Proceedings: Annual Conference of the Military Testing Association (24th) Held at San Antonio, Texas on 1-5 November 1982

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-03-25

influenced by external factors. 7. Controllable by client group . Members of the organization under study should be able to affect the outcome being measured. 8... Group B was tasked to develop six to nine "Indicators" of efficiency and effectiveness for each KRA. Each organization in the study was visited by a...second day, Group A was formed and KRAs were developed. Days three and four involved the generation of Indicators by Group B. Day five consisted of a

Influence of inter-item symmetry in visual search.

PubMed

Roggeveen, Alexa B; Kingstone, Alan; Enns, James T

2004-01-01

Does visual search involve a serial inspection of individual items (Feature Integration Theory) or are items grouped and segregated prior to their consideration as a possible target (Attentional Engagement Theory)? For search items defined by motion and shape there is strong support for prior grouping (Kingstone and Bischof, 1999). The present study tested for grouping based on inter-item shape symmetry. Results showed that target-distractor symmetry strongly influenced search whereas distractor-distractor symmetry influenced search more weakly. This indicates that static shapes are evaluated for similarity to one another prior to their explicit identification as 'target' or 'distractor'. Possible reasons for the unequal contributions of target-distractor and distractor-distractor relations are discussed.

[Municipalities Stratification for Health Performance Evaluation].

PubMed

Calvo, Maria Cristina Marino; Lacerda, Josimari Telino de; Colussi, Claudia Flemming; Schneider, Ione Jayce Ceola; Rocha, Thiago Augusto Hernandes

2016-01-01

to propose and present a stratification of Brazilian municipalities into homogeneous groups for evaluation studies of health management performance. this was a methodological study, with selected indicators which classify municipalities according to conditions that influence the health management and population size; data for the year 2010 were collected from demographic and health databases; correlation tests and factor analysis were used. seven strata were identified - Large-sized; Medium-sized with favorable, regular or unfavorable influences; and Small-sized with favorable, regular or unfavorable influences -; there was a concentration of municipalities with favorable influences in strata with better purchasing power and funding, as well as a concentration of municipalities with unfavorable influences in the North and Northeast regions. the proposed classification grouped similar municipalities regarding influential factors in health management, which allowed the identification of comparable groups of municipalities, setting up a consistent alternative to performance evaluation studies.

Study of ecologo-biological reactions of common flax to finely dispersed metallurgical wastes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zakharova, O.; Gusev, A.; Skripnikova, E.; Skripnikova, M.; Krutyakov, Yu; Kudrinsky, A.; Mikhailov, I.; Senatova, S.; Chuprunov, C.; Kuznetsov, D.

2015-11-01

Study was carried out on the influence of metallurgic industrial sludge on morphometric and biochemical indicators as well as productivity of common flax under laboratory and field conditions. In laboratory settings negative influence on seed germinating ability and positive influence on sprouts biomass production in water medium were observed. In sand medium suppression of biological productivity under the influence of sludge together with photosynthetic system II (FS II) activity stimulation were registered. Biochemical study showed peroxidase activity decrease in laboratory, while activity of polyphenol oxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase were given a mild boost under the influence of sludge. In the field trial, positive influence of sludge on flax photosynthetic apparatus was shown. Positive influence of sludge on vegetation and yield indicators was observed. The analysis of heavy metals content showed excess over maximum allowable concentration (MAC) of copper and zinc in control plants, it may point to the background soil pollution. In the plants from the trial groups receiving 0.5 and 2 ton/ha heavy metals content below the control values was registered. Application of 4 ton/ha led to the maximum content of copper and zinc in the plants among the trial groups. The analysis of soils from the test plots indicated no excess over maximum allowable concentrations of heavy metals. Thus, further study of possibilities of using metallurgic industrial sludge as a soil stimulator in flax cultivation at the application rate of 0.5 t/ha seems promising.

The effect of background music on the taste of wine.

PubMed

North, Adrian C

2012-08-01

Research concerning cross-modal influences on perception has neglected auditory influences on perceptions of non-auditory objects, although a small number of studies indicate that auditory stimuli can influence perceptions of the freshness of foodstuffs. Consistent with this, the results reported here indicate that independent groups' ratings of the taste of the wine reflected the emotional connotations of the background music played while they drank it. These results indicate that the symbolic function of auditory stimuli (in this case music) may influence perception in other modalities (in this case gustation); and are discussed in terms of possible future research that might investigate those aspects of music that induce such effects in a particular manner, and how such effects might be influenced by participants' pre-existing knowledge and expertise with regard to the target object in question. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

L'Apport des Faits Phonetiques au Developpement de la Comprehension Auditive en Langue Seconde (The Influence of Phonetic Skills on the Development of Listening Comprehension in a Second Language).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Champagne-Muzar, Cecile

1996-01-01

Ascertains the influence of the development of receptive phonetic skills on the level of listening comprehension of adults learning French as a second language in a formal setting. Test results indicate substantial gains in phonetics by the experimental group and a significant difference between the performance of experimental and control groups.…

Associations of group level popularity with observed behavior and influence in a dyadic context.

PubMed

Lansu, Tessa A M; Cillessen, Antonius H N

2015-12-01

This study examined the association between popularity in the peer group and adolescents' behavior in a dyadic context. After collecting peer nominations for popularity, 218 early adolescents (M(age) = 11.0 years) in 109 randomly composed same-sex dyads participated in a discussion task where they planned a party for their classroom. From digital recordings of the sessions, each participant's influence, involvement, skillful leadership, coercive resource control, submissiveness, positivity, and negativity were observed. Analyses with the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) demonstrated that for girls high group level popularity was associated with a socially sensitive interaction style and influence in the dyadic context. For both boys and girls, the interaction partner's group level popularity negatively predicted their use of coercive resource control strategies and negative behavior in the dyad. For girls, in addition, the interaction partner's group level popularity also positively predicted their submissiveness and negatively predicted their task influence. These results indicate that, in particular for girls, adolescents' group level popularity plays an important role in the behavior of both peers in a cooperative dyadic context. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The pQCT 'Bone Strength Indices' (BSIs, SSI). Relative mechanical impact and diagnostic value of the indicators of bone tissue and design quality employed in their calculation in healthy men and pre- and post-menopausal women.

PubMed

Cointry, G R; Ferretti, J L; Reina, P S; Nocciolino, L M; Rittweger, J; Capozza, R F

2014-03-01

The pQCT-assessed Bone Strength Indices (BSI's, SSI) depend on the product of a 'quality' indicator, the cortical vBMD (vCtD), and a 'design' indicator, one of the cross-sectional moments of inertia or related variables (MIs) in long bones. As the MIs vary naturally much more than the vCtD and represent different properties, it could be that the variation of the indices might not reflect the relative mechanical impact of the variation of their determinant factors in different individuals or circumstances. To understand this problem, we determined the vCtD and MI's in tibia scans of 232 healthy men and pre- and post-MP women, expressed in SD of the means calculated for each group, and analyzed the independent influence of 1 SD unit of variation of each factor on that of the indices by multiple correlations. Results showed: 1. that the independent influence of the MIs on the indices was generally larger than that of the vCtD, and 2. that in post-MP women the influence of the vCtD was larger than it was in the other groups. This confirms the view that inter-individual variation of vCtD is comparatively small, and that mechanical competence of human bone is mostly determined by 'design' factors.

Endorsement of Growth Factors in Experiential Training Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kiweewa, John; Gilbride, Dennis; Luke, Melissa; Seward, Derek

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify student growth factors during a semester long Master's level group counseling class. Results indicated that 12 growth factors accounted for 86% of the total number of critical incidents that participants reported as influencing their personal growth and awareness during the group experience. Two other…

A qualitative study of participants' experiences with dietary assessment.

PubMed

Vuckovic, N; Ritenbaugh, C; Taren, D L; Tobar, M

2000-09-01

This article reports on the use of focus groups and an experimental participatory activity to investigate factors influencing participants' decisions about what to eat and what to report on food records and food frequency questionnaires. Four focus groups examined participants' experience with diet records and 3 focus groups explored the topic of food portions using a group consensus activity. Twenty-two women participated in the diet record focus groups, and 15 participated in portion estimation groups. Focus group participants were equally distributed by age and body mass index values. Each woman completed a 10-day doubly labeled water protocol to measure total energy expenditure, 7 days of diet records (before and during total energy expenditure), and a food frequency questionnaire after the total energy expenditure. Transcripts of the focus groups were coded to index categories of responses and to identify themes within and across those responses. Themes discussed in this article are those that were discussed most often and at greatest length by all groups. The diet record focus groups revealed that 2 major factors influenced reporting on diet records: honesty vs social acceptability, and simplifying food intake. The portion estimation focus groups revealed 5 factors that influenced perceptions of portion size: the role of food in the meal, the type of food, personal preferences, product serving sizes, and comparison of personal servings with those of others. The validity and reliability of self-reported food consumption is greatly influenced by the ways people interpret and respond to dietary assessment instruments. These findings indicate that dietetics professionals need to take extra steps to address issues of accurately recording "bad" foods when training patients to complete diet records. Extra probing is needed when dietary records do not include snacks and include simple meals and a large amount of prepared and packaged food because this may indicate that changes in normal dietary patterns were made in order to more easily complete a dietary record.

Thai Students' Choices of Vocational Education: Marketing Factors and Reference Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pimpa, Nattavud; Suwannapirom, Suda

2008-01-01

This study aims to identify factors influencing Thai students' choices of vocational education. By using factor analysis, it reveals five key influencing factors: personal attitude, curriculum, potential employment, attractiveness of campus, and tuition fees. Furthermore, this study also indicates that teachers from secondary school, and parents…

Identifying contextual influences of community reintegration among injured servicemembers.

PubMed

Hawkins, Brent L; McGuire, Francis A; Britt, Thomas W; Linder, Sandra M

2015-01-01

Research suggests that community reintegration (CR) after injury and rehabilitation is difficult for many injured servicemembers. However, little is known about the influence of the contextual factors, both personal and environmental, that influence CR. Framed within the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health and Social Cognitive Theory, the quantitative portion of a larger mixed-methods study of 51 injured, community-dwelling servicemembers compared the relative contribution of contextual factors between groups of servicemembers with different levels of CR. Cluster analysis indicated three groups of servicemembers showing low, moderate, and high levels of CR. Statistical analyses identified contextual factors (e.g., personal and environmental factors) that significantly discriminated between CR clusters. Multivariate analysis of variance and discriminant analysis indicated significant contributions of general self-efficacy, services and assistance barriers, physical and structural barriers, attitudes and support barriers, perceived level of disability and/or handicap, work and school barriers, and policy barriers on CR scores. Overall, analyses indicated that injured servicemembers with lower CR scores had lower general self-efficacy scores, reported more difficulty with environmental barriers, and reported their injuries as more disabling.

Media as social influence: racial differences in the effects of peers and media on adolescent alcohol cognitions and consumption.

PubMed

Gibbons, Frederick X; Pomery, Elizabeth A; Gerrard, Meg; Sargent, James D; Weng, Chih-Yuan; Wills, Thomas A; Kingsbury, John; Dal Cin, Sonya; Worth, Keilah A; Stoolmiller, Mike; Tanski, Susanne E; Yeh, Hsiu-Chen

2010-12-01

Racial differences in the effects of peer and media influence on adolescents' alcohol cognitions and consumption were examined in a large-scale panel study. With regard to peer influence, results from cross-lagged panel analyses indicated that the relation between perceived peer drinking and own drinking was significant for both Black and White adolescents, but it was stronger for the White adolescents. With regard to media influence, structural modeling analyses indicated that exposure to drinking in movies was associated with more alcohol consumption 8 months and 16 months later. These effects were mediated by increases in the favorability of the adolescents' drinker prototypes, their willingness to drink, and their tendency to affiliate with friends who were drinking. Multiple group analyses indicated that, once again, the effects (both direct and indirect) were much stronger for White adolescents than for Black adolescents. The results suggest media influence works in a similar manner to social influence and that Whites may be more susceptible to both types of influence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Media as Social Influence: Racial Differences in the Effects of Peers and Media on Adolescent Alcohol Cognitions and Consumption

PubMed Central

Gibbons, Frederick X.; Pomery, Elizabeth A.; Gerrard, Meg; Sargent, James D.; Weng, Chih-Yuan; Wills, Thomas A.; Kingsbury, John; Dal Cin, Sonya; Worth, Keilah A.; Stoolmiller, Mike; Tanski, Susanne E.; Yeh, Hsiu-Chen

2010-01-01

Racial differences in the effects of peer and media influence on adolescents’ alcohol cognitions and consumption were examined in a large-scale panel study. With regard to peer influence, results from cross-lagged panel analyses indicated that the relation between perceived peer drinking and own drinking was significant for both Black and White adolescents, but it was stronger for the White adolescents. With regard to media influence, structural modeling analyses indicated that exposure to drinking in movies was associated with more alcohol consumption 8 months and 16 months later. These effects were mediated by increases in: the favorability of the adolescents’ drinker prototypes, their willingness to drink, and their tendency to affiliate with friends who were drinking. Multiple group analyses indicated that, once again, the effects (both direct and indirect) were much stronger for White adolescents than for Black adolescents. The results suggest media influence works in a similar manner to social influence, and that Whites may be more susceptible to both types of influence. PMID:21198226

Influence of substituents on the solution conformation of the exopolysaccharide produced by Pseudomonas 'gingeri' strain Pf9.

PubMed

Gianni, R; Cescutti, P; Bosco, M; Fett, W F; Rizzo, R

1999-12-01

The influence of pyruvate ketals and acetyl groups on the conformational behaviour of the exopolysaccharide produced by Pseudomonas 'gingeri' strain Pf9 has been investigated experimentally through studies of intrinsic viscosity and circular dichroism experiments. A conformational variation was detected as a function of the ionic strength. Measurements carried out on the native polymer, as well as on both de-pyruvated and de-acetylated samples, suggested a critical role for the acetyl group on the solution conformation of the polysaccharide. Molecular mechanics calculations indicated the possibility of intramolecular hydrogen bonding between acetyl substituents on the mannose and the C(2)OH group of the preceding saccharidic unit. NMR linewidth measurements, carried out as a function of temperature, on the low molecular weight de-pyruvated sample indicated different polymeric backbone dynamics in aqueous solutions with respect to that observed in 0.3 M NaCl solutions.

A Question of Effectiveness: Recruitment of Special Educators within High School Peer Support Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zascavage, Victoria; Winterman, Kathy; Armstrong, Philip; Schroeder-Steward, Jennifer

2008-01-01

The present study combines information about support groups for students with disabilities from 187 East Texas high schools with explanatory variables taken from data of the Texas Education Agency Academic Excellence Indicator System. This study is a tangential section of a larger study on the influence of peer support groups in East Texas…

Evaluation of the supportive needs of adolescents during childbirth intrapartum nursing intervention on adolescents' childbirth satisfaction and breastfeeding rates.

PubMed

Grassley, Jane S; Sauls, Donna J

2012-01-01

To evaluate the effect of the Supportive Needs of Adolescents during Childbirth (SNAC) intrapartum nursing intervention on adolescents' childbirth satisfaction and breastfeeding rates. Separate sample posttest quasi-experimental. A tertiary hospital intrapartum unit. A convenience sample of 106 parturient adolescents. During Phase 1 the control group received current standard of intrapartum care. During Phase 2, the interventionist nurses provided the SNAC intervention and standard of care to the intervention group. The t test indicated higher childbirth satisfaction in the intervention group. Chi-square analysis indicated that the intervention group was more likely to breastfeed within the first hour after birth. There was no significant relationship between childbirth satisfaction and breastfeeding at three months and no differences between the groups in breastfeeding rates at hospital discharge and three months. These results suggest that learning the SNAC intervention may help nurses positively influence adolescents' childbirth experience and timing of breastfeeding initiation. Replication of the study is needed to further explore whether the intervention can significantly influence breastfeeding duration. © 2011 AWHONN, the Association of Women's Health, Obsteric and Neonatal Nurses.

Decision Making Policies and Worker Influence in Employee Owned Firms.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hammer, Tove Helland

A study of a small employee-owned furniture company indicated that the three occupational groups agreed that management should have more influence in decisions affecting the future of the organization. On the other hand, issues which would directly affect employee welfare are seen as areas where control should be fairly evenly divided, with…

Assessing Antecedents and Consequences of Student Satisfaction in Higher Education: Evidence from Malaysia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lai, M. M.; Lau, S. H.; Yusof, N. A. Mohamad; Chew, K. W.

2015-01-01

This paper explores the interrelationships of the key influences on student satisfaction via multivariate analysis from three groups of university students in two popular private universities in Malaysia. The correlation coefficient and structural model indicated that student satisfaction is influenced not only by academic quality, but also by the…

Anopheles species associations in Southeast Asia: indicator species and environmental influences.

PubMed

Obsomer, Valérie; Dufrene, Marc; Defourny, Pierre; Coosemans, Marc

2013-05-04

Southeast Asia presents a high diversity of Anopheles. Environmental requirements differ for each species and should be clarified because of their influence on malaria transmission potential. Monitoring projects collect vast quantities of entomological data over the whole region and could bring valuable information to malaria control staff but collections are not always standardized and are thus difficult to analyze. In this context studying species associations and their relation to the environment offer some opportunities as they are less subject to sampling error than individual species. Using asymmetrical similarity coefficients, indirect clustering and the search of indicator species, this paper identified species associations. Environmental influences were then analysed through canonical and discriminant analysis using climatic and topographic data, land cover in a 3 km buffer around villages and vegetation indices. Six groups of sites characterized the structure of the species assemblage. Temperature, rainfall and vegetation factors all play a role. Four out of the six groups of sites based on species similarities could be discriminated using environmental information only. Vegetation indices derived from satellite imagery proved very valuable with one variable explaining more variance of the species dataset than any other variable. The analysis could be improved by integrating seasonality in the sampling and collecting at least 4 consecutive days.

The effectiveness of health systems in influencing avoidable mortality: a study in Valencia, Spain, 1975-90.

PubMed Central

Albert, X; Bayo, A; Alfonso, J L; Cortina, P; Corella, D

1996-01-01

OBJECTIVES: To measure variations in the Holland and Charlton classifications of avoidable death causes and to estimate the effect of the Spanish national health system on avoidable mortality. DESIGN: Mortality in the Valencian Community was assessed between 1975 and 1990. The classifications of Holland and Charlton, used to assess avoidable causes of death, were compared. Holland's classification was then used to divide avoidable mortality into two groups--medical care indicators (MCI), which show the effectiveness of health care, and national health policy indicators (NHPI), which show the status of primary prevention. Comparisons were made with rates, group rates, and population rates. Trends and indices were also studied. SETTING: Valencia, Spain, 1975-90. RESULTS: During the study period, avoidable morality (only assessed by MCI) fell 63%, whereas the remainder of the mortality (non-MCI causes, that is all the non-avoidable causes together with the NHPI group) fell by 17%. If it is assumed that the mortality due to non-MCI causes indicates the overall effect of the environmental, social, nutritional, and genetic influences, then the difference between this and the MCI group would take us nearer the actual effect of the intervention of the health system. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that in this community, the health system has been responsible for approximately 47% of the total reduction in mortality from avoidable causes in the period studied. PMID:8935465

Normative Feedback Effects on Learning a Timing Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wulf, Gabriele; Chiviacowsky, Suzete; Lewthwaite, Rebecca

2010-01-01

This study investigated the influence of normative feedback on learning a sequential timing task. In addition to feedback about their performance per trial, two groups of participants received bogus normative feedback about a peer group's average block-to-block improvement after each block of 10 trials. Scores indicated either greater (better…

The Insensitive Ruins It All: Compositional and Compilational Influences of Social Sensitivity on Collective Intelligence in Groups.

PubMed

Meslec, Nicoleta; Aggarwal, Ishani; Curseu, Petru L

2016-01-01

A group's collective intelligence reflects its capacity to perform well across a variety of cognitive tasks and it transcends the individual intelligence of its members. Previous research shows that group members' social sensitivity is a potential antecedent of collective intelligence, yet it is still unclear whether individual or group-level indices are responsible for the positive association between social sensitivity and collective intelligence. In a comprehensive manner, we test the extent to which both compositional (lowest and highest individual score) and compilational aspects (emergent group level) of social sensitivity are associated with collective intelligence. This study has implications for research that explores groups as information processors, and for group design as it indicates how a group should be composed with respect to social sensitivity if the group is to reach high levels of collective intelligence. Our empirical results indicate that collectively intelligent groups are those in which the least socially sensitive group member has a rather high score on social sensitivity. Differently stated, (socially sensitive) group members cannot compensate for the lack of social sensitivity of the other group members.

Factors Influencing the Health Behaviour of Indigenous Australians: Perspectives from Support People

PubMed Central

Waterworth, Pippa; Pescud, Melanie; Braham, Rebecca; Dimmock, James; Rosenberg, Michael

2015-01-01

Disparities between the health of Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations continue to be prevalent within Australia. Research suggests that Indigenous people participate in health risk behaviour more often than their non-Indigenous counterparts, and that such behaviour has a substantial impact on health outcomes. Although this would indicate that reducing health risk behaviour may have positive effects on health outcomes, the factors that influence Indigenous health behaviour are still poorly understood. This study aimed to interview people who support Indigenous groups to gain an understanding of their views on the factors influencing health behaviour within Indigenous groups in Western Australia. Twenty nine people participated in the study. The emergent themes were mapped against the social ecological model. The results indicated that: (1) culture, social networks, history, racism, socioeconomic disadvantage, and the psychological distress associated with some of these factors interact to affect health behaviour in a complex manner; (2) the desire to retain cultural identity and distinctiveness may have both positive and negative influence on health risk behaviour; (3) strong social connections to family and kin that is intensified by cultural obligations, appears to affirm and disrupt positive health behaviour; (4) the separation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous social connection/networks that appeared to be fostered by marginalisation and racism may influence the effect of social networks on health behaviour; and (5) communication between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people may be interrupted by distrust between the groups, which reduces the influence of some non-Indigenous sources on the health behaviour of Indigenous people. PMID:26599437

Factors Influencing the Health Behaviour of Indigenous Australians: Perspectives from Support People.

PubMed

Waterworth, Pippa; Pescud, Melanie; Braham, Rebecca; Dimmock, James; Rosenberg, Michael

2015-01-01

Disparities between the health of Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations continue to be prevalent within Australia. Research suggests that Indigenous people participate in health risk behaviour more often than their non-Indigenous counterparts, and that such behaviour has a substantial impact on health outcomes. Although this would indicate that reducing health risk behaviour may have positive effects on health outcomes, the factors that influence Indigenous health behaviour are still poorly understood. This study aimed to interview people who support Indigenous groups to gain an understanding of their views on the factors influencing health behaviour within Indigenous groups in Western Australia. Twenty nine people participated in the study. The emergent themes were mapped against the social ecological model. The results indicated that: (1) culture, social networks, history, racism, socioeconomic disadvantage, and the psychological distress associated with some of these factors interact to affect health behaviour in a complex manner; (2) the desire to retain cultural identity and distinctiveness may have both positive and negative influence on health risk behaviour; (3) strong social connections to family and kin that is intensified by cultural obligations, appears to affirm and disrupt positive health behaviour; (4) the separation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous social connection/networks that appeared to be fostered by marginalisation and racism may influence the effect of social networks on health behaviour; and (5) communication between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people may be interrupted by distrust between the groups, which reduces the influence of some non-Indigenous sources on the health behaviour of Indigenous people.

Prenatal Influences on Human Sexual Orientation: Expectations versus Data.

PubMed

Breedlove, S Marc

2017-08-01

In non-human vertebrate species, sexual differentiation of the brain is primarily driven by androgens such as testosterone organizing the brains of males in a masculine fashion early in life, while the lower levels of androgen in developing females organize their brains in a feminine fashion. These principles may be relevant to the development of sexual orientation in humans, because retrospective markers of prenatal androgen exposure, namely digit ratios and otoacoustic emissions, indicate that lesbians, on average, were exposed to greater prenatal androgen than were straight women. Thus, the even greater levels of prenatal androgen exposure experienced by fetal males may explain why the vast majority of them grow up to be attracted to women. However, the same markers indicate no significant differences between gay and straight men in terms of average prenatal androgen exposure, so the variance in orientation in men cannot be accounted for by variance in prenatal androgen exposure, but may be due to variance in response to prenatal androgens. These data contradict several popular notions about human sexual orientation. Sexual orientation in women is said to be fluid, sometimes implying that only social influences in adulthood are at work, yet the data indicate prenatal influences matter as well. Gay men are widely perceived as under-masculinized, yet the data indicate they are exposed to as much prenatal androgen as straight men. There is growing sentiment to reject "binary" conceptions of human sexual orientations, to emphasize instead a spectrum of orientations. Yet the data indicate that human sexual orientation is sufficiently polarized that groups of lesbians, on average, show evidence of greater prenatal androgen exposure than groups of straight women, while groups of gay men have, on average, a greater proportion of brothers among their older siblings than do straight men.

Twelve-Week Exercise Influences Memory Complaint but not Memory Performance in Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Study.

PubMed

Iuliano, Enzo; Fiorilli, Giovanni; Aquino, Giovanna; Di Costanzo, Alfonso; Calcagno, Giuseppe; di Cagno, Alessandra

2017-10-01

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different types of exercise on memory performance and memory complaint after a 12-week intervention. Eighty community-dwelling volunteers, aged 66.96 ± 11.73 years, were randomly divided into four groups: resistance, cardiovascular, postural, and control groups (20 participants for each group). All participants were tested for their cognitive functions before and after their respective 12-week intervention using Rey memory words test, Prose memory test, and Memory Complaint Questionnaire (MAC-Q). Statistical analysis showed that the three experimental groups significantly improved MAC-Q scores in comparison with the control group (p < .05). The variation of MAC-Q scores and the variations of Rey and Prose memory tests scores were not correlated. These results indicate that the 12-week interventions exclusively influenced memory complaint but not memory performance. Further investigations are needed to understand the relation between memory complaint and memory performance, and the factors that can influence this relationship.

Why work in perioperative nursing? Baby boomers and Generation Xers tell all.

PubMed

Thompson, Julia A

2007-10-01

This quantitative and qualitative study explored factors that influence nurses of different age groups to choose to work in and remain in the specialty of OR nursing, including the effect of work environment perceptions. Baby boomer nurses (n = 130) and Generation X nurses (n = 117) were surveyed, and seven RNs from each group also participated in semistructured interviews. Results showed that nurses of both age groups were more alike than different in the factors that influence them to choose and remain in OR nursing and in their perceptions of their work environment. Baby Boomers indicated a higher level of commitment to their jobs than did Generation Xers.

Influence of multi-walled carbon nanotubes on the cognitive abilities of Wistar rats

PubMed Central

Sayapina, Nina V.; Sergievich, Alexander A.; Kuznetsov, Vladimir L.; Chaika, Vladimir V.; Lisitskaya, Irina G.; Khoroshikh, Pavel P.; Batalova, Tatyana A.; Tsarouhas, Kostas; Spandidos, Demetrios; Tsatsakis, Aristidis M.; Fenga, Concettina; Golokhvast, Kirill S.

2016-01-01

Studies of the neurobehavioral effects of carbon nanomaterials, particularly those of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), have concentrated on cognitive effects, but data are scarce. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of MWCNTs on a number of higher nervous system functions of Wistar rats. For a period of 10 days, two experimental groups were fed with MWCNTs of different diameters (MWCNT-1 group, 8–10 nm; MWCNT-2 group, 18–20 nm) once a day at a dosage of 500 mg/kg. In the open-field test, reductions of integral indications of researching activity were observed for the two MWCNT-treated groups, with a parallel significant (P<0.01) increase in stress levels for these groups compared with the untreated control group. In the elevated plus-maze test, integral indices of researching activity in the MWCNT-1 and MWCNT-2 groups reduced by day 10 by 51 and 62%, respectively, while rat stress levels remained relatively unchanged. In the universal problem solving box test, reductions in motivation and energy indices of researching activity were observed in the two experimental groups. Searching activity in the MWCNT-1 group by day 3 was reduced by 50% (P<0.01) and in the MWCNT-2 group the relevant reduction reached 11.2%. By day 10, the reduction compared with controls, was 64% (P<0.01) and 58% (P<0.01) for the MWCNT-1 and MWCNT-2 groups, respectively. In conclusion, a series of specific tests demonstrated that MWCNT-treated rats experienced a significant reduction of some of their cognitive abilities, a disturbing and worrying finding, taking into consideration the continuing and accelerating use of carbon nanotubes in medicine and science. PMID:27588053

Automatically measuring the effect of strategy drawing features on pupils' handwriting and gender

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tabatabaey-Mashadi, Narges; Sudirman, Rubita; Guest, Richard M.; Khalid, Puspa Inayat

2013-12-01

Children's dynamic drawing strategies have been recently recognized as indicators of handwriting ability. However the influence of each feature in predicting handwriting is unknown due to lack of a measuring system. An automated measuring algorithm suitable for psychological assessment and non-subjective scoring is presented here. Using the weight vector and classification rate of a machine learning algorithm, an overall feature's effect is calculated which is comparable in different groupings. In this study thirteen previously detected drawing strategy features are measured for their influence on handwriting and gender. Features are extracted from drawing a triangle, Beery VMI and Bender Gestalt tangent patterns. Samples are related to 203 pupils (77 below average writers, and 101 female). The results show that the number of strokes in drawing the triangle pattern plays a major role in both groupings; however Left Tendency flag feature is affected by children's handwriting about 2.5 times greater than their gender. Experiments indicate that different forms of a feature sometimes show different influences.

Influence of solids retention time on membrane fouling: characterization of extracellular polymeric substances and soluble microbial products.

PubMed

Duan, Liang; Tian, Zhiyong; Song, Yonghui; Jiang, Wei; Tian, Yuan; Li, Shan

2015-01-01

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of solids retention time (SRT) on membrane fouling and the characteristics of biomacromolecules. Four identical laboratory-scale membrane bioreactors (MBRs) were operated with SRTs for 10, 20, 40 and 80 days. The results indicated that membrane fouling occurred faster and more readily under short SRTs. Fouling resistance was the primary source of filtration resistance. The modified fouling index (MFI) results suggested that the more ready fouling at short SRTs could be attributed to higher concentrations of soluble microbial products (SMP). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra indicated that the SRT had a weak influence on the functional groups of the total extracellular polymeric substances (TEPS) and SMP. However, the MBR under a short SRT had more low-molecular-weight (MW) compounds (<1 kDa) and fewer high-MW compounds (>100 kDa). Aromatic protein and tryptophan protein-like substances were the dominant groups in the TEPS and SMP, respectively.

Toward a Model of Social Influence that Explains Minority Student Integration into the Scientific Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Estrada, Mica; Woodcock, Anna; Hernandez, Paul R.; Schultz, P. Wesley

2011-01-01

Students from several ethnic minority groups are underrepresented in the sciences, indicating that minority students more frequently drop out of the scientific career path than nonminority students. Viewed from a perspective of social influence, this pattern suggests that minority students do not integrate into the scientific community at the same…

Indicators of an "Immigrant Advantage" in the Writing of L3 French Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knouzi, Ibtissem; Mady, Callie

2017-01-01

Grounded in the cross-linguistic influence(s) (CLI) literature, this study used objective measures to compare the use of English, lexical richness and syntactic complexity, and grammatical accuracy and fluency in the texts of three groups of Grade 6 French immersion students: Canadian-born anglophones (C-A), Canadian-born multilinguals (C-M), and…

The Vocal Improviser-Educator: An Analysis of Selected American and Australian Educators' Influences and Pedagogical Views

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward-Steinman, Patrice Madura

2014-01-01

Thirty vocal improviser-educators from Australia (n = 15) and the United States (n = 15) were surveyed for musical background, influences and pedagogical views, and assessed for personality type using the "Myers-Briggs Type Indicator" ("MBTI"). The purpose was to both combine and compare the two groups to identify overall…

Leader--member exchange, differentiation, and psychological contract fulfillment: a multilevel examination.

PubMed

Henderson, David J; Wayne, Sandy J; Shore, Lynn M; Bommer, William H; Tetrick, Lois E

2008-11-01

Prior integrations of the leader-member exchange (LMX) and psychological contract literatures have not clarified how within-group LMX differentiation influences employees' attitudes and behaviors in the employment relationship. Therefore, using a sample of 278 members and managers of 31 intact work groups at 4 manufacturing plants, the authors examined how LMX operating at the within-group level (relative LMX, or RLMX) and the group level influenced perceptions of psychological contract fulfillment and employee-level outcomes. Controlling for individual-level perceptions of LMX quality, results indicated a positive relationship between RLMX and fulfillment, which was strengthened as group-level variability in LMX quality increased. Perceptions of fulfillment mediated the relationship between RLMX and performance and sportsmanship behaviors. The importance of conceptualizing LMX as simultaneously operating at multiple levels is highlighted.

Factors Influencing the Transition to a New Leadership Position in Serbian Armed Forces Organizational Units

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-12

staff group/section to be efficient?) 3. Koji unutršnji faktori najviše utiču na rad grupe/odseka u Generalštabu? (What, within the command, most...influences the staff group/section’s performance?) 4. Koji spoljni faktori najviše utiču na rad grupe/odseka u Generalštabu? (What, from...dužnosti načelnika grupe/odseka u Generalštabu uspešan? (What are the indicators that successful transition has occurred?) 7. Koji unutrašnji

The Topological Properties of Stimuli Influence Fear Generalization and Extinction in Humans

PubMed Central

Xu, Liang; Su, Hongyu; Xie, Xiaoyuan; Yan, Pei; Li, Junjiao; Zheng, Xifu

2018-01-01

Fear generalization is an etiologically significant indicator of anxiety disorders, and understanding how to inhibit it is important in their treatment. Prior studies have found that reducing fear generalization using a generalization stimulus (GS) is ineffective in removing a conditioned fear that incorporates local features, and that topological properties appear to play a comparatively more significant role in the processes of perception and categorization. Our study utilized a conditioned-fear generalization design to examine whether the topological properties of stimuli influence the generalization and return of fear. Fear was indexed using online expectancy ratings and skin conductance responses (SCRs). The study’s 52 participants were divided into three groups: Group 1, conditioned danger cue (CS+) extinction; Group 2, extinction of one GS; Group 3, extinction of three GSs. We found that the three groups acquired conditioned fear at the same level. In the generalization and extinction phase, fear was transferred to the GS with the same topological properties as CS+, and gradual decreases in both shock expectancy and SCRs over non-reinforced extinction trials were observed. In the test phase, participants’ online expectancy ratings indicated that fear did not return in Group 1, but did return in Groups 2 and 3. All three groups demonstrated successful GS fear extinction, but only Group 1 did not show a return of fear for CS+. Regarding SCRs results, none of the groups demonstrated a return of fear, suggesting that utilization of topological properties successfully reduced the return of conditioned fear. Our results indicate that, in clinical settings, using GS with topological equivalence to CS+ might offer a potential method with which to extinct conditioned fear. PMID:29643824

Can Structural MRI Indices of Cerebral Integrity Track Cognitive Trends in Executive Control Function During Normal Maturation and Adulthood?

PubMed Central

Kochunov, Peter; Robin, Don A.; Royall, Don R.; Coyle, Thomas; Lancaster, Jack; Kochunov, Valeria; Schlosser, Anita E.; Fox, Peter T.

2009-01-01

We explored the relationship between structural neuroimaging-based indices of cerebral integrity and executive control function (ECF) in two groups of healthy subjects: A maturing group (33 subjects; 19–29 years) and a senescing group (38 adults; 30–90 years). ECF was assessed using the Executive Interview (EXIT) battery. Cortical indices of cerebral integrity included GM thickness, intergyral span, and sulcal span, each measured for five cortical regions per hemisphere. Subcortical indices included fractional anisotropy (FA), measured using track-based-spatial-statistics (TBSS), and the volume of T2-hyperintense WM (HWM). In the maturing group, no significant relationships between neuroanatomical changes and ECF were found; however, there were hints that late-term maturation of cerebral WM influenced variability in ECF. In the senescing group, the decline in ECF corresponded to atrophic changes in cerebral WM (sulcal and intergyral span) primarily in the superior frontal and anterior cingulate regions. A large fraction of the variability in ECF (62%) can be explained by variability in the structural indices from these two regions. PMID:19067326

Influence of memory theme and posttraumatic stress disorder on memory specificity in British and Iranian trauma survivors.

PubMed

Jobson, Laura; Cheraghi, Sepideh

2016-09-01

This study investigated the influence of culture, memory theme and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on autobiographical memory specificity in Iranian and British trauma survivors. Participants completed the Autobiographical Memory Test and PTSD Diagnostic Scale. The results indicated that the British group provided significantly more personal-themed memories than the Iranian group, while the Iranian group provided significantly more social-themed memories than the British group. The British group also provided a significantly greater proportion of specific personal-themed and social-themed memories than the Iranian group. Overall, in both cultural groups memory specificity was found to be significantly correlated with PTSD symptoms. These findings provide further evidence that regardless of memory theme, specificity of autobiographical memories function to differentiate the self from others and reaffirm the independent self. They also further highlight that pan-culturally an overgeneral retrieval style may be employed by those with PTSD symptoms.

Understanding the effects of time on collaborative learning processes in problem based learning: a mixed methods study.

PubMed

Hommes, J; Van den Bossche, P; de Grave, W; Bos, G; Schuwirth, L; Scherpbier, A

2014-10-01

Little is known how time influences collaborative learning groups in medical education. Therefore a thorough exploration of the development of learning processes over time was undertaken in an undergraduate PBL curriculum over 18 months. A mixed-methods triangulation design was used. First, the quantitative study measured how various learning processes developed within and over three periods in the first 1,5 study years of an undergraduate curriculum. Next, a qualitative study using semi-structured individual interviews focused on detailed development of group processes driving collaborative learning during one period in seven tutorial groups. The hierarchic multilevel analyses of the quantitative data showed that a varying combination of group processes developed within and over the three observed periods. The qualitative study illustrated development in psychological safety, interdependence, potency, group learning behaviour, social and task cohesion. Two new processes emerged: 'transactive memory' and 'convergence in mental models'. The results indicate that groups are dynamic social systems with numerous contextual influences. Future research should thus include time as an important influence on collaborative learning. Practical implications are discussed.

[Parenting facts and desires in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity].

PubMed

Kleinert, Evelyn; Riekena, Boris; Stöbel-Richter, Yve

2012-08-01

Homosexual parents as well as gay and lesbian individuals wanting children are increasingly a topic of public discourse. To estimate the importance of parenting for this group, 1 289 non-heterosexual individuals were examined by means of an anonymous online survey. Their answers were compared to 1 022 heterosexual participants of a representative control group. The respondents were questioned concerning their motives for desiring children, the external factors influencing this desire and their ideal number of children. 80% of the non-heterosexual respondents and 49% of the control group indicated that they have no children. In both groups emotional motives were reported to have far greater influence on their parenting desire than social recognition or personal and financial constraints. 85% of the non-heterosexual respondents and 60% of the control group have fewer children than they would like to have. Both groups considered work and their financial situation as the most important external factors influencing the realization of their desire to have children. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Family Decision-Making Style, Peer Group Affiliation and Prior Academic Achievement as Predictors of the Academic Achievement of African American Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engerman, Kimarie

2006-01-01

A study analyzed family decision-making style, peer group affiliation, and academic achievement in 10th grade as predictors of academic achievement of African American students in 12th grade. Findings indicated that though peer groups were known to influence academic performance, affiliation with learning oriented peers in 10th grade did not…

The influence of groups and alcohol consumption on individual risk-taking.

PubMed

Erskine-Shaw, Marianne; Monk, Rebecca L; Qureshi, Adam W; Heim, Derek

2017-10-01

Research addressing the influence of alcohol and groups on risky behaviour has yielded contradictory findings regarding the extent to which intoxicated groups exaggerate or minimise risk-taking. Previous work has examined the effect of intoxication on risk-taking focusing on collective group decision-making, and to date the influence of alcohol consumption and groups on individual risk-taking has yet to be explored experimentally. The current study therefore examined the impact of intoxication and groups on individual risk-taking. In a mixed design, 99 social drinkers (62 female) attended an experimental session individually (N=48) or in groups of three (N=51). Individuals completed the study in isolation while groups were tested in the same room. Participants completed two behavioural measures of risk-taking: Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) and Stoplight Task (SLT), both before and following consumption of an alcoholic (0.6g/kg males, 0.5g/kg females) or a placebo beverage. Those who participated in groups took significantly more risks in both tasks than those in isolation. Alcohol did not increase risk-taking on either risk-taking tasks. However, those who consumed placebo were significantly less risky on the SLT, compared to baseline. No interactions were found between context and beverage on risk-taking. The findings do not support a combined effect of alcohol and groups on individual risk-taking. Rather, results indicate that risk-taking behaviour is influenced by peer presence regardless of alcohol consumption. Targeting the influence of groups (above those of alcohol) may hold promise for reducing risk-taking behaviours in drinking environments. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

What's in a Name: Dimensions of Social Learning in Teacher Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vrieling, E.; van den Beemt, A.; de Laat, M.

2016-01-01

Induced by a literature review, this paper presents a framework of dimensions and indicators highlighting the underpinning aspects and values of social learning within teacher groups. Notions of social networks, communities of practice and learning teams were taken as the main perspectives to influence this social learning framework. The review…

20 CFR 205.3 - Factors considered in determining employee representative status.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

..., representative of crafts or classes of employees in the railroad industry; (h) The extent to which the purposes... railroad industry as indicated by: (1) The specific employee group(s) represented; and (2) The proportion..., or sleeping car company, directly or indirectly, in its formation, in influencing employees to join...

20 CFR 205.3 - Factors considered in determining employee representative status.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

..., representative of crafts or classes of employees in the railroad industry; (h) The extent to which the purposes... railroad industry as indicated by: (1) The specific employee group(s) represented; and (2) The proportion..., or sleeping car company, directly or indirectly, in its formation, in influencing employees to join...

20 CFR 205.3 - Factors considered in determining employee representative status.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

..., representative of crafts or classes of employees in the railroad industry; (h) The extent to which the purposes... railroad industry as indicated by: (1) The specific employee group(s) represented; and (2) The proportion..., or sleeping car company, directly or indirectly, in its formation, in influencing employees to join...

20 CFR 205.3 - Factors considered in determining employee representative status.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

..., representative of crafts or classes of employees in the railroad industry; (h) The extent to which the purposes... railroad industry as indicated by: (1) The specific employee group(s) represented; and (2) The proportion..., or sleeping car company, directly or indirectly, in its formation, in influencing employees to join...

20 CFR 205.3 - Factors considered in determining employee representative status.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

..., representative of crafts or classes of employees in the railroad industry; (h) The extent to which the purposes... railroad industry as indicated by: (1) The specific employee group(s) represented; and (2) The proportion..., or sleeping car company, directly or indirectly, in its formation, in influencing employees to join...

Diversity Exiting the Academy: Influential Factors for the Career Choice of Well-Represented and Underrepresented Minority Scientists

PubMed Central

Layton, Rebekah L.; Brandt, Patrick D.; Freeman, Ashalla M.; Harrell, Jessica R.; Hall, Joshua D.; Sinche, Melanie

2016-01-01

A national sample of PhD-trained scientists completed training, accepted subsequent employment in academic and nonacademic positions, and were queried about their previous graduate training and current employment. Respondents indicated factors contributing to their employment decision (e.g., working conditions, salary, job security). The data indicate the relative importance of deciding factors influencing career choice, controlling for gender, initial interest in faculty careers, and number of postgraduate publications. Among both well-represented (WR; n = 3444) and underrepresented minority (URM; n = 225) respondents, faculty career choice was positively associated with desire for autonomy and partner opportunity and negatively associated with desire for leadership opportunity. Differences between groups in reasons endorsed included: variety, prestige, salary, family influence, and faculty advisor influence. Furthermore, endorsement of faculty advisor or other mentor influence and family or peer influence were surprisingly rare across groups, suggesting that formal and informal support networks could provide a missed opportunity to provide support for trainees who want to stay in faculty career paths. Reasons requiring alteration of misperceptions (e.g., limited leadership opportunity for faculty) must be distinguished from reasons requiring removal of actual barriers. Further investigation into factors that affect PhDs’ career decisions can help elucidate why URM candidates are disproportionately exiting the academy. PMID:27587854

Study on the key alignment technology of the catadioptric optical system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Chong; Fu, Xing; Fu, Xi-hong; Kang, Xiao-peng; Liu, Kai

2017-02-01

Optical system alignment has a great influence on the whole system accuracy. In this paper, the processing of optical system alignment was mainly studied, the processing method of optics on the primary and secondary mirrors, front correction lens group and behind correction lens group with high precision centering lathe and internal focusing telescope. Then using the height indicator complete the system alignment of the primary mirror, secondary mirror, front correction group and behind correction group. Finally, based on the zygo interferometer detect the wavefront information. Using this alignment program for catadioptric optical system, the wavefront aberration of optical system, focal length, modulation transfer function (MTF) and other technical indicators have reached the requirements.

Spatial-attention and emotional evocation: line bisection performance and visual art emotional evocation.

PubMed

Drago, Valeria; Finney, Glen R; Foster, Paul S; Amengual, Alejandra; Jeong, Yong; Mizuno, Tomoiuki; Crucian, Gregory P; Heilman, Kenneth M

2008-03-01

Lesion studies demonstrate that the right temporal-parietal region (RTP) is important for mediating spatial attention. The RTP is also involved in emotional experiences that can be evoked by art. Normal people vary in their ability to allocate spatial attention, thus, people who can better allocate attention might also be more influenced by the emotional messages of the paintings (evocative impact). Seventeen healthy participants bisected an unlabeled 100mm line and their performance on this task was used to create two groups, individuals who were more (mALB) and less accurate (lALB). These participants also judged 10 paintings on five qualities, Evocative Impact, Aesthetics, Novelty, Technique, and Closure by marking a 100mm line from 1 (low degree) to 10 (high degree). An ANOVA indicated differences in accuracy on the line bisection (LB) between the two groups. Additional ANOVAs, using the quality ratings as the dependent measure, revealed that the mALB group scored the Evocative Impact greater than the lALB group. These results suggest that the differences in attentional bias between the two groups, as indicated by their LB performance, might influence their evocative impact or reactions and also be a 'barometer' of other RTP functions, including emotional processing.

Involuntary awareness and implicit priming: role of retrieval context.

PubMed

Zhou, Renlai; Hu, Senqi; Sun, Xuefei; Huang, Junhong

2006-10-01

This study examined the role of retrieval context in implicit priming by manipulating percentage of word-stem index as shallow and deep processing while performing a word-stem completion task. 80 subjects were randomly divided into four groups each of 20 subjects: shallow processing or deep processing with few retrieval indices, and shallow processing or deep processing with many retrieval indices. Analysis indicated that proportion of word-stem completion was significantly higher for studied words than for nonstudied words in all four groups and that the subjects in the groups with many retrieval indices had a significantly increased proportion of word-stem completion between studied and nonstudied words than those in the groups with few retrieval indices. Postquestionnaire analysis indicated that more previously studied items were retrieved if many studied items were available during implicit word-stem completion and that only a small proportion of word-stem completion was finished with studied words by the subjects who were aware of the prior studied and test word relations in all four groups. It was concluded that having more studied words retrievable contributed to more being retrieved and that involuntary awareness had very limited influence on the priming in the implicit word-stem completion.

