factors affecting the degree of damage of buildings in earthquake

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jia, Jing; Yan, Jinghong

2015-01-01

Earthquakes have been affecting human's safety through human's history. Previous studies on earthquake, mostly, focused on the performance of buildings or evaluating damages. This paper, however, compares different factors that have influence on the damage of buildings with a case study in Wenchuan earthquake, using multiple linear regression methodology, so as to identify to what extend this factors influence the buildings’ damages, then give the rank of importance of these factors. In this process, authors take the type of structure as a dummy variable to compare the degree of damages caused by different types of structure, which were barely studied before. Besides, Factor Analysis Methodology(FA) will be adapted to classify factors, the results of which will simplify later study. The outcome of this study would make a big difference in optimizing the seismic design and improving residential seismic quality. (paper)

Relationship between affect and achievement in science and mathematics in Malaysia and Singapore

Science.gov (United States)

Thoe Ng, Khar; Fah Lay, Yoon; Areepattamannil, Shaljan; Treagust, David F.; Chandrasegaran, A. L.

2012-11-01

Background : The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assesses the quality of the teaching and learning of science and mathematics among Grades 4 and 8 students across participating countries. Purpose : This study explored the relationship between positive affect towards science and mathematics and achievement in science and mathematics among Malaysian and Singaporean Grade 8 students. Sample : In total, 4466 Malaysia students and 4599 Singaporean students from Grade 8 who participated in TIMSS 2007 were involved in this study. Design and method : Students' achievement scores on eight items in the survey instrument that were reported in TIMSS 2007 were used as the dependent variable in the analysis. Students' scores on four items in the TIMSS 2007 survey instrument pertaining to students' affect towards science and mathematics together with students' gender, language spoken at home and parental education were used as the independent variables. Results : Positive affect towards science and mathematics indicated statistically significant predictive effects on achievement in the two subjects for both Malaysian and Singaporean Grade 8 students. There were statistically significant predictive effects on mathematics achievement for the students' gender, language spoken at home and parental education for both Malaysian and Singaporean students, with R 2 = 0.18 and 0.21, respectively. However, only parental education showed statistically significant predictive effects on science achievement for both countries. For Singapore, language spoken at home also demonstrated statistically significant predictive effects on science achievement, whereas gender did not. For Malaysia, neither gender nor language spoken at home had statistically significant predictive effects on science achievement. Conclusions : It is important for educators to consider implementing self-concept enhancement intervention programmes by incorporating 'affect' components of academic

Analysis of Factors Affecting Manufacturing Companies in Indonesia Performing a Switching Auditor

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Atika Sukma Winata

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This study aims at analyzing the influence of the Public Accountant Firms Size, Size of Company, Financial Distress, Audit Opinion and Management Turnover toward Auditor Switching. The population of this study is a manufacturing company listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during the period 2011-2015 consisting of 134 companies. The sample was obtained by purposive sampling technique which resulted in the sample of 26 companies. Methods of data analysis using logistic regression and SPSS 21 using data and other information obtained from Annual Report. Results of this study shows that the Public Accountant Firms Size and Management Turnover have significant impact toward auditor switching, size of company have influence auditor switching. Financial distress and audit opinion did not effect auditor switching significantly. The value of Nagelkerke R Square is 0.283. conclusions of this study is the Public Accountant Firms Size and Management Turnover have significant impact toward auditor switching, size of company have influence auditor switching. Financial distress and audit opinion did not effect auditor switching significantly.

Cost-effectiveness of supported employment adapted for people with affective disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Saha, Sanjib; Bejerholm, Ulrika; Gerdtham, Ulf-G; Jarl, Johan

2018-04-01

The individual enabling and support (IES) model was effective in gaining competitive employment for people with affective disorders compared with traditional vocational rehabilitation (TVR) services in a randomized controlled trial in a Swedish setting. The object of this study is to perform a cost-effectiveness analysis of IES comparing to TVR. We considered the costs of intervention and productivity gain due to increased competitive employment. We estimated quality of life using EuroQol 5 Dimension (EQ-5D) and Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life (MANSA) scale. EQ-5D was translated into quality-adjusted life-years (QALY), using the UK, Danish, and Swedish tariffs. We performed the analysis from a societal perspective with a one-year timeframe. The cost of IES was €7247 lower per person per year (2014 prices) compared to TVR. There were no significant differences in QALY improvement within or between groups. However, quality of life measured by the MANSA scale significantly improved over the study period in IES. Besides the small sample size, details on the intervention costs for both IES and TVR group were unavailable and had to be obtained from external sources. Implementation of IES for people with affective disorders is most likely cost-saving and is potentially even dominating TVR, although a larger trial is required to establish this.

Mid-Columbia Coho Reintroduction Feasibility Project : Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

United States. Bonneville Power Administration; Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation; Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife

1999-04-01

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is proposing to fund research for 2 to 3 years on the feasibility of reintroducing coho salmon into mid-Columbia River basin tributaries. The research would take place in the Methow and Wenatchee river basins in Chelan and Okanogan Counties, Washington. BPA has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) (DOE/EA-1282) evaluating the proposed project. Based on the analysis in the EA, BPA has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Therefore, the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is not required, and BPA is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact.

Mid-Columbia Coho Reintroduction Feasibility Project. Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is proposing to fund research for 2 to 3 years on the feasibility of reintroducing coho salmon into mid-Columbia River basin tributaries. The research would take place in the Methow and Wenatchee river basins in Chelan and Okanogan Counties, Washington. BPA has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) (DOE/EA-1282) evaluating the proposed project. Based on the analysis in the EA, BPA has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Therefore, the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is not required, and BPA is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact

Age group differences in positive and negative affect among oldest-old adults: findings from the Georgia Centenarian Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Jinmyoung; Martin, Peter; Poon, Leonard W; MacDonald, M; Jazwinski, S M; Green, R C; Gearing, M; Johnson, M A; Markesbery, W R; Woodard, J L; Tenover, J S; Siegler, L C; Rott, C; Rodgers, W L; Hausman, D; Arnold, J; Davey, A

2013-01-01

The developmental adaptation model (Martin & Martin, 2002) provides insights into how current experiences and resources (proximal variables) and past experiences (distal variables) are correlated with outcomes (e.g., well-being) in later life. Applying this model, the current study examined proximal and distal variables associated with positive and negative affect in oldest-old adults, investigating age differences. Data from 306 octogenarians and centenarians who participated in Phase III of the Georgia Centenarian Study were used. Proximal variables included physical functioning, cognitive functioning, self-rated health, number of chronic conditions, social resources, and perceived economic status; distal variables included education, social productive activities, management of personal assets, and other learning experiences. Analysis of variance and block-wise regression analyses were conducted. Octogenarians showed significantly higher levels of positive emotion than centenarians. Cognitive functioning was significantly associated with positive affect, and number of health problems was significantly associated with negative affect after controlling for gender, ethnicity, residence, and marital status. Furthermore, four significant interaction effects suggested that positive affect significantly depended on the levels of cognitive and physical functioning among centenarians, whereas positive affect was dependent on the levels of physical health problems and learning experiences among octogenarians. Findings of this study addressed the importance of current and past experiences and resources in subjective well-being among oldest-old adults as a life-long process. Mechanisms connecting aging processes at the end of a long life to subjective well-being should be explored in future studies.