The Influence of Comprehensive Cardiac Rehabilitation on Heart Rate Variability Indices after CABG is More Effective than after PCI.

PubMed

Szmigielska, Katarzyna; Szmigielska-Kapłon, Anna; Jegier, Anna

2018-02-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on heart rate variability (HRV) indices in men with coronary artery disease (CAD) treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG). The study population consisted of 131 male patients with CAD prospectively and consecutively admitted to CR after PCI n = 72, or CABG n = 59. Participants performed cycle ergometer interval training for 45 min three times a week for 8 weeks. At baseline and after 8 weeks, all patients underwent the HRV assessment. HRV indices in CAGB survivals were significantly lower in comparison to PCI patients at baseline. Significant increases were seen for SDNN, rMSSD, and HF in the CABG group and only in HF component in PCI group after 8 weeks of CR. Eight weeks of CR seems to be more effective in CABG patients than patients after PCI.

Contralateral delay activity tracks the influence of Gestalt grouping principles on active visual working memory representations.

PubMed

Peterson, Dwight J; Gözenman, Filiz; Arciniega, Hector; Berryhill, Marian E

2015-10-01

Recent studies have demonstrated that factors influencing perception, such as Gestalt grouping cues, can influence the storage of information in visual working memory (VWM). In some cases, stationary cues, such as stimulus similarity, lead to superior VWM performance. However, the neural correlates underlying these benefits to VWM performance remain unclear. One neural index, the contralateral delay activity (CDA), is an event-related potential that shows increased amplitude according to the number of items held in VWM and asymptotes at an individual's VWM capacity limit. Here, we applied the CDA to determine whether previously reported behavioral benefits supplied by similarity, proximity, and uniform connectedness were reflected as a neural savings such that the CDA amplitude was reduced when these cues were present. We implemented VWM change-detection tasks with arrays including similarity and proximity (Experiment 1); uniform connectedness (Experiments 2a and 2b); and similarity/proximity and uniform connectedness (Experiment 3). The results indicated that when there was a behavioral benefit to VWM, this was echoed by a reduction in CDA amplitude, which suggests more efficient processing. However, not all perceptual grouping cues provided a VWM benefit in the same measure (e.g., accuracy) or of the same magnitude. We also found unexpected interactions between cues. We observed a mixed bag of effects, suggesting that these powerful perceptual grouping benefits are not as predictable in VWM. The current findings indicate that when grouping cues produce behavioral benefits, there is a parallel reduction in the neural resources required to maintain grouped items within VWM.

Contralateral delay activity tracks the influence of Gestalt grouping principles on active visual working memory representations

PubMed Central

Peterson, Dwight J.; Gözenman, Filiz; Arciniega, Hector; Berryhill, Marian E.

2015-01-01

Recent studies have demonstrated that factors influencing perception, such as Gestalt grouping cues, can influence the storage of information in visual working memory (VWM). In some cases, stationary cues such as stimulus similarity lead to superior VWM performance. However, the neural correlates underlying these benefits to VWM performance remain unclear. One neural index, the contralateral delay activity (CDA) is an event-related potential that shows increased amplitude according to the number of items held in VWM and asymptotes at an individual’s VWM capacity limit. Here, we applied the CDA to determine whether previously reported behavioral benefits supplied by similarity, proximity and uniform connectedness were reflected as a neural savings such that the CDA amplitude was reduced when these cues were present. We implemented VWM change detection tasks with arrays including similarity and proximity (Experiment 1); uniform connectedness (Experiments 2a and 2b); similarity/proximity and uniform connectedness (Experiment 3). The results indicated that when there was a behavioral benefit to VWM, this was echoed by a reduction in CDA amplitude, which suggests more efficient processing. However, not all perceptual grouping cues provided a VWM benefit in the same measure (e.g., accuracy) or of the same magnitude. We also found unexpected interactions between cues. We observed a mixed bag of effects, suggesting that these powerful perceptual grouping benefits are not as predictable in VWM. The current findings indicate that, when grouping cues produce behavioral benefits, there is a parallel reduction in the neural resources required to maintain grouped items within VWM. PMID:26018644

Alcohol, Tannins, and Mannoprotein and their Interactions Influence the Sensory Properties of Selected Commercial Merlot Wines: A Preliminary Study.

PubMed

Diako, Charles; McMahon, Kenneth; Mattinson, Scott; Evans, Marc; Ross, Carolyn

2016-08-01

The objective of this study was to assess the influence of the interaction among alcohol, tannins, and mannoproteins on the aroma, flavor, taste, and mouthfeel characteristics of selected commercial Merlot wines. Merlot wines (n = 61) were characterized for wine chemistry parameters, including pH, titratable acidity, alcohol, glucose, fructose, tannin profile, total proteins, and mannoprotein content. Agglomerative clustering of these physicochemical characteristics revealed 6 groups of wines. Two wines were selected from each group (n = 12) and profiled by a trained sensory evaluation panel. One wine from each group was evaluated using the electronic tongue (e-tongue). Sensory evaluation results showed complex effects among tannins, alcohol, and mannoproteins on the perception of most aromas, flavors, tastes, and mouthfeel attributes (P < 0.05). The e-tongue showed distinct differences among the taste attributes of the 6 groups of wines as indicated by a high discrimination index (DI = 95). Strong correlations (r(2) > 0.930) were reported between the e-tongue and sensory perception of sweet, sour, bitter, burning, astringent, and metallic. This study showed that interactions among wine matrix components influence the resulting sensory perceptions. The strong correlation between the e-tongue and trained panel evaluations indicated the e-tongue can complement sensory evaluations to improve wine quality assessment. © 2016 Institute of Food Technologists®

Influence of sarcopenia and functionality indicators on the frailty profile of community-dwelling elderly subjects: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Viana, Joana U; Silva, Silvia L A; Torres, Juliana L; Dias, João M D; Pereira, Leani S M; Dias, Rosângela C

2013-01-01

Frailty and sarcopenia are frequent conditions in the elderly and are related to inactivity and functionality. However, little is known about the influence of the sarcopenia indicators on the frailty profile or their functional implications. To evaluate whether the indirect indicators of sarcopenia and functionality influence the frailty profile in elderly subjects. This was a cross-sectional study with 53 elderly subjects recruited by an active search in a secondary health care service. The indirect indicators of sarcopenia were body mass index (BMI), gait speed, Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA), Human Activity Profile (HAP), and handgrip strength. Frailty was characterized according to Fried's Frailty Phenotype. Functional capacity was assessed according to the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). Physical activity level was assessed by HAP. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression. Overall, 75.5% of the subjects were women, with a mean age of 76.72 (±5.89) years; 15.1% were frail and 54.7% pre-frail; and the level of physical activity was the most prevalent indicator of sarcopenia. Significant differences (p<0.05) were observed in both the physical activity level and gait speed between the non-frail and pre-frail groups and between the non-frail and frail groups. In addition, some sarcopenia indicators were associated with functional capacity and geriatric depression score. The level of physical activity and gait speed appeared to be the most relevant factors in the development of frailty in the study sample, which may have functional implications.

The influence of simultaneous integrated boost, hypofractionation and oncoplastic surgery on cosmetic outcome and PROMs after breast conserving therapy.

PubMed

Lansu, J T P; Essers, M; Voogd, A C; Luiten, E J T; Buijs, C; Groenendaal, N; Poortmans, P M H

2015-10-01

We retrospectively investigated the possible influence of a simultaneous integrated boost (SIB), hypofractionation and oncoplastic surgery on cosmetic outcome in 125 patients with stage I-II breast cancer treated with breast conserving therapy (BCT). The boost was given sequentially (55%) or by SIB (45%); fractionation was conventional (83%) or hypofractionated (17%); the surgical technique was a conventional lumpectomy (74%) or an oncoplastic technique (26%). We compared cosmetic results subjectively using a questionnaire independently completed by the patient and by the physician and objectively with the BCCT.core software. Independent-samples T-tests were used to compare outcome in different groups. Patients also completed the EORTC QLQ C30 and BR23. Univariate analyses indicated no significant differences of the cosmetic results (P ≤ 0.05) for the type of boost or fractionation. However, the conventional lumpectomy group scored significantly better than the oncoplastic group in the BCCT.core evaluation, without a significant difference in the subjective cosmetic evaluation. Quality of life outcome was in favour of SIB, hypofractionation and conventional surgery. Our study indicates that the current RT techniques seem to be safe for cosmetic outcome and quality of life. Further investigation is needed to verify the possible negative influence of oncoplastic surgery on the cosmetic outcome and the quality of life as this technique is especially indicated for patients with an unfavourable tumour/breast volume ratio. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selective impairment of decision making under ambiguity in alexithymia.

PubMed

Zhang, Lei; Wang, Xue; Zhu, Yu; Li, Hongchen; Zhu, Chunyan; Yu, Fengqiong; Wang, Kai

2017-11-28

Alexithymia is characterised by difficulties identifying and describing emotions. Few studies have investigated how alexithymia influences decision-making under different conditions (ambiguity and risk). This study aimed to examine whether alexithymia contributes to impairment in decision-making. This study included 42 participants with high scores in the Chinese version of Toronto Alexithymia Scale (alexithymia group), and 44 matched subjects with low scores (control group). Decision-making was measured using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Game of Dice Task (GDT). The main findings of this study revealed selective deficits in IGT performance for the alexithymia group, while GDT performance was unimpaired when compared with the control group. In IGT, total netscores were lower for the alexithymia group compared to the control group, particularly with regard to block 5. Moreover, the alexithymia individuals selected significantly more adverse cards than the controls, indicating significant decision-making impairments. Alexithymia selectively influences decision-making under ambiguity.

Use of focus groups to study absenteeism due to illness.

PubMed

Høverstad, T; Kjølstad, S

1991-10-01

Reasons for sick leaves are often complex and influenced by nonmedical factors. We have used focus groups, a qualitative research method, to study the relationship between working conditions and absenteeism due to illness in both an industrial company and an insurance company. We organized 10 focus groups within each company, with participants randomly selected from departments having similar work tasks within each company. According to the groups, the most important working conditions that influenced absenteeism were (a) feeling of well-being at work (mainly defined as security in social relations), (b) the organization of the work, and (c) the department leader. Factors considered to be less important included: number of employees, male/female ratios, group norms for absenteeism, age distribution, work-related illness, substance abuse, and work loads. There was substantial agreement between the groups, indicating that our findings may be relevant to other companies.

Virtually simulated social pressure influences early visual processing more in low compared to high autonomous participants.

PubMed

Trautmann-Lengsfeld, Sina Alexa; Herrmann, Christoph Siegfried

2014-02-01

In a previous study, we showed that virtually simulated social group pressure could influence early stages of perception after only 100  ms. In the present EEG study, we investigated the influence of social pressure on visual perception in participants with high (HA) and low (LA) levels of autonomy. Ten HA and ten LA individuals were asked to accomplish a visual discrimination task in an adapted paradigm of Solomon Asch. Results indicate that LA participants adapted to the incorrect group opinion more often than HA participants (42% vs. 30% of the trials, respectively). LA participants showed a larger posterior P1 component contralateral to targets presented in the right visual field when conforming to the correct compared to conforming to the incorrect group decision. In conclusion, our ERP data suggest that the group context can have early effects on our perception rather than on conscious decision processes in LA, but not HA participants. Copyright © 2013 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Family and peer influences on adjustment among Chinese, Filipino, and White youth.

PubMed

Willgerodt, Mayumi Anne

2008-01-01

Little is known about the influence of parent-adolescent relationships and peer behavior on emotional distress and risky behaviors among Asian American adolescents; in particular, cross-cultural and longitudinal examinations are missing from the extant research. To test and compare a theoretical model examining the influence of family and peer factors on adolescent distress and risky behavior over time, using a nationally representative sample of Chinese, Filipino, and White adolescents. Data were utilized from Waves I (1994) and II (1995) of the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health; the sample is composed of 194 Chinese, 345 Filipino, and 395 White adolescents and weighted to correct for design effects, yielding a nationally representative sample. Structural equation modeling was used to test the theoretical model for each ethnic group separately followed by multiple-group analyses. The measurement model was examined for each ethnic group, using both unweighted and weighted samples, and was deemed equivalent across groups. Tests of the theoretical model by ethnicity revealed that for each group, family bonds have significant negative effects on emotional distress and risky behaviors. For Filipino and White youth, peer risky behaviors influenced risky behaviors. Multiple-group analyses of the theoretical model indicated that the three ethnic groups did not differ significantly from one another. Findings suggest that family bonds and peer behavior exert significant influences on psychological and behavioral outcomes in Asian American youth and that these influences appear to be similar with White adolescents. Future research should be directed toward incorporating variables known to contribute to the impact of distress and risky behaviors in model testing and validating findings from this study.

Influence of age, strain and season on circadian periodicity of pituitary, gonadal and adrenal hormones in the serum of male laboratory rats.

PubMed

Wong, C C; Döhler, K D; Geerlings, H; von zur Mühlen, A

1983-01-01

The influence of age, strain and season on the circadian pattern of serum levels of LH, FSH, prolactin androgens and corticosterone was studied in five groups of male laboratory rats. Significant 24-hour periodicity was observed for serum levels of corticosterone in all five groups, for androgen levels in four, for prolactin levels in three, for LH levels in two and for FSH levels in one group of rats. There were significant influences of age, strain and season on the temporal patterns and/or on 24-hour mean serum hormone levels. The results indicate that some of the disagreements on existence or nonexistence of circadian rhythms and on rhythm patterns in serum hormone levels may be explained by the fact that animals of different ages or strains had been used or that experiments were performed at different times of the year.

Octopamine influences honey bee foraging preference.

PubMed

Giray, Tugrul; Galindo-Cardona, Alberto; Oskay, Devrim

2007-07-01

Colony condition and differences in individual preferences influence forage type collected by bees. Physiological bases for the changing preferences of individual foragers are just beginning to be examined. Recently, for honey bees octopamine is shown to influence age at onset of foraging and probability of dance for rewards. However, octopamine has not been causally linked with foraging preference in the field. We tested the hypothesis that changes in octopamine may alter forage type (preference hypothesis). We treated identified foragers orally with octopamine or its immediate precursor, tyramine, or sucrose syrup (control). Octopamine-treated foragers switched type of material collected; control bees did not. Tyramine group results were not different from the control group. In addition, sugar concentrations of nectar collected by foragers after octopamine treatment were lower than before treatment, indicating change in preference. In contrast, before and after nectar concentrations for bees in the control group were similar. These results, taken together, support the preference hypothesis.

Characteristics of community health organizations and decision-makers considering the adoption of motivational interviewing.

PubMed

Williams, Jessica Roberts; Dusablon, Tracy; Williams, Weston O; Blais, Marissa Puckett; Hennessy, Kevin D

2014-07-01

Research related to the adoption of comparative effectiveness research (CER) in mental health practice is limited. This study explores the factors that influence decisions to adopt motivational interviewing (MI)-an evidence-based practice (EBP) grounded in CER-among decision-makers (n = 311) in community health organizations (n = 92). Descriptive analyses focus on organization and decision-maker characteristics and processes that may influence the decision to adopt an EBP, including demographics, structure and operations, readiness, attitudes, barriers, and facilitators. Within-group agreement is examined to determine the degree to which participants within each organization gave similar responses. Results show characteristics differed according to type of organization (community health versus community behavioral health) and position (directors versus staff). Within-group agreement was also influenced by position. These findings indicate different strategies may be needed to best disseminate CER to the two groups.

The effectiveness of a tobacco prevention program with adolescents living in a tobacco-producing region.

PubMed Central

Noland, M P; Kryscio, R J; Riggs, R S; Linville, L H; Ford, V Y; Tucker, T C

1998-01-01

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the efficacy of a social-influences tobacco prevention program conducted with adolescents living in a high tobacco production area. METHODS: Students in 10 experimental schools completed the tobacco prevention program and a booster intervention. Control students received health education as usual. RESULTS: After 2 years of treatment, smoking rates in the treatment group (vs the control group) were lower for 30-day, 7-day, and 24-hour smoking. The intervention had more of an impact on those who were involved in raising tobacco than it did on those not involved in raising tobacco. CONCLUSIONS: Although modest, effects were achieved with minimal intervention time in a high-risk group, indicating that social-influences prevention programs may be effective in such groups. PMID:9842390

Gifted and talented students' career aspirations and influences: a systematic review of the literature.

PubMed

Miller, Kathleen; Cummings, Greta

2009-01-01

The nursing shortage of registered nurses in Canada is expected to worsen, making recruitment a concern for nursing organizations. Also, many reports have outlined the need for improved leadership in nursing. Therefore, the study purpose was to describe the findings of a systematic review of studies examining the career influences and aspirations of gifted high school students and to make recommendations for further research. Results indicate gifted students choose careers that fit their personal self-concept and their perceptions of traits needed to succeed in a profession. Family members, particularly mothers, had the greatest influence on career decision making and these students were more likely to indicate a desire for a profession with high prestige, high levels of education and higher pay. These students were not likely to indicate nursing as a career choice. Efforts to improve the image of nursing with this group of students are needed.

Reading for 11-13-Year-Old Students in the Digital Age: New Zealand Case Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fletcher, Jo; Nicholas, Karen

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT In New Zealand schools, the focus continues to be on improving the reading achievement of all students situated across a range of socio-economic groups. This is particularly so for our young adolescent students, where research investigations have indicated some concerning trends which influence reading development for this age group. This…

The Influence of Culture and Attitudes on Reading Comprehension in SL: The Case of Jews Learning English and Arabs Learning Hebrew.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abu-Rabia, Salim

1996-01-01

Investigates attitudes and cultural background of Israeli Arab students learning Hebrew and Israeli Jewish students learning English to reading comprehension in familiar/unfamiliar cultural stories. Compares contexts: Arabs as minority group learning the majority language and Jews as majority group learning a minority language. Indicates that…

Influence of internal optical astigmatism on the correction of myopic astigmatism by LASIK.

PubMed

Qian, Yi-Shan; Huang, Jia; Liu, Rui; Chu, Ren-Yuan; Xu, Ye; Zhou, Xing-Tao; Hoffman, Matthew R

2011-12-01

To investigate the influence of the origin of astigmatism on the correction of myopic astigmatism by LASIK. A retrospective study was conducted of the records of 192 patients (192 eyes) undergoing LASIK for correction of myopia and myopic astigmatism from January to September 2010. Ocular residual astigmatism (ORA) and lenticular astigmatism (LA) were determined by vector analysis using objective refraction and Pentacam (Oculus Optikgeräte GmbH) imaging of both corneal surfaces. Patients were divided into two groups according to ORA (high ORA group: ORA/preoperative refractive astigmatism >1; normal ORA group: ORA/preoperative refractive astigmatism ≤ 1) and LA (high LA group: LA/preoperative refractive astigmatism >1; normal LA group: LA/preoperative refractive astigmatism ≤ 1). Procedural efficacy was compared between those eyes with and without a significant amount of internal optical astigmatism using index of success. Mean preoperative vectors for the astigmatism of the anterior cornea, posterior cornea, and lens were -1.33 × 3.0°, -0.33 × 95.3°, and -0.27 × 103.3°, respectively. Mean indices of success in the high and low ORA groups were 1.75 and 0.59, respectively (t=7.81, P<.001). Mean indices of success in the high and low LA groups were 2.07 and 0.70, respectively (t=12.36, P<.001). The higher indices of success in the high ORA and high LA groups suggest a lower efficacy of LASIK in treating astigmatism primarily located intraocularly. Myopic LASIK is less effective in correcting astigmatism when astigmatism is mainly located at the internal optics. Topography and refractive value should be incorporated in the treatment of patients when a significant amount of internal optical astigmatism is detected preoperatively.

Verbal-motor attention-focusing instructions influence kinematics and performance on a golf-putting task.

PubMed

Munzert, Jörn; Maurer, Heiko; Reiser, Mathias

2014-01-01

The authors examined how varying the content of verbal-motor instructions and requesting an internal versus external focus influenced the kinematics and outcome of a golf putting task. On Day 1, 30 novices performed 120 trials with the instruction to focus attention either on performing a pendulum-like movement (internal) or on the desired ball path (external). After 20 retention trials on Day 2, they performed 20 transfer trials with the opposite instruction. Group differences for retention and a group by block interaction showed that external instruction enhanced movement outcome. Kinematic data indicated that specific instruction content influenced outcomes by eliciting changes in movement execution. Switching from the external to the internal focus instruction resulted in a more pendulum-like movement.

Chemical constituents in groundwater from multiple zones in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho, 2009-13

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bartholomay, Roy C.; Hopkins, Candice B.; Maimer, Neil V.

2015-01-01

Tritium concentrations in relation to basaltic flow units indicate the presence of wastewater influence in multiple basalt flow groups; however, tritium is most abundant in the South Late Matuyama flow group in the southern boundary wells. The concentrations of wastewater constituents in deep zones in wells Middle 2051, USGS 132, USGS 105, and USGS 103 support the concept of groundwater flow deepening in the southwestern corner of the INL, as indicated by the INL groundwater-flow model.

Choosing Schools, Choosing Selves: Exploring the Influence of Parental Identity and Biography on the School Choice Process in Delhi, India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gurney, Eleanor

2016-01-01

Drawing on qualitative interview data from a group of lower income parents in Delhi, India, this paper focuses on the dynamic relationship between parental choice of a particular school and parents' own identity construction. The data indicate that choice of school is for some parents a symbolic expression of identity, influenced by family…

Positive is usually good, negative is not always bad: The effects of group affect on social integration and task performance.

PubMed

Knight, Andrew P; Eisenkraft, Noah

2015-07-01

Grounded in a social functional perspective, this article examines the conditions under which group affect influences group functioning. Using meta-analysis, the authors leverage heterogeneity across 39 independent studies of 2,799 groups to understand how contextual factors-group affect source (exogenous or endogenous to the group) and group life span (one-shot or ongoing)-moderate the influence of shared feelings on social integration and task performance. As predicted, results indicate that group positive affect has consistent positive effects on social integration and task performance regardless of contextual idiosyncrasies. The effects of group negative affect, on the other hand, are context-dependent. Shared negative feelings promote social integration and task performance when stemming from an exogenous source or experienced in a 1-shot group, but undermine social integration and task performance when stemming from an endogenous source or experienced in an ongoing group. The authors discuss implications of their findings and highlight directions for future theory and research on group affect. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Automatic detection of lameness in gestating group-housed sows using positioning and acceleration measurements.

PubMed

Traulsen, I; Breitenberger, S; Auer, W; Stamer, E; Müller, K; Krieter, J

2016-06-01

Lameness is an important issue in group-housed sows. Automatic detection systems are a beneficial diagnostic tool to support management. The aim of the present study was to evaluate data of a positioning system including acceleration measurements to detect lameness in group-housed sows. Data were acquired at the Futterkamp research farm from May 2012 until April 2013. In the gestation unit, 212 group-housed sows were equipped with an ear sensor to sample position and acceleration per sow and second. Three activity indices were calculated per sow and day: path length walked by a sow during the day (Path), number of squares (25×25 cm) visited during the day (Square) and variance of the acceleration measurement during the day (Acc). In addition, data on lameness treatments of the sows and a weekly lameness score were used as reference systems. To determine the influence of a lameness event, all indices were analysed in a linear random regression model. Test day, parity class and day before treatment had a significant influence on all activity indices (P<0.05). In healthy sows, indices Path and Square increased with increasing parity, whereas variance slightly decreased. The indices Path and Square showed a decreasing trend in a 14-day period before a lameness treatment and to a smaller extent before a lameness score of 2 (severe lameness). For the index acceleration, there was no obvious difference between the lame and non-lame periods. In conclusion, positioning and acceleration measurements with ear sensors can be used to describe the activity pattern of sows. However, improvements in sampling rate and analysis techniques should be made for a practical application as an automatic lameness detection system.

Predictors of collective guilt after the violent conflict.

PubMed

Jelić, Margareta; Biruski, Dinka Corkalo; Ajduković, Dean

2013-03-01

After a violent conflict many post-conflict communities remain ethnically divided and normalization of the inter-group relations is hindered not only by in-group norms and interpretation of past events, but also by collective guilt. Although collective guilt has proved to be an important indicator of post-conflict social repair, more research is needed to define its predictors. This study, conducted in an ethnically divided community, confirmed that collective guilt acceptance and collective guilt assignment in our sample are typical for the post-conflict pattern of intergroup relations--people readily assign guilt to the outgroup but are unwilling to accept the guilt of their in-group. This suggests that the process of community social reconstruction has not considerably progressed. Our findings also suggest that the two aspects of collective guilt--assignment and acceptance--are predicted by similar sets of variables. Both collective guilt assignment and collective guilt acceptance are influenced by identification with in-group which influence is fully or partially mediated with the justification of the in-group's wrongdoings. This indicates that in the post-conflict setting relationship towards the in-group may be more important for experiencing collective guilt than the relationship towards the out-group. Relationship towards out-group, although not crucial, also plays a role in experiencing collective guilt. Specifically, both affect towards and cognitions about out-group members predict collective guilt assignment (with cognition being stronger predictor than positive affect), whereas only (absence of) positive affect predicts acceptance of collective guilt and the cognitive aspect is not predictive.

Phylogeography and population diversity of Simulium hirtipupa Lutz (Diptera: Simuliidae) based on mitochondrial COI sequences

PubMed Central

Silva, Janisete G.; Hamada, Neusa

2017-01-01

High morphological homogeneity and cryptic speciation may cause the diversity within Simuliidae to be underestimated. Recent molecular studies on population genetics and phylogeography have contributed to reveal which factors influenced the diversity within this group. This study aimed at examining the genetic diversity of Simulium hirtipupa Lutz, 1910 in populations from the biomes Caatinga, Cerrado, and Atlantic Forest. In this study, we carried out phylogeographic and population genetic analyses using a fragment of the mitochondrial gene COI. The 19 populations studied were clustered into seven groups, most of which are associated with geography indicating certain genetic structure. The northern region of the state of Minas Gerais is most likely the center of origin of this species. The average intergroup genetic distance was 3.7%, indicating the presence of cryptic species. The species tree as well as the haplotype network recovered all groups forming two major groups: the first comprises groups Gr-Bahia (in which the São Francisco river has not acted as geographical barrier), Gr-Pernambuco, and Gr-Mato Grosso do Sul. The second included groups comprising populations of the states of Goiás, Tocantins, Minas Gerais, Bahia, São Paulo, and Espírito Santo. The mismatch distribution for groups was consistent with the model of demographic expansion, except for the Gr-Central-East_1 group. The diversification in this group occurred about 1.19 Mya during the Pleistocene, influenced by paleoclimatic oscillations during the Quaternary glacial cycles. PMID:29281704

Gender influences as an impediment to knowledge sharing: when men and women fail to seek peer feedback.

PubMed

Miller, Diane L; Karakowsky, Leonard

2005-03-01

Little research has considered how work team characteristics influence feedback-seeking behavior among team members. The authors' aim in this research was to identify central sources of influence on feedback-seeking behavior in a mixed-gender context. They placed men and women in work groups of varying gender composition. The participants then participated in a gender-biased (perceived as either male-oriented or female-oriented) negotiation exercise. Findings indicated that the gender of the participant, the team's gender composition, and the gender orientation of the task influenced feedback-seeking behavior among team members.

Integrating multimedia instructional design principles with complex physiological concepts in reproductive science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oki, Angela Christine

2011-12-01

This dissertation examines the effect of digital multimedia presentations as a method to teach complex concepts in reproductive physiology. The digital presentations developed for this research consisted of two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) animations, scriptmessaging and narration. The topics were "Mammalian Ovarian Follicular Dynamics", "The Physiology of the Menstrual Cycle", and "The Physiology of Parturition". In all four experiments, participants were randomly assigned to treatment groups and learning was measured with multiple-choice tests. Experiment 1 determined if type of animation impacted learning about the physiology of the menstrual cycle. The treatments were: 3-D and 2-D animation (n = 110), 2-D animation only (n = 109) and no animation (n = 108). All three presentations were 14 minutes. No treatment effects were found (p > 0.05), indicating that student performance was not influenced by animation type. In experiment 2, the influence of added narrative explanations about the physiology of parturition was determined. The delivery time for the two treatments was 14 minutes (n = 164) and 24 minutes (n = 157), respectively. There were no differences between treatment groups (p > 0.05), indicating that concise explanations were as effective as elaborate explanations. Experiment 3 determined the influence of a digital presentation on knowledge retention of follicular dynamics over the course of a semester. Treatments were: a digital presentation (n = 23) or a classroom lecture captured on video (n = 23). Students completed three tests during the semester. Students in the multimedia group outperformed students in the video lecture group on all three tests (p < 0.05). A fourth experiment determined if the multimedia modules could be effective for teaching physiological concepts to patients with varied educational backgrounds attending an Ob-Gyn clinic. Patients either read a booklet (n = 57) or viewed a multimedia presentation (n = 65) about parturition. Content was identical in each group. Patients in the multimedia group outperformed patients in the booklet group (p < 0.05). This set of four experiments indicates that digital multimedia presentations are effective for teaching complex concepts in reproductive physiology.

Some changes of the heart bioelectric activity at the cosmonauts under the influence of LBNP in the long duration flights.

PubMed

Shelepnevich, S O; Alferova, I V; Golybchicova, Z A

2004-07-01

There was selected the group of the cosmonauts, who carry out long duration flights on the orbital complex "Mir", in which the tolerance of LBNP test was evaluated as poor (by hemodynamic indices--heart rate, arterial pressure, rheoencephalographic indices). The in-depth analysis of the electrocardiogram (in DS leads) indices was carry oiled on possible disturbances of conductivity and dynamics of temporary or amplitude characteristics. Furthermore is carry oiled the comparative estimation of these indices with the results of ECG analysis at the cosmonauts, who tolerance test good. Studies showed that the most informative ECG indices are the R, T-amplitudes and QT-interval. Under the influence of LBNP, especially during rarefactions on 45 and 50 mm Hg was noted reduction in the R, T-amplitude and the relative extension of QT-interval. The directivity of changes in these indices are identical for the cosmonauts with good and poor tolerance of the test; however in flight manifestation of the changes is more significant for the cosmonauts with poor tolerance of LBNP test. Thus, in the formation of orthostatic stability together with the hemodynamic influences take part the bioelectric processes, which are formed in the myocardium.

Horizontal transfer of fipronil is enhanced with increased group size in Coptotermes formosanus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae).

PubMed

Wang, Cai; Henderson, Gregg; Chen, Xuan; Gautam, Bal K

2013-12-01

Fipronil is a widely used insecticide for termite control. Although transfer of fipronil among termite cohorts has been investigated in previous studies, no study has yet focused on the influence of termite group size (density) on horizontal transfer. In this study, the mortality of donor and recipient Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) was compared among groups of 10, 25, and 50 workers. Most donor termites were dead within 20 h. There was a significantly higher mortality of recipient termites starting at 44 h when in bigger groups. LT50 and LT90 of recipient termites decreased with increase in group size, being significantly shorter in groups of 50 termites compared with groups of 10 termites. Moreover, the variance (within-group difference) of recipient mortality and lethal time estimations was lowest in the groups of 50 termites, indicating a more uniform horizontal transfer of fipronil by termites in bigger groups. Our findings suggest that group size has an influence on fipronil transfer among C. formosanus workers and should be considered as a variable of importance.

[Influence of Leukodeplated Blood Transfusion on Cellular Immunity of Acute Leukemia Patients].

PubMed

Lu, Ya-Lan; Zhang, Xin; Wang, Yu-Fang; Ke, Shan-Dong; Ke, Jin-Yong; Liu, Geng-Fu; Chen, Shi-Ming

2016-08-01

To study the influence of leukodeplated blood transfusion on cellular immunity of patients with acute leuemia, so as to provide support for application of leuko-deplated blood transfusion in clinic. A total of 100 AL patients from January 2012 to December 2015 were chosen, and were divided into 2 groups: leukodeplated blood transfusion group(50 cases) and routine blood transfusion group(RBT) as control (50 cases). The effective rate, side effects, peripheral blood T cells and expression level of TLR2 and TLR4 were compared between 2 groups. The expression levels CD3(+), CD4(+), CD8(+), CD4(+)/CD8(+) of TLR2 and TLR4 in control group were (52.18±2.14)%, （27.28±1.19）%,（24.21±1.65）%,1.22±0.18,0.62±0.04 and 0.57±0.05, respectively, after treatment; while these indicators in LdBT group were （52.18±2.14）%,（30.97±2.01）%,（27.08±1.55）%,1.39±0.24,0.91±0.06 and 0.87±0.07, respectively, and above-mentioned indicators in LdBT group were significantly higher than those in control group（P<0.05）. Compared with these indicators before treatment, CD3(+), CD4(+), CD8(+) and CD4(+)/CD8(+) in the patients increased significantly（P<0.05）. The efficiency was 92.00% (46/50) in LdBT group, and 84.00% (42/50) in control group, without statistically significant difference（P>0.05）. The rate of side effects in study group was 6% (3/50), 18% (9/50) in control group, with statistically significance difference （P<0.05）. Leukodeplated blood transfusion can improve the cellular immunity of AL patients, and reduce the rate of side effects.

Parenting practices and peer group affiliation in adolescence.

PubMed

Brown, B B; Mounts, N; Lamborn, S D; Steinberg, L

1993-04-01

Social scientists have often assumed that parental influence is sharply curtailed at adolescence because of the rising counterinfluence of peer groups, over which parents have little control. The present study tested a conceptual model that challenged this view by arguing that parents retain a notable but indirect influence over their teenage child's peer associates. Data from a sample of 3,781 high school students (ages 15-19) indicated that specific parenting practices (monitoring, encouragement of achievement, joint decision making) were significantly associated with specific adolescent behaviors (academic achievement, drug use, self-reliance), which in turn were significantly related to membership in common adolescent crowds (jocks, druggies, etc). Findings encourage investigators to assess more carefully parents' role in adolescents' peer group affiliations.

Bacterial community characterization and biogeochemistry of sediments from a tropical upwelling system (Cabo Frio, Southeastern Brazil)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castelo-Branco, R.; Barreiro, A.; Silva, F. S.; Carvalhal-Gomes, S. B. V.; Fontana, L. F.; Mendonça-Filho, J. G.; Vasconcelos, V.

2016-11-01

The Cabo Frio Upwelling System is one of the largest and most productive areas in southeastern Brazil. Although it is well-known that bacterial communities play a crucial role in the biogeochemical cycles and food chain of marine ecosystems, little is known regarding the microbial communities in the sediments of this upwelling region. In this research, we address the effect of different hydrological conditions on the biogeochemistry of sediments and the diversity of bacterial communities. Biogeochemistry profiles of sediments from four sampling stations along an inner-outer transect on the continental shelf were evaluated and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene fragments was used to study the bacterial community composition in these sediments. Our sequencing analysis of excised bands identified Alpha- and Gammaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and bacteria belonging to the Firmicutes phyla as the phylogenetic groups, indicating the existence of great diversity in these marine sediments. In this multidisciplinary study, the use of multivariate analysis was crucial for understanding how biogeochemical profiles influence bacterial community distribution. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) indicated that the biogeochemical variables exhibited a clear spatial pattern that is mainly related to hydrological conditions. A Correspondence Analysis (CA) revealed an important association between certain taxonomic groups and specific sampling locations. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) demonstrated that the biogeochemistry influences the structure of the bacterial community in sediments. Among the bacterial groups identified, the most taxonomically diverse classes (Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria) were found to be distributed regardless of any studied biogeochemical variables influences, whereas other groups responded to biogeochemical conditions which, in turn, were influenced by hydrological conditions. This finding was observed for members of the two classes in the Bacteroidetes phylum, which were associated with either proteins or carbohydrates.

Genetic and Environmental Influences on Obesity-Related Phenotypes in Chinese Twins Reared Apart and Together.

PubMed

Zhou, Bin; Gao, Wenjing; Lv, Jun; Yu, Canqing; Wang, Shengfeng; Liao, Chunxiao; Pang, Zengchang; Cong, Liming; Dong, Zhong; Wu, Fan; Wang, Hua; Wu, Xianping; Jiang, Guohong; Wang, Xiaojie; Wang, Binyou; Cao, Weihua; Li, Liming

2015-07-01

The relative importance of genetic and environmental influences on obesity-related phenotypes remains unclear, and few studies have targeted the Chinese population. Here, we used Chinese twins reared apart and together to explore genetic and environmental influences on body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist-height ratio (WHtR), further to differentiate phenotype heritability between different age groups and genders separately and to differentiate influences of rearing environment and correlated environment. Phenotype heritability was calculated using the structural equation model in 11,401 twin pairs aged 25-85 years. BMI (0.70, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.66-0.74) of the total population was highly heritable, while WC (0.53, 95 %CI 0.50-0.57) and WHtR (0.48, 95 %CI 0.45-0.51) were moderately heritable. Age and gender stratified analyses found higher heritability in the younger group and males than the older group and females. The correlated environment had a greater influence on the phenotypes than the rearing environment, especially on WC and WHtR, indicating that more correlated environment actions should be taken to prevent the rising trend of abdominal obesity.

Depression socialization within friendship groups at the transition to adolescence: the roles of gender and group centrality as moderators of peer influence.

PubMed

Conway, Christopher C; Rancourt, Diana; Adelman, Caroline B; Burk, William J; Prinstein, Mitchell J

2011-11-01

Tests of interpersonal theories of depression have established that elevated depression levels among peers portend increases in individuals' own depressive symptoms, a phenomenon known as depression socialization. Susceptibility to this socialization effect may be enhanced during the transition to adolescence as the strength of peer influence rises dramatically. Socialization of depressive symptoms among members of child and adolescent friendship groups was examined over a 1-year period among 648 youth in grades six through eight. Sociometric methods were utilized to identify friendship groups and ascertain the prospective effect of group-level depressive symptoms on youths' own depressive symptoms. Hierarchical linear modeling results revealed a significant socialization effect and indicated that this effect was most potent for (a) girls and (b) individuals on the periphery of friendship groups. Future studies would benefit from incorporating child and adolescent peer groups as a developmentally salient context for interpersonal models of depression.

Depression Socialization Within Friendship Groups at the Transition to Adolescence: The Roles of Gender and Group Centrality as Moderators of Peer Influence

PubMed Central

Conway, Christopher C.; Rancourt, Diana; Adelman, Caroline B.; Burk, William J.; Prinstein, Mitchell J.

2012-01-01

Tests of interpersonal theories of depression have established that elevated depression levels among peers portend increases in individuals’ own depressive symptoms, a phenomenon known as depression socialization. Susceptibility to this socialization effect may be enhanced during the transition to adolescence as the strength of peer influence rises dramatically. Socialization of depressive symptoms among members of child and adolescent friendship groups was examined over a 1-year period among 648 youth in grades six through eight. Sociometric methods were utilized to identify friendship groups and ascertain the prospective effect of group-level depressive symptoms on youths’ own depressive symptoms. Hierarchical linear modeling results revealed a significant socialization effect and indicated that this effect was most potent for (a) girls and (b) individuals on the periphery of friendship groups. Future studies would benefit from incorporating child and adolescent peer groups as a developmentally salient context for interpersonal models of depression. PMID:21842961

Highlighting Health: A Discussion of Health Practices and Accreditation. Accreditation and Beyond Series, Volume I.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bell, Claire

Research indicates children in group care have increased risk of infectious illnesses compared to those cared for at home. The health practices of child care center staff, children, and parents will influence the incidence of illness. The issues discussed in the book relate to some of the indicators of selected health accreditation principles in…

The influence of cognitive dysfunction on benefit from learning and memory rehabilitation in MS: A sub-analysis of the MEMREHAB trial.

PubMed

Chiaravalloti, Nancy D; DeLuca, John

2015-10-01

This study examined the influence of processing speed (PS) on benefit from treatment with the modified Story Memory Technique(©) (mSMT), a behavioral intervention shown to improve new learning and memory in multiple sclerosis (MS). This double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial included 85 participants with clinically definite MS, 45 assigned to the treatment group and 40 to the placebo-control group. Participants completed baseline and follow-up neuropsychological assessment. The present study represents a post-hoc analysis to examine the role of PS on treatment efficacy. The treatment group showed a significantly improved CVLT learning slope relative to the placebo group post-treatment, after co-varying PS performance. SDMT performance was a significant predictor of benefit from mSMT treatment, beyond group assignment. Post-hoc analysis indicated a significant correlation between the SDMT and overall cognition, indicating that the SDMT may be serving as a proxy for overall cognitive impairment. Performance on measures of cognitive dysfunction aside from learning and memory impact the benefit of mSMT treatment. While the current study focused on PS as a critical factor, PS may be serving as a marker for generalized cognitive dysfunction. Implications for cognitive rehabilitation in MS are discussed. © The Author(s), 2015.

The radiodensity of cerebrospinal fluid and vitreous humor as indicator of the time since death.

PubMed

Koopmanschap, Desirée H J L M; Bayat, Alireza R; Kubat, Bela; de Bakker, Henri M; Prokop, Mathias W M; Klein, Willemijn M

2016-09-01

After death, a series of changes occur naturally in the human body in a fairly regular pattern. These postmortem changes are detectable on postmortem CT scans (PMCT) and may be useful in estimating the postmortem interval (PMI). The purpose of our study is to correlate the PMCT radiodensities of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and vitreous humor (VH) to the PMI. Three patient groups were included: group A consisted of 5 donated cadavers, group B, 100 in-hospital deceased patients, and group C, 12 out-of-hospital forensic cadavers. Group A were scanned every hour for a maximum of 36 h postmortem, and the tympanic temperature was measured prior to each scan. Groups B and C were scanned once after death (PMI range 0.2-63.8 h). Radiodensities of the VH and CSF were measured in Hounsfield units. Correlation between density and PMI was determined using linear regression and the influence of temperature was assessed by a multivariate regression model. Results from group A were validated in groups B and C. Group A showed increasing radiodensity of the CSF and VH over time (r (2) CSF, 0.65). PMI overruled the influence of temperature (r = 0.99 and p = 0.000). Groups B and C showed more diversity, with CSF and VH radiodensities below the mean regression line of Group A. The formula of this upper limit indicated the maximum PMI and was correct for >95 % of the cadavers. The results of group A showed a significant correlation between CSF radiodensity and PMI. The radiodensities in groups B and C were higher than in group A, therefore the maximum PMI can be estimated with the upper 95 % confidence interval of the correlation line of group A.

Does Post-task Declarative Learning Have an Influence on Early Motor Memory Consolidation Over Day? An fMRI Study

PubMed Central

Rothkirch, Inken; Wolff, Stephan; Margraf, Nils G.; Pedersen, Anya; Witt, Karsten

2018-01-01

Previous studies demonstrated the influence of the post-learning period on procedural motor memory consolidation. In an early period after the acquisition, motor skills are vulnerable to modifications during wakefulness. Indeed, specific interventions such as world-list learning within this early phase of motor memory consolidation seem to enhance motor performance as an indicator for successful consolidation. This finding highlights the idea that manipulations of procedural and declarative memory systems during the early phase of memory consolidation over wakefulness may influence off-line consolidation. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during initial motor sequence learning and motor sequence recall, we indirectly assess the influence of a secondary task taken place in the early phase of memory consolidation. All participants were scanned using fMRI during the learning phase of a serial reaction time task (SRTT) at 8 a.m. Afterwards, they were randomly assigned to one of five conditions. One group performed a declarative verbal, one a declarative nonverbal learning task. Two groups worked on attention tasks. A control group passed a resting condition. Participants stayed awake the whole day and performed the SRTT in the MRI scanner 12 h later at 8 p.m. At the behavioral level, the analysis of the reaction times failed to show a significant group difference. The primary analysis assessing fMRI data based on the contrast (sequence – random) between learning and retrieval also did not show any significant group differences. Therefore, our main analysis do not support the hypothesis that a secondary task influences the retrieval of the SRTT. In a more liberal fMRI analysis, we compared only the sequence blocks of the SRTT from learning to recall. BOLD signal decreased in the ipsilateral cerebellum and the supplementary motor area solely in the verbal learning group. Although our primary analysis failed to show significant changes between our groups, results of the secondary analysis could be an indication for a beneficial effect of the verbal declarative task in the early post-learning phase. A nonverbal learning task did not affect the activation within the motor network. Further studies are needed to replicate this finding and to assess the usefulness of this manipulation. PMID:29755315

Does Post-task Declarative Learning Have an Influence on Early Motor Memory Consolidation Over Day? An fMRI Study.

PubMed

Rothkirch, Inken; Wolff, Stephan; Margraf, Nils G; Pedersen, Anya; Witt, Karsten

2018-01-01

Previous studies demonstrated the influence of the post-learning period on procedural motor memory consolidation. In an early period after the acquisition, motor skills are vulnerable to modifications during wakefulness. Indeed, specific interventions such as world-list learning within this early phase of motor memory consolidation seem to enhance motor performance as an indicator for successful consolidation. This finding highlights the idea that manipulations of procedural and declarative memory systems during the early phase of memory consolidation over wakefulness may influence off-line consolidation. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during initial motor sequence learning and motor sequence recall, we indirectly assess the influence of a secondary task taken place in the early phase of memory consolidation. All participants were scanned using fMRI during the learning phase of a serial reaction time task (SRTT) at 8 a.m. Afterwards, they were randomly assigned to one of five conditions. One group performed a declarative verbal, one a declarative nonverbal learning task. Two groups worked on attention tasks. A control group passed a resting condition. Participants stayed awake the whole day and performed the SRTT in the MRI scanner 12 h later at 8 p.m. At the behavioral level, the analysis of the reaction times failed to show a significant group difference. The primary analysis assessing fMRI data based on the contrast (sequence - random) between learning and retrieval also did not show any significant group differences. Therefore, our main analysis do not support the hypothesis that a secondary task influences the retrieval of the SRTT. In a more liberal fMRI analysis, we compared only the sequence blocks of the SRTT from learning to recall. BOLD signal decreased in the ipsilateral cerebellum and the supplementary motor area solely in the verbal learning group. Although our primary analysis failed to show significant changes between our groups, results of the secondary analysis could be an indication for a beneficial effect of the verbal declarative task in the early post-learning phase. A nonverbal learning task did not affect the activation within the motor network. Further studies are needed to replicate this finding and to assess the usefulness of this manipulation.

Does health status affect perceptions of factors influencing dignity at the end of life?

PubMed

Albers, Gwenda; Pasman, H Roeline W; Deliens, Luc; de Vet, Henrica C W; Onwuteaka-Philipsen, Bregje D

2013-06-01

More people are surviving into old age, and chronic diseases tend to become more common with age. Ill health and disability can lead to concerns about loss of personal dignity. To investigate whether health status affects the perceptions of factors influencing personal dignity at the end of life, and the relationship between those perceptions and sociodemographic characteristics. A subsample (n=2282) of a large advance directives cohort study was used. Three different health status groups (good, moderate, and poor) were defined based on the Euroqol-5D and a question on whether they had an illness. For each health status group, we calculated the percentage of respondents who indicated the extent to which the items of the Patient Dignity Inventory would influence their dignity as (very) large. Logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the associations between the perceptions of factors influencing personal dignity and sociodemographics. The percentage of respondents who indicated the factors as having a (very) large influence on dignity at the end of life were not significantly different for the three health status groups, except for three physical items on symptoms, roles, and routines. Those items were significantly more influential on dignity for people with a poor health status. Gender, old age, having a partner, and having a belief or religion that is important to one's life were associated with an understanding of factors influential to dignity. Health status seems only to affect the perceptions of physical factors maintaining dignity at the end of life. This might suggest that the understanding of dignity will not substantially change as health status changes and may support starting advance care planning early. Copyright © 2013 U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Parent, Peer, and Media Influences on Body Image and Strategies to Both Increase and Decrease Body Size among Adolescent Boys and Girls.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCabe, Marita P.; Ricciardelli, Lina A.

2001-01-01

Investigated the nature of body image and body change strategies, as well as sociocultural influences on these variables, among a group of 1,266 adolescents. Findings indicated females were less satisfied with their bodies and were more likely to adopt strategies to lose weight, whereas males were likely to adopt strategies to increase weight and…

Influence of time restriction, 20 minutes and 94.6 months, of visual information on angular displacement during the sit-to-stand (STS) task in three planes.

PubMed

Aylar, Mozhgan Faraji; Firouzi, Faramarz; Araghi, Mandana Rahnama

2016-12-01

[Purpose] The purpose of this investigation was to assess whether or not restriction of visual information influences the kinematics of sit-to-stand (STS) performance in children. [Subjects and Methods] Five girls with congenital blindness (CB) and ten healthy girls with no visual impairments were randomly selected. The girls with congenital blindness were placed in one group and the ten girls with no visual impairments were divided into two groups of five, control and treatment groups. The participants in the treatment group were asked to close their eyes (EC) for 20 minutes before the STS test, whereas those in the control group kept their eyes open (EO). The performance of the participants in all three groups was measured using a motion capture system and two force plates. [Results] The results show that the constraint duration of visual sensory information affected the range of motion (ROM), the excursion of the dominant side ankle, and the ROM of the dominant side knee in the EC group. However, only ankle excursion on the non-dominant side was affected in the CB group, and this was only observed in the sagittal plane. [Conclusion] These results indicate that visual memory does not affect the joint angles in the frontal and transverse planes. Moreover, all of the participants could perform the STS transition without falling, indicating; the participants performed the STS maneuver correctly in all planes except the sagittal one.

Interactions between natural-occurring landscape conditions and land use influencing the abundance of riverine smallmouth bass, micropterus dolomieu

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brewer, S.K.; Rabeni, C.F.

2011-01-01

This study examined how interactions between natural landscape features and land use influenced the abundance of smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieu, in Missouri, USA, streams. Stream segments were placed into one of four groups based on natural-occurring watershed characteristics (soil texture and soil permeability) predicted to relate to smallmouth bass abundance. Within each group, stream segments were assigned forest (n = 3), pasture (n = 3), or urban (n = 3) designations based on the percentages of land use within each watershed. Analyses of variance indicated smallmouth bass densities differed between land use and natural conditions. Decision tree models indicated abundance was highest in forested stream segments and lowest in urban stream segments, regardless of group designation. Land use explained the most variation in decision tree models, but in-channel features of temperature, flow, and sediment also contributed significantly. These results are unique and indicate the importance of natural-occurring watershed conditions in defining the potential of populations and how finer-scale filters interact with land use to further alter population potential. Smallmouth bass has differing vulnerabilities to land-use attributes, and the better the natural watershed conditions are for population success, the more resilient these populations will be when land conversion occurs.

Anxiety as a factor influencing physiological effects of acupuncture.

PubMed

Vickland, Victor; Rogers, Carole; Craig, Ashley; Tran, Yvonne

2009-08-01

This study investigated the influence of manual acupuncture on heart rate variability and the role which anxiety can play in modifying physiological outcomes. Analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) was used as a sensitive and a reliable indicator of the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic regulation of the heartbeat. Two groups of healthy female subjects were recruited into the study. The control group (n=30) attended one experimental session where no acupuncture treatment was used. The experimental group (n=30) attended three sessions in which unilateral manual stimulation of acupuncture points LU7 and KD6 was performed. The stimulation of the acupuncture points LU7 and KD6 was not associated with significant changes in HRV. Previous familiarity with acupuncture did not influence the outcomes but level of anxiety had a strong impact on physiological outcomes. Stimulation of LU7 acupuncture point counterbalanced naturally occurring sympathetic increase over time and had relaxing and harmonizing effect on the heart rhythm without influencing subjective perception of increased anxiety. Stimulation of KD6 acupuncture point had sympathetic influence on HRV in subjects with low "trait" anxiety and this influence was nullified by simultaneous stimulation of LU7 acupuncture point. It seems likely that the level of anxiety can modify HRV during acupuncture treatment and up to 40 min after the treatment. Psychological factors such as anxiety level should be considered as having important influence on physiological response to acupuncture.

Palivizumab prophylaxis: does it have any influence on the growth and development of the infants?

PubMed

Tavsu, Ismail; Gursoy, Tugba; Dirman, Sukriye; Erbil, Nazan; Ovali, Fahri

2014-09-01

To evaluate the rehospitalization rates of premature infants who received palivizumab prophylaxis and its influence on the growth and development of these infants. Infants with a gestational age of less than 32 weeks were randomized to receive prophylaxis with palivizumab (study group) or nothing (control group). Nasal swab samples were obtained monthly in all cases and also in case of infection and hospitalization. At the corrected age of 18 months Guide for Monitoring Child Development (GMCD) was administered to all patients and anthropometric indices were evaluated. The study was completed with 39 infants in the study group and 40 infants in the control group. Incidence of hospitalization due to respiratory syncitial virus (RSV) was found to be significantly lower in the study group both at the year of prophylaxis and in the following year (p = 0.001, odds ratio 1.32 [1.11-1.57]). There were no significant differences in terms of anthropometric indices or GMCD tests between the groups at the corrected age of 18 months. Palivizumab reduced the incidence of lower respiratory tract infections and hospitalizations due to RSV both in the year of prophylaxis and in the following year. However, this decrease did not have any impact on the development of infants. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

How prostate cancer support groups do and do not survive: British Columbian perspectives.

PubMed

Oliffe, John L; Halpin, Michael; Bottorff, Joan L; Hislop, T Gregory; McKenzie, Michael; Mroz, Lawrence

2008-06-01

Many prostate cancer support groups (PCSGs) have formed in North America during the past decade, yet their operation or factors influencing sustainability are poorly understood. This article reports micro (intragroup), meso (intergroup), and macro (group/structure) analyses drawn from the fieldwork and participant observations conducted for an ethnographic study of PCSGs based in British Columbia, Canada. The findings indicate that effective group leadership is integral to group sustainability and the recruitment and retention of attendees. At the meso level, intergroup connections and communication were often informal; however, the primary purpose of all the PCSGs was to provide information and support to men and their families. Many PCSGs were uncertain how formal associations with cancer fund-raising societies would influence group effectiveness. Macro issues such as prostate cancer activism resided with individual group "champions" through activities coordinated by provincial and national PCSG organizations. However, activism did not guarantee group sustainability. The study findings reveal why some groups flourish while others appear untenable, and form the basis for discussion about how PCSG sustainability might be best achieved.

How an active-learning class influences physics self-efficacy in pre-service teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaffney, Jon D. H.; Housley Gaffney, Amy L.; Usher, Ellen L.; Mamaril, Natasha A.

2013-01-01

Education majors in an inquiry-based physics content course were asked to reflect on the ways the course affected their self-efficacy for completing physics tasks, such as creating a circuit. Responses were coded according to the contributor of the influence and whether that influence was positive or negative. The group learning structure, hands-on activities in the class, and the constructed repertoire of science knowledge, processes, and activities, were all reported to be positive influences on self-efficacy, whereas the influence of the instructor was mixed. Overall, students' responses indicated both a desire for more guidance and lecture and an appreciation for their ability to construct their own understanding through the class activities.

Leaders are more attractive: birds with bigger yellow breast patches are followed by more group-mates in foraging groups.

PubMed

Tóth, Zoltán; Griggio, Matteo

2011-01-01

Social network theory provides a perfect tool to better understand the population-level consequences of how individuals interact and make their decisions; however, this approach is generally overlooked among evolutionary biologists interested in social relationships. Here, we used social network analysis to examine the patterns of leader-follower interactions in relation to individual characteristics in foraging groups of free-living rock sparrows (Petronia petronia). We found that yellow feather ornamentation, a carotenoid-based trait, was the best predictor of leadership: birds with bigger ornaments exerted greater influence in the foraging groups and were followed by more group-mates than less elaborate individuals. An individual's tendency for eliciting followings was not influenced by sex, condition or the level of parental investment. None of the above individual characteristics had significant effect on the tendency of individuals to follow others. Our results indicate that a sexually selected trait can also play a significant role in group coordination and social organization of a species.

Discrepancies between parents' and children's attitudes toward TV advertising.

PubMed

Baiocco, Roberto; D'Alessio, Maria; Laghi, Fiorenzo

2009-06-01

The authors conducted a study with 500 parent-child dyads. The sample comprised 254 boys and 246 girls. The children were grouped into 5 age groups (1 group for each age from 7 to 11 years), with each group comprising 100 children. The survey regards discrepancies between children and their parents on attitudes toward TV advertising to determine how TV commercials affect children's developmental stages and, particularly, their credence, behavioral intentions, and TV enjoyment. Regarding enjoyment and purchase dimensions, the group of 7-year-old children claimed that they enjoyed and are influenced in their consumer attitude more than did the groups of 8-11-year-old children. Credence decreased significantly with age. This study showed that parents tended to undervalue TV advertising's influence on their children. Parents' conformity was a significant predictor of children's attitude toward TV advertising. Results indicated that a high level of parental conformity was linked to the number of brands children claimed to possess.

Influence of a preventive program on the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of European pregnant women: a cohort study.

PubMed

Martínez-Beneyto, Yolanda; Montero-Martin, Javier; Garcia-Navas, Francisco; Vicente-Hernandez, Ascension; Ortiz-Ruiz, Antonio Jose; Camacho-Alonso, Fabio

2018-04-06

The aim of this study was to compare the impact of oral health on quality of life of a group of pregnant women enrolled in a program of oral health with respect to a control group of non-pregnant women. A cross-sectional study involving a sociodental indicator OHIP-14 and a dental examination was completed to assess pregnant women's knowledge of oral health, hygienic habits, periodontal and caries index. Data were collected from 113 pregnant women and 113 non-pregnant women. Sociodemographic data for both groups were homogeneous. Pregnant women have better values of general and oral health, even though they have not perceived need for dental treatment, compared with control group. A worse periodontal health was observed for the control group. Our results showed that quality of life in pregnant women has been influenced with a statistical significance (p < 0.05) by the variables age, unemployment, level of education, immigration, frequency of brushing, type of dental practice, self-reported general and oral health and perceived treatment needs. The oral quality of life of pregnant women seems to be positively influenced by the incorporation of preventive oral programs during pregnancy.

The Influences of Physical Activity on Patterns of Sleep Behavior of Patients with Alzheimer's Disease.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Namazi, Kevan H.; And Others

1995-01-01

A light exercise program was set up for 11 patients with Alzheimer's disease who exercised each day for 40 minutes. Their sleep patterns were compared with a control group who did not exercise. Results indicate that those who participated in the exercise program manifested 40% less restless behavior, while those in the non-exercise group showed a…

Improving the Performance of AI Algorithms.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-09-01

favorably -6 influenced by s uch progranmning practices as the intellige +nt selt,(-rion .%V ’%. ot’ data formats; to) minimize th~e n,,-ed for...GROUP SUB-GROUP Artifcial Intelgence (Al) Algorithms, Improving Software .’ u- 12 05 Performance, Program Behavior, Predicting Performance, % 12 07...tions in communications, threat assessment, res(orce availability, and so forth. This need for intelligent and adaptable behavior indicates that the

Zooplankton From a Reef System Under the Influence of the Amazon River Plume.

PubMed

Neumann-Leitão, Sigrid; Melo, Pedro A M C; Schwamborn, Ralf; Diaz, Xiomara F G; Figueiredo, Lucas G P; Silva, Andrea P; Campelo, Renata P S; de Melo Júnior, Mauro; Melo, Nuno F A C; Costa, Alejandro E S F; Araújo, Moacyr; Veleda, Dóris R A; Moura, Rodrigo L; Thompson, Fabiano

2018-01-01

At the mouth of the Amazon River, a widespread carbonate ecosystem exists below the river plume, generating a hard-bottom reef (∼9500 km 2 ) that includes mainly large sponges but also rhodolith beds. The mesozooplankton associated with the pelagic realm over the reef formation was characterized, considering the estuarine plume and oceanic influence. Vertical hauls were carried out using a standard plankton net with 200 μm mesh size during September 2014. An indicator index was applied to express species importance as ecological indicators in community. Information on functional traits was gathered for the most abundant copepod species. Overall, 179 zooplankton taxa were recorded. Copepods were the richest (92 species), most diverse and most abundant group, whereas meroplankton were rare and less abundant. Species diversity (>3.0 bits.ind -1 ) and evenness (>0.6) were high, indicating a complex community. Small holoplanktonic species dominated the zooplankton, and the total density varied from 107.98 ind. m -3 over the reef area to 2,609.24 ind. m -3 in the estuarine plume, with a significant difference between coastal and oceanic areas. The most abundant copepods were the coastal species ithona plumifera and Clausocalanus furcatus and early stages copepodites of Paracalanidae. The holoplanktonic Oikopleura , an important producer of mucous houses, was very abundant on the reefs. The indicator species index revealed three groups: (1) indicative of coastal waters under the influence of the estuarine plume [ Euterpina acutifrons, Parvocalanus crassirostris, Oikopleura (Vexillaria) dioica and Hydromedusae]; (2) characterized coastal and oceanic conditions ( Clausocalanus ); (3) characterized the reef system ( O. plumifera ). Two major copepods functional groups were identified and sorted according to their trophic strategy and coastal-oceanic distribution. The species that dominated the coastal area and the area over the rhodolith beds are indicators of the estuarine plume and are mixed with species of the North Brazil Current. These species practically disappear offshore, where occur oceanic species commonly found in other oligotrophic tropical areas. This ecosystem shows a mixture of estuarine, coastal and oceanic communities coexisting in the waters over the Amazon reefs, with no significant differences among these areas. However, the MDS clearly separated the communities along the salinity gradient in the plume.

A cross-cultural comparison of anatomy learning: learning styles and strategies.

PubMed

Mitchell, Barry S; Xu, Qin; Jin, Lixian; Patten, Debra; Gouldsborough, Ingrid

2009-01-01

Cultural influences on anatomy teaching and learning have been investigated by application of a questionnaire to medical students in British and Chinese Medical Schools. Results from the responses from students of the two countries were analyzed. Both groups found it easier to understand anatomy in a clinical context, and in both countries, student learning was driven by assessment. Curriculum design differences may have contributed to the British view wherein students were less likely to feel time pressure and enjoyed studying anatomy more than their Chinese counterparts. Different teaching approaches resulted in British students being more likely to recite definitions to learn, and the Chinese students found learning from cross-sectional images easy. Cultural differences may account for the observation that British students were more inclined to ask questions in class, and the preference of Chinese students to study in small groups. The findings give evidence to show how 'cultures of learning' influence students' approaches and indicate the importance of cultural influences as factors amongst international and home learner groups.

Influence of the Rh (D) blood group system on graft survival in renal transplantation.

PubMed

Bryan, C F; Mitchell, S I; Lin, H M; Nelson, P W; Shield, C F; Luger, A M; Pierce, G E; Ross, G; Warady, B A; Aeder, M I; Helling, T S; Landreneau, M D; Harrell, K M

1998-02-27

The Rh (D) blood group system has not traditionally been considered to be a clinically relevant histocompatibility barrier in transplantation since conflicting results of its clinical importance have been reported. We analyzed 786 consecutive primary cadaveric renal transplants performed by transplant centers in our Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) between 1990 and 1997. We also analyzed United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) data on 26,469 kidney transplants done from April 1994 to June 1996. Multivariate analysis revealed that Rh identity between the recipient and donor was significantly related to better graft outcome (risk ratio, 0.43; 95% confidence interval, 0.30 to 0.61; P=0.0001). Multivariate analysis of the UNOS data revealed that the Rh -/- group may have a positive influence on graft survival with a risk ratio of 0.43 (P=0.14). Multivariate analysis of primary cadaveric renal allografts performed within the Midwest Organ Bank OPO indicates that Rh (D) is a clinically relevant histocompatibility barrier that influences 7-year graft survival.

Equine-facilitated psychotherapy for at-risk adolescents: the influence on self-image, self-control and trust.

PubMed

Bachi, Keren; Terkel, Joseph; Teichman, Meir

2012-04-01

This article describes the theoretical-conceptual frame of equine-facilitated psychotherapy (EFP) for adolescents at-risk, the unique components of this intervention, and its implementation in an evaluation study. The study was conducted at a residential treatment facility for adolescents at-risk. We examined the outcomes of EFP on self-image, self-control, trust and general life satisfaction. Fourteen resident adolescents comprised the treatment group, and were compared with a matched group of 15 residents who did not receive EFP (control). The treatment comprised a weekly individual EFP session over a period of seven months. The study found a trend of positive change in all four research parameters within the treatment group. Additional indications of the intervention's positive influence were also found and are discussed.

Indices of diagnostic abdominal ultrasonography in acute appendicitis: influence of gender and physical constitution, time evolution of the disease and experience of radiologist.

PubMed

Peixoto, Rodrigo de Oliveira; Nunes, Tarcizo Afonso; Gomes, Carlos Augusto

2011-01-01

To assess the value of abdominal ultrasonography in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis and the influence of gender, physical constitution, experience of the radiologist and the time evolution of the disease on the results of diagnostic indices. We prospectively evaluated 156 patients with clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy and abdominal ultrasonography, together with pathology of the excised appendices. Patients were allocated in relation to BMI in both groups (below or above 25 kg/m²) and radiologists, in three groups according to their professional experience (less than five years, between five and 10 years and more than 10 years). The survey also assessed the influence of gender and time of disease progression using the median of 36 hours. The sensitivity and specificity of abdominal ultrasonography for diagnosing appendicitis were 64.9 and 72% respectively. Gender, body mass index, length of experience of the radiologists in the three groups and time of onset of symptoms showed no significant differences in the establishment of sonographic diagnosis of acute appendicitis. The abdominal ultrasonography showed low sensitivity and specificity and little contribution to the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. Gender, physical constitution, the experience of the radiologist and time of onset of symptoms did not affect the outcome of the sonography.

Prenatally administered HMB modifies the enamel surface roughness in spiny mice offspring: An atomic force microscopy study.

PubMed

Świetlicka, Izabela; Muszyński, Siemowit; Tomaszewska, Ewa; Dobrowolski, Piotr; Kwaśniewska, Anita; Świetlicki, Michał; Skic, Anna; Gołacki, Krzysztof

2016-10-01

The aim of this research was to check the effect of the prenatally administered β-hydroxy β-methylbutyrate (HMB) on the development of enamel surface of the spiny mice offspring. The spiny mice dams were randomly assigned into three groups: control group (not supplemented with HMB) and two experimental groups in which powdered HMB was given at the daily dosage of 0.2g/kg of body weight (group I) and 0.02g/kg of body weight (group II) during the last period of gestation. Newborn pups were euthanized by CO 2 inhalation. The morphology of incisor teeth was analysed using atomic force microscopy (AFM) in semi-contact mode in the height, magnitude and phase domains. Height images became a basis for determination of surface roughness parameters. Conducted study indicated that maternal HMB administration markedly influences enamel development. Enamel of offspring's teeth in both experimental groups was characterized by significantly smaller values of indices describing surface roughness and profile. HMB supplementation influenced the calculated parameters regardless of the diet type and offspring sex, however higher dose of HMB caused stronger changes in enamel surface's physical properties and could be observed in higher intensity in the male group. HMB administration caused reduction in the irregularities of enamel surface, thereby possibly reducing the probability of bacteria adhesion and caries development. These observations may serve to improve nutrition and supplementation of animals and could be a lead for further research. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Compliancy of pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV infection in men who have sex with men in Chengdu].

PubMed

Xu, J Y; Mou, Y C; Ma, Y L; Zhang, J Y

2017-05-10

Objective: To evaluate the compliancy of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in men who have sex with men (MSM) in Chengdu, Sichuan province, and explore the influencing factors. Methods: From 1 July 2013 to 30 September 2015, a random, open, multi-center and parallel control intervention study was conducted in 328 MSM enrolled by non-probability sampling in Chengdu. The MSM were divided into 3 groups randomly, i.e. daily group, intermittent group (before and after exposure) and control group. Clinical follow-up and questionnaire survey were carried out every 3 months. Their PrEP compliances were evaluated respectively and multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the related factors. Results: A total of 141 MSM were surveyed, in whom 59(41.8 % ) had good PrEP compliancy. The PrEP compliancy rate was 69.0 % in daily group, higher than that in intermittent group (14.3 % ), the difference had significance ( χ (2)=45.29, P <0.001). Multivariate logistic analysis indicated that type of PrEP was the influencing factors of PrEP compliancy. Compared with daily group, the intermittent group had worse PrEP compliancy ( OR =0.07, 95 %CI : 0.03-0.16). Conclusion: The PrEP compliance of the MSM in this study was poor, the compliancy would be influenced by the type of PrEP.

Influence of risk grouping on therapeutic decisions in patients with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma.

PubMed

Sun, Chuanzheng; Li, Chao; Hu, Zedong; Li, Xiaojiang; He, Jiehua; Song, Ming; Li, Guojun; Zhang, Fenghua; Li, Qiuli

2015-04-01

We investigated prognostic factors in 42 anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) patients from a single institution over a 30-year period and explored the use of risk grouping to guide therapeutic decisions. Univariable and multivariable differences in overall survival (OS) were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test as well as Cox proportional hazards model. Risk grouping in making therapeutic decisions for ATC patients was explored. The 1- and 3-year OS rates were 28.6 % and 18.5 %, respectively. Univariate analysis indicated that 4 pre-therapeutic factors of patients were related to poorer prognoses: age ≥ 55 years, white blood cell count ≥ 10.0 × 10(9)/L, blood platelet count ≥ 300.0 × 10(9)/L and advanced clinical tumor-node-metastasis stage. These factors were used to calculate the risk indices. Patients with total risk index scores of no more than 1 were considered to be in the low-risk group, and patients with scores ≥ 2 were considered to be in the high-risk group. The patients in the low-risk group had significantly better 1- and 3-year OS rates (90.9 % and 63.6 %, respectively) than those in the high-risk group (6.5 % and 3.2 %, respectively). Risk group and therapeutic regimen were the 2 factors that independently influenced survival according to multivariable analysis. Surgery that was combined with postoperative radiotherapy significantly benefited the patients in the low-risk group rather than the patients in the high-risk group. Risk grouping was a helpful tool of evaluating the prognoses and guiding the treatment of ATC patients.

Orthography and Modality Influence Speech Production in Adults and Children.

PubMed

Saletta, Meredith; Goffman, Lisa; Hogan, Tiffany P

2016-12-01

The acquisition of literacy skills influences the perception and production of spoken language. We examined if orthography influences implicit processing in speech production in child readers and in adult readers with low and high reading proficiency. Children (n = 17), adults with typical reading skills (n = 17), and adults demonstrating low reading proficiency (n = 18) repeated or read aloud nonwords varying in orthographic transparency. Analyses of implicit linguistic processing (segmental accuracy and speech movement stability) were conducted. The accuracy and articulatory stability of productions of the nonwords were assessed before and after repetition or reading. Segmental accuracy results indicate that all 3 groups demonstrated greater learning when they were able to read, rather than just hear, the nonwords. Speech movement results indicate that, for adults with poor reading skills, exposure to the nonwords in a transparent spelling reduces the articulatory variability of speech production. Reading skill was correlated with speech movement stability in the groups of adults. In children and adults, orthography interacts with speech production; all participants integrate orthography into their lexical representations. Adults with poor reading skills do not use the same reading or speaking strategies as children with typical reading skills.

Orthography and Modality Influence Speech Production in Adults and Children

PubMed Central

Goffman, Lisa; Hogan, Tiffany P.

2016-01-01

Purpose The acquisition of literacy skills influences the perception and production of spoken language. We examined if orthography influences implicit processing in speech production in child readers and in adult readers with low and high reading proficiency. Method Children (n = 17), adults with typical reading skills (n = 17), and adults demonstrating low reading proficiency (n = 18) repeated or read aloud nonwords varying in orthographic transparency. Analyses of implicit linguistic processing (segmental accuracy and speech movement stability) were conducted. The accuracy and articulatory stability of productions of the nonwords were assessed before and after repetition or reading. Results Segmental accuracy results indicate that all 3 groups demonstrated greater learning when they were able to read, rather than just hear, the nonwords. Speech movement results indicate that, for adults with poor reading skills, exposure to the nonwords in a transparent spelling reduces the articulatory variability of speech production. Reading skill was correlated with speech movement stability in the groups of adults. Conclusions In children and adults, orthography interacts with speech production; all participants integrate orthography into their lexical representations. Adults with poor reading skills do not use the same reading or speaking strategies as children with typical reading skills. PMID:27942710

Your wish is my command! The influence of symbolic modelling on preschool children's delay of gratification.

PubMed

Kumst, S; Scarf, D

2015-01-01

The ability of children to delay gratification is correlated with a range of positive outcomes in adulthood, showing the potential impact of helping young children increase their competence in this area. This study investigated the influence of symbolic models on the self-control of 3-year old children. Eighty-three children were randomly assigned to one of three modelling conditions: personal storytelling, impersonal storytelling, and control. Children were tested on the delay-of-gratification maintenance paradigm both before and after being exposed to a symbolic model or control condition. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed no significant differences between the two storytelling groups and the control group, indicating that the symbolic models did not influence children's ability to delay gratification. A serendipitous finding showed a positive relationship between the ability of children to wait and their production and accurate use of temporal terms, which was more pronounced in girls than boys. This finding may be an indication that a higher temporal vocabulary is linked to a continuous representation of the self in time, facilitating a child's representation of the future-self receiving a larger reward than what the present-self could receive.

Your wish is my command! The influence of symbolic modelling on preschool children’s delay of gratification

PubMed Central

Kumst, S

2015-01-01

The ability of children to delay gratification is correlated with a range of positive outcomes in adulthood, showing the potential impact of helping young children increase their competence in this area. This study investigated the influence of symbolic models on the self-control of 3-year old children. Eighty-three children were randomly assigned to one of three modelling conditions: personal storytelling, impersonal storytelling, and control. Children were tested on the delay-of-gratification maintenance paradigm both before and after being exposed to a symbolic model or control condition. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed no significant differences between the two storytelling groups and the control group, indicating that the symbolic models did not influence children’s ability to delay gratification. A serendipitous finding showed a positive relationship between the ability of children to wait and their production and accurate use of temporal terms, which was more pronounced in girls than boys. This finding may be an indication that a higher temporal vocabulary is linked to a continuous representation of the self in time, facilitating a child’s representation of the future-self receiving a larger reward than what the present-self could receive. PMID:25737814

Graphene electrochemical supercapacitors: the influence of oxygen functional groups.

PubMed

Deng, Wentao; Ji, Xiaobo; Gómez-Mingot, Maria; Lu, Fang; Chen, Qiyuan; Banks, Craig E

2012-03-14

We have critically compared graphene and graphene oxide as materials for utilisation as supercapacitors indicating that the former exhibits a larger capacitance over the latter which has implications for those fabricating supercapacitors. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012

Neural Correlates of the In-Group Memory Advantage on the Encoding and Recognition of Faces

PubMed Central

Herzmann, Grit; Curran, Tim

2013-01-01

People have a memory advantage for faces that belong to the same group, for example, that attend the same university or have the same personality type. Faces from such in-group members are assumed to receive more attention during memory encoding and are therefore recognized more accurately. Here we use event-related potentials related to memory encoding and retrieval to investigate the neural correlates of the in-group memory advantage. Using the minimal group procedure, subjects were classified based on a bogus personality test as belonging to one of two personality types. While the electroencephalogram was recorded, subjects studied and recognized faces supposedly belonging to the subject’s own and the other personality type. Subjects recognized in-group faces more accurately than out-group faces but the effect size was small. Using the individual behavioral in-group memory advantage in multivariate analyses of covariance, we determined neural correlates of the in-group advantage. During memory encoding (300 to 1000 ms after stimulus onset), subjects with a high in-group memory advantage elicited more positive amplitudes for subsequently remembered in-group than out-group faces, showing that in-group faces received more attention and elicited more neural activity during initial encoding. Early during memory retrieval (300 to 500 ms), frontal brain areas were more activated for remembered in-group faces indicating an early detection of group membership. Surprisingly, the parietal old/new effect (600 to 900 ms) thought to indicate recollection processes differed between in-group and out-group faces independent from the behavioral in-group memory advantage. This finding suggests that group membership affects memory retrieval independent of memory performance. Comparisons with a previous study on the other-race effect, another memory phenomenon influenced by social classification of faces, suggested that the in-group memory advantage is dominated by top-down processing whereas the other-race effect is also influenced by extensive perceptual experience. PMID:24358226

Evaluation of selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor-induced small bowel injury: randomized cross-over study compared with loxoprofen in healthy subjects.

PubMed

Mizukami, Kazuhiro; Murakami, Kazunari; Yamauchi, Mika; Matsunari, Osamu; Ogawa, Ryo; Nakagawa, Yoshifumi; Okimoto, Tadayoshi; Kodama, Masaaki; Fujioka, Toshio

2013-05-01

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have the potential to injure the mucosa of the upper digestive tract and small bowel, whereas celecoxib (a selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor) has less influence on the entire digestive tract mucosa. The present study was conducted to compare the extents of small bowel mucosal injury induced by celecoxib and loxoprofen (the most frequently used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in Japan). Ten healthy adult males were given celecoxib (200 mg/day, Group C) and loxoprofen (180 mg/day, Group L) in a cross-over design for 14 days, and the influence of each drug on small bowel mucosa was evaluated by comparing pre- and post-treatment capsule endoscopy findings. We measured the percentage of patients with small bowel mucosal injury following administration of these drugs as primary endpoint. Additionally, mean number of small bowel mucosal injuries per subject was analyzed as secondary endpoint. The percentage of subjects experiencing small bowel mucosal injury as primary endpoint was 10% in Group C and 70% in Group L after treatment. This magnitude of the difference of between Group C and Group L was statistically significant (P = 0.031). The number of small bowel mucosal injuries as secondary endpoint differed significantly between the two groups, and the influence of celecoxib on small bowel injury was less than that of loxoprofen. These results indicate that celecoxib has less influence on small bowel mucosa than loxoprofen and can be used safely. © 2012 The Authors. Digestive Endoscopy © 2012 Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society.

Testosterone influences spatial strategy preferences among adult male rats

PubMed Central

Spritzer, Mark D.; Fox, Elliott C.; Larsen, Gregory D.; Batson, Christopher G.; Wagner, Benjamin A.; Maher, Jack

2013-01-01

Males outperform females on some spatial tasks, and this may be partially due to the effects of sex steroids on spatial strategy preferences. Previous work with rodents indicates that low estradiol levels bias females toward a striatum-dependent response strategy, whereas high estradiol levels bias them toward a hippocampus-dependent place strategy. We tested whether testosterone influenced the strategy preferences in male rats. All subjects were castrated and assigned to one of three daily injection doses of testosterone (0.125, 0.250, or 0.500 mg/rat) or a control group that received daily injections of the drug vehicle. Three different maze protocols were used to determine rats’ strategy preferences. A low dose of testosterone (0.125 mg) biased males toward a motor-response strategy on a T-maze task. In a water maze task in which the platform itself could be used intermittently as a visual cue, a low testosterone dose (0.125 mg) caused a significant increase in the use of a cued-response strategy relative to control males. Results from this second experiment also indicated that males receiving a high dose of testosterone (0.500 mg) were biased toward a place strategy. A third experiment indicated that testosterone dose did not have a strong influence on the ability of rats to use a nearby visual cue (floating ball) in the water maze. For this experiment, all groups seemed to use a combination of place and cued-response strategies. Overall, the results indicate that the effects of testosterone on spatial strategy preference are dose dependent and task dependent. PMID:23597827

Testosterone influences spatial strategy preferences among adult male rats.

PubMed

Spritzer, Mark D; Fox, Elliott C; Larsen, Gregory D; Batson, Christopher G; Wagner, Benjamin A; Maher, Jack

2013-05-01

Males outperform females on some spatial tasks, and this may be partially due to the effects of sex steroids on spatial strategy preferences. Previous work with rodents indicates that low estradiol levels bias females toward a striatum-dependent response strategy, whereas high estradiol levels bias them toward a hippocampus-dependent place strategy. We tested whether testosterone influenced the strategy preferences in male rats. All subjects were castrated and assigned to one of three daily injection doses of testosterone (0.125, 0.250, or 0.500 mg/rat) or a control group that received daily injections of the drug vehicle. Three different maze protocols were used to determine rats' strategy preferences. A low dose of testosterone (0.125 mg) biased males toward a motor-response strategy on a T-maze task. In a water maze task in which the platform itself could be used intermittently as a visual cue, a low testosterone dose (0.125 mg) caused a significant increase in the use of a cued-response strategy relative to control males. Results from this second experiment also indicated that males receiving a high dose of testosterone (0.500 mg) were biased toward a place strategy. A third experiment indicated that testosterone dose did not have a strong influence on the ability of rats to use a nearby visual cue (floating ball) in the water maze. For this experiment, all groups seemed to use a combination of place and cued-response strategies. Overall, the results indicate that the effects of testosterone on spatial strategy preference are dose dependent and task dependent. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Impact of Drug Abuse on Tank Crew Cohesion.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-08-01

social cohesion ). Examination ef modal scores on the Cohesion Questions indicated that similarity or difference in drug use pattern influenced the...demography, drug use and social cohesion . The AFFIL scores were divided into two groups: Hi AFFEL and Lo AFFIL. The Hi AFFIL group was comprised of...difference in usage pattern, the social cohesion questions were slightly more sensitive to simple similarity in drug use pattern than the job-related

The assessment of preschool children's motor skills after familiarization with motor tests.

PubMed

Tomac, Zvonimir; Hraski, Zeljko; Sporis, Goran

2012-07-01

This research study was conducted to establish the influence of familiarization on the information component of movement in a motor task for the assessment of preschool children's motor skills. The sample included 50 children whose mean age was 5.9 years (71.5 months). The experimental group consisted of 27 children who were 5.9 years (71.5 months) old, and the control group consisted of 23 children who were 5.9 years (71.5 months) old. The examinees performed 2 motor tasks, standing long jump (SJ, explosive strength) and standing on 1 leg on a beam "flamingo test" (FT, balance). The experimental group underwent a period of familiarization with the motor task in 3 sessions with 5 trials every 3 days. The results indicate statistically significant differences in the final testing between both groups of examinees; the experimental group mean was 112.73 cm, and the control group mean was 100.62 in the SJ test (p = 0.00), and the experimental group mean was 27.10 seconds and the control group mean was 15.01 seconds in the FT (for balance) (p = 0.00). The results obtained in this research indicate that children significantly improved the results in the motor test of strength and balance, being influenced by familiarization. It was confirmed that it was necessary for preschool children to be familiar with the test and it is not justified to use testing and assessment protocols and standards for adults. Physical educators and coaches, when testing preschool children, should introduce children to tests to obtain the best result.

Effect of dissolved oxygen on biological denitrification using biodegradable plastic as the carbon source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xucai; Zhang, Jianmei

2018-02-01

Biological denitrification is currently a common approach to remove nitrate from wastewater. This study was conducted to evaluate the influence of dissolved oxygen on denitrification in wastewater treatment using biodegradable plastic as carbon source by designing the aerated, anoxic, and low-oxygen experimental treatment groups. The results showed that the removal rates of nitrate in anoxic and low-oxygen groups were 30.6 g NO3 --Nm-3 d-1 and 30.8 g NO3 --N m-3 d-1 at 83 h, respectively, both of which were higher than that of the aerated group. There was no significant difference between the anoxic and low-oxygen treatment groups for the nitrate removal. Additional, the nitrite accumulated during the experiments, and the nitrite concentrations in anoxic and aerated groups were lower than those in low-oxygen group. No nitrite was detected in all groups at the end of the experiments. These findings indicated that dissolved oxygen has important influence on denitrification, and anoxic and low-oxygen conditions can support completely denitrification when using BP as carbon source in nitrate-polluted wastewater treatment.

Women's views on reminder letters for screening mammography: Mixed methods study of women from 23 family health networks.

PubMed

Kaczorowski, Janusz; Karwalajtys, Tina; Lohfeld, Lynne; Laryea, Stephanie; Anderson, Kelly; Roder, Stefanie; Sebaldt, Rolf J

2009-06-01

To explore women's perspectives on the acceptability and content of reminder letters for screening mammography from their family physicians, as well as such letters' effect on screening intentions. Cross-sectional mailed survey followed by focus groups with a subgroup of respondents. Ontario. One family physician was randomly selected from each of 23 family health networks and primary care networks participating in a demonstration project to increase the delivery of preventive services. From the practice roster of each physician, up to 35 randomly selected women aged 50 to 69 years who were due or overdue for screening mammograms and who had received reminder letters from their family physicians within the past 6 months were surveyed. Recall of having received reminder letters and of their content, influence of the letters on decisions to have mammograms, and interest in receiving future reminder letters. Focus group interviews with survey respondents explored the survey findings in greater depth using a standardized interview guide. The response rate to the survey was 55.7% (384 of 689), and 45.1% (173 of 384) of responding women reported having mammograms in the past 6 months. Among women who recalled receiving letters and either making appointments for or having mammograms, 74.8% (122 of 163) indicated that the letters substantially influenced their decisions. Most respondents (77.1% [296 of 384]) indicated that they would like to continue to receive reminders, and 28.9% (111 of 384) indicated that they would like to receive additional information about mammograms. Participants in 2 focus groups (n = 3 and n = 5) indicated that they thought letters reflected a positive attitude of physicians toward mammography screening. They also commented that newly eligible women had different information needs than women who had had mammograms done in the past. Reminder letters were considered by participants to be useful and appeared to influence women's decisions to undergo mammography screening.

[Blood serum levels of immunoglobulins among African children: Seasonal variations and ethnic factors (a study done in Lourenco-Marques among a group of 11-year olds) (author's transl)].

PubMed

Martins, D; Levy, F M; Cabau, N

1975-06-20

The blood titers of IgG, IgA and IgM and total proteins were determined in October 1971 (dry season) and again in April 1972 (wet season) among girls and boys belonging to 4 ethnic groups: White, Bantu, Indian, Mixed. Parasitic studies were also done. These studies indicate a rise of IgM among the girls and of IgA in both sexes from October 1971 to April 1972. The average IgM titer among the four groups is higher than the one found in the Occident. This is especially notable for the Bantu and the Mixed. The Indian levels exceeded, on the average, the White group's. The average IgG figures are only slightly higher than those found in the literature for Western populations. Genetic influences do not appear to explain the differences found between the ethnic groups. The role of environment is stressed, and parasitic influences are discussed.

Transition to parenthood: the role of social interaction and endogenous networks.

PubMed

Diaz, Belinda Aparicio; Fent, Thomas; Prskawetz, Alexia; Bernardi, Laura

2011-05-01

Empirical studies indicate that the transition to parenthood is influenced by an individual's peer group. To study the mechanisms creating interdependencies across individuals' transition to parenthood and its timing, we apply an agent-based simulation model. We build a one-sex model and provide agents with three different characteristics: age, intended education, and parity. Agents endogenously form their network based on social closeness. Network members may then influence the agents' transition to higher parity levels. Our numerical simulations indicate that accounting for social interactions can explain the shift of first-birth probabilities in Austria during the period 1984 to 2004. Moreover, we apply our model to forecast age-specific fertility rates up to 2016.

A Metacommunity Framework for Enhancing the Effectiveness of Biological Monitoring Strategies

PubMed Central

Roque, Fabio O.; Cottenie, Karl

2012-01-01

Because of inadequate knowledge and funding, the use of biodiversity indicators is often suggested as a way to support management decisions. Consequently, many studies have analyzed the performance of certain groups as indicator taxa. However, in addition to knowing whether certain groups can adequately represent the biodiversity as a whole, we must also know whether they show similar responses to the main structuring processes affecting biodiversity. Here we present an application of the metacommunity framework for evaluating the effectiveness of biodiversity indicators. Although the metacommunity framework has contributed to a better understanding of biodiversity patterns, there is still limited discussion about its implications for conservation and biomonitoring. We evaluated the effectiveness of indicator taxa in representing spatial variation in macroinvertebrate community composition in Atlantic Forest streams, and the processes that drive this variation. We focused on analyzing whether some groups conform to environmental processes and other groups are more influenced by spatial processes, and on how this can help in deciding which indicator group or groups should be used. We showed that a relatively small subset of taxa from the metacommunity would represent 80% of the variation in community composition shown by the entire metacommunity. Moreover, this subset does not have to be composed of predetermined taxonomic groups, but rather can be defined based on random subsets. We also found that some random subsets composed of a small number of genera performed better in responding to major environmental gradients. There were also random subsets that seemed to be affected by spatial processes, which could indicate important historical processes. We were able to integrate in the same theoretical and practical framework, the selection of biodiversity surrogates, indicators of environmental conditions, and more importantly, an explicit integration of environmental and spatial processes into the selection approach. PMID:22937068

Moderating Effects of Social Value Orientation on the Effect of Social Influence in Prosocial Decisions

PubMed Central

Wei, Zhenyu; Zhao, Zhiying; Zheng, Yong

2016-01-01

Prosocial behaviors are susceptible to individuals’ preferences regarding payoffs and social context. In the present study, we combined individual differences with social influence and attempted to discover the effect of social value orientation (SVO) and social influence on prosocial behavior in a trust game and a dictator game. Prosocial behavior in the trust game could be motivated by strategic considerations whereas individuals’ decisions in the dictator game could be associated with their social preference. In the trust game, prosocials were less likely than proselfs to conform to the behavior of other group members when the majority of group members distrusted the trustee. In the dictator game, the results of the three-way ANOVA indicated that, irrespective of the type of offer, in contrast to proselfs, prosocials were influenced more by others’ generous choices than their selfish choices, even if the selfish choices were beneficial to themselves. The overall results demonstrated that the effect of social influence appears to depend on individuals’ SVO: that is, prosocials tend to conform to prosocial rather than proself behaviors. PMID:27445917

Career Aspirations of Non-Managerial Women: Adjustment and Adaptation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hite, Linda M.; McDonald, Kimberly S.

2003-01-01

Focus group data from 26 nonmanagerial women indicated that they often adapted their career goals due to life circumstances. Family responsibilities, job security, and organizational support systems (e.g., job flexibility, tuition reimbursement, mentoring) influenced career success and satisfaction. (Contains 29 references.) (SK)

Friendliness to humans and defensive aggression in cats: the influence of handling and paternity.

PubMed

Reisner, I R; Houpt, K A; Erb, H N; Quimby, F W

1994-06-01

This study was undertaken to examine and reduce the stress and aggressiveness associated with fear of handling in laboratory cats (Felis sylvestris catus). Thirteen litters of kittens from a specific pathogen-free breeding colony were divided into three treatment groups: two were early weaned, removed from the colony and caged individually with or without handling up to 8 weeks of age, and the third served as a control group, removed from the colony just before testing. Behavior tests measuring degree of friendliness to humans and response to physical restraint were performed at ages 8, 12, 16, and 20 weeks. Serum cortisol concentrations were measured after each test. Results indicate that litter and sire influenced tractability but that handling or individual caging of kittens did not. Posttest serum cortisol concentrations were below normal adult levels in most kittens, including those reacting fearfully during testing and aggressively during restraint, and, therefore, are not a reliable indicator of stress in juvenile cats.

Experimental study of optical fibers influence on composite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Rong-Mei; Liang, Da-Kai

2010-03-01

Bending strength and elasticity modulus of composite, with and without embedded optical fibers, were experimentally studied. Two kinds of laminates, which were denoted as group 1 and group 2, were fabricated from an orthogonal woven glass/epoxy prepreg. Since the normal stress value becomes the biggest at the surface of a beam, the optical fibers were embedded at the outmost layer and were all along the loading direction. Four types of materials, using each kind of laminated prepreg respectively, were manufactured. The embedded optical fibers for the 4 material types were 0, 10, 30 and 50 respectively. Three-point bending tests were carried out on the produced specimens to study the influence of embedded optical fiber on host composite. The experimental results indicated that the materials in group 2 were more sensitive to the embedded optical fibers.

Clinical psychologists' experiences of reflective staff groups in inpatient psychiatric settings: a mixed methods study.

PubMed

Heneghan, Cara; Wright, John; Watson, Gilli

2014-01-01

Background Reflective practice groups have been recommended for improving staff wellbeing and team functioning in inpatient psychiatric services, and clinical psychologists have been identified as potential leaders in this type of work. Research is limited with little information about reflective practice group guidelines, prevalence and effectiveness. Aims The aims of this study were to describe clinical psychologists' practice in reflective groups for staff in inpatient psychiatric services and to explore how such groups are conceptualized and implemented. Methods Online questionnaires and follow-up interviews were used to gain broad descriptions of practice and in-depth information about participants' experiences. The sample consisted of 73 clinical psychologists working in the UK, six of whom were interviewed. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, content analysis and thematic analysis. Results Clinical psychologists regularly facilitate reflective staff groups in inpatient psychiatric settings in the UK. Common outcomes related to staff wellbeing, service culture and teamwork. Engagement, group dynamics and lack of management support were common challenges. Group experiences were influenced by the organizational context. Conclusions Clinical psychologists' practices regarding reflective staff groups were in line with recent professional developments. Several difficulties were described, which may be indicative of both a difficulty inherent to the task and a training gap in reflective staff group process. The study had methodological limitations but offers a useful contribution to the literature, and enables practice and training implications to be drawn. The need for further research exploring facilitator characteristics, views of group participants and the impact of reflective staff groups on patients is indicated. The term 'reflective practice group' encompasses a range of practices, but a typical group structure was found with common aims, outcomes and challenges. Reflective staff groups are regularly facilitated by clinical psychologists in inpatient psychiatric settings in the UK and are influenced by practitioner experience as well as psychodynamic, systemic and group process theories. The safety required for reflective groups to function is influenced by the organizational context, and groups can contribute to shifts in culture toward including psychosocial perspectives. Reflective staff groups represent one type of contribution to an inpatient psychiatric service and team relationships; other processes to encourage alternative professional perspectives and values might also support change. More research is recommended to explore facilitator characteristics, the views of staff teams on reflective staff groups and the impact of these groups on patients. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Impact of a customised dietary intervention on antioxidant status, dietary intakes and periodontal indices in patients with adult periodontitis.

PubMed

Zare Javid, A; Seal, C J; Heasman, P; Moynihan, P J

2014-12-01

Dietary modification may be important in the prevention and control of chronic adult periodontitis. The role of promoting an adequate consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains in chronic periodontitis has not been thoroughly investigated. The main aim of this dietary intervention study was to assess the influence of a customised dietary intervention (aiming to increase the consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains) on antioxidant status in adults with chronic periodontitis. Fifty-one participants, aged 30-65 years, were recruited from a U.K. Dental Hospital and randomly allocated to an intervention or control group. Both groups received normal clinical treatment but customised dietary advice was delivered to the intervention group by a community nutrition assistant. Dietary intakes, anthropometric parameters and biochemical indices with respect to blood and saliva and periodontal indices were evaluated at baseline, as well as at 3 and 6 months post-dietary intervention. At 3 and 6 months post-intervention, the intervention group showed a significant (P < 0.05) increase in plasma total antioxidant capacity measured by Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity assay compared to the control group. At 3 and 6 months after dietary intervention, the intervention group had significantly higher intakes of fruits and vegetables compared to the control group. The intake of whole grain was significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group, 6 months post-intervention. No significant differences were observed with respect to periodontal indices between groups. It is suggested that dietary advice may help to improve dietary habits and, consequently, the antioxidant status of patients with chronic periodontitis. However, the impact of such intervention on periodontal indices needs further investigation. © 2013 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

Exploring the effect of oxygen-containing functional groups on the water-holding capacity of lignite.