Cognitive-Affective Dimensions of Female Orgasm: The Role of Automatic Thoughts and Affect During Sexual Activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Tavares, Inês M; Laan, Ellen T M; Nobre, Pedro J

2017-06-01

Cognitive-affective factors contribute to female sexual dysfunctions, defined as clinically significant difficulties in the ability to respond sexually or to experience sexual pleasure. Automatic thoughts and affect presented during sexual activity are acknowledged as maintenance factors for these difficulties. However, there is a lack of studies on the influence of these cognitive-affective dimensions regarding female orgasm. To assess the role of automatic thoughts and affect during sexual activity in predicting female orgasm occurrence and to investigate the mediator role of these variables in the relation between sexual activity and orgasm occurrence. Nine hundred twenty-six sexually active heterosexual premenopausal women reported on frequency of sexual activities and frequency of orgasm occurrence, cognitive factors, and social desirability. Participants completed the Sexual Modes Questionnaire-Automatic Thoughts Subscale, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and the Socially Desirable Response Set. Multiple linear regressions and mediation analyses were performed, controlling for the effect of covariates such as social desirability, sociodemographic and medical characteristics, and relationship factors. The main outcome measurement was orgasm frequency as predicted and mediated by automatic thoughts and affect experienced during sexual activities. The presence of failure thoughts and lack of erotic thoughts during sexual activity significantly and negatively predicted female orgasm, whereas positive affect experienced during sexual activity significantly and positively predicted female orgasm. Moreover, negative automatic thoughts and positive affect during sexual activity were found to mediate the relation between sexual activity and female orgasm occurrence. These data suggest that the cognitive aspects of sexual involvement are critical to enhancing female orgasm experience and can aid the development of strategies that contemplate the central role

Creating Significant Learning Experiences across Disciplines

Science.gov (United States)

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

2008-01-01

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

Instructional Interventions and Affective Beliefs as Predictors of Achievement and Retention of Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ambrose Hans G. Aggabao

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Path and factor analyses were used in this study to investigate direct and indirect influences of instructional interventions on achievement and retention of learning among freshmen students in Mathematics as mediated by affective beliefs. The varying classroom contexts were hypothesized to influence affective beliefs through the application of varying instructional interventions – traditional teaching, radical constructivist, and social constructivist. The randomized equivalent groups pre-posttest experimental design was used to generate the needed data for analysis. Results showed that constructivist instructional approaches directly and indirectly influenced achievement measures with the indirect effects mediated by control orientation belief of students which was found to be the only one among four affective beliefs considered in this study to influence achievement measures. Social constructivist interventions did not show direct influence on retention of conceptual understanding and procedural fluency while traditional instructional intervention was not found to be a significant predictor of both affective beliefs and achievement measures.These results confirm for the most part the hypothesized relations among instructional interventions, affective beliefs, and achievement measures.

Socio-demographic characteristics affecting sport tourism choices: A structural model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nataša Slak Valek

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Background: Effective tourism management in the field of sports tourism requires an understanding of differences in socioeconomic characteristics both within and between different market segments. Objective: In the broad tourism market demographic characteristics have been extensively analyzed for differences in destination choices, however little is known about demographic factors affecting sport tourists' decisions. Methods: A sample of Slovenian sports tourists was analyzed using data from a comprehensive survey of local and outbound tourist activity conducted by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia in 2008. After data weighting the information for 353,783 sports related trips were available for analysis. The research model adopted suggests that four socio-demographic characteristics (gender, age, level of education and income significantly affect a tourist's choice of sports related travel either locally within Slovenia or to a foreign country. Furthermore the destination (local or foreign has an influence on the choice of the type of accommodation selected and the tourist's total expenditure for the trip. For testing the first part of our model (the socio-demographic characteristics effects a linear regression was used, and for the final part of the model (the selection of accommodation type and travel expenditure t-test were applied. Results: The result shows the standardized β regression coefficients are all statistically significant at the .001 level for the tested socio-demographic characteristics and also the overall regression model was statistically significant at .001 level. Conclusions: With these results the study confirmed that all the selected socio-demographic characteristics have a significant influence on the sport-active tourist when choosing between a domestic and foreign tourism destination which in turn affect the type of accommodation chosen and the level of expenditure while travelling.

Economic analysis of variables affecting the plantain ( Musa sp ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Journal of Agriculture, Forestry and the Social Sciences ... The study examined variables affecting plantain (Musa sp) mono cropping system of production by ... land fragmentation, wrong application of fertilizer, high cost of fertilizers, lack of ...

Personality and Stressor-Related Affect

Science.gov (United States)

Leger, Kate A.; Charles, Susan T.; Turiano, Nicholas A.; Almeida, David M.

2015-01-01

Greater increases in negative affect and greater decreases in positive affect on days stressors occur portend poorer mental and physical health years later. Although personality traits influence stressor-related affect, only neuroticism and extraversion among the Big Five personality traits have been examined in any detail. Moreover, personality traits may shape how people appraise daily stressors, yet few studies have examined how stressor-related appraisals may account for associations between personality and stressor-related affect. Two studies used participants (N=2022, age 30–84) from the National Study of Daily Experiences II (NSDE II) to examine the associations between Big Five personality traits and stressor-related affect, in addition to how appraisals may account for these relationships. Results from Study 1 indicate that higher levels of extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness to experience, and lower levels of neuroticism, are related to less stressor-related negative affect. Only agreeableness was associated with stressor-related positive affect, such that higher levels were related to greater decreases in positive affect on days stressors occur. The second study found that stressor-related appraisals partially accounted for the significant associations between stressor-related negative affect and personality. Implications for these findings in relation to how personality may influence physical and emotional health are discussed. PMID:26796984

Symbiosis between nitrogen-fixing bacteria and Medicago truncatula is not significantly affected by silver and silver sulfide nanomaterials.

Science.gov (United States)

Judy, Jonathan D; Kirby, Jason K; McLaughlin, Mike J; McNear, David; Bertsch, Paul M

2016-07-01

Silver (Ag) engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are being released into waste streams and are being discharged, largely as Ag2S aged-ENMs (a-ENMs), into agroecosystems receiving biosolids amendments. Recent research has demonstrated that biosolids containing an environmentally relevant mixture of ZnO, TiO2, and Ag ENMs and their transformation products, including Ag2S a-ENMs, disrupted the symbiosis between nitrogen-fixing bacteria and legumes. However, this study was unable to unequivocally determine which ENM or combination of ENMs and a-ENMs was responsible for the observed inhibition. Here, we examined further the effects of polyvinylpyrollidone (PVP) coated pristine Ag ENMs (PVP-Ag), Ag2S a-ENMs, and soluble Ag (as AgSO4) at 1, 10, and 100 mg Ag kg(-1) on the symbiosis between the legume Medicago truncatula and the nitrogen-fixing bacterium, Sinorhizobium melliloti in biosolids-amended soil. Nodulation frequency, nodule function, glutathione reductase production, and biomass were not significantly affected by any of the Ag treatments, even at 100 mg kg(-1), a concentration analogous to a worst-case scenario resulting from long-term, repeated biosolids amendments. Our results provide additional evidence that the disruption of the symbiosis between nitrogen-fixing bacteria and legumes in response to a mixture of ENMs in biosolids-amended soil reported previously may not be attributable to Ag ENMs or their transformation end-products. We anticipate these findings will provide clarity to regulators and industry regarding potential unintended consequences to terrestrial ecosystems resulting from of the use of Ag ENMs in consumer products. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Depressive Symptoms Affect Working Memory in Healthy Older Adult Hispanics.

Science.gov (United States)

Salazar-Villanea, Monica; Liebmann, Edward; Garnier-Villarreal, Mauricio; Montenegro-Montenegro, Esteban; Johnson, David K

2015-10-01

Low and middle income nations will experience an unprecedented growth of the elderly population and subsequent increase in age-related neurological disorders. Worldwide prevalence and incidence of all-types of neurological disorders with serious mental health complications will increase with life expectancy across the globe. One-in- ten individuals over 75 has at least moderate cognitive impairment. Prevalence of cognitive impairment doubles every 5 years thereafter. Latin America's population of older adult's 65 years and older is growing rapidly, yet little is known about cognitive aging among healthy older Latinos. Clinically significant depressive symptomatology is common among community-dwelling older adults and is associated with deficits across multiple cognitive domains, however much of the literature has not modeled the unique effects of depression distinct from negative and low positive affect. Our objective was to understand how mental health affects cognitive health in healthy aging Latinos. The present study used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the relative effects of Negative Affect, Positive Affect and Geriatric Depression on Verbal Memory, Verbal Reasoning, Processing Speed, and Working Memory in healthy aging Latinos. Data was collected from a sample of healthy community dwelling older adults living in San Jose, Costa Rica. Modeling of latent variables attenuated error and improved measurement reliability of cognition, affect, and depression variables. Costa Ricans enjoy a notoriety for being much happier than US citizens and are renowned as one of the happiest nations in the world in global surveys. This was born out in these data. Costa Rican affective profiles differed substantively from US profiles. Levels of negative affect and depression were similar to US samples, but their levels of positive affect were much higher. Cognitive performance of these Costa Rican older adults was similar to US

Transcriptomic analysis of molecular responses in Malus domestica 'M26' roots affected by apple replant disease.