PubMed

Liu, Jie; Jiang, Xiangang; Cao, Yu; Zhang, Chen; Zhao, Guangyao; Zhao, Maoshuang; Feng, Li

2018-05-07

Graphene oxide with different degrees of oxidation was prepared and selected as a model compound of lignite to study quantitatively, using both experiment and theoretical calculation methods, the effect on water-holding capacity of oxygen-containing functional groups. The experimental results showed that graphite can be oxidized, and forms epoxy groups most easily, followed by hydroxyl and carboxyl groups. The prepared graphene oxide forms a membrane-state as a single layer structure, with an irregular surface. The water-holding capacity of lignite increased with the content of oxygen-containing functional groups. The influence on the configuration of water molecule clusters and binding energy of water molecules of different oxygen-containing functional groups was calculated by density functional theory. The calculation results indicated that the configuration of water molecule clusters was totally changed by oxygen-containing functional groups. The order of binding energy produced by oxygen-containing functional groups and water molecules was as follows: carboxyl > edge phenol hydroxyl >epoxy group. Finally, it can be concluded that the potential to form more hydrogen bonds is the key factor influencing the interaction energy between model compounds and water molecules.

Factors influencing the food choices of Irish children and adolescents: a qualitative investigation.

PubMed

Fitzgerald, Amanda; Heary, Caroline; Nixon, Elizabeth; Kelly, Colette

2010-09-01

Food choices established during childhood and adolescence tend to persist into adulthood with consequences for long-term health. Yet, to date, relatively little research has examined factors that influence the food choices of children and adolescents from their perspectives. In this article, previous research is extended by examining developmental differences between children's and adolescents' perceptions of factors influencing their food choices. Focus group discussions were conducted with 29 young people from three age groups (9-10, 13-14 and 16-18 years). An inductive thematic analysis identified three key factors as influencing food choices. These factors included intra-individual factors: the link between food preferences and awareness of healthy eating; intra-familial factors: the role of the home food environment; and extra-familial factors: eating away from the home. Findings indicate that there were developmental differences between children's and adolescents' perceptions of factors influencing food choice. Among adolescents, parental control began to diminish and adolescents exercised increased autonomy over their food choices compared with children. To develop effective nutrition interventions, it is important to gather child and adolescent input regarding factors perceived as influencing their food choices.

Positive influence of traditional culture and socioeconomic activity on conservation: a case study from the black-and-white snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti) in Tibet.

PubMed

Xiang, Zuo-Fu; Huo, Sheng; Xiao, Wen; Cui, Liang-Wei

2010-12-01

Found in the Trans-Himalayas of north-west Yunnan and south-east Tibet, the black-and-white snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti) is one of the world's most endangered primates. A recent survey indicates that only 15 groups with 2500 individuals remain in the wild. However, the Tibetan Xiaochangdu group may be the only equilibrium group in the field since the last investigation in 1988. To evaluate the effects of traditional culture and socioeconomic activity on biodiversity conservation of R. bieti, we conducted a case study in the Honglaxueshan National Nature Reserve in southeast Tibet from June 2003 to May 2005. Interviews, direct observations, and analysis of socioeconomic data indicated major advantages to the conservation of R. bieti, which included that: 1) traditional culture mainly depended on raising livestock and collecting non-timber products rather than forest planting of Tibetan highland barley; 2) religious beliefs, against to kill any wildlife living on the sacred mountain, were mainly influenced by Tibetan Buddhism; and 3) bigger household numbers were induced by the polyandrous marriage system, which resulted in lower per capita resource consumption than smaller ones.

Object-based neglect in number processing

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Recent evidence suggests that neglect patients seem to have particular problems representing relatively smaller numbers corresponding to the left part of the mental number line. However, while this indicates space-based neglect for representational number space little is known about whether and - if so - how object-based neglect influences number processing. To evaluate influences of object-based neglect in numerical cognition, a group of neglect patients and two control groups had to compare two-digit numbers to an internally represented standard. Conceptualizing two-digit numbers as objects of which the left part (i.e., the tens digit should be specifically neglected) we were able to evaluate object-based neglect for number magnitude processing. Object-based neglect was indicated by a larger unit-decade compatibility effect actually reflecting impaired processing of the leftward tens digits. Additionally, faster processing of within- as compared to between-decade items provided further evidence suggesting particular difficulties in integrating tens and units into the place-value structure of the Arabic number system. In summary, the present study indicates that, in addition to the spatial representation of number magnitude, also the processing of place-value information of multi-digit numbers seems specifically impaired in neglect patients. PMID:23343126

Systematic mapping review of the factors influencing physical activity and sedentary behaviour in ethnic minority groups in Europe: a DEDIPAC study.

PubMed

Langøien, Lars Jørun; Terragni, Laura; Rugseth, Gro; Nicolaou, Mary; Holdsworth, Michelle; Stronks, Karien; Lien, Nanna; Roos, Gun

2017-07-24

Physical activity and sedentary behaviour are associated with health and wellbeing. Studies indicate that ethnic minority groups are both less active and more sedentary than the majority population and that factors influencing these behaviours may differ. Mapping the factors influencing physical activity and sedentary behaviour among ethnic minority groups living in Europe can help to identify determinants of physical activity and sedentary behaviour, research gaps and guide future research. A systematic mapping review was conducted to map the factors associated with physical activity and sedentary behaviour among ethnic minority groups living in Europe (protocol PROSPERO ID = CRD42014014575). Six databases were searched for quantitative and qualitative research published between 1999 and 2014. In synthesizing the findings, all factors were sorted and structured into clusters following a data driven approach and concept mapping. Sixty-three articles were identified out of 7794 returned by the systematic search. These included 41 quantitative and 22 qualitative studies. Of these 58 focused on physical activity, 5 on both physical activity and sedentary behaviour and none focused on sedentary behaviour. The factors associated with physical activity and sedentary behaviour were grouped into eight clusters. Social & cultural environment (n = 55) and Psychosocial (39) were the clusters containing most factors, followed by Physical environment & accessibility (33), Migration context (15), Institutional environment (14), Social & material resources (12), Health and health communication (12), Political environment (3). An important finding was that cultural and religious issues, in particular those related to gender issues, were recurring factors across the clusters. Physical activity and sedentary behaviour among ethnic minority groups living in Europe are influenced by a wide variety of factors, especially informed by qualitative studies. More comparative studies are needed as well as inclusion of a wider spectrum of the diverse ethnic minority groups resettled in different European countries. Few studies have investigated factors influencing sedentary behaviour. It is important in the future to address specific factors influencing physical activity and sedentary behaviour among different ethnic minority groups in order to plan and implement effective interventions.

The role of cultural models in local perceptions of SFM--differences and similarities of interest groups from three boreal regions.

PubMed

Berninger, Kati; Kneeshaw, Daniel; Messier, Christian

2009-02-01

Differences in the way local and regional interest groups perceive Sustainable Forest Management in regions with different forest use histories were studied using Southeastern Finland, the Mauricie in Quebec and Central Labrador in Canada as examples of regions with high, medium and low importance of commercial forestry. We present a conceptual model illustrating the cyclic interaction between the forest, cultural models about forests and forest management. We hypothesized that peoples' perceptions would be influenced by their cultural models about forests and would thus vary amongst regions with different forest use histories and among different interest groups. The weightings of the environmental, economic and social components of sustainability as well as themes important for each of the interest groups were elicited using individual listing of SFM indicators and group work aimed at developing a consensus opinion on a common indicator list. In Southeastern Finland the views of the different groups were polarized along the environment-economy axis, whereas in Central Labrador all groups were environmentally oriented. The social dimension was low overall except among the Metis and the Innu in Labrador. Only environmental groups were similar in all three research regions, the largest differences between regions were found among the forestry professionals in their weightings concerning economy and nature. As the importance of commercial forestry increased, a greater importance of economic issues was expressed whereas the opposite trend was observed for issues regarding nature. Also inter-group differences grew as the importance of commercial forestry increased in the region. Forest management and forest use can be seen as factors strongly influencing peoples' cultural models on forests.

[Influence of contractual medical association on inpatient service performance].

PubMed

Wu, Zhi-jun; Jian, Wei-yan

2015-06-18

To study the influence of contractual medical association on inpatient service performance. The data came from "Database of Inpatient Record" administered by Department of Medical Insurance. Using diagnosis related groups (DRG) as the tool of risk-adjustment, the third-tier general hospitals and second-tier general hospitals in medical alliance as the intervention group, and the average level of the same grade local hospitals as the control group, the influence of medical alliance on inpatient service performance was evaluated. The difference in difference (DID) method was used for the data analysis. The assessing indicators included the number of DRG group, case mix index (CMI), the total weight, cost efficiency index and time efficiency index. After the establishment of medical association, compared with the average level of the same grade local hospitals, in the third-tier general hospitals of medical alliance, the growth rate of the total weight had declined, and cost efficiency index had increased, while in the second-tier general hospitals of medical alliance, the CMI value had declined, and the cost efficiency index had increased. Contractual medical association played a role of triage patients, and improved the service levels and management efficiency of the second-tier general hospitals.

Phytoplankton community indicators of changes associated with dredging in the Tagus estuary (Portugal).

PubMed

Cabrita, Maria Teresa

2014-08-01

This work reports changes in suspended particulate matter, turbidity, dissolved Cr, Ni, Cu, Cd, Hg and Pb concentrations, and phytoplankton biomass and composition during a 5-month period dredging operation, in a trace element contaminated area of the Tagus estuary (Portugal). Phytoplankton biomass, diatom:other groups ratio, benthic:pelagic diatom ratio, Margalef's, Simpson's diversity, Shannon-Wiever's, and Warwick and Clarke's taxonomic diversity and distinctness indices, and individual taxa were investigated as indicators of dredging induced changes. Significant rise in sediment resuspension and trace element mobilisation caused by dredging influenced the community structure but not the overall biomass. Benthic diatom displacement into the water column maintained species diversity, and therefore, none of the indices highlighted community changes. Contrastingly, diatom:other groups ratio and benthic:pelagic diatom ratio were reliable indicators for the assessment of dredging induced changes. A shift in composition towards species less susceptible to trace elements was observed, disclosing some individual taxa as potential indicators. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influences on Tobacco Use Among Urban Hispanic Young Adults in Baltimore: Findings From a Qualitative Study

PubMed Central

McCleary-Sills, Jennifer D.; Villanti, Andrea; Rosario, Evelyn; Bone, Lee; Stillman, Frances

2011-01-01

Background Among Hispanics, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death for men and the second leading cause of cancer death for women in the United States. Despite recent growth in Baltimore City’s Hispanic population, few data exist on tobacco use behaviors in this group. Objectives The present research sought to explore the social and environmental influences and norms that encourage or discourage tobacco use among Hispanic young adults in Baltimore. Methods In collaboration with several community stakeholders, we conducted focus groups with Hispanic young adults 18 to 24 years old. Participants were recruited from a community-based service organization and invited to take part in one of four focus groups segregated by gender. Results A total of 13 young men and 11 young women participated. Data from these focus groups indicate that cultural identity and gender norms leverage substantial influence in young adults’ decision about whether, where, and with whom to smoke. The data also suggest multiple social and familial influences on their smoking and nonsmoking behaviors. Participants identified smoking practices and clear brand preferences that they feel distinguish Hispanics from other racial and ethnic groups. Despite acknowledging the high price of cigarettes, cost was not mentioned as a factor influential in their smoking decisions. Conclusion These results provide essential guidance for the development of appropriate tobacco prevention and cessation intervention strategies and policy recommendations to eliminate tobacco use among Hispanic young adults in Baltimore. PMID:21169706

[Does self-esteem affect body dissatisfaction levels in female adolescents?].

PubMed

Fortes, Leonardo de Sousa; Cipriani, Flávia Marcele; Coelho, Fernanda Dias; Paes, Santiago Tavares; Ferreira, Maria Elisa Caputo

2014-09-01

To evaluate the influence of self-esteem on levels of body dissatisfaction among adolescent females. A group of 397 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years were enrolled in the study. The Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) was applied to assess body dissatisfaction. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was used to assess self-esteem. Weight, height, and skinfold thickness were also measured. These anthropometric data were controlled in the statistical analyses. The multiple regression model indicated influence of "positive self-esteem" (R(2)=0.16; p=0.001) and "negative self-esteem" (R(2)=0.23; p=0.001) subscales on the BSQ scores. Univariate analysis of covariance demonstrated differences in BSQ scores (p=0.001) according to groups of self-esteem. It was concluded that self-esteem influenced body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls from Juiz de Fora, MG. Copyright © 2014 Sociedade de Pediatria de São Paulo. Publicado por Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Does self-esteem affect body dissatisfaction levels in female adolescents?☆

PubMed Central

Fortes, Leonardo de Sousa; Cipriani, Flávia Marcele; Coelho, Fernanda Dias; Paes, Santiago Tavares; Ferreira, Maria Elisa Caputo

2014-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the influence of self-esteem on levels of body dissatisfaction among adolescent females. Methods: A group of 397 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years were enrolled in the study. The Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) was applied to assess body dissatisfaction. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was used to assess self-esteem. Weight, height, and skinfold thickness were also measured. These anthropometric data were controlled in the statistical analyses. Results: The multiple regression model indicated influence of "positive self-esteem" (R2=0.16; p=0.001) and "negative self-esteem" (R2=0.23; p=0.001) subscales on the BSQ scores. Univariate analysis of covariance demonstrated differences in BSQ scores (p=0.001) according to groups of self-esteem. Conclusion: It was concluded that self-esteem influenced body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls from Juiz de Fora, MG. PMID:25479855

Modelling elderly patients' perception of the community pharmacist image when providing professional services.

PubMed

Sabater-Galindo, Marta; Sabater-Hernández, Daniel; Ruiz de Maya, Salvador; Gastelurrutia, Miguel Angel; Martínez-Martínez, Fernando; Benrimoj, Shalom I

2017-06-01

Professional pharmaceutical services may impact on patient's health behaviour as well as influence on patients' perceptions of the pharmacist image. The Health Belief Model predicts health-related behaviours using patients' beliefs. However, health beliefs (HBs) could transcend beyond predicting health behaviour and may have an impact on the patients' perceptions of the pharmacist image. This study objective was to develop and test a model that relates patients' HBs to patient's perception of the image of the pharmacist, and to assess if the provision of pharmacy services (Intervention group-IG) influences this perception compared to usual care (Control group). A qualitative study was undertaken and a questionnaire was created for the development of the model. The content, dimensions, validity and reliability of the questionnaire were pre-tested qualitatively and in a pilot mail survey. The reliability and validity of the proposed model were tested using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to explain relationships between dimensions of the final model and to analyse differences between groups. As a result, a final model was developed. CFA concluded that the model was valid and reliable (Goodness of Fit indices: x²(80) = 125.726, p = .001, RMSEA = .04, SRMR = .04, GFI = .997, NFI = .93, CFI = .974). SEM indicated that 'Perceived benefits' were significantly associated with 'Perceived Pharmacist Image' in the whole sample. Differences were found in the IG with also 'Self-efficacy' significantly influencing 'Perceived pharmacist image'. A model of patients' HBs related to their image of the pharmacist was developed and tested. When pharmacists deliver professional services, these services modify some patients' HBs that in turn influence public perception of the pharmacist.

Parents' communication decision for children with hearing loss: sources of information and influence.

PubMed

Decker, Kalli B; Vallotton, Claire D; Johnson, Harold A

2012-01-01

Choosing a method of communication for a child with hearing loss is a complex process that must occur early to prevent developmental consequences. Research shows that parents' decisions are influenced by professionals; parental attitudes and knowledge also may be influential. The present study investigated additional influences on parents' choices; data were collected via an online survey (N = 36). Results indicated no effects of parents' knowledge of development on their communication choices, but did indicate an effect of parents' values and priorities for their children. Further, parents who chose speech only received information from education or speech/audiology professionals more often. However, there were no group differences in sources parents cited as influential; all parents relied on their own judgment. Results suggest that parents internalize the opinions of professionals. Thus, accurate information from professionals is necessary for parents to make informed decisions about their children's communication.

Influence of feedstock chemical composition on product formation and characteristics derived from the hydrothermal carbonization of mixed feedstocks.

PubMed

Lu, Xiaowei; Berge, Nicole D

2014-08-01

As the exploration of the carbonization of mixed feedstocks continues, there is a distinct need to understand how feedstock chemical composition and structural complexity influence the composition of generated products. Laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate the carbonization of pure compounds, mixtures of the pure compounds, and complex feedstocks comprised of the pure compounds (e.g., paper, wood). Results indicate that feedstock properties do influence carbonization product properties. Carbonization product characteristics were predicted using results from the carbonization of the pure compounds and indicate that recovered solids energy contents are more accurately predicted than solid yields and the carbon mass in each phase, while predictions associated with solids surface functional groups are more difficult to predict using this linear approach. To more accurately predict carbonization products, it may be necessary to account for feedstock structure and/or additional feedstock properties. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Intergroup Relations and Predictors of Immigrant Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Danso, Kofi; Lum, Terry

2013-01-01

Using survey data from 1,036 participants, which included 4 immigrant groups, we examined the factors that influence immigrants' experiences as they interact with nonimmigrant Americans. Logistic and multinomial regression results indicate that non-European immigrants were more likely to report negative experiences with Americans. The odds of…

Heart rate recovery after aerobic and anaerobic tests: is there an influence of anaerobic speed reserve?

PubMed

Del Rosso, Sebastián; Nakamura, Fabio Y; Boullosa, Daniel A

2017-05-01

The present study assessed if differences in the metabolic profile, inferred from the anaerobic speed reserve (ASR), would influence the dynamics of heart rate recovery (HRR) after two modes of exercise. Thirty-nine physical education students (14 females and 25 males) volunteered for this study. Participants carried out three separate testing sessions to assess maximal sprinting speed (MSS, 1st session), repeated sprint ability (RSA, 2nd session) and maximal aerobic speed (MAS) using the Université of Montreal Track Test (UMTT, 3rd session). ASR was defined as the difference between MSS and MAS. Heart rate was continuously registered throughout the tests and during the 5-min post-test recovery. To evaluate the influence of ASR on post-exercise, HRR comparisons between ASR-based groups [high ASR vs. low ASR] and sex groups (males vs. females) were performed. Significant differences (P < 0.05) were found between high ASR and low ASR groups of the same sex for indices of relative HRR after the RSA and UMTT. In addition, after the RSA test, males from the high ASR group had a significantly slower HRR kinetics compared with the males of the low ASR (P < 0.05) and the females of high ASR (P < 0.05); whereas females of the high ASR groups had a faster HRR kinetics compared with the females of low ASR group (P < 0.05). Our results showed that in males, post-exercise HRR could be related to the ASR, whereas in females, the influence of ASR is less clear.

The effect of cognitive appraisal for stressors on the oral health-related QOL of dry mouth patients.

PubMed

Matsuoka, Hirofumi; Chiba, Itsuo; Sakano, Yuji; Saito, Ichiro; Abiko, Yoshihiro

2014-01-01

Dry mouth is very common symptom, and psychological factors have an influence on this symptom. Although the influence of emotional factor related to patients with oral dryness has been examined in previous studies, the cognitive factors have not been examined thus far. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of cognitive factors on patients with oral dryness. The participants were 106 patients complaining of oral dryness. They were required to complete a questionnaire measuring subjective oral dryness, oral-related QOL, cognition for stressors, and mood state. Correlational analyses revealed that OHIP-14 is significantly related to oral dryness, appraisal for effect, appraisal for threat, and commitment. These correlations were maintained even after controlling for the influence of depression and anxiety. Using oral dryness, appraisal for effect, appraisal for threat, and commitment, cluster analysis was done and three clusters (cluster-1, severe oral dryness; cluster-2, positive cognitive style: cluster-3, negative cognitive style) were extracted. The results of ANOVA showed that the group with severe oral dryness (cluster-1) had a significantly higher score on OHIP-14 than the other two groups. There was no significant difference between the groups with positive (cluster-2) and negative (cluster-3) cognitive style. Although the group of patients with positive cognitive style complained of more severe oral dryness than the group with negative cognitive style, no significant difference was observed between these two groups in OHIP-14. These results indicate that cognitive factors would be a useful therapeutic target for the improvement of the oral-related QOL of patients with oral dryness.

Iranian Influence in Iraqi Shi’a Groups

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-01

Movement in Iraq, 254. 60 Jabar, The Shīʻite Movement in Iraq, 254. 61 Robert Fisk, The Great War For Civilisation : the Conquest of the Middle East...by Iran in 62 Fisk, The Great War For Civilisation : the Conquest of the Middle East, 647. 63 John...U.S. soldier missing in Iraq. AAH sources indicated that the group was not behind the killing but rather just mediators in the process of returning

Influence of hydrostatic pressure on intracoronary indices of stenosis severity in vivo.

PubMed

Härle, Tobias; Luz, Mareike; Meyer, Sven; Vahldiek, Felix; van der Harst, Pim; van Dijk, Randy; Ties, Daan; Escaned, Javier; Davies, Justin; Elsässer, Albrecht

2018-03-01

An influence of hydrostatic pressure on intracoronary indices of stenosis severity in vitro was recently reported. We sought to analyze the influence of hydrostatic pressure, caused by the height difference between the distal and proximal pressure sensor after guidewire positioning in the interrogated vessel, on intracoronary pressure measurements in vivo. In 30 coronary stenoses, intracoronary pressure measurements were performed in supine, left, and right lateral patient position. Height differences between the distal and proximal pressure sensor were measured by blinded observers. Measurement results of the position with the highest ("high") and lowest height difference ("low") were compared. In group "high", all measured indices were higher: mean difference of fractional flow reserve (FFR) 0.045 (SD 0.033, 95% CI 0.033-0.057, p < 0.0001), of instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) 0.043 (SD 0.04, 95% CI 0.029-0.057, p < 0.0001), and of resting Pd/Pa 0.037 (SD 0.034, 95% CI 0.025-0.049, p < 0.0001). Addition of the physically expectable hydrostatic pressure to the distal coronary pressures of the control group abolished the differences: corrected ∆FFR - 0.006 (SD 0.027, 95% CI - 0.015 to 0.004, p = 0.26), corrected ∆Pd/Pa - 0.008 (SD 0.03, 95% CI - 0.019 to 0.003, p = 0.18). Adjustment for hydrostatic pressure of FFR values in a standard supine position increased all values in anterior vessels and decreased all values in posterior vessels. The mean changes of FFR due to adjustment were: LAD - 0.048 (SD 0.016), CX 0.02 (SD 0.009), RCA 0.02 (SD 0.021). Dichotomous severity classification changed in 12.9% of stenoses. The study demonstrates a relevant influence of hydrostatic pressure on intracoronary indices of stenosis severity in vivo, caused by the height differences between distal and proximal pressure sensor.

ACL injury risk in elite female youth soccer: Changes in neuromuscular control of the knee following soccer-specific fatigue.

PubMed

De Ste Croix, M B A; Priestley, A M; Lloyd, R S; Oliver, J L

2015-10-01

Fatigue is known to influence dynamic knee joint stability from a neuromuscular perspective, and electromechanical delay (EMD) plays an important role as the feedback activation mechanism that stabilizes the joint. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of soccer-specific fatigue on EMD in U13-, U15-, and U17-year-old female soccer players. Thirty-six youth soccer players performed eccentric actions of the hamstrings in a prone position at 60, 120, and 180°/s before and after a soccer-specific fatigue trial. Surface electromyography was used to determine EMD from the semitendinosus, biceps femoris and gastrocnemius. A time × age × muscle × velocity repeated measures analysis of variance was used to explore the influence of fatigue on EMD. A significant main effect for time (P = 0.001) indicated that EMD was significantly longer post- compared with pre-fatigue (58.4% increase). A significant time × group interaction effect (P = 0.046) indicated EMD was significantly longer in the U13 age group compared with the U15 (P = 0.011) and U17 (P = 0.021) groups and greater post-fatigue. Soccer-specific fatigue compromised neuromuscular feedback mechanisms and the age-related effects may represent a more compliant muscle-tendon system in younger compared with older girls, increasing risk of injury. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Inferring pathobiology from structural MRI in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: Modeling head motion and neuroanatomical specificity.

PubMed

Yao, Nailin; Winkler, Anderson M; Barrett, Jennifer; Book, Gregory A; Beetham, Tamara; Horseman, Rachel; Leach, Olivia; Hodgson, Karen; Knowles, Emma E; Mathias, Samuel; Stevens, Michael C; Assaf, Michal; van Erp, Theo G M; Pearlson, Godfrey D; Glahn, David C

2017-08-01

Despite over 400 peer-reviewed structural MRI publications documenting neuroanatomic abnormalities in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, the confounding effects of head motion and the regional specificity of these defects are unclear. Using a large cohort of individuals scanned on the same research dedicated MRI with broadly similar protocols, we observe reduced cortical thickness indices in both illnesses, though less pronounced in bipolar disorder. While schizophrenia (n = 226) was associated with wide-spread surface area reductions, bipolar disorder (n = 227) and healthy comparison subjects (n = 370) did not differ. We replicate earlier reports that head motion (estimated from time-series data) influences surface area and cortical thickness measurements and demonstrate that motion influences a portion, but not all, of the observed between-group structural differences. Although the effect sizes for these differences were small to medium, when global indices were covaried during vertex-level analyses, between-group effects became nonsignificant. This analysis raises doubts about the regional specificity of structural brain changes, possible in contrast to functional changes, in affective and psychotic illnesses as measured with current imaging technology. Given that both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder showed cortical thickness reductions, but only schizophrenia showed surface area changes, and assuming these measures are influenced by at least partially unique sets of biological factors, then our results could indicate some degree of specificity between bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Hum Brain Mapp 38:3757-3770, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Parent and peer pathways to adolescent delinquency: variations by ethnicity and neighborhood context.

PubMed

Deutsch, Arielle R; Crockett, Lisa J; Wolff, Jennifer M; Russell, Stephen T

2012-08-01

Effects of ethnicity and neighborhood quality often are confounded in research on adolescent delinquent behavior. This study examined the pathways to delinquency among 2,277 African American and 5,973 European American youth residing in high-risk and low-risk neighborhoods. Using data from a national study of youth, a meditational model was tested in which parenting practices (parental control and maternal support) were hypothesized to influence adolescents' participation in delinquent behavior through their affiliation with deviant peers. The relationships of family and neighborhood risk to parenting practices and deviant peer affiliation were also examined. Results of multi-group structural equation models provided support for the core meditational model in both ethnic groups, as well as evidence of a direct effect of maternal support on delinquency. When a similar model was tested within each ethnic group to compare youths residing in high-risk and low-risk neighborhoods, few neighborhood differences were found. The results indicate that, for both African American and European American youth, low parental control influences delinquency indirectly through its effect on deviant peer affiliation, whereas maternal support has both direct and indirect effects. However, the contextual factors influencing parenting practices and deviant peer affiliation appear to vary somewhat across ethnic groups. Overall the present study highlights the need to look at the joint influence of neighborhood context and ethnicity on adolescent problem behavior.

Influence of glucocorticosteroids on the biomechanical properties of in-vivo rabbit cornea.

PubMed

Yu, Ji-guo; Bao, Fang-jun; Joda, Akram; Fu, Xun-an; Zhou, Shi; Wang, Jing; Hu, Xiu-li; Wang, Qin-mei; Elsheikh, Ahmed

2014-01-01

Understanding corneal biomechanical responses during long-term glucocorticosteroids administration is important in clinical practice. The purpose of this study is to investigate the biomechanical influence of fluorometholone 0.1% eye drops on rabbit cornea. Thirty-eight Japanese white rabbits were randomly divided into three groups; a fluorometholone group, a supernatant group and a blank control group. For each rabbit in fluorometholone group, one cornea was treated with fluorometholone 0.1% eye drops four times a day for 8 weeks, while corneas of rabbits in supernatant group were treated in the same frequency with supernatant fraction centrifuged from fluorometholone 0.1% eye drops. The rabbits in the blank control group were not given any treatment. At the end of the 8 week observation period, the rabbits were euthanized and the eyes immediately enucleated and prepared for inflation testing. The experimental pressure-deformation data was used to derive the stress-strain behavior of each eye using an inverse modeling procedure. Comparisons of mechanical stiffness of corneas were conducted among the three groups to determine the influence of fluorometholone. The results showed that corneal stiffness decreased as the fluorometholone administration time prolonged. Comparisons of tangent modulus indicated average stiffness reductions of 34.2% and 33.5% in the fluorometholone group compared to the supernatant and control groups, respectively, at the end of the observation period. The stiffness-reduction effect of fluorometholone on the cornea should be considered in clinical management, especially when administrating it to biomechanically weakened corneas, such as after refractive surgeries and in cases of keratoconus. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

[The effect of vegetarian diet on selected biochemical and blood morphology parameters].

PubMed

Nazarewicz, Rafał

2007-01-01

The objective was to examine whether vegetarian diet influence biochemical parameters of blood and plasma urea in selective vegetarian group. The investigation covered 41 subject, 22 of them had been applying vegetarian diet and 19 were omnivorous. The study shows statistically significant lower values of white blood cells, % and amounts of neutrocytes and insignificant lower level of red blood cells, hemoglobine, hematocrit and platelet in vegetarian group. Significant lower plasma urea level was observed in that group. These changes indicate that high quality deficiency protein was due to vegetarian diet.

The influence of essential oils on human attention. I: alertness.

PubMed

Ilmberger, J; Heuberger, E; Mahrhofer, C; Dessovic, H; Kowarik, D; Buchbauer, G

2001-03-01

Scientific research on the effects of essential oils on human behavior lags behind the promises made by popular aromatherapy. Nearly all aspects of human behavior are closely linked to processes of attention, the basic level being that of alertness, which ranges from sleep to wakefulness. In our study we measured the influence of essential oils and components of essential oils [peppermint, jasmine, ylang-ylang, 1,8-cineole (in two different dosages) and menthol] on this core attentional function, which can be experimentally defined as speed of information processing. Substances were administered by inhalation; levels of alertness were assessed by measuring motor and reaction times in a reaction time paradigm. The performances of the six experimental groups receiving substances (n = 20 in four groups, n = 30 in two groups) were compared with those of corresponding control groups receiving water. Between-group analysis, i.e. comparisons between experimental groups and their respective control groups, mainly did not reach statistical significance. However, within-group analysis showed complex correlations between subjective evaluations of substances and objective performance, indicating that effects of essentials oils or their components on basic forms of attentional behavior are mainly psychological.

Does the Short-Term Effect of Air Pollution Influence the Incidence of Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Different Patient Groups? Big Data Analysis in Taiwan.

PubMed

Chien, Ting-Ying; Ting, Hsien-Wei; Chan, Chien-Lung; Yang, Nan-Ping; Pan, Ren-Hao; Lai, K Robert; Hung, Su-In

2017-12-10

Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) has a high mortality rate. Research has demonstrated that the occurrence of sICH is related to air pollution. This study used big data analysis to explore the impact of air pollution on the risk of sICH in patients of differing age and geographic location. 39,053 cases were included in this study; 14,041 in the Taipei region (Taipei City and New Taipei City), 5537 in Taoyuan City, 7654 in Taichung City, 4739 in Tainan City, and 7082 in Kaohsiung City. The results of correlation analysis indicated that there were two pollutants groups, the CO and NO₂ group and the PM 2.5 and PM 10 group. Furthermore, variations in the correlations of sICH with air pollutants were identified in different age groups. The co-factors of the influence of air pollutants in the different age groups were explored using regression analysis. This study integrated Taiwan National Health Insurance data and air pollution data to explore the risk factors of sICH using big data analytics. We found that PM 2.5 and PM 10 are very important risk factors for sICH, and age is an important modulating factor that allows air pollutants to influence the incidence of sICH.

Does the Short-Term Effect of Air Pollution Influence the Incidence of Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Different Patient Groups? Big Data Analysis in Taiwan

PubMed Central

Chien, Ting-Ying; Ting, Hsien-Wei; Chan, Chien-Lung; Lai, K. Robert; Hung, Su-In

2017-01-01

Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) has a high mortality rate. Research has demonstrated that the occurrence of sICH is related to air pollution. This study used big data analysis to explore the impact of air pollution on the risk of sICH in patients of differing age and geographic location. 39,053 cases were included in this study; 14,041 in the Taipei region (Taipei City and New Taipei City), 5537 in Taoyuan City, 7654 in Taichung City, 4739 in Tainan City, and 7082 in Kaohsiung City. The results of correlation analysis indicated that there were two pollutants groups, the CO and NO2 group and the PM2.5 and PM10 group. Furthermore, variations in the correlations of sICH with air pollutants were identified in different age groups. The co-factors of the influence of air pollutants in the different age groups were explored using regression analysis. This study integrated Taiwan National Health Insurance data and air pollution data to explore the risk factors of sICH using big data analytics. We found that PM2.5 and PM10 are very important risk factors for sICH, and age is an important modulating factor that allows air pollutants to influence the incidence of sICH. PMID:29232865

The influence of providing a clinical practice guideline on dental students' decision making.

PubMed

van der Sanden, Wil J M; Mettes, Dirk G; Plasschaert, Alphons J M; Mulder, Jan; Verdonschot, Emiel H

2004-02-01

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the provision of a clinical practice guideline (CPG) on dental students' decisions to remove asymptomatic, impacted lower third molars. All dental students, who in 2001 were in the 3rd, 4th or 5th (final) year of their study at the Nijmegen College of Dental Sciences, were invited to participate. A pre-test-post-test control group design was used. Given 36 patient cases, all dental students were asked to assess the need for removal of asymptomatic, impacted lower third molars. All pre-test respondents were randomly allocated to the control or intervention group. After the provision of a CPG to the intervention group, both groups were asked to assess the same cases again. Frequencies of decisions to remove the third molars were calculated. Chi-square tests and anova were used to test the influence of study year and gender on the drop-out rate and on the effect of the provision of a CPG on students' treatment decisions. The decrease in indications to remove third molars by the intervention group was statistically significant (P < 0.05). In the control group, no significant decrease was observed. It was concluded that the provision of a CPG significantly influences dental students' decision making about treatment in a third-molar decision task. Students who used the CPG showed more guideline-conformed decision making.

Exploring the disruptive effects of psychopathy and aggression on group processes and group effectiveness.

PubMed

Baysinger, Michael A; Scherer, Kelly T; LeBreton, James M

2014-01-01

The present research examines the influence of implicit and explicit personality characteristics on group process and effectiveness. Individuals from 112 groups participated in 2 problem-solving tasks and completed measures of group process and effectiveness. Results indicated that groups characterized by higher levels of psychopathy and implicit aggression tended to have more dysfunctional interactions and negative perceptions of the group. In addition, task participation and negative socioemotional behaviors fully mediated the relationship between group personality traits and group commitment and cohesion, and negative socioemotional behaviors fully mediated the relationship between group personality and performance on both tasks. Implications of antisocial traits for group interactions and performance, as well as for future theory and research, are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved

Improving creativity performance by short-term meditation.

PubMed

Ding, Xiaoqian; Tang, Yi-Yuan; Tang, Rongxiang; Posner, Michael I

2014-03-19

One form of meditation intervention, the integrative body-mind training (IBMT) has been shown to improve attention, reduce stress and change self-reports of mood. In this paper we examine whether short-term IBMT can improve performance related to creativity and determine the role that mood may play in such improvement. Forty Chinese undergraduates were randomly assigned to short-term IBMT group or a relaxation training (RT) control group. Mood and creativity performance were assessed by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) questionnaire respectively. As predicted, the results indicated that short-term (30 min per day for 7 days) IBMT improved creativity performance on the divergent thinking task, and yielded better emotional regulation than RT. In addition, cross-lagged analysis indicated that both positive and negative affect may influence creativity in IBMT group (not RT group). Our results suggested that emotion-related creativity-promoting mechanism may be attributed to short-term meditation.

Evaluation of vegetation indices for rangeland biomass estimation in the Kimberley area of Western Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mundava, C.; Helmholz, P.; Schut, A. G. T.; Corner, R.; McAtee, B.; Lamb, D. W.

2014-09-01

The objective of this paper is to test the relationships between Above Ground Biomass (AGB) and remotely sensed vegetation indices for AGB assessments in the Kimberley area in Western Australia. For 19 different sites, vegetation indices were derived from eight Landsat ETM+ scenes over a period of two years (2011-2013). The sites were divided into three groups (Open plains, Bunch grasses and Spinifex) based on similarities in dominant vegetation types. Dry and green biomass fractions were measured at these sites. Single and multiple regression relationships between vegetation indices and green and total AGB were calibrated and validated using a "leave site out" cross validation. Four tests were compared: (1) relationships between AGB and vegetation indices combining all sites; (2) separate relationships per site group; (3) multiple regressions including selected vegetation indices per site group; and (4) as in 3 but including rainfall and elevation data. Results indicate that relationships based on single vegetation indices are moderately accurate for green biomass in wide open plains covered with annual grasses. The cross-validation results for green AGB improved for a combination of indices for the Open plains and Bunch grasses sites, but not for Spinifex sites. When rainfall and elevation data are included, cross validation improved slightly with a Q2 of 0.49-0.72 for Open plains and Bunch grasses sites respectively. Cross validation results for total AGB were moderately accurate (Q2 of 0.41) for Open plains but weak or absent for other site groups despite good calibration results, indicating strong influence of site-specific factors.

Exploring the Impact of Culture- and Language-Influenced Physics on Science Attitude Enhancement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morales, Marie Paz E.

2016-02-01

"Culture," a set of principles that trace and familiarize human beings within their existential realities, may provide an invisible lens through which reality could be discerned. Critically explored in this study is how culture- and language-sensitive curriculum materials in physics improve Pangasinan learners' attitude toward science. Their cultural preference or profile defined their cultural dimensions, epistemological beliefs, and views on integration of culture and language in the teaching and learning processes. The culture- and language-influenced curriculum materials in physics were heavily influenced by Pangasinan learners' cultural preference or profile. Results of the experimental participants' pretest and posttest on science attitude measure, when compared, showed significant statistical difference. Assessment of science attitude enhancement favored the experimental group over the control group. Qualitative data gathered from postimplementation interviews, focus group discussions, and journal log entries indicated the same trend in favor of the experimental participants. The study yielded that culture and language integration in the teaching and learning processes of physics concepts allowed students to develop positive attitude to science, their culture, and native language.

Does Aerobic Exercise Influence Intrinsic Brain Activity? An Aerobic Exercise Intervention among Healthy Old Adults

PubMed Central

Flodin, Pär; Jonasson, Lars S.; Riklund, Katrin; Nyberg, Lars; Boraxbekk, C. J.

2017-01-01

Previous studies have indicated that aerobic exercise could reduce age related decline in cognition and brain functioning. Here we investigated the effects of aerobic exercise on intrinsic brain activity. Sixty sedentary healthy males and females (64–78 years) were randomized into either an aerobic exercise group or an active control group. Both groups recieved supervised training, 3 days a week for 6 months. Multimodal brain imaging data was acquired before and after the intervention, including 10 min of resting state brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and arterial spin labeling (ASL). Additionally, a comprehensive battery of cognitive tasks assessing, e.g., executive function and episodic memory was administered. Both the aerobic and the control group improved in aerobic capacity (VO2-peak) over 6 months, but a significant group by time interaction confirmed that the aerobic group improved more. Contrary to our hypothesis, we did not observe any significant group by time interactions with regard to any measure of intrinsic activity. To further probe putative relationships between fitness and brain activity, we performed post hoc analyses disregarding group belongings. At baseline, VO2-peak was negativly related to BOLD-signal fluctuations (BOLDSTD) in mid temporal areas. Over 6 months, improvements in aerobic capacity were associated with decreased connectivity between left hippocampus and contralateral precentral gyrus, and positively to connectivity between right mid-temporal areas and frontal and parietal regions. Independent component analysis identified a VO2-related increase in coupling between the default mode network and left orbitofrontal cortex, as well as a decreased connectivity between the sensorimotor network and thalamus. Extensive exploratory data analyses of global efficiency, connectome wide multivariate pattern analysis (connectome-MVPA), as well as ASL, did not reveal any relationships between aerobic fitness and intrinsic brain activity. Moreover, fitness-predicted changes in functional connectivity did not relate to changes in cognition, which is likely due to absent cross-sectional or longitudinal relationships between VO2-peak and cognition. We conclude that the aerobic exercise intervention had limited influence on patterns of intrinsic brain activity, although post hoc analyses indicated that individual changes in aerobic capacity preferentially influenced mid-temporal brain areas. PMID:28848424

Does Aerobic Exercise Influence Intrinsic Brain Activity? An Aerobic Exercise Intervention among Healthy Old Adults.

PubMed

Flodin, Pär; Jonasson, Lars S; Riklund, Katrin; Nyberg, Lars; Boraxbekk, C J

2017-01-01

Previous studies have indicated that aerobic exercise could reduce age related decline in cognition and brain functioning. Here we investigated the effects of aerobic exercise on intrinsic brain activity. Sixty sedentary healthy males and females (64-78 years) were randomized into either an aerobic exercise group or an active control group. Both groups recieved supervised training, 3 days a week for 6 months. Multimodal brain imaging data was acquired before and after the intervention, including 10 min of resting state brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and arterial spin labeling (ASL). Additionally, a comprehensive battery of cognitive tasks assessing, e.g., executive function and episodic memory was administered. Both the aerobic and the control group improved in aerobic capacity (VO 2 -peak) over 6 months, but a significant group by time interaction confirmed that the aerobic group improved more. Contrary to our hypothesis, we did not observe any significant group by time interactions with regard to any measure of intrinsic activity. To further probe putative relationships between fitness and brain activity, we performed post hoc analyses disregarding group belongings. At baseline, VO 2 -peak was negativly related to BOLD-signal fluctuations (BOLD STD ) in mid temporal areas. Over 6 months, improvements in aerobic capacity were associated with decreased connectivity between left hippocampus and contralateral precentral gyrus, and positively to connectivity between right mid-temporal areas and frontal and parietal regions. Independent component analysis identified a VO 2 -related increase in coupling between the default mode network and left orbitofrontal cortex, as well as a decreased connectivity between the sensorimotor network and thalamus. Extensive exploratory data analyses of global efficiency, connectome wide multivariate pattern analysis (connectome-MVPA), as well as ASL, did not reveal any relationships between aerobic fitness and intrinsic brain activity. Moreover, fitness-predicted changes in functional connectivity did not relate to changes in cognition, which is likely due to absent cross-sectional or longitudinal relationships between VO 2 -peak and cognition. We conclude that the aerobic exercise intervention had limited influence on patterns of intrinsic brain activity, although post hoc analyses indicated that individual changes in aerobic capacity preferentially influenced mid-temporal brain areas.

Drinking and Dating: Examining the Link between Relationship Satisfaction, Hazardous Drinking, and Readiness-to-Change in College Dating Relationships

PubMed Central

Khaddouma, Alexander; Shorey, Ryan C.; Brasfield, Hope; Febres, Jeniimarie; Zapor, Heather; Elmquist, Joanna; Stuart, Gregory L.

2015-01-01

The present study examined the influence of relationship satisfaction on readiness-to-change alcohol use and the influence of hazardous drinking on readiness-to-change relationship issues in college student dating relationships. A sample of 219 college students in a current dating relationship (aged 18–25) completed self-report measures of dating relationship satisfaction, alcohol use, readiness-to-change alcohol use, and readiness-to-change relationship issues via an online survey from August to December 2011. Participants were grouped on the basis of their scores on measures of alcohol use (hazardous drinkers vs. nonhazardous drinkers) and relationship satisfaction (high vs. low). Results indicated that alcohol use was negatively correlated with relationship satisfaction. Furthermore, hazardous drinkers with high relationship satisfaction indicated more readiness-to-change alcohol use than hazardous drinkers with low relationship satisfaction. Alcohol problems were not related to readiness-to-change relationship issues. These findings indicate that highly satisfied dating relationships during college may positively influence readiness-to-change heavy drinking habits among college students. PMID:26997754

The integration of social influence and reward: Computational approaches and neural evidence.

PubMed

Tomlin, Damon; Nedic, Andrea; Prentice, Deborah A; Holmes, Philip; Cohen, Jonathan D

2017-08-01

Decades of research have established that decision-making is dramatically impacted by both the rewards an individual receives and the behavior of others. How do these distinct influences exert their influence on an individual's actions, and can the resulting behavior be effectively captured in a computational model? To address this question, we employed a novel spatial foraging game in which groups of three participants sought to find the most rewarding location in an unfamiliar two-dimensional space. As the game transitioned from one block to the next, the availability of information regarding other group members was varied systematically, revealing the relative impacts of feedback from the environment and information from other group members on individual decision-making. Both reward-based and socially-based sources of information exerted a significant influence on behavior, and a computational model incorporating these effects was able to recapitulate several key trends in the behavioral data. In addition, our findings suggest how these sources were processed and combined during decision-making. Analysis of reaction time, location of gaze, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data indicated that these distinct sources of information were integrated simultaneously for each decision, rather than exerting their influence in a separate, all-or-none fashion across separate subsets of trials. These findings add to our understanding of how the separate influences of reward from the environment and information derived from other social agents are combined to produce decisions.

Supporting Educational Success for Aboriginal Students: Identifying Key Influences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitley, Jessica

2014-01-01

The academic difficulties experienced by many Aboriginal (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) students in Canada have been well-documented. Indicators such as school persistence and post-secondary enrollment are typically far lower for Aboriginal students as a group compared to non-Aboriginal students. Identifying facilitators of success is key to…

Exploring Reference Group Effects on Teachers' Nominations of Gifted Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rothenbusch, Sandra; Zettler, Ingo; Voss, Thamar; Lösch, Thomas; Trautwein, Ulrich

2016-01-01

Teachers are often asked to nominate students for enrichment programs for gifted children, and studies have repeatedly indicated that students' intelligence is related to their likelihood of being nominated as gifted. However, it is unknown whether class-average levels of intelligence influence teachers' nominations as suggested by theory--and…

Values of Senior Citizens Enrolled in a University Curricula versus Those Who Are Not.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lemieux, Andre; Sauve, G.

1999-01-01

Comparison of older adults participating in a University of the Third Age program with nonparticipants indicated that gender, age, and religion did not influence the terminal or instrumental values of either group. There were no significant differences in values between participants or nonparticipants. (SK)

Socioeconomic Influences on Leisure-Time Sedentary Behavior among Women.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeager, Kimberly K.; And Others

1993-01-01

This study explored the impact of socioeconomic status on 32,852 females' sedentary behavior. Survey data indicated the prevalence of sedentary behavior was 30% among white women and 45% among black women, decreasing for both groups as socioeconomic status increased; leisure time sedentary behavior increased with age. (SM)

A Survey of Leisure Time Activities of Working Owmen in Jaipur

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dixit, Asha

1976-01-01

A survey of the leisure time activities of 278 working women (teachers, nurses, telephone operators, and clerks) indicated that occupation does not significantly influence the type of leisure activities. Comparisons were made within and between occupational groups and between home and office time activities. (MS)

Factors That Influence Student Attrition in Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaw, Melanie; Burrus, Scott; Ferguson, Karen

2016-01-01

Research was conducted to explore predictors for online higher education student attrition. This research was conducted using results from the SmarterMeasure Learning Readiness Indicator to track students in their degree programs. In addition, student outreach was conducted with an experimental group of at-risk students to determine if additional…

Effectiveness of a Television Counter Advertisement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lull, James T.; Mulac, Anthony

This paper investigates the potential effectiveness of counter advertising in influencing the buying habits of a convinced audience. One month before the actual study, 109 subjects indicated a brand preference in a consumer questionnaire. The subjects were randomly assigned to groups that viewed one of the following: (1) a pro-Bayer aspirin…

Distinct Seasonal Patterns of Bacterioplankton Abundance and Dominance of Phyla α-Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria in Qinhuangdao Coastal Waters Off the Bohai Sea

PubMed Central

He, Yaodong; Sen, Biswarup; Zhou, Shuangyan; Xie, Ningdong; Zhang, Yongfeng; Zhang, Jianle; Wang, Guangyi

2017-01-01

Qinhuangdao coastal waters in northern China are heavily impacted by anthropogenic and natural activities, and we anticipate a direct influence of the impact on the bacterioplankton abundance and diversity inhabiting the adjacent coastal areas. To ascertain the anthropogenic influences, we first evaluated the seasonal abundance patterns and diversity of bacterioplankton in the coastal areas with varied levels of natural and anthropogenic activities and then analyzed the environmental factors which influenced the abundance patterns. Results indicated distinct patterns in bacterioplankton abundance across the warm and cold seasons in all stations. Total bacterial abundance in the stations ranged from 8.67 × 104 to 2.08 × 106 cells/mL and had significant (p < 0.01) positive correlation with total phosphorus (TP), which indicated TP as the key monitoring parameter for anthropogenic impact on nutrients cycling. Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria were the most abundant phyla in the Qinhuangdao coastal waters. Redundancy analysis revealed significant (p < 0.01) influence of temperature, dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll a on the spatiotemporal abundance pattern of α-Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria groups. Among the 19 identified bacterioplankton subgroups, α-Proteobacteria (phylum Proteobacteria) was the dominant one followed by Family II (phylum Cyanobacteria), representing 19.1–55.2% and 2.3–54.2% of total sequences, respectively. An inverse relationship (r = -0.82) was observed between the two dominant subgroups, α-Proteobacteria and Family II. A wide range of inverse Simpson index (10.2 to 105) revealed spatial heterogeneity of bacterioplankton diversity likely resulting from the varied anthropogenic and natural influences. Overall, our results suggested that seasonal variations impose substantial influence on shaping bacterioplankton abundance patterns. In addition, the predominance of only a few cosmopolitan species in the Qinhuangdao coastal wasters was probably an indication of their competitive advantage over other bacterioplankton groups in the degradation of anthropogenic inputs. The results provided an evidence of their ecological significance in coastal waters impacted by seasonal inputs of the natural and anthropogenic matter. In conclusion, the findings anticipate future development of effective indicators of coastal health monitoring and subsequent management strategies to control the anthropogenic inputs in the Qinhuangdao coastal waters. PMID:28868051

Factors influencing risky decision-making in patients with cerebral infarction.

PubMed

Gong, Jingjing; Zhang, Yan; Wu, Bing; Feng, Jun; Zhang, Weiwei; Wang, Shijie; Huang, Yonghua; Wu, Xinhuai

2015-01-01

Numerous studies have found that the framing effect is common in medical scenarios, but few studies have examined the influence of the framing effect upon thrombolytic therapy for cerebral infarction. In this study, 1040 inpatients and outpatients in the department of neurology were recruited to explore whether there is a framing effect in decision-making within thrombolytic therapy, and if so, which factors influence that effect. The findings from Study 1 indicate that the framing effect occurred in patients both with and without cerebral infarction (χ(2) = 7.90, p = .005; χ(2) = 5.16, p = .023, respectively), with both groups displaying risk-seeking behavior (thrombolytic therapy) in the positive frame and no risk aversion or risk seeking in the negative frame. The results of Study 2 show that the patients preferred risk seeking in both collaborative and individual decision-making. In the collaborative decision-making group, the patients in the senior group showed the framing effect (χ(2) = 5.35, p < .05), with the patients in the positive frame (G) showing more significant risk seeking than both those in the negative frame (H) and those in the other positive frame (A, C, and E). In summary, decision-making about thrombolytic therapy in patients with cerebral infarction is influenced by the framing effect, and some influencing factors should be attended in clinical practice. Further research is necessary to guide the treatment of cerebral infarction.

Catch trials in force field learning influence adaptation and consolidation of human motor memory

PubMed Central

Stockinger, Christian; Focke, Anne; Stein, Thorsten

2014-01-01

Force field studies are a common tool to investigate motor adaptation and consolidation. Thereby, subjects usually adapt their reaching movements to force field perturbations induced by a robotic device. In this context, so-called catch trials, in which the disturbing forces are randomly turned off, are commonly used to detect after-effects of motor adaptation. However, catch trials also produce sudden large motor errors that might influence the motor adaptation and the consolidation process. Yet, the detailed influence of catch trials is far from clear. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of catch trials on motor adaptation and consolidation in force field experiments. Therefore, 105 subjects adapted their reaching movements to robot-generated force fields. The test groups adapted their reaching movements to a force field A followed by learning a second interfering force field B before retest of A (ABA). The control groups were not exposed to force field B (AA). To examine the influence of diverse catch trial ratios, subjects received catch trials during force field adaptation with a probability of either 0, 10, 20, 30, or 40%, depending on the group. First, the results on motor adaptation revealed significant differences between the diverse catch trial ratio groups. With increasing amount of catch trials, the subjects' motor performance decreased and subjects' ability to accurately predict the force field—and therefore internal model formation—was impaired. Second, our results revealed that adapting with catch trials can influence the following consolidation process as indicated by a partial reduction to interference. Here, the optimal catch trial ratio was 30%. However, detection of consolidation seems to be biased by the applied measure of performance. PMID:24795598

The influence of Citrosept addition to drinking water and Scutellaria baicalensis root extract on the content of selected mineral elements in the blood plasma of turkey hens.

PubMed

Rusinek-Prystupa, Elżbieta; Lechowski, Jerzy; Zukiewicz-Sobczak, Wioletta; Sobczak, Paweł; Zawiślak, Kazimierz

2014-01-01

The aim of this research work was to indicate the influence of Citrosept preparation and Scutellaria baicalensis root extract, administered per os to growing turkey hens in 3 different dosages, on the content of selected mineral elements in blood plasma of slaughter turkey hens. An attempt was also made to specify the most effective dosage of the applied preparations with the highest efficiency as regards increased levels of examined macro- and microelements in the birds' blood. The research experiment was conducted on 315 turkey hens randomly divided into seven groups, each consisting of 45 turkey hens. Group K constituted the control group without experimental additions of the above-mentioned preparations. When it comes to turkey hens which belonged to groups II-IV, Citrosept preparation was instilled to water in the following dosages: Group II - 0.011 ml/kg of bm; Group III - 0.021 ml/kg of bm; Group IV - 0.042 ml/kg bm. For birds which belonged to groups V-VII preparation, which was Scutellaria baicalensis root extract, was instilled to water in the following dosages: Group V - 0.009 ml/kg of bm; Group VI - 0.018 ml/kg of bm, Group VII - 0.036 ml/kg bm. In the examined plant extracts and blood plasma of the birds the levels of Na, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Zn, and Fe were identified. The use of examined extracts influenced the changes in the levels of all tested elements in slaughter turkey hens' blood plasma. An upward tendency was recorded which regarded the level of calcium and magnesium, and a downward tendency of sodium, potassium, copper, zinc, and iron in relation to the results achieved in the control group.

Downregulation of the posterior medial frontal cortex prevents social conformity.

PubMed

Klucharev, Vasily; Munneke, Moniek A M; Smidts, Ale; Fernández, Guillén

2011-08-17

We often change our behavior to conform to real or imagined group pressure. Social influence on our behavior has been extensively studied in social psychology, but its neural mechanisms have remained largely unknown. Here we demonstrate that the transient downregulation of the posterior medial frontal cortex by theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation reduces conformity, as indicated by reduced conformal adjustments in line with group opinion. Both the extent and probability of conformal behavioral adjustments decreased significantly relative to a sham and a control stimulation over another brain area. The posterior part of the medial frontal cortex has previously been implicated in behavioral and attitudinal adjustments. Here, we provide the first interventional evidence of its critical role in social influence on human behavior.

[The importance of age-homogenous member's in secondary groups--the example of choirs (author's transl)].

PubMed

Schneider, H D

1979-03-01

The investigation studies the influence of the age composition of secondary groups on their member's satisfaction by interviewing a representative sample of the members of Swiss Protestant choirs. The satisfaction with fellow members increases the lower the mean age of the choir is. Independently the older the respondents the more they want young members in their organization. Furthermore, there are indications for an optimal distance of age between the members. In total the influence of the age composition on the operationalizations of satisfaction is, low however. The hypothesis is deduced from the optimal distance of age that tendencies for age-homogeneous social relations will be more frequent in societies with large differences in behavior between their cohorts.

Zooplankton From a Reef System Under the Influence of the Amazon River Plume

PubMed Central

Neumann-Leitão, Sigrid; Melo, Pedro A. M. C.; Schwamborn, Ralf; Diaz, Xiomara F. G.; Figueiredo, Lucas G. P.; Silva, Andrea P.; Campelo, Renata P. S.; de Melo Júnior, Mauro; Melo, Nuno F. A. C.; Costa, Alejandro E. S. F.; Araújo, Moacyr; Veleda, Dóris R. A.; Moura, Rodrigo L.; Thompson, Fabiano

2018-01-01

At the mouth of the Amazon River, a widespread carbonate ecosystem exists below the river plume, generating a hard-bottom reef (∼9500 km2) that includes mainly large sponges but also rhodolith beds. The mesozooplankton associated with the pelagic realm over the reef formation was characterized, considering the estuarine plume and oceanic influence. Vertical hauls were carried out using a standard plankton net with 200 μm mesh size during September 2014. An indicator index was applied to express species importance as ecological indicators in community. Information on functional traits was gathered for the most abundant copepod species. Overall, 179 zooplankton taxa were recorded. Copepods were the richest (92 species), most diverse and most abundant group, whereas meroplankton were rare and less abundant. Species diversity (>3.0 bits.ind-1) and evenness (>0.6) were high, indicating a complex community. Small holoplanktonic species dominated the zooplankton, and the total density varied from 107.98 ind. m-3 over the reef area to 2,609.24 ind. m-3 in the estuarine plume, with a significant difference between coastal and oceanic areas. The most abundant copepods were the coastal species ithona plumifera and Clausocalanus furcatus and early stages copepodites of Paracalanidae. The holoplanktonic Oikopleura, an important producer of mucous houses, was very abundant on the reefs. The indicator species index revealed three groups: (1) indicative of coastal waters under the influence of the estuarine plume [Euterpina acutifrons, Parvocalanus crassirostris, Oikopleura (Vexillaria) dioica and Hydromedusae]; (2) characterized coastal and oceanic conditions (Clausocalanus); (3) characterized the reef system (O. plumifera). Two major copepods functional groups were identified and sorted according to their trophic strategy and coastal-oceanic distribution. The species that dominated the coastal area and the area over the rhodolith beds are indicators of the estuarine plume and are mixed with species of the North Brazil Current. These species practically disappear offshore, where occur oceanic species commonly found in other oligotrophic tropical areas. This ecosystem shows a mixture of estuarine, coastal and oceanic communities coexisting in the waters over the Amazon reefs, with no significant differences among these areas. However, the MDS clearly separated the communities along the salinity gradient in the plume. PMID:29545783

'If you feel that nobody wants you you'll withdraw into your own': Gypsies/Travellers, networks and healthcare utilisation.

PubMed

Smith, David; Ruston, Annmarie

2013-11-01

Gypsies and Travellers are the unhealthiest group in British society, suffering from higher levels of physical and mental illness, lower life expectancy and with low levels of healthcare utilisation. They also continue to experience the highest level of prejudice and discrimination in society. While studies indicate that social networks play an important role in shaping health beliefs and the response to symptoms, evidence on the influence of networks on health is unclear and contradictory. This article draws on social network theory and research into the relation between discrimination and health to critically examine how networks mediate between collective experiences of racism and health-related behavior. Qualitative interviews with 39 adult Gypsies and Travellers were conducted in the South-East of England to explore the wider structural and institutional context and the influence those contexts play in shaping health beliefs and decisions whether to access formal health services. The findings indicate that the influence networks play in shaping health behaviour is dependent on the particular social context of the group and its status in relation to wider social structures, making generalization problematic. © 2013 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2013 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Multidecadal Atlantic climate variability and its impact on marine pelagic communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harris, Victoria; Edwards, Martin; Olhede, Sofia C.

2014-05-01

A large scale analysis of sea surface temperature (SST) and climate variability over the North Atlantic and its interactions with plankton over the North East Atlantic was carried out to better understand what drives both temperature and species abundance. The spatio-temporal pattern of SST was found to correspond to known climate indices, namely the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), the East Atlantic Pattern (EAP) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The spatial influence of these indices is heterogeneous. Although the AMO is present across all regions, it is most strongly represented in the SST signal in the subpolar gyre region. The NAO instead is strongly weighted in the North Sea and the pattern of its influence is oscillatory in space with a wavelength of approximately 6000 km. Natural oscillations might obscure the influence of climate change effects, making it difficult to determine how much of the variation is attributable to longer term trends. In order to separate the influences of different climate signals the SST signals were decomposed in to spatial and temporal components using principal component analysis (PCA). A similar analysis is carried out on various indicator species of plankton: Calanus finmarchicus, Phytoplankton Colour Index and total copepod abundance, as well as phytoplankton and zooplankton communities. By comparing the two outputs it is apparent that the dominant driver is the recent warming trend, which has a negative influence on C. finmarchicus and total copepods, but has a positive one on phytoplankton colour. However natural oscillations also influence the abundance of plankton, in particular the AMO is a driver of diatom abundance. Fourier principal component analysis, an approach which is novel in terms of the ecological data, was used to analyse the behaviour of various communities averaged over space. The zooplankton community is found to be primarily influenced by climate warming trends. The analysis provides compelling evidence for the hypothesis that cold water species are gradually being replaced by more temperate species in the North Atlantic. This may have detrimental effects for the entire marine ecosystem, by affecting on organisms such as fish larva for example. The second group, a phytoplankton subset consisting primarily of diatom species, is primarily influenced by the AMO rather than the average temperature trend. This result highlights the importance of natural oscillations to certain functional groups, in particular those subgroups which are less directly metabolically affected by changes in temperature.

Examining marginalized communities and local conservation institutions: the case of Nepal's Annapurna Conservation Area.

PubMed

Dahal, Smriti; Nepal, Sanjay K; Schuett, Michael A

2014-01-01

In developing countries, participatory conservation initiatives have been criticized for many reasons, mainly for excluding marginalized groups which have led to unequal benefits. Using concepts from the literature on participation, conservation, and political ecology, this research explored the participation of marginal groups, i.e., poor, women, lower caste, and landless, in management institutions in Nepal's Annapurna Conservation Area. Field work for this research was conducted through the use of interviews and participant observation during August-October 2010. Results show that although marginal groups were involved in local management institutions, their representation was minimal and had not led to meaningful participation or empowerment to influence the decisions being made in conservation and development programs. Our study findings indicate that the involvement of marginal groups in local initiatives is complex and influenced by several factors. The study concludes that the Annapurna Conservation Area Project needs to re-orient its conservation projects by adopting a more inclusive form of participation and move beyond the quota system.

Examining Marginalized Communities and Local Conservation Institutions: The Case of Nepal's Annapurna Conservation Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dahal, Smriti; Nepal, Sanjay K.; Schuett, Michael A.

2014-01-01

In developing countries, participatory conservation initiatives have been criticized for many reasons, mainly for excluding marginalized groups which have led to unequal benefits. Using concepts from the literature on participation, conservation, and political ecology, this research explored the participation of marginal groups, i.e., poor, women, lower caste, and landless, in management institutions in Nepal's Annapurna Conservation Area. Field work for this research was conducted through the use of interviews and participant observation during August-October 2010. Results show that although marginal groups were involved in local management institutions, their representation was minimal and had not led to meaningful participation or empowerment to influence the decisions being made in conservation and development programs. Our study findings indicate that the involvement of marginal groups in local initiatives is complex and influenced by several factors. The study concludes that the Annapurna Conservation Area Project needs to re-orient its conservation projects by adopting a more inclusive form of participation and move beyond the quota system.

Learning task affects ERP-correlates of the own-race bias, but not recognition memory performance.

PubMed

Stahl, Johanna; Wiese, Holger; Schweinberger, Stefan R

2010-06-01

People are generally better in recognizing faces from their own ethnic group as opposed to faces from another ethnic group, a finding which has been interpreted in the context of two opposing theories. Whereas perceptual expertise theories stress the role of long-term experience with one's own ethnic group, race feature theories assume that the processing of an other-race-defining feature triggers inferior coding and recognition of faces. The present study tested these hypotheses by manipulating the learning task in a recognition memory test. At learning, one group of participants categorized faces according to ethnicity, whereas another group rated facial attractiveness. Subsequent recognition tests indicated clear and similar own-race biases for both groups. However, ERPs from learning and test phases demonstrated an influence of learning task on neurophysiological processing of own- and other-race faces. While both groups exhibited larger N170 responses to Asian as compared to Caucasian faces, task-dependent differences were seen in a subsequent P2 ERP component. Whereas the P2 was more pronounced for Caucasian faces in the categorization group, this difference was absent in the attractiveness rating group. The learning task thus influences early face encoding. Moreover, comparison with recent research suggests that this attractiveness rating task influences the processes reflected in the P2 in a similar manner as perceptual expertise for other-race faces does. By contrast, the behavioural own-race bias suggests that long-term expertise is required to increase other-race face recognition and hence attenuate the own-race bias. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The influence of musical experience on lateralisation of auditory processing.

PubMed

Spajdel, Marián; Jariabková, Katarína; Riecanský, Igor

2007-11-01

The influence of musical experience on free-recall dichotic listening to environmental sounds, two-tone sequences, and consonant-vowel (CV) syllables was investigated. A total of 60 healthy right-handed participants were divided into two groups according to their active musical competence ("musicians" and "non-musicians"). In both groups, we found a left ear advantage (LEA) for nonverbal stimuli (environmental sounds and two-tone sequences) and a right ear advantage (REA) for CV syllables. Dichotic listening to environmental sounds was uninfluenced by musical experience. The total accuracy of recall for two-tone sequences was higher in musicians than in non-musicians but the lateralisation was similar in both groups. For CV syllables a lower REA was found in male but not female musicians in comparison to non-musicians. The results indicate a specific sex-dependent effect of musical experience on lateralisation of phonological auditory processing.

Influence of Selected Organic Micropollutants on Organisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Włodarczyk-Makuła, Maria

2017-03-01

This article describes the toxicity of organic micropollutants on tested microorganisms. Itis a current issue because organic micropollutants are identified in all elements of environmental (surface water, ground water, soils) and in food products. The organic micropollutants include: polychlorinated dibenzodioxyns PCDD, polychlorinated dibenzofurans PCDF, polychlorinated biphenyls PCB, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons PAH, halogenated compounds and by-products of water treatment. Some organic compounds cause hazard for health and human life due to their estrogenic biological activity, carcinogenic, mutagenic or teratogenic activity. The influence on organisms indicators of these compounds based on literature data were presented. The level of TEQ (toxic equivalency) in response to organic chlorine derivatives (PCDDs, PCDF, PCBs) is usually determined by toxic equivalency factor (TEF). The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies organic micropollutants as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), possibly carcinogenic (Group 2A) or probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B).

Mandarin-Speaking Children's Speech Recognition: Developmental Changes in the Influences of Semantic Context and F0 Contours.

PubMed

Zhou, Hong; Li, Yu; Liang, Meng; Guan, Connie Qun; Zhang, Linjun; Shu, Hua; Zhang, Yang

2017-01-01

The goal of this developmental speech perception study was to assess whether and how age group modulated the influences of high-level semantic context and low-level fundamental frequency ( F 0 ) contours on the recognition of Mandarin speech by elementary and middle-school-aged children in quiet and interference backgrounds. The results revealed different patterns for semantic and F 0 information. One the one hand, age group modulated significantly the use of F 0 contours, indicating that elementary school children relied more on natural F 0 contours than middle school children during Mandarin speech recognition. On the other hand, there was no significant modulation effect of age group on semantic context, indicating that children of both age groups used semantic context to assist speech recognition to a similar extent. Furthermore, the significant modulation effect of age group on the interaction between F 0 contours and semantic context revealed that younger children could not make better use of semantic context in recognizing speech with flat F 0 contours compared with natural F 0 contours, while older children could benefit from semantic context even when natural F 0 contours were altered, thus confirming the important role of F 0 contours in Mandarin speech recognition by elementary school children. The developmental changes in the effects of high-level semantic and low-level F 0 information on speech recognition might reflect the differences in auditory and cognitive resources associated with processing of the two types of information in speech perception.

Mothers' conceptions about excess weight in infancy and the nutritional status of their children.

PubMed

da Silva, Janaína Paula Costa; Sarubbi, Vicente; Nascimento, Viviane Gabriela; Bertoli, Ciro João; Gallo, Paulo Rogério; Leone, Claudio

2016-09-01

To analyze maternal conceptions about excess weight in infancy and the nutritional status of their preschool-aged children. A mixed, exploratory study was performed using semi-structured interviews. Two study groups were defined: a group of 16 mothers of children with excess weight and a group of 15 mothers of eutrophic children. The interviews were submitted to content analysis using CHIC software (Classification Hiérarchique Implicative et Cohésitive¯). The mothers of children with excess weight tended to conceive thin children as malnourished, while those of normal weight children emphasized the influence of family and genetics as determinants of a child's nutritional status. Although there was a certain consensus among the mothers that an unhealthy diet contributes to the risk of a child developing excess weight, the concept of genetics as a determinant of a child's nutritional status was also present in the dialogue from the mothers of both groups. This result indicates a lack of clarity regarding the influence of eating behavior and family lifestyle on weight gain and the formation of a child's eating habits. Both groups indicated that the mother has a decisive role in the eating habits of her child; however, the mothers of children with excess weight did not seem to take ownership of this concept when addressing the care of their own children. Differences in conceptions, including taking ownership of care, may contribute to the development of excess weight in preschool-aged children.

Prevalence of stress urinary incontinence in elite female endurance athletes.

PubMed

Poświata, Anna; Socha, Teresa; Opara, Józef

2014-12-09

The goal of the study was to assess the prevalence of stress urinary incontinence in a group of elite female endurance athletes, as professional sport is one of the risk factors for stress urinary incontinence. SUI rates in the groups of female cross-country skiers and runners were compared to determine whether the training weather conditions like temperature and humidity influenced the prevalence of urinary incontinence. An anonymous questionnaire was distributed among 112 elite female athletes ie., 57 cross-country skiers and 55 runners. We used a short form of the Urogenital Distress Inventory (UDI-6) to assess the presence of SUI symptoms and the level of urogenital distress. Only women who had been practicing sport professionally for at least 3 years, on an international and national level, were included in the research. The study group consisted of 76% nulliparous and 24% parous women. 45.54% of all participants reported leakage of urine associated with sneezing or coughing which indicates stress urinary incontinence. 29.46% were not bothered by the urogenital distress symptoms. 42.86% of the participants were slightly bothered by the symptoms, 18.75% were moderately bothered, 8.04% were significantly bothered and 0.89% were heavily bothered. The absence of statistically significant differences between both groups seems to indicate that training weather conditions did not influence the prevalence of SUI in elite female endurance athletes.

Prevalence of Stress Urinary Incontinence in Elite Female Endurance Athletes

PubMed Central

Poświata, Anna; Socha, Teresa; Opara, Józef

2014-01-01

The goal of the study was to assess the prevalence of stress urinary incontinence in a group of elite female endurance athletes, as professional sport is one of the risk factors for stress urinary incontinence. SUI rates in the groups of female cross-country skiers and runners were compared to determine whether the training weather conditions like temperature and humidity influenced the prevalence of urinary incontinence. An anonymous questionnaire was distributed among 112 elite female athletes ie., 57 cross-country skiers and 55 runners. We used a short form of the Urogenital Distress Inventory (UDI-6) to assess the presence of SUI symptoms and the level of urogenital distress. Only women who had been practicing sport professionally for at least 3 years, on an international and national level, were included in the research. The study group consisted of 76% nulliparous and 24% parous women. 45.54% of all participants reported leakage of urine associated with sneezing or coughing which indicates stress urinary incontinence. 29.46% were not bothered by the urogenital distress symptoms. 42.86% of the participants were slightly bothered by the symptoms, 18.75% were moderately bothered, 8.04% were significantly bothered and 0.89% were heavily bothered. The absence of statistically significant differences between both groups seems to indicate that training weather conditions did not influence the prevalence of SUI in elite female endurance athletes. PMID:25713669

Stability and bias of classification rates in biological applications of discriminant analysis

USGS Publications Warehouse

Williams, B.K.; Titus, K.; Hines, J.E.

1990-01-01

We assessed the sampling stability of classification rates in discriminant analysis by using a factorial design with factors for multivariate dimensionality, dispersion structure, configuration of group means, and sample size. A total of 32,400 discriminant analyses were conducted, based on data from simulated populations with appropriate underlying statistical distributions. Simulation results indicated strong bias in correct classification rates when group sample sizes were small and when overlap among groups was high. We also found that stability of the correct classification rates was influenced by these factors, indicating that the number of samples required for a given level of precision increases with the amount of overlap among groups. In a review of 60 published studies, we found that 57% of the articles presented results on classification rates, though few of them mentioned potential biases in their results. Wildlife researchers should choose the total number of samples per group to be at least 2 times the number of variables to be measured when overlap among groups is low. Substantially more samples are required as the overlap among groups increases

Influence of sildenafil and donepezil administration on the serum redox balance in experimentally induced lower limb critical ischemia.

PubMed

Constantinescu, Mihaela Ioana; Constantinescu, Dan Petru; Andercou, Aurel; Mironiuc, Ion Aurel

2013-01-01

Chronic lower limb ischemia (CLLI) leads to endothelial cell dysfunctions and endothelial lesions. The use of substances that release nitric oxide and activate endothelial nitric oxide synthase has proved to be useful in increasing angiogenesis and arteriogenesis under critical ischemia conditions. To investigate the therapeutic effect of Sildenafil and Donepezil with a vasodilating action in experimentally induced CLLI and on serum redox homeostasis. The research was performed in 3 groups of rats (n=10 animals/group) with experimentally induced CLLI: group I - control group; group II - animals treated postoperatively with a therapeutic dose of sildenafil, and group III - animals treated postoperatively with a therapeutic dose of donepezil. Oxidative stress (OS) indicators (malondialdehyde - MDA, protein carbonyls - PC), antioxidant (AO) defense indicators (reduced glutathione - GSH and oxidized glutathione - GSSH), and ceruloplasmin (CP) were determined on days 7, 14, 21 and 30. Statistical processing was performed using the Excel application (Microsoft Office 2007), with the StatsDirect v.2.7.2 software. Changes in OS were evidenced in all groups on account of a decrease in MDA and PC. The greatest OS decrease in all groups was on day 30. AO defence changes were represented by decreased levels of GSH and GSSG in all groups, at the studied moments. Intracellular AO defense in the cytosol, nucleus and mitochondria was similar in all groups, (decreased GSH, GSSG and GSH/GSSG ratio). We found increased extracellular levels of GSH, GSSG, and CP and increased extracellular GSH/GSSG ratio at level compared to values on day 7. 1) The administration of sildenafil (group II) and donepezil (group III) has favorable effects on reducing OS in experimentally induced CLLI. 2) Sildenafil and Donepezil administration stimulates extracellular AO defense on account of CP. 3) Sildenafil and Donepezil administration influences intracellular redox homeostasis on account of the GSH/GSSG couple, the major redox buffer in the body.

Moderating the stereotypical views of health and social care students: the role of interprofessional education.

PubMed

Foster, Rebecca; Macleod Clark, Jill

2015-01-01

The potential of interprofessional education (IPE) to influence the perceptions and attitudes of health and social care professionals towards their colleagues in other disciplines is well recognized. However, empirical evidence for the positive impact of IPE on stereotypical beliefs has been limited. We report the findings of a pioneering, large scale study designed to assess the influence of IPE on these beliefs. A pre-test, post-test, quasi experimental design compared students' stereotypical views at the beginning and end of undergraduate studies. 580 students from 10 health and social care professional groups undertook assessed IPE modules over 3 years (the intervention group). Baseline and post-course stereotype ratings were compared with those of 672 students in a comparison group, not exposed to IPE modules. Baseline stereotype profiles showed clear variations in the way different professions were perceived, indicating stereotypical beliefs about the characteristics of each profession. Rating patterns were similar for intervention and comparison groups. At graduation, only minor changes were observed in the overall rating patterns for both groups. However, more ratings had decreased in the intervention group than the comparison group, suggesting that IPE may play a role in moderating more extreme stereotyping of colleagues in other professions.

Different geomagnetic indices as an indicator for geo-effective solar storms and human physiological state

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dimitrova, Svetla

2008-02-01

A group of 86 healthy volunteers were examined on each working day during periods of high solar activity. Data about systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, heart rate and subjective psycho-physiological complaints were gathered. MANOVA was employed to check the significance of the influence of three factors on the physiological parameters. The factors were as follows: (1) geomagnetic activity estimated by daily amplitude of H-component of the local geomagnetic field, Ap- and Dst-index; (2) gender; and (3) the presence of medication. Average values of systolic, diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure and subjective complaints of the group were found to increase significantly with geomagnetic activity increment.

Both pre- and post-lesion experiential therapy is beneficial in 6-hydroxydopamine dopamine-depleted female rats.

PubMed

Jadavji, N M; Metz, G A

2009-01-23

Experiential therapies, such as enriched environment (EE), have been shown to influence the neurodegenerative processes that underlie Parkinson's disease. We have previously demonstrated that EE promotes functional improvement in dopamine-depleted rats. Here we compare the influence of exposure to EE prior to versus after dopamine depletion in the 6-hydroxydopamine rat model of Parkinson's disease. Two groups of female rats were placed in an EE while two groups were housed in a standard environment (SE) for 6 weeks prior to receiving a unilateral nigrostriatal bundle infusion of the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine. After the lesion, one group remained in EE, while the second EE group (Pre-Lesion EE) was moved into SE conditions. In addition, a third group of rats was now moved into EE (Post-lesion EE). A fourth group remained in SE throughout the experimental period. Rats were tested in skilled reaching and skilled walking tasks and in non-skilled motor function up to 4 weeks after lesion. The observations demonstrated beneficial effects of both pre- and post-lesion exposure to EE on skilled movement performance by promoting compensatory limb use and partial protection or restoration of skilled movement. Exposure to pre-lesion EE in particular promoted structural plasticity as indicated by increased expression of the main cytoskeletal component microtubule associated protein-2 in the lesion dorsal striatum. Continuous EE showed absence of rotational bias suggesting attenuated dopamine loss. These data indicate that enriched lifestyle before the onset of motor symptoms and rehabilitation programs after diagnosis might be beneficial in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Effectiveness of Mirror Therapy for Subacute Stroke in Relation to Chosen Factors.

PubMed

Radajewska, Alina; Opara, Józef; Biliński, Grzegorz; Kaczorowska, Antonina; Nawrat-Szołtysik, Agnieszka; Kucińska, Aleksandra; Lepsy, Ewelina

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of mirror therapy (MT) combined with comprehensive treatment and to investigate the possible relationships of functional state. Prospective, controlled trial of 60 stroke inpatients. The Functional Index "Repty" (FIR) was an outcome measure to assess changes of independence in daily activities. The Frenchay Arm Test (FAT) and Motor Status Score were outcome measures to assess changes in hand function. The analysis of pre- and posttest data indicated a significant improvement in hand function ([INCREMENT]FAT in the Mirror group p = .035, N = 30). Age factor indicated a significant change in relation to FIR outcome ([INCREMENT]FIR in the Mirror group p = .005, N = 30 and [INCREMENT]FIR in the Mirror group [left hand paresis] p = .037, N = 15). Additional MT influenced improvement in hand function. The age is significant in terms of functional state. The older adults are likely to benefit from MT. A positive impact of combining MT with other treatment was indicated.

A National Multiethnic Online Forum Study on Menopausal Symptom Experience

PubMed Central

Im, Eun-Ok; Lee, Bok Im; Chee, Wonshik; Dormire, Sharon; Brown, Adama

2010-01-01

Background Little is known about how culture influences menopausal symptom experience, and few comparative qualitative studies have been conducted among multiethnic groups of midlife women in the United States. Objectives To explore commonalities and differences in menopausal symptom experience among four major ethnic groups in the US (Whites, Hispanics, African Americans, and Asians). Methods This was a secondary analysis of qualitative data from a larger national Internet-based study. The qualitative data from 90 middle-aged women in the US who attended four ethnic-specific online forums of the larger study were examined using thematic analysis. Results The themes reflecting commonalities across the ethnic groups were: just a part of life, trying to be optimistic, getting support, and more information needed. The themes reflecting the differences among the ethnic groups were: open and closed, universal and unique, and controlling and minimizing. Overall, the findings indicated positive changes in women’s menopausal symptom experience, and supported the existence of cultural influences on women’s menopausal symptom experience across the ethnic groups. Discussion Systematic efforts need to be made to empower midlife women in their management of menopausal symptoms. PMID:20010042

Strong influence of palaeoclimate on the structure of modern African mammal communities.

PubMed

Rowan, John; Kamilar, Jason M; Beaudrot, Lydia; Reed, Kaye E

2016-10-12

Ecological research often assumes that species are adapted to their current climatic environments. However, climate fluctuations over geologic timescales have influenced species dispersal and extinction, which in turn may affect community structure. Modern community structure is likely to be the product of both palaeoclimate and modern climate, with the relative degrees of influence of past and present climates unknown. Here, we assessed the influence of climate at different time periods on the phylogenetic and functional trait structure of 203 African mammal communities. We found that the climate of the mid-Holocene (approx. 6000 years ago) and Last Glacial Maximum (approx. 22 000 years ago) were frequently better predictors of community structure than modern climate for mammals overall, carnivorans and ungulates. Primate communities were more strongly influenced by modern climate than palaeoclimate. Overall, community structure of African mammals appears to be related to the ecological flexibility of the groups considered here and the regions of continental Africa that they occupy. Our results indicate that the future redistribution, expansion and contraction of particular biomes due to human activity, such as climate and land-use change, will differentially affect mammal groups that vary in their sensitivity to environmental change. © 2016 The Author(s).

The effect of cognitive appraisal for stressors on the oral health-related QOL of dry mouth patients

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Dry mouth is very common symptom, and psychological factors have an influence on this symptom. Although the influence of emotional factor related to patients with oral dryness has been examined in previous studies, the cognitive factors have not been examined thus far. Objective The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of cognitive factors on patients with oral dryness. Methods The participants were 106 patients complaining of oral dryness. They were required to complete a questionnaire measuring subjective oral dryness, oral-related QOL, cognition for stressors, and mood state. Results Correlational analyses revealed that OHIP-14 is significantly related to oral dryness, appraisal for effect, appraisal for threat, and commitment. These correlations were maintained even after controlling for the influence of depression and anxiety. Using oral dryness, appraisal for effect, appraisal for threat, and commitment, cluster analysis was done and three clusters (cluster-1, severe oral dryness; cluster-2, positive cognitive style: cluster-3, negative cognitive style) were extracted. The results of ANOVA showed that the group with severe oral dryness (cluster-1) had a significantly higher score on OHIP-14 than the other two groups. There was no significant difference between the groups with positive (cluster-2) and negative (cluster-3) cognitive style. Conclusion Although the group of patients with positive cognitive style complained of more severe oral dryness than the group with negative cognitive style, no significant difference was observed between these two groups in OHIP-14. These results indicate that cognitive factors would be a useful therapeutic target for the improvement of the oral-related QOL of patients with oral dryness. PMID:26019720

Effects of discontinuing a high-fat diet on mitochondrial proteins and 6-hydroxydopamine-induced dopamine depletion in rats.

PubMed

Ma, Delin; Shuler, Jeffrey M; Raider, Kayla D; Rogers, Robert S; Wheatley, Joshua L; Geiger, Paige C; Stanford, John A

2015-07-10

Diet-induced obesity can increase the risk for developing age-related neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson's disease (PD). Increasing evidence suggests that mitochondrial and proteasomal mechanisms are involved in both insulin resistance and PD. The goal of this study was to determine whether diet intervention could influence mitochondrial or proteasomal protein expression and vulnerability to 6-Hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) depletion in rats' nigrostriatal system. After a 3 month high-fat diet regimen, we switched one group of rats to a low-fat diet for 3 months (HF-LF group), while the other half continued with the high-fat diet (HF group). A chow group was included as a control. Three weeks after unilateral 6-OHDA lesions, HF rats had higher fasting insulin levels and higher Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), indicating insulin resistance. HOMA-IR was significantly lower in HF-LF rats than HF rats, indicating that insulin resistance was reversed by switching to a low-fat diet. Compared to the Chow group, the HF group exhibited significantly greater DA depletion in the substantia nigra but not in the striatum. DA depletion did not differ between the HF-LF and HF group. Proteins related to mitochondrial function (such as AMPK, PGC-1α), and to proteasomal function (such as TCF11/Nrf1) were influenced by diet intervention, or by 6-OHDA lesion. Our findings suggest that switching to a low-fat diet reverses the effects of a high-fat diet on systemic insulin resistance, and mitochondrial and proteasomal function in the striatum. Conversely, they suggest that the effects of the high-fat diet on nigrostriatal vulnerability to 6-OHDA-induced DA depletion persist. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Social and ecological correlates of space use patterns in Bwindi mountain gorillas.

PubMed

Seiler, Nicole; Boesch, Christophe; Stephens, Colleen; Ortmann, Sylvia; Mundry, Roger; Robbins, Martha M

2018-04-01

Space use patterns determine access to resources necessary for survival and reproduction. Although it is recognized that the interplay between social and ecological variables shapes spacing patterns, few studies in group-living animals have simultaneously assessed their importance in a comprehensive approach using different spatiotemporal space use measures. In territorial species, such patterns are strongly determined by between-group competition, but its impact in non-territorial species is poorly understood. To better understand the role of social and ecological variables in non-territorial mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei), we simultaneously evaluated the impact of between-group competition (local gorilla population density and frequency of intergroup encounters) and within-group competition (group size) on space use patterns in 13 gorilla groups in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, while also examining variation in food availability (herbaceous food availability and level of frugivory). We found evidence of between-group competition, indicated by a decline of both monthly home range size and frequency of revisits to each part of the home range as the local gorilla population density increased and by an increase in daily travel distance on days when intergroup encounters occurred. Within-group feeding competition was inferred by a decrease in the frequency of revisits as group size increased. Lastly, food availability influenced the gorillas' spacing patterns, as indicated by a decline in monthly home range size as herbaceous food availability increased and by an increase in daily travel distance as the degree of frugivory increased. In sum, our results suggest that Bwindi gorillas adapted their space use according to the constraints of intraspecific competition and the availability of food resources. We provide some of the first evidence of between-group competition influencing spacing patterns in a non-territorial species. This study suggests a gradient between territoriality and non-territoriality, along which the level of between-group competition varies. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Secondary School Vice-Principals: Commitment, Challenge, Efficacy and Synchrony

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yu-kwong, Paula Kwan; Walker, Allan

2010-01-01

The study sought to investigate Hong Kong secondary school vice-principals' job facets leading to overall job satisfaction, and to differentiate the satisfaction of vice-principals of different career orientations and gender groups. The findings indicated that there are four main facets of satisfaction, in rank order of influence on overall…

An Overview of the Elements that Influence Efficiency in Postgraduate Supervisory Practice Arrangements

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buttery, Ernest Alan; Richter, Ewa Maria; Filho, Walter Leal

2005-01-01

Purpose: To outline the role of the group supervision model in postgraduate training, especially its advantages in respect of research involving industry sponsors. Design/methodology/approach: The paper considers the various categories of supervision and the pivotal role played by the supervisor. It analyses indicators of supervisor effectiveness…

Deviant Peer Influences in Programs for Youth Problems and Solutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dodge, Kenneth A., Ed.; Dishion, Thomas J., Ed.; Lansford, Jennifer E., Ed.

2006-01-01

Most interventions for at-risk youth are group based. Yet, emerging research indicates that young people often learn to become deviant by interacting with deviant peers. In this important volume, leading intervention and prevention experts from psychology, education, criminology, and related fields analyze how, and to what extent, programs that…

Influence of Children's Positive Self-Perceptions on Donating Behavior in a Naturalistic Setting.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holte, Carol S.; And Others

1984-01-01

Investigated the effects of self-perceptions on the donating behavior of 43 fourth-grade students who had two opportunities to donate gum to another class. Students who received feedback after the first donation period indicating that they were particularly generous subsequently gave more than children in the control group. (JAC)

Factors that Influence College Choice and Pathways among Vietnamese American High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tran, Huy

2012-01-01

Asian Americans are often depicted as a highly successful group, attaining advanced levels of education and upward mobility. However, research indicates Southeast Asian Americans are underrepresented in higher education and earn less bachelor degrees than East Asian Americans. To explore the phenomenon of unequal representation between Southeast…

Systematic Review of Social Network Analysis in Adolescent Cigarette Smoking Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seo, Dong-Chul; Huang, Yan

2012-01-01

Background: Social networks are important in adolescent smoking behavior. Previous research indicates that peer context is a major causal factor of adolescent smoking behavior. To date, however, little is known about the influence of peer group structure on adolescent smoking behavior. Methods: Studies that examined adolescent social networks with…

Comprehensible Input and Second Language Acquisition: What Is the Relationship?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loschky, Lester

1994-01-01

Examined the influence of input and interactional modifications on second-language acquisition, assigning 41 learners of Japanese to 1 of 3 experimental groups: (1) unmodified input with no interaction; (2) premodified input with no interaction; and (3) unmodified input with the chance for negotiated input. Results indicated that comprehension was…

Enhancing Argumentative Writing Skill through Contextual Teaching and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hasani, Aceng

2016-01-01

This study aims to describe the influence of contextual learning model and critical thinking ability toward argumentative writing skill on university students. The population of the research was 147 university students, and 52 university students were used as sample with multi stage sampling. The results of the research indicate that; group of…

Culture Embrained: Going Beyond the Nature-Nurture Dichotomy.

PubMed

Kitayama, Shinobu; Salvador, Cristina E

2017-09-01

Over the past three decades, the cultural psychology literature has established that there is systematic cultural variation in the nature of agency in the domains of cognition, emotion, and motivation. This literature adopted both self-report and performance-based (or behavioral) indicators of these processes, which set the stage for a more recent systematic exploration of cultural influences at the neural and biological level. Moreover, previous work has largely focused on East-West differences, thereby calling for a systematic exploration of other ethnic groups. To address these issues, this article reviews recent work in cultural neuroscience, while paying close attention to Latino Americans-the single most rapidly growing minority group in the United States. We focus on research that has employed neural measures and show that culture has systematic influences on the brain. We also point out that, unlike more traditional self-report or performance-based measures, neural indicators of culture are reliably linked to theoretically relevant individual difference variables such as self-construal and acculturation. Cultural neuroscience offers the framework to go beyond the dichotomy between nature and nurture and to explore how they may dynamically interact.

Influence of rearing conditions on voluntary ethanol intake and response to stress in rats.

PubMed

Rockman, G E; Hall, A M; Markert, L E; Glavin, G B

1988-03-01

The effects of exposure to four environmental rearing conditions on subsequent voluntary ethanol intake and response to immobilization stress were examined. Male weanling rats were reared in an enriched environment, with a female partner, with a male partner, or individually, for 90 days. At 111 days of age, voluntary consumption of ethanol in increasing concentrations (3 to 9%, v/v) was assessed. Following the ethanol-exposure period, rats were randomly divided into stressed and nonstressed groups and exposed to 3 h of immobilization. Results indicated that the enriched animals consumed greater amounts of ethanol as compared to all other groups, suggesting that the enriched environment and not handling, housing conditions, or the presence of another male or female is responsible for the observed increase in ethanol drinking behavior. Ulcer data indicated that among environmentally enriched rats, ethanol attenuated stress ulcer development relative to their non-ethanol-exposed but stressed controls. In nonstressed enriched rats, ethanol alone exacerbated stomach damage. We suggest that environmental rearing conditions markedly influence the complex interaction between ethanol intake and the response to stress.

Cholesterol and fatty acid composition of longissimus thoracis from water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) and Brahman-influenced cattle raised under savannah conditions.

PubMed

Giuffrida-Mendoza, Maria; Arenas de Moreno, Lilia; Huerta-Leidenz, Nelson; Uzcátegui-Bracho, Sojan; Valero-Leal, Kutchynskaya; Romero, Sonia; Rodas-González, Argenis

2015-08-01

Male (n=66) water buffalo (Buffalo) and Brahman-influenced cattle (Brahman) were born, raised, weaned, fattened on grazing savannah and harvested at two different ages (19 and 24months) to compare lipid composition of the longissimus thoracis muscle. Half of the animals were castrated at seven months of age (MOA) to examine the castration effects. At 24 MOA Brahman steers showed the highest content of total lipids (P<0.05). No significant variation was detected in cholesterol content for either the main or interaction effects in the age groups. Some individual fatty acids varied with the species (P<0.05), however, interspecific similarities were found in fatty acid ratios. For health-related indices, only atherogenic index (AI) showed lower values in favor of Buffalo meat (P<0.05) at both harvesting ages. Although, meat derived from both bovid groups was leaner and showed lower cholesterol level, AI indicates that Buffalo meat might be beneficial from a human health standpoint. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effect of social environment on markers of vascular oxidative stress and inflammation in the Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbit.

PubMed

Nation, Daniel A; Gonzales, Julie A; Mendez, Armando J; Zaias, Julia; Szeto, Angela; Brooks, Larry G; Paredes, Jamespaul; D'Angola, Alyssa; Schneiderman, Neil; McCabe, Philip M

2008-04-01

Previous research demonstrated that social environment can influence progression of atherosclerosis in the Watanabe Heritable Hyperlipidemic (WHHL) rabbit. This study examined the effect of social environment on markers of oxidative stress and inflammation to clarify the physiological pathways potentially responsible for the influence of social environment on disease. WHHL rabbits were assigned to 1 of 3 social groups: an unstable group, in which unfamiliar rabbits were paired daily, with the pairing switched each week; a stable group, in which littermates were paired daily; and an individually-caged group. The stable group engaged in more affiliative social behavior than the unstable group. The unstable group showed more agonistic behavior compared with the stable group and higher C-reactive protein levels than the individually caged group. The individually caged group was behaviorally sedentary, had higher 24-hour urinary catecholamine levels than the other groups, and exhibited higher NAD(P)H-oxidase activity in the aortic arch relative to the stable group. The results suggest that social environment creates distinct behavioral contexts that can affect markers of inflammation and oxidative stress early in the development of atherosclerosis. Specifically, physical inactivity associated with individual caging affects indices of oxidative stress and inflammation. These pathophysiological markers may help to explain behaviorally related differences in the extent of atherosclerosis observed in prior studies.