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Weiß, Stefan; Bartsch, Melanie; Winkelmann, Traud

2017-06-01

Gene expression studies in roots of apple replant disease affected plants suggested defense reactions towards biotic stress to occur which did not lead to adequate responses to the biotic stressors. Apple replant disease (ARD) leads to growth inhibition and fruit yield reduction in replanted populations and results in economic losses for tree nurseries and fruit producers. The etiology is not well understood on a molecular level and causal agents show a great diversity indicating that no definitive cause, which applies to the majority of cases, has been found out yet. Hence, it is pivotal to gain a better understanding of the molecular and physiological reactions of the plant when affected by ARD and later to overcome the disease, for example by developing tolerant rootstocks. For the first time, gene expression was investigated in roots of ARD affected plants employing massive analysis of cDNA ends (MACE) and RT-qPCR. In reaction to ARD, genes in secondary metabolite production as well as plant defense, regulatory and signaling genes were upregulated whereas for several genes involved in primary metabolism lower expression was detected. For internal verification of MACE data, candidate genes were tested via RT-qPCR and a strong positive correlation between both datasets was observed. Comparison of apple 'M26' roots cultivated in ARD soil or γ-irradiated ARD soil suggests that typical defense reactions towards biotic stress take place in ARD affected plants but they did not allow responding to the biotic stressors attack adequately, leading to the observed growth depressions in ARD variants.

The influence of mood on the perception of hearing-loss related quality of life in people with hearing loss and their significant others.

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Preminger, Jill E; Meeks, Suzanne

2010-04-01

The purpose of this research was to investigate the congruent/incongruent perceptions of hearing-loss related quality of life between members of couples and to determine how incongruence was affected by individual psychosocial characteristics, specifically measures of mood (negative affect and positive affect), stress, and communication in the marriage. An exploratory correlational analysis was performed on data for 52 couples in which only one member had a hearing loss. In the regression analyses the independent variables were hearing-loss related quality of life scores measured in people with hearing loss, measured in significant others, and differences in hearing-loss related quality of life among members of a couple. The results demonstrate that both in people with hearing loss and their significant others, perceptions of hearing-loss related quality of life is highly correlated with negative mood scores. Incongruence in hearing-loss related quality of life scores reported by members of a couple were highly correlated with negative affect measured within each individual. Future research evaluating the effectiveness of audiologic rehabilitation can use measures of mood as an outcome variable.

The affect heuristic in occupational safety.

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Savadori, Lucia; Caovilla, Jessica; Zaniboni, Sara; Fraccaroli, Franco

2015-07-08

The affect heuristic is a rule of thumb according to which, in the process of making a judgment or decision, people use affect as a cue. If a stimulus elicits positive affect then risks associated to that stimulus are viewed as low and benefits as high; conversely, if the stimulus elicits negative affect, then risks are perceived as high and benefits as low. The basic tenet of this study is that affect heuristic guides worker's judgment and decision making in a risk situation. The more the worker likes her/his organization the less she/he will perceive the risks as high. A sample of 115 employers and 65 employees working in small family agricultural businesses completed a questionnaire measuring perceived safety costs, psychological safety climate, affective commitment and safety compliance. A multi-sample structural analysis supported the thesis that safety compliance can be explained through an affect-based heuristic reasoning, but only for employers. Positive affective commitment towards their family business reduced employers' compliance with safety procedures by increasing the perceived cost of implementing them.

Determining The Factors Affecting Fruit Hardness of Different Peach Types with Meta Analysis

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Hande Küçükönder

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to determine the factor effective in determining the hardness of Caterina, Suidring, Royal Glory and Tirrenia peach types using meta analysis. In the study, the impact force (Fi and the contact time (tc were detected and the impulse values (I that are expressed as independent variable in the area under the curve were calculated in the measurements performed using the technique of a low-mass lateral impactor multiplicated with peach. Using the theory of elasticity, the independent variables were determined as Fmax (maximum impact force, contact time (tmax, Fmax/tmax, 1/tmax, 1/tmax2,5, Fmax/tmax 1.25 and Fmax2.5 parameters. The correlation coefficient values showing the relationship between these parameters and the dependent variable Magness-Taylor force (MT were calculated and were combined with meta-analysis by using the Hunter-Schmid and Fisher’s Z methods. The Cohen’s classification criterion was used in evaluating the resulting mean effect size (combined correlation value and in determining its direction. As a result of the meta-analysis, the mean effect size according to Hunter-Schmid method was found 0.436 (0.371-0.497 positively directed in 95% confidence interval, while it was found 0.468 (0.390-0.545 according to Fisher’s Z method. The effect sizes in both methods were determined “mid-level” according to the Cohen’s classification. When the significance level of the studies was analyzed with the Z test, all of the ones that taken into the meta analysis has been found statistically significant. As a result of the meta analysis in this study evaluating the relationship of peach types with the fruit hardness, the mean effect size has been found to reach “strong level”. Consequently, “maximum shock acceleration” was found to be a more effective factor comparing to the other factors in determining the the fruit hardness according to the results of meta analysis applied in both methods.

Prognostic significance of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiao, Wei-Kai; Chen, Dong; Li, Shao-Qiang; Fu, Shun-Jun; Peng, Bao-Gang; Liang, Li-Jian

2014-01-01

Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has recently been reported as a predictor of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its prognostic value in HCC still remains controversial. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the association between NLR and clinical outcome of HCC patients by performing meta-analysis. A comprehensive literature search for relevant studies published up to August 2013 was performed by using PubMed, Ovid, the Cochrane Library and Web of Science databases. Meta-analysis was performed using hazard ratio (HR) or odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) as effect measures. A total of 15 studies encompassing 3094 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Our pooled results showed that high NLR was associated with poor overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) in HCC initially treated by liver transplantation (HR = 3.42, 95% CI:2.41-4.85,P = 0.000; HR = 5.90, 95% CI:3.99-8.70,P = 0.000, respectively) and surgical resection (HR = 3.33, 95% CI:2.23-4.98, P = 0.000; HR = 2.10, 95% CI: 2.06–2.14, respectively). High NLR was also associated with poor OS in HCC treated by radiofrequency-ablation (HR = 1.28, 95%CI: 1.10-1.48, P = 0.000), TACE (HR = 2.52, 95% CI: 1.64-3.86, P = 0.000) and mixed treatment (HR = 1.85, 95% CI: 1.40-2.44, P = 0.000), respectively. In addition, high NLR was significantly correlated with the presence of vascular invasion (OR = 2.69, 95% CI: 2.01–3.59, P = 0.000), tumor multifocality (OR = 1.74, 95% CI: 1.30–2.34, P = 0.000) and higher incidence of AFP ≥ 400 ng/ml (OR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.01–2.09, P = 0.04). Elevated NLR indicates a poor prognosis for patients with HCC. NLR may be a convenient, easily-obtained, low cost and reliable biomarker with prognostic potential for HCC

Surface deformation monitoring of Sinabung volcano using multi temporal InSAR method and GIS analysis for affected area assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Aditiya, A.; Aoki, Y.; Anugrah, R. D.

2018-04-01

Sinabung Volcano which located in northern part of Sumatera island is part of a hundred active volcano in Indonesia. Surface deformation is detected over Sinabung Volcano and surrounded area since the first eruption in 2010 after 400 years long rest. We present multi temporal Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) time-series method of ALOS-2 L-band SAR data acquired from December 2014 to July 2017 to reveal surface deformation with high spatial resolution. The method includes focusing the SAR data, generating interferogram and phase unwrapping using SNAPHU tools. The result reveal significant deformation over Sinabung Volcano areas at rates up to 10 cm during observation period and the highest deformation occurs in western part which is trajectory of lava. We concluded the observed deformation primarily caused by volcanic activity respectively after long period of rest. In addition, Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis produces disaster affected areas of Sinabung eruption. GIS is reliable technique to estimate the impact of the hazard scenario to the exposure data and develop scenarios of disaster impacts to inform their contingency and emergency plan. The GIS results include the estimated affected area divided into 3 zones based on pyroclastic lava flow and pyroclastic fall (incandescent rock and ash). The highest impact is occurred in zone II due to many settlements are scattered in this zone. This information will be support stakeholders to take emergency preparation for disaster reduction. The continuation of this high rate of decline tends to endanger the population in next periods.