Interaction of Proteins Identified in Human Thyroid Cells

PubMed Central

Pietsch, Jessica; Riwaldt, Stefan; Bauer, Johann; Sickmann, Albert; Weber, Gerhard; Grosse, Jirka; Infanger, Manfred; Eilles, Christoph; Grimm, Daniela

2013-01-01

Influence of gravity forces on the regulation of protein expression by healthy and malignant thyroid cells was studied with the aim to identify protein interactions. Western blot analyses of a limited number of proteins suggested a time-dependent regulation of protein expression by simulated microgravity. After applying free flow isoelectric focusing and mass spectrometry to search for differently expressed proteins by thyroid cells exposed to simulated microgravity for three days, a considerable number of candidates for gravi-sensitive proteins were detected. In order to show how proteins sensitive to microgravity could directly influence other proteins, we investigated all polypeptide chains identified with Mascot scores above 100, looking for groups of interacting proteins. Hence, UniProtKB entry numbers of all detected proteins were entered into the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins (STRING) and processed. The program indicated that we had detected various groups of interacting proteins in each of the three cell lines studied. The major groups of interacting proteins play a role in pathways of carbohydrate and protein metabolism, regulation of cell growth and cell membrane structuring. Analyzing these groups, networks of interaction could be established which show how a punctual influence of simulated microgravity may propagate via various members of interaction chains. PMID:23303277

Factors affecting physicians' responses to patients' requests for antidepressants: focus group study.

PubMed

Tentler, Aleksey; Silberman, Jordan; Paterniti, Debora A; Kravitz, Richard L; Epstein, Ronald M

2008-01-01

The ways in which patients' requests for antidepressants affect physicians' prescribing behavior are poorly understood. To describe physicians' affective and cognitive responses to standardized patients' (SPs) requests for antidepressants, as well as the attitudinal and contextual factors influencing prescribing behavior. Focus group interviews and brief demographic questionnaires. Twenty-two primary care physicians in 6 focus groups; all had participated in a prior RCT of the influence of patients' requests on physicians' prescribing. Iterative review of interview transcripts, involving qualitative coding and thematic analysis. Physicians participating in the focus groups were frequently unaware of and denied the degree to which their thinking was biased by patient requests, but were able to recognize such biases after facilitated reflection. Common affective responses included annoyance and empathy. Common cognitive reactions resulted in further diagnostic inquiry or in acquiescing to the patient's demands to save time or build the patient-clinician relationship. Patients' requests for medication prompted the participants to err on the side of overtreating versus careful review of clinical indications. Lack of time and participants' attitudes--toward the role of the patient and the pharmaceutical ads--also influenced their responses, prompting them to interpret patient requests as diagnostic clues or opportunities for efficiency. This study provides a taxonomy of affective and cognitive responses to patients' requests for medications and the underlying attitudes and contextual factors influencing them. Improved capacity for moment-to-moment self-awareness during clinical reasoning processes may increase the appropriateness of prescribing.

Analysis on influencing factors of abnormal renal function in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PubMed

Chai, Tao; Zhang, Dawei; Li, Zhongxin

2018-04-12

To investigate the related influencing factors of abnormal renal function in elderly in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and their clinical significance. The clinical data of elderly T2DM patients hospitalized in Beijing Luhe Hospital from January 2013 to June2016 were retrospectively analyzed. According to their glomerular filtration rate (GFR) levels, these patients were divided into GFR ≥90 mL/min/1.73m2 group (Group A), GFR =60-90 mL/min/1.73m2 group (Group B), and GFR <60 mL/min/1.73m2 group (Group C, i.e., abnormal renal function group). Clinical and laboratory indicators were compared among each group. A total of 614 elderly T2DM patients were collected and divided into Group A (n=186), Group B (n=280) and Group C (n=148, 24.10%). Among them, patients clinically diagnosed with diabetic nephropathy (DN) accounted for 13.68%, and those complicated with high blood pressure (HBP) accounted for 61.40%. In Group C, DN accounted for only 29.73%. In elderly T2DM patients, HBP course, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), 2h postprandial blood glucose (2hPBG), serum total cholesterol (TC) and blood uric acid (BUA) were independent influencing factors associated with abnormal renal function, among which HBP had a more significant impact on abnormal renal function. With the increase of blood pressure (BP) level, the extension in the course of DM, the increase in urinary albumin/creatinine (Alb/Cr) and the decrease in GFR, the incidence rate of abnormal renal function was increased. HBP course, SBP, DBP, 2hPBG, TC and BUA are independent risk factors for abnormal renal function in elderly patients with T2DM. Well-controlled BP and blood glucose are protective factors, and a comprehensive treatment targeting to the above influencing factors has important clinical significance in preventing and delaying the occurrence and development of abnormal renal function.

Mediating influences of social support on stress at Three Mile Island.

PubMed

Fleming, R; Baum, A; Gisriel, M M; Gatchel, R J

1982-09-01

Symptom reporting, task performance, and urinary catecholamine excretion were studied in a group of people living near the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant and in control populations. More than a year after the accident, living near the damaged reactor was associated with elevations in all indices of stress compared with control levels. Social support mediated these stress indices such that higher levels were associated with fewer psychological and behavioral symptoms of stress. Biochemical measures showed a different pattern of results.

Diversity Exiting the Academy: Influential Factors for the Career Choice of Well-Represented and Underrepresented Minority Scientists.

PubMed

Layton, Rebekah L; Brandt, Patrick D; Freeman, Ashalla M; Harrell, Jessica R; Hall, Joshua D; Sinche, Melanie

2016-01-01

A national sample of PhD-trained scientists completed training, accepted subsequent employment in academic and nonacademic positions, and were queried about their previous graduate training and current employment. Respondents indicated factors contributing to their employment decision (e.g., working conditions, salary, job security). The data indicate the relative importance of deciding factors influencing career choice, controlling for gender, initial interest in faculty careers, and number of postgraduate publications. Among both well-represented (WR; n = 3444) and underrepresented minority (URM; n = 225) respondents, faculty career choice was positively associated with desire for autonomy and partner opportunity and negatively associated with desire for leadership opportunity. Differences between groups in reasons endorsed included: variety, prestige, salary, family influence, and faculty advisor influence. Furthermore, endorsement of faculty advisor or other mentor influence and family or peer influence were surprisingly rare across groups, suggesting that formal and informal support networks could provide a missed opportunity to provide support for trainees who want to stay in faculty career paths. Reasons requiring alteration of misperceptions (e.g., limited leadership opportunity for faculty) must be distinguished from reasons requiring removal of actual barriers. Further investigation into factors that affect PhDs' career decisions can help elucidate why URM candidates are disproportionately exiting the academy. © 2016 R. L. Layton et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Fatigue influences lower extremity angular velocities during a single-leg drop vertical jump.

PubMed

Tamura, Akihiro; Akasaka, Kiyokazu; Otsudo, Takahiro; Shiozawa, Junya; Toda, Yuka; Yamada, Kaori

2017-03-01

[Purpose] Fatigue alters lower extremity landing strategies and decreases the ability to attenuate impact during landing. The purpose of this study was to reveal the influence of fatigue on dynamic alignment and joint angular velocities in the lower extremities during a single leg landing. [Subjects and Methods] The 34 female college students were randomly assigned to either the fatigue or control group. The fatigue group performed single-leg drop vertical jumps before, and after, the fatigue protocol, which was performed using a bike ergometer. Lower extremity kinematic data were acquired using a three-dimensional motion analysis system. The ratio of each variable (%), for the pre-fatigue to post-fatigue protocols, were calculated to compare differences between each group. [Results] Peak hip and knee flexion angular velocities increased significantly in the fatigue group compared with the control group. Furthermore, hip flexion angular velocity increased significantly between each group at 40 milliseconds after initial ground contact. [Conclusion] Fatigue reduced the ability to attenuate impact by increasing angular velocities in the direction of hip and knee flexion during landings. These findings indicate a requirement to evaluate movement quality over time by measuring hip and knee flexion angular velocities in landings during fatigue conditions.

Symptoms experienced during menopausal transition: Korean women in South Korea and the United States.

PubMed

Im, Eun-Ok

2003-10-01

This article reports on cultural influences on symptoms experienced during menopausal transition of Korean women in South Korea and Korean immigrant women in the United States. Data from independent studies of two groups of Korean women were triangulated and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The analysis indicated that Korean women in South Korea tended to report more symptoms than Korean immigrant women in the United States. Types and severity of prevalent symptoms were also found to be different between the two groups. The findings suggest that recent introduction of menopausal industries in South Korea and contextual influences on Korean women's work and immigration in the United States would be the reason for differences. Based on the findings, implications for future research are proposed.

Dynamic allocation of attention to metrical and grouping accents in rhythmic sequences.

PubMed

Kung, Shu-Jen; Tzeng, Ovid J L; Hung, Daisy L; Wu, Denise H

2011-04-01

Most people find it easy to perform rhythmic movements in synchrony with music, which reflects their ability to perceive the temporal periodicity and to allocate attention in time accordingly. Musicians and non-musicians were tested in a click localization paradigm in order to investigate how grouping and metrical accents in metrical rhythms influence attention allocation, and to reveal the effect of musical expertise on such processing. We performed two experiments in which the participants were required to listen to isochronous metrical rhythms containing superimposed clicks and then to localize the click on graphical and ruler-like representations with and without grouping structure information, respectively. Both experiments revealed metrical and grouping influences on click localization. Musical expertise improved the precision of click localization, especially when the click coincided with a metrically strong beat. Critically, although all participants located the click accurately at the beginning of an intensity group, only musicians located it precisely when it coincided with a strong beat at the end of the group. Removal of the visual cue of grouping structures enhanced these effects in musicians and reduced them in non-musicians. These results indicate that musical expertise not only enhances attention to metrical accents but also heightens sensitivity to perceptual grouping.

The effect of supplementation of clove and agrimony or clove and lemon balm on growth performance, antioxidant status and selected indices of lipid profile of broiler chickens.

PubMed

Petrovic, V; Marcincak, S; Popelka, P; Simkova, J; Martonova, M; Buleca, J; Marcincakova, D; Tuckova, M; Molnar, L; Kovac, G

2012-12-01

The study investigated the effects of diet supplementation with 1% clove flower buds powder combined with either 0.2% lemon balm extract or 0.2% agrimony extract (each of the two pulverized extracts supplied through drinking water) on body weight of broilers, total feed intake, feed conversion ratio and the carcass yield, activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px, EC 1.11.1.9) in blood, concentration of sulfhydryl (-SH) groups, malondialdehyde (MDA), vitamin A and E, low-density lipoproteins in the blood plasma, serum cholesterol, total lipids, triglycerides and high-density lipoproteins in broiler chickens at 42 days of age. On the day of hatching, 120 male and female broilers of Cobb 500 were randomly divided into three groups. The control group (1st group) of broilers received a basal diet (BD) without any feed and water additive. Both experimental groups of chicks were fed BD enriched with clove (Syzygium aromaticum L.) powder at a dose of 10 g/kg DM for 42 days. Moreover, either lemon balm (Mellisa officinalis L.) extract or agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria L.) extract diluted with drinking water (2:1000) was given to broilers in the 2nd and 3rd group respectively. The results indicated that feeding the diets enriched with selected herbal supplements failed to affect the growth performance of broiler chickens at 42 days of age. In addition, this supplementation had no influence on the activities of SOD and GSH-Px, concentration of vitamin A and selected lipid metabolism indices. On the other hand, we observed beneficial effects on some indices of the antioxidant status (increased concentration of -SH groups and vitamin E, decreased concentration of MDA) in the blood of broilers in both experimental groups in comparison with the control group of chickens (p < 0.05). Furthermore, a slightly better antioxidant capacity was found in the blood of broilers supplied the combination of clove and lemon balm compared to clove and agrimony (vitamin E, 11.26 ± 0.73 vs. 9.73 ± 0.64 μmol/L, p < 0.05 respectively). It could be concluded that supplementation of the diet with clove flower buds powder combined with lemon balm extract or agrimony extract dissolved in drinking water has a potential to increase the antioxidant status but fails to influence either the growth performance or the selected lipid metabolism indices of broilers at the age of 42 days. © 2011 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Indicators for evaluating European population health: a Delphi selection process.

PubMed

Freitas, Ângela; Santana, Paula; Oliveira, Mónica D; Almendra, Ricardo; Bana E Costa, João C; Bana E Costa, Carlos A

2018-04-27

Indicators are essential instruments for monitoring and evaluating population health. The selection of a multidimensional set of indicators should not only reflect the scientific evidence on health outcomes and health determinants, but also the views of health experts and stakeholders. The aim of this study is to describe the Delphi selection process designed to promote agreement on indicators considered relevant to evaluate population health at the European regional level. Indicators were selected in a Delphi survey conducted using a web-platform designed to implement and monitor participatory processes. It involved a panel of 51 experts and 30 stakeholders from different areas of knowledge and geographies. In three consecutive rounds the panel indicated their level of agreement or disagreement with indicator's relevance for evaluating population health in Europe. Inferential statistics were applied to draw conclusions on observed level of agreement (Scott's Pi interrater reliability coefficient) and opinion change (McNemar Chi-square test). Multivariate analysis of variance was conducted to check if the field of expertise influenced the panellist responses (Wilk's Lambda test). The panel participated extensively in the study (overall response rate: 80%). Eighty indicators reached group agreement for selection in the areas of: economic and social environment (12); demographic change (5); lifestyle and health behaviours (8); physical environment (6); built environment (12); healthcare services (11) and health outcomes (26). Higher convergence of group opinion towards agreement on the relevance of indicators was seen for lifestyle and health behaviours, healthcare services, and health outcomes. The panellists' field of expertise influenced responses: statistically significant differences were found for economic and social environment (p < 0.05 in round 1 and 2), physical environment (p < 0.01 in round 1) and health outcomes (p < 0.01 in round 3). The high levels of participation observed in this study, by involving experts and stakeholders and ascertaining their views, underpinned the added value of using a transparent Web-Delphi process to promote agreement on what indicators are relevant to appraise population health.

The Influence of Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus on Dental Caries and Salivary Flow

PubMed Central

Gupta, V. K.; Malhotra, Seema; Sharma, Vasuda; Hiremath, S. S.

2014-01-01

Objective. To assess whether or not there was any change in the dental caries and rate of salivary flow of patients with Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM) and the contribution of salivary flow to caries risk in IDDM. Setting. Department of Endocrinology, MS Ramaiah Hospital, Bangalore, India. Design. A comparative cross-sectional descriptive type. Materials and Methods. The sample consisted of two groups: 140 diabetic group (mean age 14.8 yr) and 140 nondiabetic group (mean age 13.7 yr). Dental caries by dmf(t) and dmf(s) indices for primary dentition and DMF(T) and DMF(S) indices was used in permanent dentition to assess the dental caries experience. Both stimulated and unstimulated salivary flow rate were assessed after collection of saliva. Results. In diabetic group 76% had carious lesion and in nondiabetic group 85.3% had carious lesion. Diabetics have lower mean DMFT, DMFS, dmft, and dmfs compared to the nondiabetic group. Diminished unstimulated and stimulated salivary flow rate in diabetic than nondiabetic group. Conclusions. The findings obtained conclude that even though there was reduced salivary flow rate in diabetic group the caries prevalence was low. PMID:26464864

The Influence of Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus on Dental Caries and Salivary Flow.

PubMed

Gupta, V K; Malhotra, Seema; Sharma, Vasuda; Hiremath, S S

2014-01-01

Objective. To assess whether or not there was any change in the dental caries and rate of salivary flow of patients with Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM) and the contribution of salivary flow to caries risk in IDDM. Setting. Department of Endocrinology, MS Ramaiah Hospital, Bangalore, India. Design. A comparative cross-sectional descriptive type. Materials and Methods. The sample consisted of two groups: 140 diabetic group (mean age 14.8 yr) and 140 nondiabetic group (mean age 13.7 yr). Dental caries by dmf(t) and dmf(s) indices for primary dentition and DMF(T) and DMF(S) indices was used in permanent dentition to assess the dental caries experience. Both stimulated and unstimulated salivary flow rate were assessed after collection of saliva. Results. In diabetic group 76% had carious lesion and in nondiabetic group 85.3% had carious lesion. Diabetics have lower mean DMFT, DMFS, dmft, and dmfs compared to the nondiabetic group. Diminished unstimulated and stimulated salivary flow rate in diabetic than nondiabetic group. Conclusions. The findings obtained conclude that even though there was reduced salivary flow rate in diabetic group the caries prevalence was low.

Effects of high temperatures and drought during anthesis and grain filling period on wheat processing quality and underlying gluten structural changes.

PubMed

Mastilović, Jasna; Živančev, Dragan; Lončar, Eva; Malbaša, Radomir; Hristov, Nikola; Kevrešan, Žarko

2018-06-01

Climate changes do not only affect wheat yield, but also its quality. Information on this topic gathered so far is somewhat contradictory and insufficient. Climate changes also affect wheat indirectly through their influence on the ecosystem, including insects and fungi that affect wheat technological quality. The aim of this study was to examine trends in structural and technological changes of wheat quality under conditions typical of climate changes. With this in mind, three groups of wheat varieties with the same Glu-score were examined in three production years, characterized by different production conditions. A production season characterized by climate change conditions results in lower activity of amylolytic enzymes. What is more, it results in lower content of gluten, higher gluten index value, its decrease after 1 h to 37 °C, lower number of free SH groups and higher content of free amino groups, which result in lower alveograph W, lower farinograph WA and higher extensograph dough resistance. Variability in wheat quality produced under different climatic conditions is mainly influenced by the production conditions, including their influence on ecosystem factors. The influence of wheat cultivar genetic predisposition is much less expressed. This indicates that differences among cultivars with different Glu-score might be diminished under the influence of altered production conditions, as a consequence of climate change. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Family environment influences emotion recognition following paediatric traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Schmidt, Adam T; Orsten, Kimberley D; Hanten, Gerri R; Li, Xiaoqi; Levin, Harvey S

2010-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between family functioning and performance on two tasks of emotion recognition (emotional prosody and face emotion recognition) and a cognitive control procedure (the Flanker task) following paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) or orthopaedic injury (OI). A total of 142 children (75 TBI, 67 OI) were assessed on three occasions: baseline, 3 months and 1 year post-injury on the two emotion recognition tasks and the Flanker task. Caregivers also completed the Life Stressors and Resources Scale (LISRES) on each occasion. Growth curve analysis was used to analyse the data. Results indicated that family functioning influenced performance on the emotional prosody and Flanker tasks but not on the face emotion recognition task. Findings on both the emotional prosody and Flanker tasks were generally similar across groups. However, financial resources emerged as significantly related to emotional prosody performance in the TBI group only (p = 0.0123). Findings suggest family functioning variables--especially financial resources--can influence performance on an emotional processing task following TBI in children.

The sound of cooperation: Musical influences on cooperative behavior.

PubMed

Kniffin, Kevin M; Yan, Jubo; Wansink, Brian; Schulze, William D

2017-03-01

Music as an environmental aspect of professional workplaces has been closely studied with respect to consumer behavior while sparse attention has been given to its relevance for employee behavior. In this article, we focus on the influence of music upon cooperative behavior within decision-making groups. Based on results from two extended 20-round public goods experiments, we find that happy music significantly and positively influences cooperative behavior. We also find a significant positive association between mood and cooperative behavior. Consequently, while our studies provide partial support for the relevance of affect in relation to cooperation within groups, we also show an independently important function of happy music that fits with a theory of synchronous and rhythmic activity as a social lubricant. More generally, our findings indicate that music and perhaps other atmospheric variables that are designed to prime consumer behavior might have comparably important effects for employees and consequently warrant closer investigation. Copyright © 2016 The Authors Journal of Organizational Behavior Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Influences of social power and normative support on condom use decisions: a research synthesis

PubMed Central

Albarracín, D.; Kumkale, G. T.; Johnson, B. T.

2016-01-01

A meta-analysis of 58 studies involving 30,270 participants examined how study population and methodological characteristics influence the associations among norms, control perceptions, attitudes, intentions and behaviour in the area of condom use. Findings indicated that control perceptions generally correlated more strongly among members of societal groups that lack power, including female, younger individuals, ethnic-minorities and people with lower educational levels. Furthermore, norms generally had stronger influences among younger individuals and among people who have greater access to informational social support, including males, ethnic majorities and people with higher levels of education. These findings are discussed in the context of HIV prevention efforts. PMID:15370059

The Influence of Place of Residence, Gender and Age Influence on Food Group Choices in the Spanish Population: Findings from the ANIBES Study.

PubMed

Samaniego-Vaesken, María de Lourdes; Partearroyo, Teresa; Ruiz, Emma; Aranceta-Bartrina, Javier; Gil, Ángel; González-Gross, Marcela; Ortega, Rosa M; Serra-Majem, Lluis; Varela-Moreiras, Gregorio

2018-03-22

Socioeconomic factors (SEF) can exert a great impact on food choices. However, limited data are available from the Spanish population. Our aim was to describe the influence of place of residence and habitat size on food group intakes. Data were obtained from the ANIBES study. A 3-day dietary record provided information on food and beverage consumption. Data analysis compared gender, age, Nielsen geographic areas, and habitat population size (urban, semi-urban, and rural). Place of residence did not appear to be a determinant for specific food group consumption during childhood and adolescence, as only higher intakes of non-alcoholic beverages were observed among children aged 9 to 12 years living in the East, when compared to those from the Northwest of Spain ( p < 0.05). Food choices within adults (18 to 64 years) and seniors (65 to 75 years) were conditioned: sugar and sweets intake was significantly higher ( p < 0.05) for adult men living in the Northwest than those from the South, and senior males from North Central areas had significantly higher consumption of eggs ( p < 0.05) compared to the Northeast. Basic food group consumption was only affected during childhood and aging. Adults who inhabited rural areas consumed greater quantities of fats and oils than those from higher population densities ( p < 0.01). Our results indicate that place of residence and habitat size have a limited influence on food choices, regardless of age and gender in the ANIBES study population. It is fundamental to acknowledge that other SEF variables are important and further studies are needed to monitor and assess these influences are warranted.

An exploration of the influence of family on cigarette smoking among American Indian adolescents.

PubMed

Kegler, M C; Cleaver, V L; Yazzie-Valencia, M

2000-10-01

American Indians have the highest smoking rate of all major racial/ethnic groups in the US, despite significant variation across tribes and regions of the country. Yet, little research has been conducted on smoking initiation among American Indian adolescents. In an effort to identify the mechanisms through which families influence teen smoking, both positively and negatively, 20 focus groups were conducted with 144 non-reservation American Indian teens in Oklahoma. Findings indicated that most of the antismoking messages from family members were given by parents and grandparents, and focused on the long-term health consequences of smoking and addiction. Parental responses to teen smoking varied widely, with some responses sending mixed messages to the teens. Many teens discussed obtaining their first cigarette in a family setting and the teens felt that having smokers in their families influenced them to try smoking. Teens were able to discuss the traditional role of tobacco in their culture and were aware of its presence at Indian events, but felt ceremonial and traditional use was distinct from recreational use. Additional research is necessary to assess whether these results are generalizable to other tribes and regions, and to other racial/ethnic groups.

Mothers’ conceptions about excess weight in infancy and the nutritional status of their children

PubMed Central

da Silva, Janaína Paula Costa; Sarubbi Junior, Vicente; Nascimento, Viviane Gabriela; Bertoli, Ciro João; Gallo, Paulo Rogério; Leone, Claudio

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To analyze maternal conceptions about excess weight in infancy and the nutritional status of their preschool-aged children. METHODS: A mixed, exploratory study was performed using semi-structured interviews. Two study groups were defined: a group of 16 mothers of children with excess weight and a group of 15 mothers of eutrophic children. The interviews were submitted to content analysis using CHIC software (Classification Hiérarchique Implicative et Cohésitive®). RESULTS: The mothers of children with excess weight tended to conceive thin children as malnourished, while those of normal weight children emphasized the influence of family and genetics as determinants of a child’s nutritional status. Although there was a certain consensus among the mothers that an unhealthy diet contributes to the risk of a child developing excess weight, the concept of genetics as a determinant of a child’s nutritional status was also present in the dialogue from the mothers of both groups. This result indicates a lack of clarity regarding the influence of eating behavior and family lifestyle on weight gain and the formation of a child’s eating habits. Both groups indicated that the mother has a decisive role in the eating habits of her child; however, the mothers of children with excess weight did not seem to take ownership of this concept when addressing the care of their own children. CONCLUSION: Differences in conceptions, including taking ownership of care, may contribute to the development of excess weight in preschool-aged children. PMID:27652830

Group assessment of key indicators of sustainable waste management in developing countries.

PubMed

Tot, Bojana; Vujić, Goran; Srđević, Zorica; Ubavin, Dejan; Russo, Mário Augusto Tavares

2017-09-01

Decision makers in developing countries are struggling to solve the present problems of solid waste management. Prioritisation and ranking of the most important indicators that influence the waste management system is very useful for any decision maker for the future planning and implementation of a sustainable waste management system. The aim of this study is to evaluate key indicators and their related sub-indicators in a group decision-making environment. In order to gain insight into the subject it was necessary to obtain the qualified opinions of decision makers from different countries who understand the situation in the sector of waste management in developing countries. An assessment is performed by 43 decision makers from both developed and developing countries, and the applied methodology is based on a combined use of the analytic hierarchy process, from the multi-criteria decision-making set of tools, and the preferential voting method known as Borda Count, which belongs to social choice theory. Pairwise comparison of indicators is performed with the analytic hierarchy process, and the ranking of indicators once obtained is assessed with Borda Count. Detailed analysis of the final results showed that the Institutional-Administrative indicator was the most important one, with the maximum weight as derived by both groups of decision makers. The results also showed that the combined use of the analytic hierarchy process and Borda Count contributes to the credibility and objectivity of the decision-making process, allowing its use in more complex waste management group decision-making problems to be recommended.

The influence of environmental factors on heart rate chronostructure depending on the individual characteristics of autonomic regulation. Results of long-term medical-ecological studies.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Isaeva, Olga; Zenchenko, Tatiana; Breus, Tamara; Chernikova, Anna; Baevsky, Roman

It was previously shown [Baevsky, Petrov, 1998] that during space flight under influence of geomagnetic disturbances there are both specific response of the autonomic regulation system in the form of vasomotor cardiovascular center activation (LF spectral components) and non-specific stress response, which depends on the actual autonomic balance [Breus, Baevsky, 2002]. Within the project "Mars-500" the parallel medical-ecological studies were conducted in 10 groups (10-16 people), that lived in different regions of the world under the influence of various environmental factors - climatic, geographic, industrial, social and other. It allowed us to obtain a sufficiently large number of variants of adaptive reactions caused by differences in external impacts. The main research method was the heart rate variability (HRV) analysis in short ECG samples (5 minutes) for assessing heart rate chronostructure and functional status of autonomic regulation. Results of studies have demonstrated that environmental loads on the regulatory mechanisms is higher in the northern and north-eastern regions of Russia - Magadan and Syktyvkar. Stress-index of regulatory systems and adaptive risk indicator is significantly higher in these groups [Baevsky, Berseneva, 2013]. The preliminary search of weather factors (atmospheric pressure, air temperature, humidity and magnetic index Kp) influence on the autonomic regulation of heart rate showed that there are no any significant changes and relationships in the entire group of participants. We have assumed that the character of adaptive responses, including responses to changing weather and geomagnetic conditions, is associated with the individual characteristics and the initial functional state of autonomic regulation. To test this hypothesis, we have identified two groups of subjects with different autonomic balance. The first group included individuals with a pronounced predominance of sympathetic regulation (n = 127), the second - with a strong predominance of parasympathetic activity (n = 64). The analysis of correlations between weather and heart rate chronostructure and functional condition of autonomic regulation revealed that attitude of low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF) of heart rhythm spectrum higher in both groups at declining geomagnetic activity and lower at its growth. The comparison of other HRV indicators at decreasing and increasing geomagnetic activity displayed the opposite trends in these groups. Stress-index of regulatory systems (SI), which reflects the sympathetic activity, rises in group with sympathetic dominance at reducing geomagnetic activity, and at its growth - in group with parasympathetic dominance. So, we can see that specific adaptive reaction as response to changing geomagnetic situation, which manifested in activation of vasomotor cardiovascular center, is the similar in subjects with different autonomic balance. Non-specific component depends on initial dominance of one or another regulatory mechanism.

Emotional word usage in groups at risk for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders: An objective investigation of attention to emotion

PubMed Central

Fung, Christie K.; Moore, Melody M.; Karcher, Nicole R.; Kerns, John G.; Martin, Elizabeth A.

2017-01-01

Both extreme levels of social anhedonia (SocAnh) and extreme levels of perceptual aberration/magical ideation (PerMag) indicate increased risk for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and are associated with emotional deficits. For SocAnh, there is evidence of self-reported decreased trait positive affect and abnormalities in emotional attention. For PerMag, there is evidence of increased trait negative affect and increased attention to negative emotion. Yet, the nature of more objective emotional abnormalities in these groups is unclear. The goal of this study was to assess attention to emotions more objectively in a SocAnh, PerMag, and control group by using a positive (vs. neutral) mood induction procedure followed by a free writing period. Linguistic analyses revealed that the SocAnh group used fewer positive emotion words than the control group, with the PerMag group falling in between the others. In addition, both at-risk groups used more negative emotion words than the control group. Also, for the control group only, those in the positive mood induction used more positive emotion words, suggesting their emotions influenced their linguistic expression. Overall, SocAnh is associated with decreased positive emotional expression and at-risk groups are associated with increased negative emotional expression and a decreased influence of emotions on linguistic expression. PMID:28242515

Emotional word usage in groups at risk for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders: An objective investigation of attention to emotion.

PubMed

Fung, Christie K; Moore, Melody M; Karcher, Nicole R; Kerns, John G; Martin, Elizabeth A

2017-06-01

Both extreme levels of social anhedonia (SocAnh) and extreme levels of perceptual aberration/magical ideation (PerMag) indicate increased risk for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and are associated with emotional deficits. For SocAnh, there is evidence of self-reported decreased trait positive affect and abnormalities in emotional attention. For PerMag, there is evidence of increased trait negative affect and increased attention to negative emotion. Yet, the nature of more objective emotional abnormalities in these groups is unclear. The goal of this study was to assess attention to emotions more objectively in a SocAnh, PerMag, and control group by using a positive (vs. neutral) mood induction procedure followed by a free writing period. Linguistic analyses revealed that the SocAnh group used fewer positive emotion words than the control group, with the PerMag group falling in between the others. In addition, both at-risk groups used more negative emotion words than the control group. Also, for the control group only, those in the positive mood induction used more positive emotion words, suggesting their emotions influenced their linguistic expression. Overall, SocAnh is associated with decreased positive emotional expression and at-risk groups are associated with increased negative emotional expression and a decreased influence of emotions on linguistic expression. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The interrelationship between self-image disparity and social competence, defensive style, and adjustment status.

PubMed

Mylet, M; Styfco, S J; Zigler, E

1979-09-01

Groups of 40 psychiatric and 40 nonpsychiatric male patients were subdivided into equal groups of high and low social competence. Each patient completed a task battery which included three measures of self-image disparity and the Byrne repression-sensitization scale. High competence patients of both types were found to have higher self-image disparities than low competence patients. Psychiatric patients were found to have higher disparity scores than nonpsychiatric patients, although some evidence indicated that this was true only for the low competence groups. Higher scores on the Byrne scale (indicating sensitization) were found for high as compared to low competence patients, and for the psychiatric as compared to nonpsychiatric groups. Defensive style correlated significantly with each of the self-image measures. The results were discussed in the context of both developmental and Rogerian formulations. It was concluded that an individual's maturational level influences both self-image and defensive style, even when the individual is judged psychologically maladjusted.

Improving creativity performance by short-term meditation

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background One form of meditation intervention, the integrative body-mind training (IBMT) has been shown to improve attention, reduce stress and change self-reports of mood. In this paper we examine whether short-term IBMT can improve performance related to creativity and determine the role that mood may play in such improvement. Methods Forty Chinese undergraduates were randomly assigned to short-term IBMT group or a relaxation training (RT) control group. Mood and creativity performance were assessed by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) questionnaire respectively. Results As predicted, the results indicated that short-term (30 min per day for 7 days) IBMT improved creativity performance on the divergent thinking task, and yielded better emotional regulation than RT. In addition, cross-lagged analysis indicated that both positive and negative affect may influence creativity in IBMT group (not RT group). Conclusions Our results suggested that emotion-related creativity-promoting mechanism may be attributed to short-term meditation. PMID:24645871

Does age matter? The influence of age on response rates in a mixed-mode survey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gigliotti, Larry M.; Dietsch, Alia

2014-01-01

The appeal of cost savings and faster results has fish and wildlife management agencies considering the use of Internet surveys instead of traditional mail surveys to collect information from their constituents. Internet surveys, however, may suffer from differential age-related response rates, potentially producing biased results if certain age groups respond to Internet surveys differently than they do to mail surveys. We examined this concern using data from a mixed-mode angler survey conducted in South Dakota following the 2011 fishing season. Results indicated that young anglers (16–18) had the lowest return rates and senior anglers (65+) had the highest, regardless of survey mode. Despite this consistency in response rates, we note two concerns: (a) lower Internet response rates and (b) different age groups represented by the Internet and mail survey samples differed dramatically. Findings indicate that constituent groups may be represented differently with the use of various survey modes.

Psychosocial factors and tooth wear with a significant component of attrition.

PubMed

da Silva, A M; Oakley, D A; Hemmings, K W; Newman, H N; Watkins, S

1997-06-01

Pathological tooth wear is often associated with bruxism, which appears in turn to be influenced by psychosocial factors. This study investigated putative relationships between psychosocial factors (total and average perceived stress, state and trait anxiety) and tooth wear, comparing 45 patients exhibiting tooth wear with a significant component of attrition to 45 controls. Groups were matched for gender and age. Subjects completed the Modified and Perceived Stress Scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. A between-groups multivariate analysis of variance indicated that the two groups did not differ significantly on the combined psychosocial factors, F(4,85) = 1.16, P > 0.05. However, a univariate F-test showed that tooth-wear patients presented significantly more trait anxiety than controls, F(1,88) = 4.15, P < 0.05. Further research is indicated to clarify the importance of trait anxiety and other psychosocial factors in the progression of tooth wear with a significant component of attrition.

Vegetation-terrain feature relationships in southeast Arizona

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schrumpf, B. J. (Principal Investigator); Mouat, D. A.

1972-01-01

There are no author-identified significant results in this report. Studies of relationships of vegetation distribution to geomorphic characteristics of the landscape and of plant phenological patterns to vegetation identification of satellite imagery indicate that there exists positive relationships between certain plant species and certain terrain features. Not all species were found to exhibit positive relationships with all terrain feature variables, but enough positive relationships seem to exist to indicate that terrain feature variable-vegetation relationship studies have a definite place in plant ecological investigations. Even more importantly, the vegetation groups examined appeared to be successfully discriminated by the terrain feature variables. This would seem to indicate that spatial interpretations of vegetation groups may be possible. While vegetational distributions aren't determined by terrain feature differences, terrain features do mirror factors which directly influence vegetational response and hence distribution. As a result, those environmental features which can be readily and rapidly ascertained on relatively small-scale imagery may prove to be valuable indicators of vegetation distribution.

Application of propensity scores to estimate the association between government subsidy and injection use in primary health care institutions in China.

PubMed

Tang, Yuqing; Zhang, Xiaopeng; Yang, Chunyan; Yang, Lianping; Wang, Hongtao; Zhang, Xinping

2013-05-21

The problem posed by therapeutic injection is a clinical practice issue that influences health care quality and patient safety. Although sufficient government subsidy was one of the 12 key interventions to promote rational drug use initiated by WHO (World Health Organization), limited information is available about the association between government subsidy and injection use in primary health care institutions. In 2009, National Essential Medicines System (NEMS) was implemented in China. The subsidy policy plays an important role in maintaining primary health care institutions. This study explores the impact of government subsidies on the injection use in primary health care institutions in China. 126 primary health institutions were included in this study. Institutions were divided into two groups (intervention and control groups) according to the median GS (General subsidy per personnel). Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to minimize the observed covariate differences in the characteristics of the primary institutions between the two groups. Kappa score was calculated to determine the consistency between the groups. Paired chi-square test and Relative Risk (RR) were calculated to compare the differences in injection use between the groups. Among all the investigated prescriptions, the overall percent of people who received an injection prescribed was 36.96% (n = 12600). PSM showed no significant covariate difference among the 34 groups obtained through this analysis. Kappa score (k = -0.082, p = 0.558) indicated an inconsistency between groups and paired chi-square test revealed a significant difference (p < 0.05) in injection use between the two groups. Relative Risk = 0.679 (95%CI [0.485, 0.950]) indicate that high General subsidy per personnel is a protective factor for primary health care institutions to prescribe injections properly. The intervention group obtained a higher possibility of using injection properly. The overall effect of government subsidy on the use of injection was positively significant. However, the mechanism by which government subsidy influence injection administration remains unclear, and thus requires further study.

Learning and Socializing Preferences in Hong Kong Chinese Children.

PubMed

Chen, Eva E; Corriveau, Kathleen H; Lai, Veronica K W; Poon, Sze Long; Gaither, Sarah E

2018-04-30

The impact of social group information on the learning and socializing preferences of Hong Kong Chinese children were examined. Specifically, the degree to which variability in racial out-group exposure affects children's use of race to make decisions about unfamiliar individuals (Chinese, White, Southeast Asian) was investigated. Participants (N = 212; M age  = 60.51 months) chose functions for novel objects after informants demonstrated their use; indicated with which peer group member to socialize; and were measured on racial group recognition, preference, and identification. Overall, children preferred in-group members, though out-group exposure and the relative social status of out-groups mattered as well. At a young age, children's specific experiences with different races influence how they learn and befriend others across racial group lines. © 2018 Society for Research in Child Development.

[Significance of expert-guided groups for relatives in psychiatry].

PubMed

Plessen, U; Postzich, M; Wilkmann, M

1985-03-01

Psychiatric interest in relatives of patients was concentrated in the past on their pathogenetic and etiological influence on mental illness. The medical paradigma of mental illness did not account for relatives affliction in psychic disturbance of their family member. Against this a community care oriented approach involves relatives into psychiatric care, particularly under the aspects of coping strategies and rehabilitative sources. Practicability and effects of this approach were explored in expert-guided relative groups at the Psychiatric Hospital Gütersloh (FRG). Results indicated that relatives are concerned with a series of problems. Participating in relative groups facilitates coping with these problems. Expert-guided and relative centered groups were found helpful, discharging and encouraging for relatives.

The influence and ethics of interest groups on policy incentives for clean energy development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maguire, Mariana C.

The clean energy revolution in the United States is not going to happen until diverse stakeholders in the coalition of clean energy proponents strengthen their cohesion and influence—two critical tools for interest group's to be successful in driving the formulation of public policy. Currently, clean energy technology and resource development is supported by a highly diverse coalition of interest groups such as environmental groups, health organizations, industry, and the Defense Department, whose primary goals are often unrelated. Yet their objectives are increasingly well served by pursuing clean energy development by pushing lawmakers for supportive policies. However, characteristics of this ad hoc coalition can hinder its influence and cohesion. Whereas, fossil fuel interests—exemplified by the coalition of oil proponents—are highly cohesive and influential. This thesis will analyze whether there is a correlation between public policies on clean energy, and the strength of interest group influence over those policy decisions. It will begin with an analysis of interest group theories. Next it will analyze the histories of the oil industry as the model opponent of clean energy policies, and the biofuels, wind energy, and solar energy industries as the model proponents of clean energy policies. The composition of the respective coalitions will reveal if they are diverse or similar, with broad or narrow goals, and other important characteristics. Their respective policy positions and messages will show what values are important to them, and the presidential support each coalition has been achieved, or failed to achieve, will provide further insight into their effectiveness. This thesis will then apply interest group theories to the supporter and opponent coalitions. Results obtained indicate that the coalition of oil interests is large, yet very cohesive and influential, while the coalition for clean energy is large, generally diffuse but with some important signs of cohesion, and relatively influential. Therefore this analysis concludes that the clean energy coalition must strengthen itself in areas that produce cohesion, such as encouraging partnerships with stakeholders with asymmetrical interests, and increase its financial influence in order to leverage more resources toward influencing policymakers to promote clean energy development.

Social influences on the estrous cycle of the captive sun bear (Helarctos Malayanus).

PubMed

Frederick, Cheryl; Hunt, Kathleen; Kyes, Randall; Collins, Darin; Durrant, Barbara; Ha, James; Wasser, Samuel K

2013-01-01

We examined the potential influences of existing social housing arrangements on captive sun bear female reproductive cycling. Three social conditions were studied: 1.2, 1.1, and 0.2. Fecal hormone metabolites of total estrogens, progestins and glucocorticoids were compared between the three social conditions and were analyzed along with vaginal cytology data in individuals that experienced a change in social condition. Behavioral data were collected on females in each of the social conditions and summarized into agonistic, affiliative and sexual categories. Results indicated that sun bears are spontaneous ovulators, but that the presence of a male does influence hormone metabolite concentrations and cytological profiles. Male presence was also associated with a greater proportion of females cycling. In most female pairs, only one female cycled, typically the younger, subordinate female. The presence of a second female appeared to have a suppressive influence on both cycling and mating behavior. Agonistic behavior and associated stress may be a mechanism for lowering progesterone. In contrast, high estrogen levels were associated with low levels of agonistic interactions; thus, reproductive cycle monitoring could facilitate social introductions with either sex. Females in 1.2 social groupings had significantly higher GC metabolite concentrations and agonistic behavior, suggesting that 1.2 social groupings may not be advisable for captive breeding programs. Data from the North American historical captive population indicate that at most 32% of all sun bear pairs and only 18.5% of females have successfully reproduced. Implications of these social and reproductive patterns for captive management are discussed. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Influence of riffle and snag habitat specific sampling on stream macroinvertebrate assemblage measures in bioassessment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wang, L.; Weigel, B.W.; Kanehl, P.; Lohman, K.

2006-01-01

Stream macroinvertebrate communities vary naturally among types of habitats where they are sampled, which affects the results of environmental assessment. We analyzed macroinvertebrates collected from riffle and snag habitats to evaluate influences of habitat-specific sampling on taxon occurrence, assemblage measures, and biotic indices. We found considerably more macroinvertebrate taxa unique to snags (143 taxa) than to riffles (75 taxa), and the numbers of taxa found in both riffles and snags (149 taxa) were similar to that found in snags. About 64% of the 47 macroinvertebrate measures we tested differed significantly between riffles and snags. Eighty percent intercepts of regressions between biotic indices and urban or agricultural land uses differed significantly between riffles and snags. The Hilsenhoff biotic index calculated from snag samples explained 69% of the variance of riffle samples and classified 66% of the sites into the same stream health group as the riffle samples. However, four multimetric indices for snag samples explained less than 50% of the variance of riffle samples and classified less than 50% of the sites into the same health group as the riffle samples. We concluded that macroinvertebrate indices developed for riffle/run habitat should not be used for snag samples to assess stream impairment. We recommend developing an index of biotic integrity specifically for snags and using snags as an alternate sampling substrate for streams that naturally lack riffles. ?? Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006.

MMPI Measures of Psychological Disturbance in Adolescent and Adult Victims of Father-Daughter Incest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, Ronald L.; Stone, David A.

1986-01-01

Examined psychological disturbance in adolescent and adult victims of father-daughter incest. Results indicated the overall profiles were more elevated for adult victims than for adolescent victims. Discussion focuses on the core personality disturbance shared by the two groups and the probable influence of time or age on psychopathology.…

Ugandan Adolescents' Sources, Interpretation and Evaluation of Sexual Content in Entertainment Media Programming

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Ann Neville; Nalugya, Evangeline; Gabolya, Charles; Lagot, Sarah; Mulwanya, Richard; Kiva, Joseph; Nabasaaka, Grace; Chibita, Monica

2016-01-01

Although mounting evidence in Western nations indicates that entertainment media influence young people's sexual socialisation, virtually no research has addressed the topic in sub-Saharan Africa. The present study employed 14 focus groups of Ugandan high school students to identify media through which they were exposed to sexual content, how they…

Does Hearing about Cancer Influence Stimulus Control? An Exploratory Study of Verbal Modulation of Stimulus Generalization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Critchfield, Thomas S.; Reed, Derek D.

2016-01-01

Participants first became familiar with an image showing moderate symptoms of the skin cancer melanoma. In a generalization test, they indicated whether images showing more and less pronounced symptoms were "like the original." Some groups (cancer context) were told that the images depicted melanoma and that the disease is deadly unless…

Nutritional Recovery after Open and Laparoscopic Distal Gastrectomy for Early Gastric Cancer: A Prospective Multicenter Comparative Trial (CCOG1204).

PubMed

Matsushita, Hidenobu; Tanaka, Chie; Murotani, Kenta; Misawa, Kazunari; Ito, Seiji; Ito, Yuichi; Kanda, Mitsuro; Mochizuki, Yoshinari; Ishigure, Kiyoshi; Yaguchi, Toyohisa; Teramoto, Jin; Nakayama, Hiroshi; Kawase, Yoshihisa; Fujiwara, Michitaka; Kodera, Yasuhiro

2018-01-01

Little information from prospective clinical trials is available on the influences of surgical approaches on postoperative body compositions and nutritional status. We designed a prospective non-randomized trial to compare postoperative chronological changes in body composition and nutritional status between laparoscopic and open distal gastrectomy for stage I gastric cancer (GC). Body compositions and nutritional indicators in blood tests were measured at the baseline and at the 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 12th postoperative months (POM). The primary end point was the decrease relative to the baseline in the body muscle mass at POM 6. Ninety-six patients for the laparoscopic group and 52 for the open group were eligible for data analysis. No significant differences were found in any baseline demographics, body compositions, and nutritional indicators between the groups. The changes of body muscle mass at POM 6 were similar in both groups. Overall, no significant differences between the groups were observed in any of the body composition and nutritional indicators during the first year after surgery. Postoperative body compositions and nutritional status were not affected by surgical approaches during the first 12 months after surgery in patients who underwent distal gastrectomy for stage I GC. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Dietary Vitamin C, E and β-Carotene Intake Does Not Significantly Affect Plasma or Salivary Antioxidant Indices and Salivary C-Reactive Protein in Older Subjects.

PubMed

Gawron-Skarbek, Anna; Guligowska, Agnieszka; Prymont-Przymińska, Anna; Godala, Małgorzata; Kolmaga, Agnieszka; Nowak, Dariusz; Szatko, Franciszek; Kostka, Tomasz

2017-07-09

It is not clear whether habitual dietary intake influences the antioxidant or inflammatory status. The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of antioxidative vitamins C, E, and β-carotene obtained from daily food rations on plasma and salivary Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC), uric acid and salivary C-reactive protein (CRP). The study involved 80 older subjects (66.9 ± 4.3 years), divided into two groups: group 1 ( n = 43) with lower and group 2 ( n = 37) with higher combined vitamins C, E and β-carotene intake. A 24-h dietary recall was obtained from each individual. TAC was assessed simultaneously with two methods in plasma (Ferric Reducing Ability of Plasma-FRAP, 2.2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-DPPH) and in saliva (FRAS and DPPHS test). Lower vitamin C intake corresponded to higher FRAS. There were no other correlations between vitamins C, E or β-carotene intake and antioxidant indices. Salivary CRP was not related to any antioxidant indices. FRAS was decreased in group 2 ( p < 0.01) but no other group differences for salivary or for plasma antioxidant parameters and salivary CRP were found. Habitual, not extra supplemented dietary intake does not significantly affect plasma or salivary TAC and salivary CRP.

Inter-Observer Agreement on Subjects' Race and Race-Informative Characteristics

PubMed Central

Edgar, Heather J. H.; Daneshvari, Shamsi; Harris, Edward F.; Kroth, Philip J.

2011-01-01

Health and socioeconomic disparities tend to be experienced along racial and ethnic lines, but investigators are not sure how individuals are assigned to groups, or how consistent this process is. To address these issues, 1,919 orthodontic patient records were examined by at least two observers who estimated each individual's race and the characteristics that influenced each estimate. Agreement regarding race is high for African and European Americans, but not as high for Asian, Hispanic, and Native Americans. The indicator observers most often agreed upon as important in estimating group membership is name, especially for Asian and Hispanic Americans. The observers, who were almost all European American, most often agreed that skin color is an important indicator of race only when they also agreed the subject was European American. This suggests that in a diverse community, light skin color is associated with a particular group, while a range of darker shades can be associated with members of any other group. This research supports comparable studies showing that race estimations in medical records are likely reliable for African and European Americans, but are less so for other groups. Further, these results show that skin color is not consistently the primary indicator of an individual's race, but that other characteristics such as facial features add significant information. PMID:21897865

Using virtual reality to explore self-regulation in high-risk settings.

PubMed

Kniffin, Tracey C; Carlson, Charles R; Ellzey, Antonio; Eisenlohr-Moul, Tory; Beck, Kelly Battle; McDonald, Renee; Jouriles, Ernest N

2014-10-01

Virtual reality (VR) models allow investigators to explore high-risk situations carefully in the laboratory using physiological assessment strategies and controlled conditions not available in field settings. This article introduces the use of a virtual experience to examine the influence of self-regulatory skills training on female participants' reactions to a high-risk encounter with an aggressive male. Sixty-three female participants were recruited for the study. Demographic data indicated that 54% of the participants were not currently in a relationship, 36.5% were in a committed relationship, and 9.5% were occasionally dating. After obtaining informed consent, participants were assigned randomly to either a diaphragmatic breathing training condition or an attention control condition. Results indicated that both groups rated the virtual environment as equally realistic; the aggressive advances of the male were also perceived as equally real across the two experimental groups. Physiological data indicated that there were no differences between the groups on respiration or cardiovascular measures during baseline or during the VR task. After the VR experience, however, the participants in the breathing training condition had lower respiration rates and higher heart rate variability measures than those in the control condition. The results suggest that VR platforms provide a realistic and challenging environment to examine how self-regulation procedures may influence behavioral outcomes. Real-time dynamic engagement in a virtual setting affords investigators with an opportunity to evaluate the utility of self-regulatory skills training for improving safety in situations where there are uncertain and risky outcomes. © The Author(s) 2014.

Patterns and drivers of fungal community depth stratification in Sphagnum peat.

PubMed

Lamit, Louis J; Romanowicz, Karl J; Potvin, Lynette R; Rivers, Adam R; Singh, Kanwar; Lennon, Jay T; Tringe, Susannah G; Kane, Evan S; Lilleskov, Erik A

2017-07-01

Peatlands store an immense pool of soil carbon vulnerable to microbial oxidation due to drought and intentional draining. We used amplicon sequencing and quantitative PCR to (i) examine how fungi are influenced by depth in the peat profile, water table and plant functional group at the onset of a multiyear mesocosm experiment, and (ii) test if fungi are correlated with abiotic variables of peat and pore water. We hypothesized that each factor influenced fungi, but that depth would have the strongest effect early in the experiment. We found that (i) communities were strongly depth stratified; fungi were four times more abundant in the upper (10-20 cm) than the lower (30-40 cm) depth, and dominance shifted from ericoid mycorrhizal fungi to saprotrophs and endophytes with increasing depth; (ii) the influence of plant functional group was depth dependent, with Ericaceae structuring the community in the upper peat only; (iii) water table had minor influences; and (iv) communities strongly covaried with abiotic variables, including indices of peat and pore water carbon quality. Our results highlight the importance of vertical stratification to peatland fungi, and the depth dependency of plant functional group effects, which must be considered when elucidating the role of fungi in peatland carbon dynamics. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of FEMS 2017. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

The influence of maternal lineages on social affiliations among humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) on their feeding grounds in the southern gulf of Maine.

PubMed

Weinrich, Mason T; Rosenbaum, Howard; Scott Baker, C; Blackmer, Alexis L; Whitehead, Hal

2006-01-01

Humpback whales on their feeding grounds in the Gulf of Maine typically form fluid fission/fusion groups of two to three individuals characterized by noncompetitive and, at times, cooperative behavior. Here we test the hypothesis that, despite the apparent absence of close kinship bonds, the fluid associations between feeding whales are influenced by "maternal lineages" as represented by mtDNA haplotypes. Using skin samples collected with a biopsy dart, variation in the hypervariable segment of the mtDNA control region identified 17 unique haplotypes among 159 individually identified whales from the southern Gulf of Maine. The haplotypes of a further 143 individuals were inferred from known direct maternal (cow-calf) relationships. The frequencies of associations among these 302 individuals were calculated from 21,617 sighting records collected from 1980 to 1995, excluding associations between a cow and her dependent calf. For groups of two where the haplotypes of both individuals were known (n = 3,151), individuals with the same haplotype were together significantly more often (26%) than expected by random association (20%). To account for different group sizes and associations with individuals of unknown haplotype and sex, we used Monte Carlo simulations to test for nonrandom associations in the full data set, as well as known female-only (n = 1,512), male-only (n = 730), and mixed-sex (n = 2,745) groups. Within-haplotype associations were significantly more frequent than expected at random for all groups (P = .002) and female-only groups (P = .011) but not male-only groups, while mixed-sex groups approached significance (P = .062). A Mantel test of individual pairwise association indices and haplotype identity confirmed that within-haplotype associations were more frequent than expected for all sex combinations except male-male associations, with females forming within-haplotype associations 1.7 times more often than expected by random assortment. Partial matrix correlations and permutation analyses indicated that the skew toward within-haplotype associations could not be accounted for by short-term temporal co-occurrence or fine-scale spatial distributions of individuals with shared haplotypes. While the mechanism by which individuals with a common mtDNA haplotype assort remains unknown, our results strongly suggest an influence of maternal lineages on the social organization of humpback whales within a regional feeding ground.

Effect of concurrent resistance and sprint training on body composition and cardiometabolic health indicators in masters cyclists

PubMed Central

Delvecchio, Luke; Reaburn, Peter; Trapp, Gail; Korhonen, Marko T.

2016-01-01

In older previously sedentary individuals endurance training imposes a more effective stimulus to enhance cardiometabolic health compared with resistance or sprint training. We examined the effect of replacing a portion of endurance training with combined resistance and/or sprint training and how this influences cardiometabolic health indicators in masters endurance cyclists. Twenty-seven well-trained male road cyclists (53.7±8.2 years) were allocated to a resistance and track sprint-cycling training group (RTC, n=10), an endurance and track sprint-cycling group (ETC, n=7) or a control endurance group (CTRL, n=10). Both the RTC and ETC groups completed a 12-week intervention of specific training while the CTRL group maintained their endurance training load. Lower limb lean mass (LLM), trunk fat mass (TFM), fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were measured before and after the intervention period. TFM decreased for all groups (P<0.05) while LLM significantly increased for RTC and ETC groups (P<0.05). No significant between group or time effects were observed for FBG, TC, TG, SBP, or DBP. The results suggest that replacing a portion of endurance training with 12 weeks of ETC or RTC training favourably affects body composition by lowering TFM and increasing LLM without negatively affecting cardiometabolic health indicators in well-trained masters endurance cyclists. PMID:27807523

The role of biological activity of hydrohumate, produced from peat, in formation of adaptive response of rats under influence of chronic stress

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyanna, O. L.; Chorna, V. I.; Stepchenko, L. M.

2009-04-01

It is well known that humic compounds are the most distributed in nature among the organic matter. It is believed that humic polyphenol preparations, produced from the peat, represent adaptogenes and immunomodulators. But the total mechanism of their adaptogenic action is still completely unclear. In response to extraordinary irritant action, one of the most sensitive to stress and highly reactive systems of organism, endosomal-lysosomal cellular apparatus takes part. It is believed that humic compounds are able to penetrate through plasmatic membrane and by this way to affect on lysosomal proteases function. Among the wide range of lysosomal proteases, cysteine cathepsin L (EC 3.4.22.15) was in interest due to its powerful endopeptidase activity and widespread localization. Purpose. The aim of the work was to investigate the influence of humic acids on intracellular proteolysis in blood plasma and heart muscle of rats in adaptive-restorative processes developing in rat organisms as a result of chronic stress action. The experiment was held on Wistar's rats (160-200 g weight) which were divided into 4 groups: 1 - the control group; 2 - the animals which were received the hydrohumate with water (10 mg hydrohumate (0,1% solution) per 1 kg of weight) during 3 weeks; 3 - the group of stressed rats (test "forced swimming" for 2 hours); 4 - the stressed rats which received the hydrohumate. The activity of lysosomal cysteine cathepsin L was determined spectrophotometrically by usage 1% azocasein, denaturated by 3 M urea, as substrate. It was obtained that under hydrohumate influence the activity of lysosomal cysteine cathepsin L in rat blood plasma changed on 20% in comparison with control group that is suggested to be caused by leakage of tissue cathepsins from organs and tissues and kidneys' filtration of these cysteine enzymes in urine. In rat heart tissues it was obtained that cathepsin L activity level was on 26,8% higher in rats which were under stress influence in comparison with indices of control group. Usage of hydrohumate led to the decreasing of cathepsin L activity level, obtained under stress action, with tendency to control indices in group of the stressed rats which received the hydrohumate. It is well known that under influence of lysosomal cathepsins, which by limited proteolysis take part into processes of genome activation, by changing activity of proper enzymes, for example DNA-polymerase, or deleting the protein-repressor, make a contribution to total instability of nuclear genome, induced by stress. Conclusions. Mechanism of hydrohumate action on cathepsin L activity could be caused by possible binding with catecholamines, that results in membranotrophic action and activation of intralysosomal proteolysis. The results obtained testify to the influence of hydrohumates on both the enzymes of lysosomes of rats' heart muscle and molecular mechanisms of adaptation and confirm the existing hypothesis about antistress action of humates.

Testing problem-solving capacities: differences between individual testing and social group setting.

PubMed

Krasheninnikova, Anastasia; Schneider, Jutta M

2014-09-01

Testing animals individually in problem-solving tasks limits distractions of the subjects during the test, so that they can fully concentrate on the problem. However, such individual performance may not indicate the problem-solving capacity that is commonly employed in the wild when individuals are faced with a novel problem in their social groups, where the presence of a conspecific influences an individual's behaviour. To assess the validity of data gathered from parrots when tested individually, we compared the performance on patterned-string tasks among parrots tested singly and parrots tested in social context. We tested two captive groups of orange-winged amazons (Amazona amazonica) with several patterned-string tasks. Despite the differences in the testing environment (singly vs. social context), parrots from both groups performed similarly. However, we found that the willingness to participate in the tasks was significantly higher for the individuals tested in social context. The study provides further evidence for the crucial influence of social context on individual's response to a challenging situation such as a problem-solving test.

Influence of a 50 hz extra low frequency electromagnetic field on spermatozoa motility and fertilization rates in rabbits.

PubMed

Roychoudhury, Shubhadeep; Jedlicka, Jaroslav; Parkanyi, Vladimir; Rafay, Jan; Ondruska, Lubomir; Massanyi, Peter; Bulla, Jozef

2009-08-01

Effects of a 50 Hz extra-low frequency electromagnetic field (ELF EMF) on in vitro rabbit spermatozoa motility were analyzed, as well as the effect on fertilization rates after insemination. Pooled semen samples and a control were exposed to 50 Hz ELF EMF. The difference of the samples of the test groups G1 and G2 with the control group CG (75.56%) for spermatozoa motility were found to be significant (P < 0.01). Differences were significant (P < 0.01) for curvilinear velocity (VCL) between the test group G3 (122.38 microm/s) and the control group CG (112.02 microm/s). Hormonally stimulated adult (9-12 months) females (n = 140) were inseminated with semen samples from G1, G2, G3 and CG (0.88 x 109 spermatozoa/0.5 mL average insemination portion) immediately after ELF EMF exposure and fertilization (kindling) rates were calculated. For the G2 it was 54.28% data indicate 50 Hz ELF EMF induced alterations of spermatozoa motility and kindling rate in rabbits, therefore influencing fertility.

Scaffolding software: How does it influence student conceptual understanding and motivation?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Butler, Kyle A.

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of scaffolding software on student conceptual understanding and motivation. This study also provides insight on how students use the scaffolding features found in Artemis and the extent to which features show a relationship to student conceptual understanding and motivation. A Randomized Solomon Four Group Design was used in this study. As students worked through a project based unit over photosynthesis, the students performed information seeking activities that were based on their own inquiry. For this purpose, the students in the experimental group used an example of scaffolding software called Artemis, while the students in the control group used a search engine of their choice. To measure conceptual understanding, the researcher analyzed student generated concept maps on photosynthesis using three different methods (quantitative, qualitative, hierarchical). To measure motivation, the researcher used a survey that measured motivation on five different indicators: intrinsic goal orientation, extrinsic goal orientation, task value, control of learning beliefs, self-efficacy for learning and performance. Finally, the researcher looked at the relationship and influence of the scaffolding features on two student performance scores at the end of the unit. This created a total of ten dependent variables in relationship to the treatment. Overall, the students used the collaborative features 25% of the time, the maintenance features 0.84% of the time, the organizational features 16% of the time, the saving/viewing features 7% of the time and the searching features 51% of the time. There were significant correlations between the saving/viewing features hits and the students' task value (r = .499, p < .05), the searching features hits and the students' self-efficacy for learning and performance (r = .553, p < .01), the collaborative features hits and the students' essay performance scores (r = .519, p < .05) and the maintenance features time and the qualitative analysis of the concept maps (r = .576, p < .01). Finally, the results indicated that the scaffolding features in Artemis did not influence student conceptual understanding and motivation.

Orexin A Differentially Influences the Extinction Retention of Recent and Remote Fear Memory.

PubMed

Shi, Le; Chen, Wenhao; Deng, Jiahui; Chen, Sijing; Han, Ying; Khan, Muhammad Z; Liu, Jiajia; Que, Jianyu; Bao, Yanping; Lu, Lin; Shi, Jie

2018-01-01

Recently the role of the orexin system in the learning and memory, especially orexin A, which could enhance fear memory through regulating the activity of amygdala, has drawn considerable attention. However, the relationship between orexin A and extinction memory remains unclear. To investigate the effect of orexin A on extinction memory in humans, we recruited 43 male subjects and divided them into a recent group and remote group. After acquiring Pavlovian fear conditioning, individuals in recent group experienced fear extinction 24 h after acquisition, and remote group underwent extinction 2 weeks later. Meanwhile, plasma orexin A levels before extinction were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Both groups received memory test 24 h after fear extinction. The results showed that both recent and remote groups successfully acquired fear conditioning and had spontaneous recovery at test. In particular, the correlational analysis indicated that orexin A levels before extinction were negatively associated with fear responses during test only in recent group, but not in remote group. Moreover, individuals with high orexin A levels still kept low fear responses after extinction in recent group by subgroup analyses. The results suggest that orexin A could influence the retention of recent fear memory extinction, without affecting remote fear extinction. These findings remind us the orexin system can be a potential treatment target for fear-related disorders, and the mechanisms of recent and remote fear extinction may be different.

Alpha-actinin-3 (ACTN3) R577X polymorphism influences knee extensor peak power response to strength training in older men and women.

PubMed

Delmonico, Matthew J; Kostek, Matthew C; Doldo, Neil A; Hand, Brian D; Walsh, Sean; Conway, Joan M; Carignan, Craig R; Roth, Stephen M; Hurley, Ben F

2007-02-01

The alpha-actinin-3 (ACTN3) R577X polymorphism has been associated with muscle power performance in cross-sectional studies. We examined baseline knee extensor concentric peak power (PP) and PP change with approximately 10 weeks of unilateral knee extensor strength training (ST) using air-powered resistance machines in 71 older men (65 [standard deviation = 8] years) and 86 older women (64 [standard deviation = 9] years). At baseline in women, the XX genotype group had an absolute (same resistance) PP that was higher than the RR (p =.005) and RX genotype groups (p =.02). The women XX group also had a relative (70% of one-repetition maximum [1-RM]) PP that was higher than that in the RR (p =.002) and RX groups (p =.008). No differences in baseline absolute or relative PP were observed between ACTN3 genotype groups in men. In men, absolute PP change with ST in the RR (n = 16) group approached a significantly higher value than in the XX group (n = 9; p =.07). In women, relative PP change with ST in the RR group (n = 16) was higher than in the XX group (n = 17; p =.02). The results indicate that the ACTN3 R577X polymorphism influences the response of quadriceps muscle power to ST in older adults.

[Clinical evaluation of influence of aspirin on post-operative bleeding after tooth extraction in the elderly].

PubMed

Wang, Wen-ying; Cui, Nian-hui; Wang, En-bo; Zhang, Wei

2013-05-01

To investigate the feasibility of continuation of aspirin before tooth extraction in the elderly. The patients enrolled in this study were the elderly requiring a single non-impacted tooth extraction. 300 elderly outpatients used lidocaine local infiltration anesthesia, 200 patients without using aspirin before tooth extraction served as control group I, 100 patients with prolong use of aspirin before tooth extraction as observation group I. 300 elderly outpatients used compound articaine local infiltration anesthesia, 200 patients without using aspirin before tooth extraction served as control group II, 100 patients with prolong use of aspirin before tooth extraction as observation group II.Bleedings at 5, 10, 30 min, 24 h after tooth extraction were observed and the relationship between postoperative bleeding and intake of aspirin was analyzed. There was no significant difference at 5, 10, 30 min, 24 h in postoperative bleeding after extraction between control group I and observation group. The incidence of bleeding of observation group II after tooth extraction at 5 min was higher than that of control group II and there was no significant difference at 10, 30 min, 24 h between the two groups. Continuation of aspirin have no influence on postoperative bleeding. Therefore we suggest that there was no indication to discontinue aspirin for the elderly before a single non-impacted tooth extraction.

The effects and interactions of student, teacher, and setting variables on reading outcomes for kindergartners receiving supplemental reading intervention.

PubMed

Hagan-Burke, Shanna; Coyne, Michael D; Kwok, Oi-Man; Simmons, Deborah C; Kim, Minjung; Simmons, Leslie E; Skidmore, Susan T; Hernandez, Caitlin L; McSparran Ruby, Maureen

2013-01-01

This exploratory study examined the influences of student, teacher, and setting characteristics on kindergarteners' early reading outcomes and investigated whether those relations were moderated by type of intervention. Participants included 206 kindergarteners identified as at risk for reading difficulties and randomly assigned to one of two supplemental interventions: (a) an experimental explicit, systematic, code-based program or (b) their schools' typical kindergarten reading intervention. Results from separate multilevel structural equation models indicated that among student variables, entry-level alphabet knowledge was positively associated with phonemic and decoding outcomes in both conditions. Entry-level rapid automatized naming also positively influenced decoding outcomes in both conditions. However, its effect on phonemic outcomes was statistically significant only among children in the typical practice comparison condition. Regarding teacher variables, the quality of instruction was associated with significantly higher decoding outcomes in the typical reading intervention condition but had no statistically significant influence on phonemic outcomes in either condition. Among setting variables, instruction in smaller group sizes was associated with better phonemic outcomes in the comparison condition but had no statistically significant influence on outcomes of children in the intervention group. Mode of delivery (i.e., pullout vs. in class) had no statistically significant influence on either outcome variable.

ENSO influences the onset of violent conflicts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, K. C.; Hsiang, S. M.

2009-12-01

Climatic changes are frequently cited as a possible external driver of violent conflict in human societies. Qualitative studies suggest that climatic shifts may stress populations and be conducive to violent conflict. Statistical evidence has shown that anomalous local rainfall is correlated with the onset of conflict. This study finds that in addition to idiosyncratic weather events, climatic states also play a role in triggering violent conflict. El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the semi-periodic, oceanic Kelvin wave in the tropical Pacific, induces remote temperatures in the tropical free troposphere to rise. This ``ENSO teleconnection'' is not globally uniform and is felt most strongly in the tropical regions during the boreal winter. To determine the degree in which country-level climatic conditions are affected by ENSO, an absolute correlation measure between surface temperature and two ENSO indices was calculated for every country for the period 1949-2009. Countries with high levels of correlation are labeled “ENSO affected,” while countries with low correlation are labeled “ENSO unaffected”. Thus, historical variation in ENSO serves as a ``natural experiment'': if the state of ENSO influences conflict onset, it should be apparent for ENSO affected countries but not for unaffected countries. Using the UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset, we find evidence of a large and statistically significant influence of ENSO on the onset of violent conflict. Between 1949-2009, the average probability of a conflict beginning in any country was 0.03. For the ENSO affected countries, we find that a 1°C rise in either NINO12 or NINO34 is associated with an increased probability of conflict onset by 0.015 (or 50% of the global country average). A relationship was not detected for the ENSO unaffected group of countries. This result is robust to a range of statistical models. Nonparametric methods (see figure) also indicate a marked difference in the response of ENSO affected and unaffected country groups. These results show that the ENSO cycle plays a role in the timing of violent conflicts for a portion of the world. Should anthropogenic climate forcing influence the frequency or intensity of El Niño events, it may have significant implications for the future security of ENSO affected countries. Non-parametric estimates (Nadaraya-Watson) of the probability of conflict onset, conditional on the annual mean ENSO indices NINO12 (solid) and NINO34 (dashed). The countries exhibiting surface temperatures most highly correlated with ENSO are the "affected" group (black). The countries least correlated with ENSO are the "unaffected" group (gray).

Why do I always have the best ideas? The role of idea quality in unconscious plagiarism.

PubMed

Perfect, Timothy J; Stark, Louisa-Jayne

2008-05-01

Groups of individuals often work together to generate solutions to a problem. Subsequently, one member of the group can plagiarise another either by recalling that person's idea as their own (recall-own plagiarism), or by generating a novel solution that duplicates a previous idea (generate-new plagiarism). The current study examines the extent to which these forms of plagiarism are influenced by the quality of the ideas. Groups of participants initially generated ideas, prior to an elaboration phase in which idea quality was manipulated in two ways: participants received feedback on the quality of the ideas as rated by independent judges, and they generated improvements to a subset of the ideas. Unconscious plagiarism was measured in recall-own and generate-new tasks. For recall, idea improvement led to increased plagiarism, while for the generate-new task, the independent ratings influenced plagiarism. These data indicate that different source-judgement processes underlie the two forms of plagiarism, neither of which can be reduced simply to memory strength.

The effects of contact with Asians and Asian Americans on White American college students: attitudes, awareness of racial discrimination, and psychological adjustment.

PubMed

Dinh, Khanh T; Weinstein, Traci L; Nemon, Melissa; Rondeau, Sara

2008-12-01

On the basis of acculturation theory, explicating mutual influences between different cultural or ethnic groups coming into contact, this study focused "on the other side of acculturation" theory by examining the effects of intercultural contact with Asians and Asian Americans on the psychosocial experiences of White American college students. Participants (N = 315), undergraduates attending a public university located within the state of Massachusetts, completed a survey that assessed demographic and personal characteristics, acculturation (extent of intercultural contact with Asian people and Asian cultures), attitudes towards Asians and Asian Americans, awareness of institutional discrimination and blatant racial issues, and psychological distress. Results indicated that White American students' intercultural contact with Asians and Asian Americans contributed significant variance to the prediction of their attitudes towards this ethnic group and awareness of discrimination and racial issues, but not to psychological distress. This study provides implications for understanding mutual acculturative influences between different ethnic groups in the United States.

Influence of oral contraceptives on endogenous pain control in healthy women.

PubMed

Rezaii, Taraneh; Ernberg, Malin

2010-06-01

This study investigated the influence of oral contraceptives (OC) on diffuse noxious inhibitory control (DNIC) in healthy women. Fifteen women taking OC and 17 normally menstruating women (No-OC) were tested during high and low endogenous estrogens sessions. Saliva was sampled for analysis of endogenous estradiol level. Mechanical pressure (test stimuli) was applied to the masseter muscle and finger. The pain induced by this pressure was assessed on a 0-10 numerical rating scale (NRS) before, during, and after immersion of the contralateral hand in ice-cold water (cold pressor test, CPT) to induce DNIC. For all subjects, pain induced by the test stimuli decreased significantly during the CPT (P < 0.001). The decrease in general was larger in the No-OC group, with a significant difference between groups in the masseter muscle in the low session (P < 0.027). There were no significant differences between groups or sessions in estradiol levels. These results indicate that endogenous pain modulation may be less effective in OC users.

Allele frequency and genotype distribution of polymorphisms within disease-related genes is influenced by ethnic population sub-structuring in Sudan.

PubMed

Bereir, R E H; Mohamed, H S; Seielstad, M; El Hassani, A M; Khalil, E A G; Peacock, C S; Blackwell, J M; Ibrahim, M E

2003-09-01

Four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and a variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) polymorphism located within disease associated/causing genes were typed in four populations of different tribal and ethnic affiliation from the Sudan. The genotype and allele frequencies were compared with those of other groups from published and unpublished data of world populations. The combined Sudanese sample conformed with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) expectation. However, population sub-structuring according to ethnic/linguistic group indicated at least two SNPs in departure from HWE. Differences in allele frequencies and genotype distribution between groups was also noted in three of the four SNPs. The other loci were distributed homogeneously within the populations studied with genotype frequencies in agreement with HWE expectation. These results highlight the importance of inter-population stratification for polymorphic markers, as well as the potential influence of evolutionary history and ethnic variation of loci, in the general distribution of SNPs and other polymorphisms.

Influence of various superhydrophilic treatments of titanium on the initial attachment, proliferation, and differentiation of osteoblast-like cells.

PubMed

Yamamura, Keisuke; Miura, Tadashi; Kou, I; Muramatsu, Takashi; Furusawa, Masahiro; Yoshinari, Masao

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of superhydrophilic treatments of titanium on the behavior of osteoblastlike cells. Superhydrophilic specimens were prepared with sandblast and acid-etching (DW), oxygen plasma (Plasma) and ultraviolet light (UV), and were stored in distilled water for 3 days immediately after these treatments. Specimens stored in air for 3 weeks were used as a control Air group. Initial cell attachment, proliferation, alkaline phosphatase activity, and osteocalcin secretion of mouse osteoblast-like cells MC3T3-E1 were enhanced more on superhydrophilic groups than were Air specimens. On confocal laser scanning microscope images of cell morphology, the expression of actin filaments was observed on the superhydrophilic groups, whereas relatively little actin filament expression was seen on the Air surfaces on all culture periods. These results indicate that DW, Plasma, or UV treatment has potential for the creation and maintenance of superhydrophilic surfaces and the enhancement of the initial attachment, proliferation, and differentiation of osteoblast-like cells.

[Influence of intermittently monitoring on endotracheal tube cuff pressure using handheld pressure gauge].

PubMed

Huang, Ling; Xie, Chen; Zhang, Lifeng; Meng, Liying; Li, Guizheng; Li, Yang; Huang, Bing; Pan, Linghui; Tang, Zhanhong

2017-01-01

To discuss the influence of intermittently monitoring on endotracheal tube cuff pressure using handheld pressure gauge, and to provide some reference for the clinical work. The experiment was carried out on the model of the glass tube, which was divided into three parts. Each part of the experiment was divided into normal pressure group and high pressure group according to the different inflation pressure target value. The endotracheal tube cuff pressure was determined intermittently by using the transparent tracheal models which had a static diameter of 2 cm. The target press value of normal pressure group was 32 cmH 2 O (1 cmH 2 O = 0.098 kPa) while that of high pressure group was 40 cmH 2 O. The handheld pressure gauge was connected with the indicated cuff through a tee joint, and the pressure in the cuff in both groups was determined. The pressure loss caused by intermittent measurement of the two groups was compared. By switching the tee joint, the pressure loss through the gauge self-structure and the pressure loss when connecting and disconnecting the indicated cuff were determined to analyze the causes of pressure loss caused by intermittent measurement of pressure gauge. The pressure loss caused by intermittent measurement of high pressure group was significantly higher than that of normal pressure group (cmH 2 O: 15.10±0.43 vs. 10.19±0.45) with statistical significance (t = -24.875, P = 0.000). The pressure loss through the gauge self-structure of high pressure group was also significantly higher than that of normal pressure group (cmH 2 O: 13.91±0.48 vs. 8.77±0.53), which showed a statistics significance (t = -22.854, P = 0.000). The pressure loss when connecting and disconnecting the indicated cuff of the normal pressure and high pressure groups were (1.33±0.49) cmH 2 O and (1.23±0.55) cmH 2 O, respectively, without statistics significance (t = 0.445, P = 0.662). It was figured that the total pressure loss caused by intermittent measurement of the endotracheal intubation cuff was approximately equal to the value of the pressure loss caused by the pressure gauge self-structure and the pressure loss when the indicated cuff was connected and disconnected [normal pressure group: (10.19±0.45) cmH 2 O ≍ (8.77±0.53) cmH 2 O + (1.33±0.49) cmH 2 O, high pressure group: (15.10±0.43) cmH 2 O ≍ (13.91±0.48) cmH 2 O + (1.23±0.55) cmH 2 O]. The intermittently monitoring on endotracheal tube cuff pressure is the main cause of the pressure loss. The total pressure loss consists of the pressure leak from the cuff to the gauge and the pressure leak when connecting and disconnecting the gauge and the indicated cuff during each test. When the pressure in the cuff is increased, it will cause more pressure loss.

Using Inequality Measures to Incorporate Environmental Justice into Regulatory Analyses

PubMed Central

Harper, Sam; Ruder, Eric; Roman, Henry A.; Geggel, Amelia; Nweke, Onyemaechi; Payne-Sturges, Devon; Levy, Jonathan I.

2013-01-01

Formally evaluating how specific policy measures influence environmental justice is challenging, especially in the context of regulatory analyses in which quantitative comparisons are the norm. However, there is a large literature on developing and applying quantitative measures of health inequality in other settings, and these measures may be applicable to environmental regulatory analyses. In this paper, we provide information to assist policy decision makers in determining the viability of using measures of health inequality in the context of environmental regulatory analyses. We conclude that quantification of the distribution of inequalities in health outcomes across social groups of concern, considering both within-group and between-group comparisons, would be consistent with both the structure of regulatory analysis and the core definition of environmental justice. Appropriate application of inequality indicators requires thorough characterization of the baseline distribution of exposures and risks, leveraging data generally available within regulatory analyses. Multiple inequality indicators may be applicable to regulatory analyses, and the choice among indicators should be based on explicit value judgments regarding the dimensions of environmental justice of greatest interest. PMID:23999551

Perceived Discrimination, Peer Influence and Sexual Behaviors in Mexican American Preadolescents.

PubMed

Sanchez, Delida; Whittaker, Tiffany A; Hamilton, Emma

2016-05-01

Both discrimination and sexual health disparities have significant negative health implications for Latina/o preadolescent youth, including negative mental health outcomes, STIs/HIV, unintended pregnancy, and ongoing poverty. Studying these links within this population, therefore, has significant public health relevance, both in terms of promoting sexual health in general as well as serving the specific needs of Latina/o youth. This study explored the relationship between perceived discrimination, peer influence and sexual behaviors among 438 Mexican American preadolescents in the Southwest United States (55.3 % male). Additionally, this study examined whether psychological distress, substance use, and sexual motives mediated and whether gender moderated these relations. A multiple-group path analysis of the analytical model was performed to examine the hypothesized relations between perceived discrimination, peer influence, psychological distress, substance use, sexual motives and sexual behaviors. The findings indicated that perceived discrimination was directly linked to sexual behaviors among participants and indirectly linked via substance use. The findings also indicated that peer influence was indirectly linked to sexual behaviors via substance use among participants and via sexual motives among boys. This study underscores the importance of substance use in the perceived discrimination, peer influence and sexual behavior link in Mexican American preadolescents. Additionally, it highlights the importance of sexual motives in the link between peer influence and sexual behaviors of Mexican American boys.

Influence Of Opposition On Ball Velocity In The Handball Jump Throw

PubMed Central

Rivilla-Garcia, Jesús; Grande, Ignacio; Sampedro, Javier; Van Den Tillaar, Roland

2011-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of different degrees of opposition on ball velocity in the jump throw in elite, amateur and adolescent team handball players. Thus, one hundred and nineteen elite, amateur and under 18 team handball players performed jump throws under three different conditions: 1) without opposition, 2) with the opposition of the goalkeeper and 3) with the opposition of the goalkeeper and a defensive player. The degree of opposition was found to have a negative effect on ball velocity in all three groups (p < 0.001). Furthermore, the level of competition had a positive effect on ball velocity (p < 0.001). However, no interaction was found between the level of competition and the degree of opposition on ball velocity (p = 0.178). The findings of this study indicate that an increase of external stimuli probably influences throwing kinematics and thereby maximal ball velocity. However, experience does not seem to be a factor that can reduce the influence of these external stimuli. Key points The degree of opposition had a negative effect upon ball throwing velocity in elite, amateur and adolescent handball players in the jump throw. It indicated that an increase of external stimuli influences the execution of throwing. Experience does not seem to be a factor that can reduce the influence of these external stimuli. PMID:24150629

Influence of muscle groups' activation on proximal femoral growth tendency.

PubMed

Yadav, Priti; Shefelbine, Sandra J; Pontén, Eva; Gutierrez-Farewik, Elena M

2017-12-01

Muscle and joint contact force influence stresses at the proximal growth plate of the femur and thus bone growth, affecting the neck shaft angle (NSA) and femoral anteversion (FA). This study aims to illustrate how different muscle groups' activation during gait affects NSA and FA development in able-bodied children. Subject-specific femur models were developed for three able-bodied children (ages 6, 7, and 11 years) using magnetic resonance images. Contributions of different muscle groups-hip flexors, hip extensors, hip adductors, hip abductors, and knee extensors-to overall hip contact force were computed. Specific growth rate for the growth plate was computed, and the growth was simulated in the principal stress direction at each element in the growth front. The predicted growth indicated decreased NSA and FA (of about [Formula: see text] over a four-month period) for able-bodied children. Hip abductors contributed the most, and hip adductors, the least, to growth rate. All muscles groups contributed to a decrease in predicted NSA ([Formula: see text]0.01[Formula: see text]-0.04[Formula: see text] and FA ([Formula: see text]0.004[Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text]), except hip extensors and hip adductors, which showed a tendency to increase the FA ([Formula: see text]0.004[Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text]). Understanding influences of different muscle groups on long bone growth tendency can help in treatment planning for growing children with affected gait.

Does the position of the electron-donating nitrogen atom in the ring system influence the efficiency of a dye-sensitized solar cell? A computational study.

PubMed

Biswas, Abul Kalam; Barik, Sunirmal; Das, Amitava; Ganguly, Bishwajit

2016-06-01

We have reported a number of new metal-free organic dyes (2-6) that have cyclic asymmetric benzotripyrrole derivatives as donor groups with peripheral nitrogen atoms in the ring, fluorine and thiophene groups as π-spacers, and a cyanoacrylic acid acceptor group. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) calculations were employed to examine the influence of the position of the donor nitrogen atom and π-conjugation on solar cell performance. The calculated electron-injection driving force (ΔG inject), electron-regeneration driving force (ΔG regen), light-harvesting efficiency (LHE), dipole moment (μ normal), and number of electrons transferred (∆q) indicate that dyes 3, 4, and 6 have significantly higher efficiencies than reference dye 1, which exhibits high efficiency. We also extended our comparison to some other reported dyes, 7-9, which have a donor nitrogen atom in the middle of the ring system. The computed results suggest that dye 6 possesses a higher incident photon to current conversion efficiency (IPCE) than reported dyes 7-9. Thus, the use of donor groups with peripheral nitrogen atoms appears to lead to more efficient dyes than those in which the nitrogen atom is present in the middle of the donor ring system. Graphical Abstract The locations of the nitrogen atoms in the donor groups in the designed dye molecules have an important influence on DSSC efficiency.

Molecular simulation of CO2/CH4 adsorption in brown coal: Effect of oxygen-, nitrogen-, and sulfur-containing functional groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dang, Yong; Zhao, Lianming; Lu, Xiaoqing; Xu, Jing; Sang, Pengpeng; Guo, Sheng; Zhu, Houyu; Guo, Wenyue

2017-11-01

The CO2/CH4 adsorption behaviors in brown coal at the temperatures of 298, 313, and 373 K and in the pressure range of 0.005-10 MPa were investigated by molecular dynamics (MD), density functional theory (DFT), and grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations. The absolute adsorption isotherms of single-component CH4 and CO2 exhibit type-I Langmuir adsorption behavior showing a negative influence of temperature. For the binary CO2/CH4 mixture, brown coal shows super high selectivity of CO2 over CH4 at pressures below 0.2 MPa, which then decreases quickly and finally tends to be constant when the pressure increases. The high competitive adsorption of CO2 originates from the effects of (i) the large electrostatic contributions, (ii) the conducive micropore environment with pore sizes below 0.56 nm, and (iii) the stronger adsorption of CO2 with respect to CH4. These effects are strengthened by the high-density oxygen-containing, pyridine, and thiophene functional groups contained in brown coal, which provide abundant and strong adsorption sites for CO2, but show weaker affinity to CH4. Furthermore, the influence of various nitrogen- and sulfur-containing functional groups on the CO2 adsorption capacity was also investigated. The results indicate that the basicity of the oxygen- and nitrogen-containing groups has a large influence on the CO2 adsorption, while for the sulfur functional groups the determining factor is the polarity.

Factors Affecting Physicians’ Responses to Patients’ Requests for Antidepressants: Focus Group Study

PubMed Central

Silberman, Jordan; Paterniti, Debora A.; Kravitz, Richard L.; Epstein, Ronald M.

2007-01-01

Background The ways in which patients’ requests for antidepressants affect physicians’ prescribing behavior are poorly understood. Objective To describe physicians’ affective and cognitive responses to standardized patients’ (SPs) requests for antidepressants, as well as the attitudinal and contextual factors influencing prescribing behavior. Design Focus group interviews and brief demographic questionnaires. Participants Twenty-two primary care physicians in 6 focus groups; all had participated in a prior RCT of the influence of patients’ requests on physicians’ prescribing. Measurements Iterative review of interview transcripts, involving qualitative coding and thematic analysis. Results Physicians participating in the focus groups were frequently unaware of and denied the degree to which their thinking was biased by patient requests, but were able to recognize such biases after facilitated reflection. Common affective responses included annoyance and empathy. Common cognitive reactions resulted in further diagnostic inquiry or in acquiescing to the patient’s demands to save time or build the patient–clinician relationship. Patients’ requests for medication prompted the participants to err on the side of overtreating versus careful review of clinical indications. Lack of time and participants’ attitudes—toward the role of the patient and the pharmaceutical ads—also influenced their responses, prompting them to interpret patient requests as diagnostic clues or opportunities for efficiency. Conclusions This study provides a taxonomy of affective and cognitive responses to patients’ requests for medications and the underlying attitudes and contextual factors influencing them. Improved capacity for moment-to-moment self-awareness during clinical reasoning processes may increase the appropriateness of prescribing. PMID:17987348

Monitoring indices of cow comfort in free-stall-housed dairy herds.

PubMed

Cook, N B; Bennett, T B; Nordlund, K V

2005-11-01

Indices of cow comfort are used widely by consultants in the dairy industry, with a general understanding that they are representative of lying behavior. This study examines the influence of stall base type (sand or a geotextile mattress filled with rubber crumbs) and time of measurement on 4 indices of comfort collected at hourly intervals in 12 herds, aligned by morning and afternoon milking. Stall base type significantly influenced all indices of comfort. For example, the least squares mean (SE) cow comfort index (proportion of cows touching a stall that are lying down) was 0.76 (0.015) in herds with mattresses compared with 0.86 (0.015) in herds with sand stalls. Significant hourly variation was also identified suggesting that timing of measurement is important. None of the indices of cow comfort derived from the high-yielding group pen was associated with the mean 24-h lying time of 10 sentinel cows whose time budgets were known in each herd. However, the cow comfort index was associated with the herd mean 24-h stall standing time, with the strongest relationships occurring 2 h before the morning and afternoon milking, when stall base type did not significantly influence the association. When measured at these times, we recommend use of the stall standing index (proportion of cows touching a stall that are standing), with values greater than 0.20 being associated with abnormally long herd mean stall standing times greater than 2 h/d.

Influence of growth hormone treatment on radiographic indices of the spine: propensity-matched analysis.

PubMed

Yun, Yeo-Hon; Kwon, Soon-Sun; Koh, Youngdo; Kim, Dong-Jun; Ahn, Jonghyun; Lee, Seung Yeol

2017-09-06

We performed this study to investigate the influence of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) therapy on radiographic indices of the spine using propensity-matched analysis. Patients with idiopathic short stature who had undergone both growth hormone therapy and whole-spine radiographs more than twice prior to 15 years of age were included in the patient group. Other patients who had undergone whole-spine radiographs more than twice prior to the same age during regular checkups for idiopathic scoliosis formed the control group. Propensity-matched analysis was performed to reduce the selection bias. The scoliosis Cobb angle, coronal balance, apical vertebral translation, apical rotation, and pelvic obliquity were measured from the radiographs taken at the periodic follow-ups. The rate of progression of the measurements was adjusted by multiple factors using a linear mixed model with sex as the fixed effect and age and each subject as the random effects. Using a propensity-matched analysis, 48 patients were finally included in both groups. The scoliosis Cobb angle increased by 1.0° (p < 0.001) per year in the patient group, whereas there was no significant annual change in the control group (p = 0.496). Female patients showed a greater scoliosis Cobb angle (1.8°, p = 0.039) compared with male patients. There was no significant difference between the patient and control groups in coronal balance (p = 0.264). Apical vertebral translation per year was increased by 1.2 mm (p < 0.001) in the patient group and 0.5 mm in the control group (p = 0.003). Radiographic examination revealed that growth hormone therapy for idiopathic short stature affected the progression of the scoliosis Cobb angle and apical vertebral translation on the coronal plane. Physicians should be aware that annual follow-up is required to evaluate the change in the curvature of the spine in patients undergoing rhGH treatment.

Sediment characteristics and microbiological contamination of beach sand - A case-study in the archipelago of Madeira.

PubMed

Abreu, Roberto; Figueira, Celso; Romão, Daniela; Brandão, João; Freitas, M Conceição; Andrade, César; Calado, Graça; Ferreira, Carmen; Campos, Ana; Prada, Susana

2016-12-15

Beach sand can harbour pathogenic and opportunistic microorganisms, as well as faecal indicator bacteria that influence directly the bathing water quality. Pathogenic and opportunistic microorganisms often raise concern of exposure during beach related recreational activities. In this work, three different types of sandy beaches (natural basaltic, natural calcareous and artificial calcareous) of the Archipelago of Madeira (Portugal) were sampled for bacterial and fungal contaminants and grain size distribution, during four years (2010-2013). Following an extreme weather event in 2010, the faecal indicator bacteria levels spiked, returning to base levels shortly thereafter. The same phenomenon occurred with fungi, where potentially pathogenic fungi were the dominant group. Yeast-like fungi and dermatophytes were, however, mainly associated to months of higher usage by recreational users. Statistical analysis showed higher contamination of sediment in artificial beaches compared to natural beaches and granulometry and chemical composition of sand did not influence in the microbial loads. Instead, bather density and the influence of coastal protection structures needed to maintain the volume of artificial beach sand regarding the removal potential of wave induced currents are obvious influencing factors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The relative persuasiveness of narrative versus non-narrative health messages in public health emergency communication: Evidence from a field experiment.

PubMed

Bekalu, Mesfin A; Bigman, Cabral A; McCloud, Rachel F; Lin, Leesa K; Viswanath, K

2018-06-01

Previous studies indicated that narrative health messages are more effective than non-narrative messages in influencing health outcomes. However, this body of evidence does not account for differences in health domain, and little is known about the effectiveness of this message execution strategy during public health emergencies. In this study, we examined the relative effectiveness of the two formats in influencing knowledge and perceived response efficacy related to prevention of pandemic influenza, and determined whether effects of message format vary across population sub-groups. Data for the study come from an experiment fielded in 2013 that involved a nationally representative sample of 627 American adults. Participants were randomly assigned to view either a narrative (n=322) or a non-narrative (n=305) video clip containing closely matched information about knowledge and preventive actions related to pandemic influenza, and completed pre- and post-viewing questions assessing knowledge and perceived response efficacy related to the prevention of pandemic influenza. Results indicated that participants in the non-narrative condition reported greater knowledge and rated pandemic influenza prevention measures as more effective compared with those in the narrative condition. Message format effects did not vary across population sub-groups; post-viewing scores of knowledge and perceptions related to pandemic influenza were consistently higher in the non-narrative condition compared with the narrative condition across five socio-demographic groups: age, gender, education, race/ethnicity and income. We concluded that didactic, non-narrative messages may be more effective than narrative messages to influence knowledge and perceptions during public health emergencies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effects of Episodic Future Thinking and Self-Projection on Children’s Prospective Memory Performance

PubMed Central

Kretschmer-Trendowicz, Anett; Ellis, Judith A.; Altgassen, Mareike

2016-01-01

The present study is the first to investigate the benefits of episodic future thinking (EFT) at encoding on prospective memory (PM) in preschool (age: M = 66.34 months, SD = 3.28) and primary school children (age: M = 88.36 months, SD = 3.12). A second aim was to examine if self-projection influences the possible effects of EFT instructions. PM was assessed using a standard PM paradigm in children with a picture-naming task as the ongoing activity in which the PM task was embedded. Further, two first- and two second-order ToM tasks were administered as indicator of children’s self-projection abilities. Forty-one preschoolers and 39 school-aged children were recruited. Half of the participants in each age group were instructed to use EFT as a strategy to encode the PM task, while the others received standard PM instructions. Results revealed a significant age effect, with school-aged children significantly outperforming preschoolers and a significant effect of encoding condition with overall better performance when receiving EFT instructions compared to the standard encoding condition. Even though the interaction between age group and encoding condition was not significant, planned comparisons revealed first evidence that compared to the younger age group, older children’s PM benefitted more from EFT instructions during intention encoding. Moreover, results showed that although self-projection had a significant impact on PM performance, it did not influence the effects of EFT instructions. Overall, results indicate that children can use EFT encoding strategies to improve their PM performance once EFT abilities are sufficiently developed. Further, they provide first evidence that in addition to executive functions, which have already been shown to influence the development of PM across childhood, self-projection seems to be another key mechanism underlying this development. PMID:27355645

Testing the Effectiveness of Environmental Variables to Explain European Terrestrial Vertebrate Species Richness across Biogeographical Scales

PubMed Central

Mouchet, Maud; Levers, Christian; Zupan, Laure; Kuemmerle, Tobias; Plutzar, Christoph; Erb, Karlheinz; Lavorel, Sandra; Thuiller, Wilfried; Haberl, Helmut

2015-01-01

We compared the effectiveness of environmental variables, and in particular of land-use indicators, to explain species richness patterns across taxonomic groups and biogeographical scales (i.e. overall pan-Europe and ecoregions within pan-Europe). Using boosted regression trees that handle non-linear relationships, we compared the relative influence (as a measure of effectiveness) of environmental variables related to climate, landscape (or habitat heterogeneity), land-use intensity or energy availability to explain European vertebrate species richness (birds, amphibians, and mammals) at the continental and ecoregion scales. We found that dominant land cover and actual evapotranspiration that relate to energy availability were the main correlates of vertebrate species richness over Europe. At the ecoregion scale, we identified four distinct groups of ecoregions where species richness was essentially associated to (i) seasonality of temperature, (ii) actual evapotranspiration and/or mean annual temperature, (iii) seasonality of precipitation, actual evapotranspiration and land cover) and (iv) and an even combination of the environmental variables. This typology of ecoregions remained valid for total vertebrate richness and the three vertebrate groups taken separately. Despite the overwhelming influence of land cover and actual evapotranspiration to explain vertebrate species richness patterns at European scale, the ranking of the main correlates of species richness varied between regions. Interestingly, landscape and land-use indicators did not stand out at the continental scale but their influence greatly increased in southern ecoregions, revealing the long-lasting human footprint on land-use–land-cover changes. Our study provides one of the first multi-scale descriptions of the variability in the ranking of correlates across several taxa. PMID:26161981

Serum and cerebrospinal fluid immune mediators in children with autistic disorder: a longitudinal study.