Comparison of learning models based on mathematics logical intelligence in affective domain

Science.gov (United States)

Widayanto, Arif; Pratiwi, Hasih; Mardiyana

2018-04-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the presence or absence of different effects of multiple treatments (used learning models and logical-mathematical intelligence) on the dependent variable (affective domain of mathematics). This research was quasi experimental using 3x3 of factorial design. The population of this research was VIII grade students of junior high school in Karanganyar under the academic year 2017/2018. Data collected in this research was analyzed by two ways analysis of variance with unequal cells using 5% of significance level. The result of the research were as follows: (1) Teaching and learning with model TS lead to better achievement in affective domain than QSH, teaching and learning with model QSH lead to better achievement in affective domain than using DI; (2) Students with high mathematics logical intelligence have better achievement in affective domain than students with low mathematics logical intelligence have; (3) In teaching and learning mathematics using learning model TS, students with moderate mathematics logical intelligence have better achievement in affective domain than using DI; and (4) In teaching and learning mathematics using learning model TS, students with low mathematics logical intelligence have better achievement in affective domain than using QSH and DI.

An onion byproduct affects plasma lipids in healthy rats.

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Roldán-Marín, Eduvigis; Jensen, Runa I; Krath, Britta N; Kristensen, Mette; Poulsen, Morten; Cano, M Pilar; Sánchez-Moreno, Concepción; Dragsted, Lars O

2010-05-12

Onion may contribute to the health effects associated with high fruit and vegetable consumption. A considerable amount of onion production ends up as waste that might find use in foods. Onion byproduct has not yet been explored for potential health benefits. The aim of this study is to elucidate the safety and potential role of onion byproducts in affecting risk markers of cardiovascular disease (CVD). For that purpose, the effects of an onion byproduct, Allium cepa L. cepa 'Recas' (OBP), and its two derived fractions, an ethanolic extract (OE) and a residue (OR), on the distribution of plasma lipids and on factors affecting cholesterol metabolism in healthy rats have been investigated. The OBP or its fractions did not significantly reduce cholesterol or down-regulate hepatic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (Hmgcr) gene expression. The OR even had the effect of increasing plasma triacylglycerides (TAG) and cholesterol in the very low density lipoprotein (VLDL-C) fraction. Neither total bile acids nor total primary or secondary bile acids were significantly affected by feeding rats the OBP or its fractions. Principal component analysis combining all markers revealed that the controls could be completely separated from OBP, OE, and OR groups in the scores plot and also that OE and OR groups were separated. Plasma lipids and bile acid excretion were the discriminating loading factors for separating OE and OR but also contributed to the separation of onion-fed animals and controls. It was concluded that the onion byproduct did not present significant beneficial effects on individual markers related to plasma lipid transport in this healthy rat model but that onion byproduct contains factors with the ability to modulate plasma lipids and lipoprotein levels.

A cross-cultural analysis of posthumous reproduction: The significance of the gender and margins-of-life perspectives

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Yael Hashiloni-Dolev

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The scholarly discussion of posthumous reproduction (PHR focuses on informed consent and the welfare of the future child, for the most part overlooking cultural differences between societies. Based on a cross-cultural comparison of legal and regulatory documents, analysis of pivotal cases and study of scholarly and media discussions in Israel and Germany, this paper analyses the relevant ethical and policy issues, and questions how cultural differences shape the practice of PHR. The findings challenge the common classifications of PHR by highlighting the gender perspective and adding brain-dead pregnant women to the debate. Based on this study’s findings, four neglected cultural factors affecting social attitudes towards PHR are identified: (i the relationship between the pregnant woman and her future child; (ii what constitutes the beginning of life; (iii what constitutes dying; and (iv the social agent(s seeking to have the future child. The paper argues that PHR can be better understood by adding the gender and margins-of-life perspectives, and that future ethical and practical discussions of this issue could benefit from the criteria emerging from this cross-cultural analysis.

[The influence of affect on satisfaction with conversations and interpersonal impressions from the perspective of dyadic affective combinations].

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Ken, Fujiwara; Daibo, Ikuo

2013-12-01

This study examined the influence of affect on interpersonal relationships in a dyadic communication context. The combination of speakers' affective states was considered, as compared to previous studies which considered only the individual's affective state. The independent variables, in a between-subjects design, were affective condition (positive vs. negative) and affective combination (similar vs. dissimilar). Participants (N = 86) took a test on creative thinking and were given false feedback. Then they had a 6-minute conversation and answered questions about their satisfaction with the conversation and their impressions of their partner. Results showed that the two-factor interactions were significant for satisfaction with the conversation and interpersonal impressions (social desirability) of the partner. The scores for these variables in the positive affect condition were higher than in the negative affect condition only when the affective combination was dissimilar. These results show that individual's affect could not predict conversational outcomes. The results were discussed in terms of incorrect inferences about the partner's affective state and imbalanced conversation activity.

Self-management and quality of life in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): The mediating effects of positive affect.

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Benzo, Roberto P; Abascal-Bolado, Beatriz; Dulohery, Megan M

2016-04-01

This study aimed to increase our understanding of general self-management (SM) abilities in COPD by determining if SM can predict disease specific quality of life (QoL), by investigating whether specific SM domains are significant in COPD and by exploring the mediating effect of the positive/negative affect in the association between SM and QoL. Cross-sectional study based on 292 patients with COPD. Measures included demographics, lung function, gait speed, health care utilization, positive/negative affect, SM abilities, breathlessness and disease specific QoL. We performed, correlation, multiple regression models and mediation analysis (positive/negative affect being mediator between SM and QoL association). After controlling for breathlessness, living alone, marital status, hospitalization history, age and lung function, SM related to QoL (pnegative affect ratio completely mediates the relationship of SM with QoL. SM is independently associated with disease specific QoL in COPD after adjustment significant covariates but positive/negative affect ratio completely mediates the relationship of SM with QoL. Measuring positive/negative affect and addressing investment behavior and self-efficacy are important in implementing COPD-SM programs. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Health-related quality of life, depression, and self-esteem in adolescents with leprosy-affected parents: results of a cross-sectional study in Nepal

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Yamaguchi Nobuko

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that has an impact on the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL of sufferers as well as their children. To date, no study has investigated the effects of parental leprosy on the well-being of adolescent children. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Lalitpur and Kathmandu districts of Nepal. Adolescents with leprosy-affected parents (n = 102; aged 11–17 years and those with parents unaffected by leprosy (n = 115; 11–17 years were investigated. Self-reported data from adolescents were collected using the Kinder Lebensqualität Fragebogen (KINDLR questionnaire to assess HRQOL, the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D, and the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA was used to compare scores between the two groups. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to explore the determinants of HRQOL for adolescents with leprosy-affected parents. Results ANCOVA revealed that the KINDLR and RSES scores were significantly lower among adolescents with leprosy-affected parents compared with unaffected parents. However, the scores of “Friends” and “School” subscales of KINDLR were similar between the two groups. The CES-D score was significantly higher among adolescents with leprosy-affected parents than for adolescents with unaffected parents. The KINDLR scores for adolescents with both parents affected (n = 41 were significantly lower than the scores for those with one parent affected (n = 61. Multiple regression analysis revealed that adolescents with leprosy-affected parents who had higher levels of depressive symptoms were more likely to have lower KINDLR scores. A similar result was seen for adolescents where both parents had leprosy. Conclusions Adolescents with leprosy-affected parents had higher levels of depressive symptoms, lower levels of self-esteem, and lower HRQOL compared with adolescents whose

Intravital multiphoton tomography as a novel tool for non-invasive in vivo analysis of human skin affected with atopic dermatitis

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Huck, Volker; Gorzelanny, Christian; Thomas, Kai; Niemeyer, Verena; Luger, Thomas A.; König, Karsten; Schneider, Stefan W.

2010-02-01

Atopic Dermatitis (AD) is an inflammatory disease of human skin. Its pathogenesis is still unknown; however, dysfunctions of the epidermal barrier and the immune response are regarded as key factors for the development of AD. In our study we applied intravital multiphoton tomography (5D-IVT), equipped with a spectral-FLIM module for in-vivo and ex-vivo analysis of human skin affected with AD. In addition to the morphologic skin analysis, FLIM technology gain access to the metabolic status of the epidermal cells referring to the NADH specific fluorescence lifetime. We evaluated a characteristic 5D-IVT skin pattern of AD in comparison to histological sections and detected a correlation with the disease activity measured by SCORAD. FLIM analysis revealed a shift of the mean fluorescence lifetime (taum) of NADH, indicating an altered metabolic activity. Within an ex-vivo approach we have investigated cryo-sections of human skin with or without barrier defects. Spectral-FLIM allows the detection of autofluorescent signals that reflect the pathophysiological conditions of the defect skin barrier. In our study the taum value was shown to be different between healthy and affected skin. Application of the 5D-IVT allows non-invasive in-vivo imaging of human skin with a penetration depth of 150 μm. We could show that affected skin could be distinguished from healthy skin by morphological criteria, by FLIM and by spectral-FLIM. Further studies will evaluate the application of the 5D-IVT technology as a diagnostic tool and to monitor the therapeutic efficacy.

Comparative Analysis of Woody Plants Biomass on the Affected

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Nwokem et al.

stands that were generated from the field using sample quadrats and measuring ... woody plants on the affected and restricted land management practices. F u ll L en .... divided into 6 strata that served as a guide to locate the quadrat samples.

X-ray semiotics of radiations affections of the lungs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rabinovich, R.M.; Shapiro, I.V.

1976-01-01

On the hasis of analysis of roentgenograms, tomograms, and bronchograms in 189 patients a repeated study was made of the X-ray semiotics of radiation affections of the lungs. The leading roentgenological symptom of radiation affections of the lungs irrespective of their primary localization, was linear deformity and intensification of the broncho-vascular patten in the peripheral zone. This was expressed on roentgenograms in the form of radially- and cross- coursing shadows from the root: tomog.raphically it was manifested in narrowed shadows of the vessels, a change of their course, their approximation and a tendency to approach the centre; analogous disturbances of topography of the bronchi with phenomena of deforming bronchitis were seen in bronchography. A significant si.gn of radiation injuries of the lung tissue is a tendency to progressive development of connective tissue, which was expressed roentgenologically in extensive pneumosclerosis, sometimes with an outcome into fibrothorax with marked topographic disturbances. Radiation injuries are accompanied by an adhesive reaction of the pleura

The Brain Basis of Positive and Negative Affect: Evidence from a Meta-Analysis of the Human Neuroimaging Literature.

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Lindquist, Kristen A; Satpute, Ajay B; Wager, Tor D; Weber, Jochen; Barrett, Lisa Feldman

2016-05-01

The ability to experience pleasant or unpleasant feelings or to represent objects as "positive" or "negative" is known as representing hedonic "valence." Although scientists overwhelmingly agree that valence is a basic psychological phenomenon, debate continues about how to best conceptualize it scientifically. We used a meta-analysis of 397 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography studies (containing 914 experimental contrasts and 6827 participants) to test 3 competing hypotheses about the brain basis of valence: the bipolarity hypothesis that positive and negative affect are supported by a brain system that monotonically increases and/or decreases along the valence dimension, the bivalent hypothesis that positive and negative affect are supported by independent brain systems, and the affective workspace hypothesis that positive and negative affect are supported by a flexible set of valence-general regions. We found little evidence for the bipolar or bivalent hypotheses. Findings instead supported the hypothesis that, at the level of brain activity measurable by fMRI, valence is flexibly implemented across instances by a set of valence-general limbic and paralimbic brain regions. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Affective traits link to reliable neural markers of incentive anticipation.

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Wu, Charlene C; Samanez-Larkin, Gregory R; Katovich, Kiefer; Knutson, Brian

2014-01-01

While theorists have speculated that different affective traits are linked to reliable brain activity during anticipation of gains and losses, few have directly tested this prediction. We examined these associations in a community sample of healthy human adults (n=52) as they played a Monetary Incentive Delay task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI). Factor analysis of personality measures revealed that subjects independently varied in trait Positive Arousal and trait Negative Arousal. In a subsample (n=14) retested over 2.5years later, left nucleus accumbens (NAcc) activity during anticipation of large gains (+$5.00) and right anterior insula activity during anticipation of large losses (-$5.00) showed significant test-retest reliability (intraclass correlations>0.50, p'santicipation of large gains, while trait Negative Arousal correlated with individual differences in right anterior insula activity during anticipation of large losses. Associations of affective traits with neural activity were not attributable to the influence of other potential confounds (including sex, age, wealth, and motion). Together, these results demonstrate selective links between distinct affective traits and reliably-elicited activity in neural circuits associated with anticipation of gain versus loss. The findings thus reveal neural markers for affective dimensions of healthy personality, and potentially for related psychiatric symptoms. © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparison of factors affecting orthodontic treatment motivation of Taiwanese and Thai patients in two hospitals

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Wariya Laothong

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Background/purpose: Many factors, including economic, psychosocial statuses and ethnicity, affect patients' decision to seek orthodontic treatment. The present study compared orthodontic patients' motivation, attitude and the factors affecting this motivation in Taiwanese and Thai patients. We investigated the association between the aforementioned variables and patient characteristics. Materials and methods: We enrolled 250 Thai and 250 Taiwanese patients (age ≥ 20 years from Sunprasitthiprasong and Taipei Medical University Hospitals, respectively, by using self-administered questionnaires. Demographic characteristics were analyzed using Pearson's chi-square test, patients' motivation, attitude and the factors affecting this motivation were analyzed using the sample t-test. The association among the variables was investigated by multiple regression analysis. Results: In both hospitals, the main motivation for seeking orthodontic treatment was esthetic concerns; the patients believed that treatment could make them more beautiful. Taiwanese and Thai patients rejected treatment because of high treatment costs and long treatment periods, respectively. A significant association was observed between household income and Thai patients' motivation (p < 0.05. Sex was significantly associated with Thai patients' attitude (p < 0.05. Age, sex, active treatment duration, and marital status were associated with Taiwanese attitude toward treatment (p < 0.05. In addition, age, household income, and information resources were significantly associated with the factors affecting Taiwanese patients' motivation (p < 0.05. Conclusion: Ethnicity influenced patients' motivation. Economic status was the main factor affecting Thai patients, whereas many factors affected Taiwanese patients' decision to seek orthodontic treatment. However, esthetic concerns were a crucial motivation for both groups. Keywords: factors affecting

Immediate versus delayed intramedullary nailing for open fractures of the tibial shaft: A multivariate analysis of factors affecting deep infection and fracture healing

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Yokoyama Kazuhiko

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate contributing factors affecting deep infection and fracture healing of open tibia fractures treated with locked intramedullary nailing (IMN by multivariate analysis. Materials and Methods: We examined 99 open tibial fractures (98 patients treated with immediate or delayed locked IMN in static fashion from 1991 to 2002. Multivariate analyses following univariate analyses were derived to determine predictors of deep infection, nonunion, and healing time to union. The following predictive variables of deep infection were selected for analysis: age, sex, Gustilo type, fracture grade by AO type, fracture location, timing or method of IMN, reamed or unreamed nailing, debridement time (≤6 h or> 6 h, method of soft-tissue management, skin closure time (≤1 week or> 1 week, existence of polytrauma (ISS< 18 or ISS≥18, existence of floating knee injury, and existence of superficial/pin site infection. The predictive variables of nonunion selected for analysis was the same as those for deep infection, with the addition of deep infection for exchange of pin site infection. The predictive variables of union time selected for analysis was the same as those for nonunion, excluding of location, debridement time, and existence of floating knee and superficial infection. Results: Six (6.1%; type II Gustilo n=1, type IIIB Gustilo n=5 of the 99 open tibial fractures developed deep infections. Multivariate analysis revealed that timing or method of IMN, debridement time, method of soft-tissue management, and existence of superficial or pin site infection significantly correlated with the occurrence of deep infection ( P < 0.0001. In the immediate nailing group alone, the deep infection rate in type IIIB + IIIC was significantly higher than those in type I + II and IIIA ( P = 0.016. Nonunion occurred in 17 fractures (20.3%, 17/84. Multivariate analysis revealed that Gustilo type, skin closure time, and

Factors affecting behaviours that address HIV risk among Black and White South Africans

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K. Peltzer

2002-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to identify factors affecting HIV risk reduction among 150 Black and 150 White South Africans chosen by systematic random sampling. Main outcome measures included sexual behaviour and condom use, knowledge about correct condom use, intention of condom use, behavioural norms, attitudes, normative beliefs, and subjective norms about condoms, HIV/AIDS health beliefs, and HIV risk behaviour. Bivariate analysis gave positive significant relations among being single, age, HIV/ AIDS perceived severity, HIV/AIDS prevention barriers and HIV risk behaviour. Further, bivariate analysis gave negative significant relations among age at onset of puberty, age at first vaginal intercourse, correct condom use knowledge, subjective norms, intention to use condoms and HIV risk behaviour. Regression analysis indicated that for subjective norm to use condoms, less intention for condom use, less condom use knowledge and younger age of first vaginal intercourse were predictive for HIV/AIDS risk behaviour. HIV prevention intervention programmes should include the identified factors and cultural diversity.

Analysis of algae growth mechanism and water bloom prediction under the effect of multi-affecting factor.

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Wang, Li; Wang, Xiaoyi; Jin, Xuebo; Xu, Jiping; Zhang, Huiyan; Yu, Jiabin; Sun, Qian; Gao, Chong; Wang, Lingbin

2017-03-01

The formation process of algae is described inaccurately and water blooms are predicted with a low precision by current methods. In this paper, chemical mechanism of algae growth is analyzed, and a correlation analysis of chlorophyll-a and algal density is conducted by chemical measurement. Taking into account the influence of multi-factors on algae growth and water blooms, the comprehensive prediction method combined with multivariate time series and intelligent model is put forward in this paper. Firstly, through the process of photosynthesis, the main factors that affect the reproduction of the algae are analyzed. A compensation prediction method of multivariate time series analysis based on neural network and Support Vector Machine has been put forward which is combined with Kernel Principal Component Analysis to deal with dimension reduction of the influence factors of blooms. Then, Genetic Algorithm is applied to improve the generalization ability of the BP network and Least Squares Support Vector Machine. Experimental results show that this method could better compensate the prediction model of multivariate time series analysis which is an effective way to improve the description accuracy of algae growth and prediction precision of water blooms.

Clinical Significance of Retinoic Acid Receptor Beta Promoter Methylation in Prostate Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Dou, MengMeng; Zhou, XueLiang; Fan, ZhiRui; Ding, XianFei; Li, LiFeng; Wang, ShuLing; Xue, Wenhua; Wang, Hui; Suo, Zhenhe; Deng, XiaoMing

2018-01-01

Retinoic acid receptor beta (RAR beta) is a retinoic acid receptor gene that has been shown to play key roles during multiple cancer processes, including cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion. Numerous studies have found that methylation of the RAR beta promoter contributed to the occurrence and development of malignant tumors. However, the connection between RAR beta promoter methylation and prostate cancer (PCa) remains unknown. This meta-analysis evaluated the clinical significance of RAR beta promoter methylation in PCa. We searched all published records relevant to RAR beta and PCa in a series of databases, including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, ISI Web of Science and CNKI. The rates of RAR beta promoter methylation in the PCa and control groups (including benign prostatic hyperplasia and normal prostate tissues) were summarized. In addition, we evaluated the source region of available samples and the methods used to detect methylation. To compare the incidence and variation in RAR beta promoter methylation in PCa and non-PCa tissues, the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated accordingly. All the data were analyzed with the statistical software STATA 12.0. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 15 articles assessing 1,339 samples were further analyzed. These data showed that the RAR beta promoter methylation rates in PCa tissues were significantly higher than the rates in the non-PCa group (OR=21.65, 95% CI: 9.27-50.57). Subgroup analysis according to the source region of samples showed that heterogeneity in Asia was small (I2=0.0%, P=0.430). Additional subgroup analysis based on the method used to detect RAR beta promoter methylation showed that the heterogeneity detected by MSP (methylation-specific PCR) was relatively small (I2=11.3%, P=0.343). Although studies reported different rates for RAR beta promoter methylation in PCa tissues, the total analysis demonstrated that RAR beta promoter methylation

Clinical Significance of Retinoic Acid Receptor Beta Promoter Methylation in Prostate Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MengMeng Dou

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Background/Aims: Retinoic acid receptor beta (RAR beta is a retinoic acid receptor gene that has been shown to play key roles during multiple cancer processes, including cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion. Numerous studies have found that methylation of the RAR beta promoter contributed to the occurrence and development of malignant tumors. However, the connection between RAR beta promoter methylation and prostate cancer (PCa remains unknown. This meta-analysis evaluated the clinical significance of RAR beta promoter methylation in PCa. Materials and Methods: We searched all published records relevant to RAR beta and PCa in a series of databases, including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, ISI Web of Science and CNKI. The rates of RAR beta promoter methylation in the PCa and control groups (including benign prostatic hyperplasia and normal prostate tissues were summarized. In addition, we evaluated the source region of available samples and the methods used to detect methylation. To compare the incidence and variation in RAR beta promoter methylation in PCa and non-PCa tissues, the odds ratio (OR and 95% confidence interval (CI were calculated accordingly. All the data were analyzed with the statistical software STATA 12.0. Results: Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 15 articles assessing 1,339 samples were further analyzed. These data showed that the RAR beta promoter methylation rates in PCa tissues were significantly higher than the rates in the non-PCa group (OR=21.65, 95% CI: 9.27-50.57. Subgroup analysis according to the source region of samples showed that heterogeneity in Asia was small (I2=0.0%, P=0.430. Additional subgroup analysis based on the method used to detect RAR beta promoter methylation showed that the heterogeneity detected by MSP (methylation-specific PCR was relatively small (I2=11.3%, P=0.343. Conclusion: Although studies reported different rates for RAR beta promoter methylation in PCa

Factors affecting aggression in South Korean middle school students.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, MiJeong; Choi, Jihea; Lim, Seung-Joo

2014-12-01

The study was undertaken to assess levels of aggression, and to determine factors affecting aggression among South Korean middle school students. A descriptive study was conducted using self-report questionnaires. The participants were 340 girls and boys from two middle schools and 302 questionnaires were used for the final data analysis. Aggression, academic stress, depression, self esteem, decision-making competency, and happiness were measured. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including t tests, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation coefficients and multiple regressions. Aggression had significant correlations with academic stress (r = .21, p decision-making competency (r = -.25, p emotional factors like depression and academic stress. Additionally, development of positive factors such as self esteem, decision-making skills, and happiness in middle school students is important to reduce aggression. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Cognitive human reliability analysis for an assessment of the safety significance of complex transients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amico, P.J.; Hsu, C.J.; Youngblood, R.W.; Fitzpatrick, R.G.

1989-01-01

This paper reports that as part of a probabilistic assessment of the safety significance of complex transients at certain PWR power plants, it was necessary to perform a cognitive human reliability analysis. To increase the confidence in the results, it was desirable to make use of actual observations of operator response which were available for the assessment. An approach was developed which incorporated these observations into the human cognitive reliability (HCR) modeling approach. The results obtained provided additional insights over what would have been found using other approaches. These insights were supported by the observations, and it is suggested that this approach be considered for use in future probabilistic safety assessments

Network Analysis Reveals Putative Genes Affecting Meat Quality in Angus Cattle.

Science.gov (United States)

Mateescu, Raluca G; Garrick, Dorian J; Reecy, James M

2017-01-01

Improvements in eating satisfaction will benefit consumers and should increase beef demand which is of interest to the beef industry. Tenderness, juiciness, and flavor are major determinants of the palatability of beef and are often used to reflect eating satisfaction. Carcass qualities are used as indicator traits for meat quality, with higher quality grade carcasses expected to relate to more tender and palatable meat. However, meat quality is a complex concept determined by many component traits making interpretation of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on any one component challenging to interpret. Recent approaches combining traditional GWAS with gene network interactions theory could be more efficient in dissecting the genetic architecture of complex traits. Phenotypic measures of 23 traits reflecting carcass characteristics, components of meat quality, along with mineral and peptide concentrations were used along with Illumina 54k bovine SNP genotypes to derive an annotated gene network associated with meat quality in 2,110 Angus beef cattle. The efficient mixed model association (EMMAX) approach in combination with a genomic relationship matrix was used to directly estimate the associations between 54k SNP genotypes and each of the 23 component traits. Genomic correlated regions were identified by partial correlations which were further used along with an information theory algorithm to derive gene network clusters. Correlated SNP across 23 component traits were subjected to network scoring and visualization software to identify significant SNP. Significant pathways implicated in the meat quality complex through GO term enrichment analysis included angiogenesis, inflammation, transmembrane transporter activity, and receptor activity. These results suggest that network analysis using partial correlations and annotation of significant SNP can reveal the genetic architecture of complex traits and provide novel information regarding biological mechanisms

High-Power Laser Cutting of Steel Plates: Heat Affected Zone Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Imed Miraoui

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The thermal effect of CO2 high-power laser cutting on cut surface of steel plates is investigated. The effect of the input laser cutting parameters on the melted zone depth (MZ, the heat affected zone depth (HAZ, and the microhardness beneath the cut surface is analyzed. A mathematical model is developed to relate the output process parameters to the input laser cutting parameters. Three input process parameters such as laser beam diameter, cutting speed, and laser power are investigated. Mathematical models for the melted zone and the heat affected zone depth are developed by using design of experiment approach (DOE. The results indicate that the input laser cutting parameters have major effect on melted zone, heat affected zone, and microhardness beneath cut surface. The MZ depth, the HAZ depth, and the microhardness beneath cut surface increase as laser power increases, but they decrease with increasing cutting speed. Laser beam diameter has a negligible effect on HAZ depth but it has a remarkable effect on MZ depth and HAZ microhardness. The melted zone depth and the heat affected zone depth can be reduced by increasing laser cutting speed and decreasing laser power and laser beam diameter.

Risk factors of significant pain syndrome 90 days after minor thoracic injury: trajectory analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Daoust, Raoul; Emond, Marcel; Bergeron, Eric; LeSage, Natalie; Camden, Stéphanie; Guimont, Chantal; Vanier, Laurent; Chauny, Jean-Marc

2013-11-01

The objective was to identify the risk factors of clinically significant pain at 90 days in patients with minor thoracic injury (MTI) discharged from the emergency department (ED). A prospective, multicenter, cohort study was conducted in four Canadian EDs from November 2006 to November 2010. All consecutive patients aged 16 years or older with MTI were eligible at discharge from EDs. They underwent standardized clinical and radiologic evaluations at 1 and 2 weeks, followed by standardized telephone interviews at 30 and 90 days. A pain trajectory model characterized groups of patients with different pain evolutions and ascertained specific risk factors in each group through multivariate analysis. In this cohort of 1,132 patients, 734 were eligible for study inclusion. The authors identified a pain trajectory that characterized 18.2% of the study population experiencing clinically significant pain (>3 of 10) at 90 days after a MTI. Multivariate modeling found two or more rib fractures, smoking, and initial oxygen saturation below 95% to be predictors of this group of patients. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first prospective study of trajectory modeling to detect risk factors associated with significant pain at 90 days after MTI. These factors may help in planning specific treatment strategies and should be validated in another prospective cohort. © 2013 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

Marital adjustment of patients with substance dependence, schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shital S Muke

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Marital adjustment is considered as a part of social well-being. Disturbed marital relationship can directly affect the disease adjustment and the way they face disease outcomes and complications. It may adversely affect physical health, mental health, the quality-of-life and even economic status of individuals. Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the marital adjustment among patients with substance dependence, schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder. Materials and Methods: The sample consisted of each 30 patients with substance dependence, bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia, diagnosed as per international classification of diseases-10 diagnostic criteria for research with a minimum duration of illness of 1 year were evaluated using marital adjustment questionnaire. The data was analyzed using parametric and non-parametric statistics. Results: Prevalence of poor marital adjustment in patients with schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder and substance dependence was 60%, 70% and 50% respectively. There was a significant difference on overall marital adjustment among substance dependence and bipolar affective disorder patients. There was no significant difference on overall marital adjustment among patients with substance dependence and schizophrenia as well as among patients with schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder. On marital adjustment domains, schizophrenia patients had significantly poor sexual adjustment than substance dependence patients while bipolar affective disorder patients had significantly poor sexual and social adjustment compared with substance dependence patients. Conclusion: Patients with substance dependence have significant better overall marital adjustment compared with bipolar affective disorder patients. Patients with substance dependence have significantly better social and sexual adjustment than patients with bipolar affective disorder as well as significantly better sexual

Responses to positive affect, life satisfaction and self-esteem: A cross-lagged panel analysis during middle adolescence.

Science.gov (United States)

Gomez-Baya, Diego; Mendoza, Ramon; Gaspar, Tania; Gomes, Paulo

2018-05-11

During middle adolescence, elevated stress and a greater presence of psychological disorders have been documented. The research has paid little attention to the regulation of positive affective states. Fredrickson's broaden-and-build theory suggests that cultivating positive emotions helps to build resources that boost well-being. The current research aimed to examine the longitudinal associations between responses to positive affect (emotion-focused positive rumination, self-focused positive rumination, and dampening) and psychological adjustment (self-esteem and life satisfaction) during middle adolescence. A longitudinal study with two waves separated by one year was conducted, assessing 977 adolescents (M = 13.81, SD = 0.79; 51.5% boys) with self-report measures. A cross-lagged panel analysis was performed by including within the same model the relationships between all of the variables in the two assessment points. The results indicated cross-lagged positive relationships of self-focused positive rumination with both self-esteem and life satisfaction, while dampening showed a negative cross-lagged relationship with self-esteem. Moreover, higher self-esteem predicted more emotion-focused positive rumination, and more dampening predicted lower life satisfaction. Thus, the use of adaptive responses to positive affect and a better psychological adjustment were found to be prospectively interrelated at the one-year follow-up during middle adolescence. The discussion argues for the need to implement programmes to promote more adaptive responses to positive affect to enhance psychological adjustment in the adolescent transition to adulthood. © 2018 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effectiveness of Circuit-Based Exercises on Gait Speed, Balance, and Functional Mobility in People Affected by Stroke: A Meta-Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonini-Rocha, Ana Clara; de Andrade, Anderson Lúcio Souza; Moraes, André Marques; Gomide Matheus, Liana Barbaresco; Diniz, Leonardo Rios; Martins, Wagner Rodrigues

2018-04-01

Several interventions have been proposed to rehabilitate patients with neurologic dysfunctions due to stroke. However, the effectiveness of circuit-based exercises according to its actual definition, ie, an overall program to improve strength, stamina, balance or functioning, was not provided. To examine the effectiveness of circuit-based exercise in the treatment of people affected by stroke. A search through PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Physiotherapy Evidence Database databases was performed to identify controlled clinical trials without language or date restriction. The overall mean difference with 95% confidence interval was calculated for all outcomes. Two independent reviewers assessed the risk of bias. Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria, and 8 presented suitable data to perform a meta-analysis. Quantitative analysis showed that circuit-based exercise was more effective than conventional intervention on gait speed (mean difference of 0.11 m/s) and circuit-based exercise was not significantly more effective than conventional intervention on balance and functional mobility. Our results demonstrated that circuit-based exercise presents better effects on gait when compared with conventional intervention and that its effects on balance and functional mobility were not better than conventional interventions. I. Copyright © 2018 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Electroencephalography Amplitude Modulation Analysis for Automated Affective Tagging of Music Video Clips

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Clerico

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The quantity of music content is rapidly increasing and automated affective tagging of music video clips can enable the development of intelligent retrieval, music recommendation, automatic playlist generators, and music browsing interfaces tuned to the users' current desires, preferences, or affective states. To achieve this goal, the field of affective computing has emerged, in particular the development of so-called affective brain-computer interfaces, which measure the user's affective state directly from measured brain waves using non-invasive tools, such as electroencephalography (EEG. Typically, conventional features extracted from the EEG signal have been used, such as frequency subband powers and/or inter-hemispheric power asymmetry indices. More recently, the coupling between EEG and peripheral physiological signals, such as the galvanic skin response (GSR, have also been proposed. Here, we show the importance of EEG amplitude modulations and propose several new features that measure the amplitude-amplitude cross-frequency coupling per EEG electrode, as well as linear and non-linear connections between multiple electrode pairs. When tested on a publicly available dataset of music video clips tagged with subjective affective ratings, support vector classifiers trained on the proposed features were shown to outperform those trained on conventional benchmark EEG features by as much as 6, 20, 8, and 7% for arousal, valence, dominance and liking, respectively. Moreover, fusion of the proposed features with EEG-GSR coupling features showed to be particularly useful for arousal (feature-level fusion and liking (decision-level fusion prediction. Together, these findings show the importance of the proposed features to characterize human affective states during music clip watching.

Encounter Probability of Significant Wave Height

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Z.; Burcharth, H. F.

The determination of the design wave height (often given as the significant wave height) is usually based on statistical analysis of long-term extreme wave height measurement or hindcast. The result of such extreme wave height analysis is often given as the design wave height corresponding to a c...

Comparison of serum creatine kinase estimation with short tandem repeats based linkage analysis in carriers and affected children of duchenne muscular dystrophy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hashim, R.; Ahmad, S.; Sattar, A.; Khan, F.A.

2011-01-01

Background: Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked recessive lethal, genetic disorder characterised by progressive weakness of skeletal muscles which is untreatable and transmitted to males by carrier females. Advances in laboratory techniques now focus direct mutational analysis as the most reliable and indirect analysis based on Short Tandem Repeats (STR) based linkage analysis as feasible, inexpensive, and efficient method for carrier detection and prenatal diagnosis. The objective of this study was to compare the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and diagnostic efficiency of Serum Creatine Kinase (SCK) with Short Tandem Repeats (STR based linkage analysis in carriers and affected children of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Methods: The study was carried out from Dec 2006 to Dec 2007 in families having index clinical cases of DMD who were referred from different hospitals for evaluation/workup of DMD. SCK was done as a preliminary investigation in all index cases. The PCR assay with STR based linkage analysis with Intron 44, 45, 49 and 50 of DMD gene were performed in all families. Six families were informative with Intron 44 of DMD gene and one family was non-informative with all four intronic markers of DMD. SCK analyses were done in all the family members and compared with PCR analysis in informative families. SCK was not performed on Chorionic villous sample (CVS) done for prenatal diagnosis of DMD, and CVS and non-informative family members were excluded from the study. Results: In carriers of DMD, the sensitivity and negative predictive value of SCK were 33.3%, and specificity and positive predictive were 100% with diagnostic efficiency of 50%. In affected cases of DMD the sensitivity and negative predictive value of SCK were 100%, and specificity and positive predictive were 91% and 88.8% respectively and diagnostic efficiency of 94.1%. Conclusion: The SCK is an excellent screening test for

Statistical significance approximation in local trend analysis of high-throughput time-series data using the theory of Markov chains.

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Li C; Ai, Dongmei; Cram, Jacob A; Liang, Xiaoyi; Fuhrman, Jed A; Sun, Fengzhu

2015-09-21

Local trend (i.e. shape) analysis of time series data reveals co-changing patterns in dynamics of biological systems. However, slow permutation procedures to evaluate the statistical significance of local trend scores have limited its applications to high-throughput time series data analysis, e.g., data from the next generation sequencing technology based studies. By extending the theories for the tail probability of the range of sum of Markovian random variables, we propose formulae for approximating the statistical significance of local trend scores. Using simulations and real data, we show that the approximate p-value is close to that obtained using a large number of permutations (starting at time points >20 with no delay and >30 with delay of at most three time steps) in that the non-zero decimals of the p-values obtained by the approximation and the permutations are mostly the same when the approximate p-value is less than 0.05. In addition, the approximate p-value is slightly larger than that based on permutations making hypothesis testing based on the approximate p-value conservative. The approximation enables efficient calculation of p-values for pairwise local trend analysis, making large scale all-versus-all comparisons possible. We also propose a hybrid approach by integrating the approximation and permutations to obtain accurate p-values for significantly associated pairs. We further demonstrate its use with the analysis of the Polymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) microbial community time series from high-throughput sequencing data and found interesting organism co-occurrence dynamic patterns. The software tool is integrated into the eLSA software package that now provides accelerated local trend and similarity analysis pipelines for time series data. The package is freely available from the eLSA website: http://bitbucket.org/charade/elsa.

Tucannon River Spring Chinook Captive Broodstock Program Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

N/A

2000-05-24

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is proposing to fund the Tucannon River Spring Chinook Captive Broodstock Program, a small-scale production initiative designed to increase numbers of a weak but potentially recoverable population of spring chinook salmon in the Tucannon River in the State of Washington. BPA has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) (DOE/EA-l326) evaluating the proposed project. Based on the analysis in the EA, BPA has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Therefore, the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is not required, and BPA is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).

Paediatric lower limb deformity correction using the Ilizarov technique: a statistical analysis of factors affecting the complication rate.

Science.gov (United States)

Oostenbroek, Hubert J; Brand, Ronald; van Roermund, Peter M; Castelein, René M

2014-01-01

Limb length discrepancy (LLD) and other patient factors are thought to influence the complication rate in (paediatric) limb deformity correction. In the literature, information is conflicting. This study was performed to identify clinical factors that affect the complication rate in paediatric lower-limb lengthening. A consecutive group of 37 children was analysed. The median proportionate LLD was 15 (4-42)%. An analysis was carried out on several patient factors that may complicate the treatment or end result using logistic regression in a polytomous logistic regression model. The factors analysed were proportionate LLD, cause of deformity, location of corrected bone, and the classification of the deformity according to an overall classification that includes the LLD and all concomitant deformity factors. The median age at the start of the treatment was 11 (6-17) years. The median lengthening index was 1.5 (0.8-3.8) months per centimetre lengthening. The obstacle and complication rate was 69% per lengthened bone. Proportionate LLD was the only statistically significant predictor for the occurrence of complications. Concomitant deformities did not influence the complication rate. From these data we constructed a simple graph that shows the relationship between proportionate LLD and risk for complications. This study shows that only relative LLD is a predictor of the risk for complications. The additional value of this analysis is the production of a simple graph. Construction of this graph using data of a patient group (for example, your own) may allow a more realistic comparison with results in the literature than has been possible before.

Factors affecting behaviours that address HIV risk among Black and White South Africans

OpenAIRE

K. Peltzer

2002-01-01

The aim of this study was to identify factors affecting HIV risk reduction among 150 Black and 150 White South Africans chosen by systematic random sampling. Main outcome measures included sexual behaviour and condom use, knowledge about correct condom use, intention of condom use, behavioural norms, attitudes, normative beliefs, and subjective norms about condoms, HIV/AIDS health beliefs, and HIV risk behaviour. Bivariate analysis gave positive significant relations among being single, age, ...

Statistical analysis of the influence of lancing on the secondary corrosion affecting SG tube ends in the CP0 series of PWRs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souchois, T.

1995-05-01

The main method of tube sheet cleaning during unit outages is high pressure lancing. A new tool called CECIL has been in use for this purpose since 1991 on the CP0 series of PWRs. This paper presents a statistical analysis of inspection data providing a basis for determining whether the type of lancing tool used has a 'statistically' significant effect, on the one hand, on the progression of the secondary corrosion affecting the CP0 type PWR SG tube ends and, on the other hand, on the appearance of corrosion on sound tubes after one operating cycle. The study results showed the CECIL cleaning method to be more efficient in tat larger amounts of accumulated deposits were removed and the risks of early corrosion were 14 times lower, with slower degradation in the course of subsequent cycles. (author). 2 refs., 8 figs., 19 tabs