PubMed

Pardo, Carlos A; Farmer, Cristan A; Thurm, Audrey; Shebl, Fatma M; Ilieva, Jorjetta; Kalra, Simran; Swedo, Susan

2017-01-01

The causes of autism likely involve genetic and environmental factors that influence neurobiological changes and the neurological and behavioral features of the disorder. Immune factors and inflammation are hypothesized pathogenic influences, but have not been examined longitudinally. In a cohort of 104 participants with autism, we performed an assessment of immune mediators such as cytokines, chemokines, or growth factors in serum and cerebrospinal fluid ( n  = 67) to determine potential influences of such mediators in autism. As compared with 54 typically developing controls, we found no evidence of differences in the blood profile of immune mediators supportive of active systemic inflammation mechanisms in participants with autism. Some modulators of immune function (e.g., EGF and soluble CD40 ligand) were increased in the autism group; however, no evidence of group differences in traditional markers of active inflammation (e.g., IL-6, TNFα, IL-1β) were observed in the serum. Further, within-subject stability (measured by estimated intraclass correlations) of most analytes was low, indicating that a single measurement is not a reliable prospective indicator of concentration for most analytes. Additionally, in participants with autism, there was little correspondence between the blood and CSF profiles of cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors, suggesting that peripheral markers may not optimally reflect the immune status of the central nervous system. Although the relatively high fraction of intrathecal production of selected chemokines involved in monocyte/microglia function may suggest a possible relationship with the homeostatic role of microglia, control data are needed for further interpretation of its relevance in autism. These longitudinal observations fail to provide support for the hypothesized role of disturbances in the expression of circulating cytokines and chemokines as an indicator of systemic inflammation in autism. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00298246.

The influence of social indices on oral health and oral health behaviour in a group of Flemish socially deprived adolescents.

PubMed

De Reu, G; Vanobbergen, J; Martens, L C

2008-03-01

To investigate the impact of social indices on oral health and oral health behaviour in socially deprived adolescents and young adults in Flanders. The study design was cross-sectional and included 68 subjects aged 12 to 26, who called for help by "Habbekrats", a non-profit organisation rendering assistance to adolescents and young adults living on the fringes of our society. The clinical oral examination was performed using criteria based on the diagnostic criteria for caries prevalence surveys published by BASCD. Information on parental occupational level, educational level, living condition and oral health behaviour was gained using questionnaires completed by the participants themselves and their social workers. The mean age was 16.2 years. Within the sample 92% and 90.8% respectively had a father or mother belonging to a low social level. For 68% of the sample the educational level was low. Concerning oral health behaviour 67% reported nutritional habits conducive to poor oral health whereas 64% reported good oral hygiene habits. The mean DMFS was 11.42 (SD = 14.33) and the mean care-index equalled 0.60 (SD = 0.39). Statistical analysis by means of a logistic regression model revealed that only the 'living condition' had a statistically significant influence on oral health behaviour (p < or = 0.05) and care-index (p < or = 0.05). There was no significant correlation between the parents occupation and subjects' educational level and the oral health behaviour and oral health status of the study group. From this analysis it is clear that 'living condition' had a significant influence on the oral health behaviour and care indices of the studied population of socially deprived adolescents.

Working memory span in mild cognitive impairment. Influence of processing speed and cognitive reserve.

PubMed

Facal, David; Juncos-Rabadán, Onésimo; Pereiro, Arturo X; Lojo-Seoane, Cristina

2014-04-01

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) often includes episodic memory impairment, but can also involve other types of cognitive decline. Although previous studies have shown poorer performance of MCI patients in working memory (WM) span tasks, different MCI subgroups were not studied. In the present exploratory study, 145 participants underwent extensive cognitive evaluation, which included three different WM span tasks, and were classified into the following groups: multiple-domain amnestic MCI (mda-MCI), single-domain amnestic MCI (sda-MCI), and controls. General linear model was conducted by considering the WM span tasks as the within-subject factor; the group (mda-MCI, sda-MCI, and controls) as the inter-subject factor; and processing speed, vocabulary and age as covariates. Multiple linear regression models were also used to test the influence of processing speed, vocabulary, and other cognitive reserve (CR) proxies. Results indicate different levels of impairment of WM, with more severe impairment in mda-MCI patients. The differences were still present when processing resources and CR were controlled. Between-group differences can be understood as a manifestation of the greater severity and widespread memory impairment in mda-MCI patients and may contribute to a better understanding of continuum from normal controls to mda-MCI patients. Processing speed and CR have a limited influence on WM scores, reducing but not removing differences between groups.

One year follow up of the outcomes of child patients with melamine-related kidney stones in Beijing and surrounding provinces in China.

PubMed

Shen, Ying; Sun, Qiang; Gao, Jie; Jia, Li-Qun; Sun, Ning; Pan, Yue-Song; Liu, Xiao-Mei; Liu, Xiao-Rong; Wang, Yu; Wu, Dong-Xue; Jiang, Ye-Ping

2011-05-01

To evaluate their prognosis, the damage by melamine on children's kidney and other organs, and its influence on the children's development, was investigated. Nine hundred and sixty-two Chinese children were divided into three groups: group A, 265 children diagnosed with melamine-associated urolithiasis; group B, 197 children with a history of melamine-contaminated milk powder consumption but without urolithiasis; and group C, 500 healthy children. They were examined at 0, 1, 3, 6 and 12 months. The factors influencing the prognosis were investigated. The stone discharge was monitored by ultrasonography. Overt renal and liver damage and underlying renal injury markers were analyzed. The stone discharge rates 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after the diagnoses were 52.5%, 67.2%, 88.3% and 95.5%, respectively. Stone size was a stable influencing factor for the stone discharge rate. Additionally, the values of the potential renal injury markers in children with stones already discharged is equivalent to normal children. This 12 month follow up of early renal injury markers indicated that the damage to the kidney is temporary with no persistent negative outcomes being found till now. Additionally, the gross development of the children seemed not yet jeopardized by melamine. Longer-term follow up will be conducted. © 2011 The Authors. Nephrology © 2011 Asian Pacific Society of Nephrology.

Male-to-female aggression in cage-housed common pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) during the breeding season was not related to male plasma testosterone level.

PubMed

Zapletal, D; Macháček, M; Suchý, P; Straková, E; Vitula, F

2018-06-01

1. The aim of this study was to investigate if male-to-female aggression of common pheasants in the course of the breeding season was related to the concentration of plasma testosterone and/or other biochemical plasma indicators in male pheasants housed in breeding cages. The influence of season on the concentration of testosterone and biochemical indicators was also investigated. 2. Males were divided into non-aggressive and aggressive groups during the breeding season based on ethological evaluation. At the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the breeding season, a blood sample was taken from all males on the same day and the concentration of selected biochemical indicators and the total circulating testosterone in the plasma were determined. 3. Male-to-female aggression during the breeding season of pheasants was not influenced by the total plasma testosterone of males. 4. The concentration of total plasma testosterone in males decreased gradually during the breeding season. 5. Male-to-female aggression of pheasants did not have a significant effect on any of the assessed biochemical indicators. 6. The influence of the breeding season affected the activities of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase as well as the concentrations of glucose, magnesium, potassium and chloride in the blood plasma of cage-housed male pheasants.

The effect of word length and other sublexical, lexical, and semantic variables on developmental reading deficits.

PubMed

De Luca, Maria; Barca, Laura; Burani, Cristina; Zoccolotti, Pierluigi

2008-12-01

To examine the effect of word length and several sublexical, and lexico-semantic variables on the reading of Italian children with a developmental reading deficit. Previous studies indicated the role of word length in transparent orthographies. However, several factors that may interact with word length were not controlled for. Seventeen impaired and 34 skilled sixth-grade readers were presented words of different lengths, matched for initial phoneme, bigram frequency, word frequency, age of acquisition, and imageability. Participants were asked to read aloud, as quickly and as accurately as possible. Reaction times at the onset of pronunciation and mispronunciations were recorded. Impaired readers' reaction times indicated a marked effect of word length; in skilled readers, there was no length effect for short words but, rather, a monotonic increase from 6-letter words on. Regression analyses confirmed the role of word length and indicated the influence of word frequency (similar in impaired and skilled readers). No other variables predicted reading latencies. Word length differentially influenced word recognition in impaired versus skilled readers, irrespective of the action of (potentially interfering) sublexical, lexical, and semantic variables. It is proposed that the locus of the length effect is at a perceptual level of analysis. The independent influence of word frequency on the reading performance of both groups of participants indicates the sparing of lexical activation in impaired readers.

Chelate effects in sulfate binding by amide/urea-based ligands.

PubMed

Jia, Chuandong; Wang, Qi-Qiang; Begum, Rowshan Ara; Day, Victor W; Bowman-James, Kristin

2015-07-07

The influence of chelate and mini-chelate effects on sulfate binding was explored for six amide-, amide/amine-, urea-, and urea/amine-based ligands. Two of the urea-based hosts were selective for SO4(2-) in water-mixed DMSO-d6 systems. Results indicated that the mini-chelate effect provided by a single urea group with two NH binding sites appears to provide enhanced binding over two amide groups. Furthermore, additional urea binding sites incorporated into the host framework appeared to overcome to some extent competing hydration effects with increasing water content.

Advanced CRM training for instructors and evaluators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taggart, William R.

1991-01-01

It is seen that if the maximum operational benefit of crew resource management (CRM) is to be achieved, the evaluator group is the principal key and specialized training that is ongoing is necessary for this group. The training must be customized to fit the needs of a particular organization, and the training must address key topical issues that influence organizational dynamics. Attention is given to the use of video and full length scripted NASA research LOFTS, behavioral markers and debriefing skills, the importance of policy and written CRM standards, and line oriented simulations debriefing performance indicators.

Modelling crop land use change derived from influencing factors selected and ranked by farmers in North temperate agricultural regions.

PubMed

Mehdi, Bano; Lehner, Bernhard; Ludwig, Ralf

2018-08-01

To develop meaningful land use scenarios, drivers that affect changes in the landscape are required. In this study, driving factors that influence farmers to change crops on their farm were determined. A questionnaire was administered to four independent groups of farmers who identified and ranked influencing factors pertaining to their choices of crops. The farmers were located in two mid-latitude agricultural watersheds (in Germany and Canada). The ranked influencing factors were used to develop a "farmer driven" scenario to 2040 in both watersheds. Results showed that the most important influencing factors for farmers to change crops were the "economic return of the crop" and "market factors". Yet, when the drivers of crop land use change were grouped into two categories of "financial" and "indirectly-related financial" factors, the "financial" factors made up approximately half of the influencing factors. For some responses, the "indirectly-related financial" factors (i.e. "access to farm equipment", the "farm experience", and "climate") ranked higher than or just as high as the financial factors. Overall, in the four farmer groups the differences between the rankings of the influencing factors were minor, indicating that drivers may be transferable between farms if the farmers are full-time and the farming regions have comparable growing seasons, access to markets, similar technology, and government programs for farm income. In addition to the "farmer driven" scenario, a "policy driven" scenario was derived for each watershed based only on available information on the financial incentives provided to farmers (i.e. agricultural subsidies, income support, crop insurance). The influencing factors ranked by the farmers provided in-depth information that was not captured by the "policy driven" scenario and contributed to improving predictions for crop land use development. This straight-forward method to rank qualitative data provided by farmers can easily be replicated in other watersheds to improve environmental impact modelling. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Environmental behaviour of short-chain chlorinated paraffins in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems of Ny-Ålesund and London Island, Svalbard, in the Arctic.

PubMed

Li, Huijuan; Fu, Jianjie; Pan, Wenxiao; Wang, Pu; Li, Yingming; Zhang, Qinghua; Wang, Yawei; Zhang, Aiqian; Liang, Yong; Jiang, Guibin

2017-07-15

The environmental behaviour of short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) was investigated in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems in the Arctic. The mean concentrations of SCCPs in the aquatic and terrestrial samples were 178.9ng/g dry weight (dw) and 157.2ng/g dw, respectively. Short carbon chain (C 10 ) and less-chlorinated (Cl 6 ) congener groups were predominant in the Arctic samples, accounting for 48.6% and 34.8% of the total SCCPs, respectively. The enrichment of lighter SCCP congener groups (i.e., fewer chlorine atoms with shorter carbon chain lengths) indicated that the fractionation process occurred during long-range transport. The biomagnification factor (BMF) was 0.46 from gammarid to cod, which indicated that the SCCPs did not biomagnify between these two species. The soil-vegetation bioaccumulation factor (BAF) of SCCPs was 29.9, and C 13 and Cl 7, 8 congener groups tended to accumulate in the terrestrial vegetation. Regression analysis (BAFs=10.9×#C+5.6×#Cl-125.2, R=0.53, P<0.01) showed that the number of carbon and chlorine atoms influenced the bioaccumulative behaviour of SCCPs and suggested that the number of carbon atoms had a greater influence on the BAFs of SCCPs in the terrestrial ecosystem than did the number of chlorine atoms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

When group membership gets personal: a theory of identity fusion.

PubMed

Swann, William B; Jetten, Jolanda; Gómez, Angel; Whitehouse, Harvey; Bastian, Brock

2012-07-01

Identity fusion is a relatively unexplored form of alignment with groups that entails a visceral feeling of oneness with the group. This feeling is associated with unusually porous, highly permeable borders between the personal and social self. These porous borders encourage people to channel their personal agency into group behavior, raising the possibility that the personal and social self will combine synergistically to motivate pro-group behavior. Furthermore, the strong personal as well as social identities possessed by highly fused persons cause them to recognize other group members not merely as members of the group but also as unique individuals, prompting the development of strong relational as well as collective ties within the group. In local fusion, people develop relational ties to members of relatively small groups (e.g., families or work teams) with whom they have personal relationships. In extended fusion, people project relational ties onto relatively large collectives composed of many individuals with whom they may have no personal relationships. The research literature indicates that measures of fusion are exceptionally strong predictors of extreme pro-group behavior. Moreover, fusion effects are amplified by augmenting individual agency, either directly (by increasing physiological arousal) or indirectly (by activating personal or social identities). The effects of fusion on pro-group actions are mediated by perceptions of arousal and invulnerability. Possible causes of identity fusion--ranging from relatively distal, evolutionary, and cultural influences to more proximal, contextual influences--are discussed. Finally, implications and future directions are considered. Copyright 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

[Evaluation of leptin levels in plasma and their reliance on other hormonal factors affecting tissue fat levels in people with various levels of endogenous cotisol].

PubMed

Robaczyk, Maciej G

2002-01-01

The discovery of leptin (LEP) shed new light on mechanisms regulating body fat mass (BFM). In this aspect, interactions between LEP and glucocorticoids at hypothalamic level may be of great importance. Factors that influence plasma LEP levels have not been fully recognized and available data on LEP levels are often inconsistent. The aim of this study was to evaluate absolute and BFM-corrected plasma LEP levels and their diurnal variation, as well as to assess the relationship between LEP levels, body fat distribution, and hormones influencing body fat in subjects with various levels of endogenous cortisol and different nutritional status. Group I was composed of 14 women aged 14-58 yrs, BMI of 23.9-37.1 kg/m2, with hypercortisolism due to ACTH-dependent and ACTH-independent Cushing's syndrome (CUS). 17 women with visceral obesity (OTY) and normal or disturbed carbohydrate metabolism, i.e. impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and diabetes mellitus (DM), aged 24 do 50 yrs, BMI 30.0-46.1 kg/m2, were included in group II. Group III consisted of 14 women with Addison's disease (AD), aged 18 do 63 yrs, BMI 15.4-31.6 kg/m2. The control group IV (KON) included 17 healthy women with normal BMI. BMI, WHR, body composition, and body fat distribution (DEXA method) were assessed in all subjects. Basal plasma levels of LEP, beta-endorphin (B-EP), cortisol (F), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) were measured with RIA test kits. Plasma adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH) levels, serum levels of insulin (IRI) and growth hormone (GH) were measured with IRMA test kits. Blood glucose (G) concentration was determined with an enzymatic method. Adiposity-corrected LEP levels were expressed as LEP/BFM and LEP/%BF indices. Fasting insulin resistance index (FIRI) was also calculated. Higher BFM and %BF values were found in the OTY group as compared with CUS KON and AD groups. BFM distribution did not differ in KON and AD groups whereas CUS subjects exhibited a higher accumulation of fat in the trunk when compared to OTY subjects. Absolute LEP levels were correlated with trunk BF in CUS patients whereas in KON and AD groups these levels were correlated only with limb fat. Absolute LEP levels in CUS and OTY groups were comparable, whereas LEP/BFM and LEP/%BF indices were higher in the CUS group (Table 1) reflecting upregulation of LEP levels (Figs. 1, 2). BFM-corrected LEP levels were comparable in groups with normal cortisolemia, i.e. in OTY and KON groups, whereas in the AD group both absolute and BFM-corrected LEP levels were lower than in controls. No correlation was found between plasma levels of F and LEP in CUS and AD groups. This correlation was negative in KON (Fig. 3) and positive in OTY groups (Fig. 4). Moreover, KON and AD groups demonstrated a negative correlation between plasma ACTH and LEP levels. CUS patients showed positive, BFM-independent correlations between LEP levels, FIRI and G values, and a positive, BFM-dependent correlation between IRI and LEP levels. OTY patients exhibited a BFM-dependent positive correlation between FIRI and LEP levels. In these and in AD patients, a positive, BFM-independent correlation between IRI and LEP levels was found. Moreover, a negative, BFM-dependent correlation between GH and LEP levels was found in OTY patients. In this group, B-EP levels were positively correlated with LEP/BFM and LEP/%BF indices (Fig. 5). A negative correlation between LEP levels, LEP/BFM and LEP/%BF indices was ascertained in the AD group. In CUS, OTY, and KON groups, but not in the AD group, a midnight increase in leptin levels was observed. In conclusion, upregulation of leptin levels in relation to body fat in Cushing's syndrome is independent of the source of hypercortisolism. Apparently, it results from insulin resistance and hyperglycaemia and contributes to coexisting metabolic abnormalities. In Addison's disease, downregulation of leptin may reflect an adaptation mechanism to cortisol deficiency and result from low insulin and extremely high adrenocorticotrophin levels. In women with normal cortisol levels, irrespectively of nutritional status; leptin levels reflect body fat content. In obese subjects, leptin levels may be influenced by cortisol levels, high levels of insulin, IGF-1, and beta-endorphin as well as low levels of growth hormone. Disturbed function of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (CUS, AD) does not directly influence diurnal variation in plasma leptin levels. In Cushing's syndrome, visceral fat may be a predominant source of leptin, whereas in women with normal or low cortisol levels peripherally accumulated fat may determine leptin secretion.

Evaluation of F+ RNA and DNA coliphages as source-specific indicators of fecal contamination in surface waters.

PubMed

Cole, Dana; Long, Sharon C; Sobsey, Mark D

2003-11-01

Male-specific (F+) coliphages have been investigated as viral indicators of fecal contamination that may provide source-specific information for impacted environmental waters. This study examined the presence and proportions of the different subgroups of F+ coliphages in a variety of fecal wastes and surface waters with well-defined potential waste impacts. Municipal wastewater samples had high proportions of F+ DNA and group II and III F+ RNA coliphages. Bovine wastewaters also contained a high proportion of F+ DNA coliphages, but group I and IV F+ RNA coliphages predominated. Swine wastewaters contained approximately equal proportions of F+ DNA and RNA coliphages, and group I and III F+ RNA coliphages were most common. Waterfowl (gull and goose) feces contained almost exclusively F+ RNA coliphages of groups I and IV. No F+ coliphages were isolated from the feces of the other species examined. F+ coliphage recovery from surface waters was influenced by precipitation events and animal or human land use. There were no significant differences in coliphage density among land use categories. Significant seasonal variation was observed in the proportions of F+ DNA and RNA coliphages. Group I F+ RNA coliphages were the vast majority (90%) of those recovered from surface waters. The percentage of group I F+ RNA coliphages detected was greatest at background sites, and the percentage of group II F+ RNA coliphages was highest at human-impacted sites. Monitoring of F+ coliphage groups can indicate the presence and major sources of microbial inputs to surface waters, but environmental effects on the relative occurrence of different groups need to be considered.

Dynamics of cellular level function and regulation derived from murine expression array data.

PubMed

de Bivort, Benjamin; Huang, Sui; Bar-Yam, Yaneer

2004-12-21

A major open question of systems biology is how genetic and molecular components interact to create phenotypes at the cellular level. Although much recent effort has been dedicated to inferring effective regulatory influences within small networks of genes, the power of microarray bioinformatics has yet to be used to determine functional influences at the cellular level. In all cases of data-driven parameter estimation, the number of model parameters estimable from a set of data is strictly limited by the size of that set. Rather than infer parameters describing the detailed interactions of just a few genes, we chose a larger-scale investigation so that the cumulative effects of all gene interactions could be analyzed to identify the dynamics of cellular-level function. By aggregating genes into large groups with related behaviors (megamodules), we were able to determine the effective aggregate regulatory influences among 12 major gene groups in murine B lymphocytes over a variety of time steps. Intriguing observations about the behavior of cells at this high level of abstraction include: (i) a medium-term critical global transcriptional dependence on ATP-generating genes in the mitochondria, (ii) a longer-term dependence on glycolytic genes, (iii) the dual role of chromatin-reorganizing genes in transcriptional activation and repression, (iv) homeostasis-favoring influences, (v) the indication that, as a group, G protein-mediated signals are not concentration-dependent in their influence on target gene expression, and (vi) short-term-activating/long-term-repressing behavior of the cell-cycle system that reflects its oscillatory behavior.

Setting the question for inquiry: The effects of whole class vs small group on student achievement in elementary science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cavagnetto, Andy Roy

This study was conducted to determine the effects of two different student-centered approaches to setting the question for inquiry. The first approach (whole class) consisted of students setting a single question for inquiry after which students worked in small groups during an investigation phase of the activity with all groups exploring the same question. The second approach (small group) consisted of each group of students setting a question resulting in numerous questions being explored per class. A mixed method quasi-experimental design was utilized. Two grade five teachers from a small rural school district in the Midwestern United States participated, each teaching two sections of science (approximately 25 students per section). Results indicate three major findings. Instructional approach (whole class vs. small group) did not effect student achievement in science or language arts. Observational data indicated the actions and skills teachers utilized to implement the approaches were similar. Specifically, the pedagogical skills of dialogical interaction (which was found to be influenced by teacher level of control of learning and teacher content knowledge) and effective rather than efficient use of time were identified as key factors in teachers' progression toward a student-centered, teacher-managed instructional approach. Unit exams along with qualitative and quantitative teacher observation data indicated that these factors do have an impact on student achievement. Specifically increased dialogical interaction in the forms of greater student voice, and increased cognitive demands placed on students by embedding and emphasizing science argument within the student inquiry corresponded to positive gains in student achievement. Additionally, teacher's perception of student abilities was also found to influence professional growth. Finally, allowing students to set the questions for inquiry and design the experiments impact the classroom environment as teacher talk changed from giving directions toward scaffolding student thought. These results have implications for professional development and teacher education as they suggest that more time should be spent on challenging teachers to align their pedagogy with how students learn rather than simply providing strategies and lesson plans for teachers to use in the classrooms.

The influence of a novel in-office tooth whitening procedure using an Er,Cr:YSGG laser on enamel surface morphology.

PubMed

Dionysopoulos, Dimitrios; Strakas, Dimitrios; Koliniotou-Koumpia, Eugenia

2015-08-01

The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the influence of a novel in-office tooth whitening procedure using Er,Cr:YSGG laser radiation on bovine enamel. Forty-eight enamel specimens were prepared from bovine canines and divided into four groups: Group 1 specimens (control) received no whitening treatment; Group 2 received whitening treatment with an at-home whitening agent (22% carbamide peroxide) for 7 days; Group 3 received whitening treatment with a novel in-office whitening agent (35% H(2)O(2)); Group 4 received the same in-office whitening therapy with Group 3 using Er,Cr:YSGG laser in order to accelerate the whitening procedure. The specimens were stored for 10 days after the whitening treatment in artificial saliva. Vickers hardness was determined using a microhardness tester and surface roughness was evaluated using a VSI microscope. Three specimens of each experimental group were examined under SEM and the mineral composition of the specimens was evaluated using EDS. Data were statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA, Tukey's post-hoc test, Wilcoxon signed rank and Kruskal-Wallis tests (a = 0.05). The surface microhardness of the enamel was reduced after the in-office whitening treatments (P< 0.05), but not influenced after the at-home whitening treatment (P> 0.05). Moreover, the surface roughness was not significantly changed after tooth whitening. EDS analysis did not show alterations in the enamel mineral composition, while SEM observations indicated changes in the surface morphology, especially after in-office tooth whitening (P< 0.05). The laser-assisted whitening treatment with Er,Cr:YSGG laser did not affect the alterations in enamel surface compared with the conventional in-office whitening technique. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Influence of classical and rock music on red blood cell rheological properties in rats.

PubMed

Erken, Gulten; Bor Kucukatay, Melek; Erken, Haydar Ali; Kursunluoglu, Raziye; Genc, Osman

2008-01-01

A number of studies have reported physiological effects of music. Different types of music have been found to induce different alterations. Although some physiological and psychological parameters have been demonstrated to be influenced by music, the effect of music on hemorheological parameters such as red blood cell (RBC) deformability and aggregation are unknown. This study aimed at investigating the effects of classical and rock music on hemorheological parameters in rats. Twenty-eight rats were divided into four groups: the control, noise-applied, and the classical music- and rock music-applied groups. Taped classical or rock music were played repeatedly for 1 hour a day for 2 weeks and 95-dB machine sound was applied to the noise-applied rats during the same period. RBC deformability and aggregation were measured using an ektacytometer. RBC deformability was found to be increased in the classical music group. Exposure to both classical and rock music resulted in a decrement in erythrocyte aggregation, but the decline in RBC aggregation was of a higher degree of significance in the classical music group. Exposure to noise did not have any effect on the parameters studied. The results of this study indicate that the alterations in hemorheological parameters were more pronounced in the classical music group compared with the rock music group.

Influence of Joyful Learning on Elementary School Students’ Attitudes Toward Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anggoro, S.; Sopandi, W.; Sholehuddin, M.

2017-02-01

This study investigated the effects of joyful learning approach on elementary school students’ attitudes toward science. The method used is quasy experiment with the participants were divided into two groups. Thirty three of 4th grade students volunteered as an experimental group, and the other forty two act as a control group. The data was collected by questionnaire that are given before and after the lesson, observation sheet, and interview. The effect of joyful learning on students’ attitude was obtained by determining the n-gain and independent t-test. Observation and interview results were used to triangulate and support the quantitative findings. The data showed that the gain scores of the experimental group students’ attitudes toward science were significantly higher than the gain scores of control group. In addition, the experimental group made significantly greater progress in their cognitive, affective and conative experiences. Interviews and observations indicated that their attitude toward science changed over the intervention. This indicated that joyful learning approach can enhance the elementary school students’ attitudes toward science. According to these findings, it can be concluded that joyful learning approach can be used as an alternative approach to improve student’s attitude toward science.

[The dynamics of blood circulation in marginal gingiva after crown preparation by different ledge locations].

PubMed

Shcherbakov, A S; Kuznetsova, M B; Kuznetsov, D L; Ivanova, S B

2013-01-01

The periodontal tissue level may change after gingival margin retraction and tooth preparation. The aim of the study was to assess the influence of these manipulations on the condition of free gingival margin. The study included 53 persons (29 women and 24 men) divided into 4 groups followed-up for 6 to 8 weeks. Blood circulation in marginal gingiva of 118 teeth with healthy periodontal tissues was assessed by ultrasonic Doppler evaluation to reveal the circulation impairments in cervical margin after teeth crown preparation. The first group included 39 teeth, in which the gum was retracted by Roeko stay put non impregna cords ("Langenau", Germany). The second group included 39 teeth with shoulders prepared at the gingival margin; in the third group (40 teeth) the shoulder was located subgingivally. The fourth group (40 teeth) was control. The changes in recovery indices have been analyzed. The linear values were established as most significant and demonstrative. The indices variations and recovery period length depended on the coronal edge location. Statistically significant differences were found among all the groups (p>0.05). The results may be used to improve crown preparation for fixed dentures and decrease the recession rate of free gingival margin.

Severity of spine malalignment on center of pressure progression during level walking in subjects with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

PubMed

Chern, Jen-Suh; Kao, Chia-Chi; Lai, Po-Lian; Lung, Chi-Wen; Chen, Wen-Jer

2014-01-01

Center of pressure (CoP) progression during level walking in subjects with Adolescents Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) was measured. Participants were divided into three groups according to scoliosis severity. CoP progression among groups was compared quantitatively and qualitatively. The results showed that scoliosis severity affects CoP progression significantly in the hind-foot and forefoot areas. This result indicated that spine alignment might affect the control of heel, ankle and toe rockers in the ankle-foot complex. The effects of scoliosis severity is mainly on the CoP of right foot plantar surface, indicating asymmetrical influence of IS on bilateral lower limb coordination during walking. These results might contribute to musculoskeletal complains over the apparatus within trunk-foot in the later lives of this population.

An Intelligibility Assessment of Toddlers with Cleft Lip and Palate Who Received and Did Not Receive Presurgical Infant Orthopedic Treatment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Konst, Emmy M.; Weersink-Braks, Hanny; Rietveld, Toni; Peters, Herman

2000-01-01

The influence of presurgical infant orthopedic treatment (PIO) on speech intelligibility was evaluated with 10 toddlers who used PIO during the first year of life and 10 who did not. Treated children were rated as exhibiting greater intelligibility, however, transcription data indicated there were not group differences in actual intelligibility.…

In Search of Genes Associated with Risk for Psychopathic Tendencies in Children: A Two-Stage Genome-Wide Association Study of Pooled DNA

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Viding, Essi; Hanscombe, Ken B.; Curtis, Charles J. C.; Davis, Oliver S. P.; Meaburn, Emma L.; Plomin, Robert

2010-01-01

Background: Quantitative genetic data from our group indicates that antisocial behaviour (AB) is strongly heritable when coupled with psychopathic, callous-unemotional (CU) personality traits. We have also demonstrated that the genetic influences for AB and CU overlap considerably. We conducted a genome-wide association scan that capitalises on…

Monitoring ruffed grouse in the Black Hills: Protocol and user's manual for the occupancy spreadsheet program

Treesearch

Christopher P. Hansen; Mark A. Rumble; Joshua J. Millspaugh

2010-01-01

Monitoring ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) in the Black Hills National Forest is a priority for forest managers due to the bird's status as the management indicator species for quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) and its value to hunters and other recreational groups. We conducted drumming surveys, estimated occupancy, and assessed the influence of sampling and...

The Effects of Rereading, Self-Selected Strategy Use, and Rehearsal on the Immediate and Delayed Understanding of Text.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nist, Sherrie L.; And Others

1996-01-01

Studies influences of rereading and strategy use on college students' abilities to understand/remember text information, hypothesizing that those engaging in active strategy use should perform better than those who do not. Indicates no differences between groups on the recognition task, but finds differences on the recall task. Discusses time on…

Propositions Toward the Survival of a Self-Endangered Species: The Fundamental Question.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brandwein, Paul F.

The author considers the search for a better, pollution-free environment and the political processes by which various groups attempt to influence or control the actions of others in the context. He defines the goal of conservation as a recognition of the interdependence of man and his environment and lists 13 propositions which indicate the urgent…

Influence of the silane modifiers on the surface thermodynamic characteristics and dispersion of the silica into elastomer compounds.

PubMed

Castellano, Maila; Conzatti, Lucia; Turturro, Antonio; Costa, Giovanna; Busca, Guido

2007-05-03

A good dispersion of silica into elastomers, typically used in tire tread production, is obtained by grafting of the silica with multifunctional organosilanes. In this study, the influence of the chemical structure of a triethoxysilane (TES), octadecyltriethoxysilane (ODTES), and ODTES/bistriethoxysilylpropyltetrasulfane (TESPT) mixture was investigated by inverse gas chromatography (IGC) at infinite dilution. Thermodynamic results indicate a higher polarity of the silica surface modified with TES as compared to that of the unmodified silica due to new OH groups deriving from the hydrolysis of ethoxy groups of the silane; the long hydrocarbon substituent of the ODTES lies on the surface of silica and reduces the dispersive component of the silica surface tension. A comparison with silica modified with TESPT is discussed. An accurate morphological investigation by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and automated image analysis (AIA) was carried out on aggregates of silica dispersed into a SBR compound loaded with 35 phr (per hundred rubber) of untreated and TESPT-treated silica. Morphological descriptors such as the projected area/perimeter ratio (A/P) and roundness (P2/4piA) provided direct and quantitative indications about the distribution of the filler into the rubber matrix.

Influence of foreign direct investment on indicators of environmental degradation.

PubMed

Solarin, Sakiru Adebola; Al-Mulali, Usama

2018-06-21

This study aims to contribute to the existing literature by looking at the influence of foreign direct investment on carbon dioxide emissions, carbon footprint, and ecological footprint. In order to realize the aim of this study, we have utilized the augmented mean group estimator, which is supported by common correlated effect mean group estimator in the analysis for 20 countries. The panel results reveal that foreign direct investment has no effect on environmental degradation indicators. The panel results further reveal that gross domestic product, energy consumption, and urbanization are the main contributors to environmental degradation. The results at country level show that foreign direct investment and urbanization increase pollution in the developing countries while they mitigate pollution in the developed countries. Moreover, gross domestic product and energy consumption increase pollution for both developed and developing countries, which includes China and the USA. The negative impact of foreign direct investment on environmental degradation in the developed countries can be explained on the basis that these countries have strong environmental regulations, which makes it almost impossible for dirty foreign industries to invest therein. From the output of this research, several policy recommendations are enumerated for the investigated countries.

Self-reported overeating and attributions for food intake.

PubMed

Vartanian, Lenny R; Reily, Natalie M; Spanos, Samantha; Herman, C Peter; Polivy, Janet

2017-04-01

We examined whether people's attributions for their eating behaviour differ according to whether they believe they have eaten more, less or about the same as they normally would. Participants were served a small or large portion of pasta for lunch. Afterwards, they were asked to compare how much they ate in the study to how much they normally eat for lunch, resulting in three intake-evaluation categories: 'ate less', 'ate about the same' or 'ate more'. How much participants ate; the extent to which they attributed their food intake to an internal cue (i.e. hunger) and an external cue (i.e. the amount of food served). Participants served a large portion ate more than those served a small portion, but the magnitude of the portion-size effect did not vary across intake-evaluation categories. Furthermore, although participants in all groups indicated that their hunger influenced how much they ate, only those in the 'ate more' group indicated that the amount of food available influenced how much they ate. People appear to be willing to explain their food intake in terms of an external cue only when they believe that they have eaten more than they normally would.

The Internet as an emerging patient education tool among African American men with prostate cancer: an exploratory study.

PubMed

Wallington, Sherrie Flynt

2008-06-01

The lives of African American men with prostate cancer are greatly influenced by the information available to them, some of which is accessed on the Internet. Research indicates that the Internet can enhance consumer health knowledge but has not reached socioeconomic groups at highest risk for health disparities, such as African American men with prostate cancer. In this study, focus groups were used to explore the perceptions and uses of the Internet as a patient education tool among 39 African American men aged 39 years and older with diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Nineteen (49%) participants reported using the Internet, 15 (38%) reported no use but indicated it was used on their behalf, and 5 (13%) reported no use and no use on their behalf. The findings revealed varying degrees of Internet use for information and social support. Prostate cancer diagnosis, poor patient-doctor communications, and accessibility influenced Internet use. Accessibility related more to lack of ease and familiarity with Internet use than lack of computer access. With training and awareness, the Internet has potential as a patient education tool among African American men with prostate cancer.

Can renal dysfunction after infra-renal aortic aneurysm repair be modified by multi-antioxidant supplementation?

PubMed

Wijnen, M H W A; Vader, H L; Van Den Wall Bake, A W L; Roumen, R M H

2002-08-01

Renal failure after lower torso ischemia is a serious problem, partly caused by hypotension and indirect reperfusion injury. This injury is partly due to the formation of oxygen free radicals by activated neutrophils. This injury results in albuminuria and renal function impairment. There are indications that free radical damage in indirect reperfusion injury can be diminished by administering extra antioxidants before and during reperfusion. In this prospective randomised study we have looked at the influence of a multi-antioxidant supplementation on renal function in patients undergoing an elective open infrarenal abdominal aneurysm repair. The patients received either standard treatment (n=22) or standard treatment with additional antioxidants perioperatively (Allopurinol, vitamin E and C, N-acetylcysteine and mannitol). For renal function we have looked at the albumin/creatinine ratio in urine and 24 hr creatinine clearance. Despite significantly increased serum total antioxidant capacity, the group receiving extra antioxidants showed no decrease in the albumin/creatinine ratio in urine. There was however a significantly higher creatinine clearance in this group at day 2. The results indicate that the diminished renal function after infrarenal aneurysm repair may be influenced by antioxidant therapy.

Differential response of peripheral arterial compliance-related indices to a vasoconstrictive stimulus.

PubMed

Guerrisi, Maria; Vannucci, Italo; Toschi, Nicola

2009-01-01

Peripheral arterial elastic properties are greatly affected by cardiovascular as well as other pathologies, and their assessment can provide useful diagnostic indicators. The photoplethysmographic technique can provide finger blood volume and pressure waveforms non-invasively, which can then be processed statically or beat-to-beat to characterize parameters of the vessel wall mechanics. We employ an occlusion-deflation protocol in 48 healthy volunteers to study peripheral artery compliance-related indices over positive and negative transmural pressure values as well as under the influence of a valid vasoconstrictor (cigarette smoking). We calculate beat-to-beat indices (compliance index CI, distensibility index DI, three viscoelastic model parameters (compliance C, viscosity R and inertia L), pressure-volume loop areas A and damping factor DF as well as symmetrical (C(max)) and asymmetrical (C(A)(max)) static compliance estimates, and their distributions over transmural pressure. All distributions are bell-shaped and centred on negative transmural pressure values. Distribution heights were significantly lower in the smoking group (w.r.t. the non-smoking group) for C, CI, DI and significantly higher in R and DF. The estimated volume signal time lag was also significantly lower in the smoking group. Left and right distribution widths were significantly different in all parameters/groups but DI (both groups), C(A)(max), A (smoking group) and L (non-smoking group), and positions of maxima/minima were significantly altered in C(A)(max), R and DF. C, DF and CI are seen to be most sensitive under this protocol, while C(max) and C(A)(max) are seen to be insensitive. These quantities provide complementary, time- and transmural pressure-dependent information about arterial wall mechanics, and the choice of index should depend on the physiological conditions at hand as well as relevant time resolution and transmural pressure range.

Results From Qatar's 2016 Active Healthy Kids Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth.

PubMed

Al-Kuwari, Mohamed G; Ibrahim, Izzeldin A; Hammadi, Eiman M Al; Reilly, John J

2016-11-01

The first Qatar Active Healthy Kids (QAHK) Report Card was developed in 2015-2016. It is a synthesis of the available evidence on physical activity in children and youth in the state of Qatar-an assessment of the state of the nation. The report card is important for future physical activity advocacy, policy, and program development. The QAHK Report Card was inspired by the Active Healthy Kids Scotland 2013 Report Card. The methodology used in Scotland's report card was adapted for Qatar. A Working Group identified indicators for physical activity and related health behaviors, and evaluated the available data on these indicators. The card grades were determined by the percentage of children meeting guidelines or recommendations. The 2016 QAHK Report Card consisted of 9 indicators: 6 Physical Activity and Health Behaviors and Outcomes, and 3 Settings and Influences on these health behaviors and outcomes. The indicator National Policy, Strategy, and Investment was assigned the highest grade (B). Four indicators were assigned D grades: Sedentary Behavior, Dietary Habits, Organized Sports Participation, and Family and Peer Influence. Physical Activity and Obesity were both graded F. Two indicators could not be graded due to insufficient data and/or absence of a recommendation: Active and Outdoor Play, and Community and School Influence. The QAHK Report Card identified weaknesses and gaps in the evidence on physical activity and health in children and youth in Qatar. The quality of evidence was poor for some indicators, with some data collection methods of limited validity and reliability, or only available for a limited age range, so the grades are best estimates of the current situation in Qatar. Future surveys and research using objective physical activity measures will support the development of a second QAHK Report Card by 2018.

The fate of technical-grade chlordane in mice fed a high-fat diet and its roles as a candidate obesogen.

PubMed

Wang, Dezhen; Wang, Xinru; Zhang, Ping; Wang, Yao; Zhang, Renke; Yan, Jin; Zhou, Zhiqiang; Zhu, Wentao

2017-03-01

Epidemiological studies indicate that exposure to persistent organic pollutants is positively associated with the prevalence of obesity. To delineate the potential role of technical-grade chlordane in obesity development, chlordane metabolism and chlordane-induced metabolic changes were investigated in mice fed high-fat diet (HFD) over a 6-week period. Gas chromatography-electron capture detector analysis showed that HFD induced more accumulation of technical chlordane in the liver, muscle and adipose tissue. The enantioselectivities of oxychlordane in selected tissues were also influenced by HFD. 1 H NMR-based liver metabolome indicated that technical chlordane can enhance the metabolic alterations induced by HFD. Compared with the low-fat diet (LFD) group, no differences were observed in the LFD + chlordane group. However, as many as 16 metabolites were significantly different between the HFD group and HFD + chlordane group. Moreover, compared to the LFD + chlordane group, the abundances of 24 metabolites significantly increased or decreased in the HFD + chlordane group. Twenty metabolites were altered in the HFD group compared to the LFD group. Tryptophan profiling suggested that both chlordane and HFD can disturb tryptophan catabolism. These interactions between technical chlordane and HFD suggest that technical chlordane is a candidate obesogen. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Monitoring the healing process of rat bones using Raman spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gamulin, O.; Serec, K.; Bilić, V.; Balarin, M.; Kosović, M.; Drmić, D.; Brčić, L.; Seiwerth, S.; Sikirić, P.

2013-07-01

The healing effect of BPC 157 on rat femoral head osteonecrosis was monitored by Raman spectroscopy. Three groups of rats were defined: an injured group treated with BPC 157 (10 μg/kg/daily ip), an injured control group (treated with saline, 5 ml/kg/daily ip), and an uninjured healthy group. The spectra were recorded and the healing effect assessed on samples harvested from animals which were sacrificed 3 and 6 weeks after being injured. The statistical analysis of the recorded spectra showed statistical differences between the BPC 157-treated, control, and healthy groups of animals. In particular, after 6 weeks the spectral resemblance between the healthy and BPC 157 samples indicated a positive BPC 157 influence on the healing process of rat femoral head.

Conformational analysis investigation into the influence of nano-porosity of ultra-permeable ultra-selective polyimides on its diffusivity as potential membranes for use in the "green" separation of natural gases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madkour, Tarek M.

2013-08-01

Nano-porous polymers of intrinsic microporosity, PIM, have exhibited excellent permeability and selectivity characteristics that could be utilized in an environmentally friendly gas separation process. A full understanding of the mechanism through which these membranes effectively and selectively allow for the permeation of specific gases will lead to further development of these membranes. Three factors obviously influenced the conformational behavior of these polymers, which are the presence of electronegative atoms, the presence of non-linearity in the polymeric backbones (backbone kinks) and the presence of bulky side groups on the polymeric chains. The dipole moment increased sharply with the presence of backbone kinks more than any other factor. Replacing the fluorine atoms with bulky alkyl groups didn't influence the dipole moment greatly indicating that the size of the side chains had much less dramatic influence on the dipole moment than having a bent backbone. Similarly, the presence of the backbone kinks in the polymeric chains influenced the polymeric chains to assume less extended configuration causing the torsional angles around the interconnecting bonds unable to cross the high potential energy barriers. The presence of the bulky side groups also caused the energy barriers of the cis-configurations to increase dramatically, which prevented the polymeric segments from experiencing full rotation about the connecting bonds. For these polymers, it was clear that the fully extended configurations are the preferred configurations in the absence of strong electronegative atoms, backbones kinks or bulky side groups. The addition of any of these factors to the polymeric structures resulted in the polymeric chains being forced to assume less extended configurations. Rather interestingly, the length or bulkiness of the side groups didn't affect the end-to-end distance distribution to a great deal since the presence of quite large bulky side chain such as the pentyl group has caused the polymeric chains to revert back to the fully extended configurations possibly due to the quite high potential energy barriers that the chains have to cross to reach the less extended configurational states.

‘Working the system’. Achieving change through partnership working: an evaluation of cancer partnership groups

PubMed Central

Richardson, Alison; Sitzia, John; Cotterell, Phil

2005-01-01

Abstract Aims and objectives  To investigate the characteristics and achievements of cancer partnership groups – collaborative service improvement groups formed of NHS staff and service users – in the 34 cancer networks in England, and in particular to explore the influence that such groups had on local cancer services. Design  A qualitative approach employing a structured telephone survey, face‐to‐face interviews and documentary analysis. Participants and setting  Thirty cancer networks in England with an active Partnership Group completed the telephone survey. From these 30 networks, six networks were subsequently selected from which service users and NHS professionals involved in partnership groups and NHS professionals who were non‐members were recruited to take part in face‐to‐face interviews. Results and conclusions  Partnership groups were established in the majority of cancer networks. Typically, these groups were at network level, been established for less than a year, met once every 2 months, and were populated with both service users and health‐care professionals. Five common activities and achievements were identified: establishment of the group itself; acting as a ‘reference’ group for consultation; networking and representation on other groups; patient information and communication and proactive influencing. Activities progressed in scale and complexity as groups evolved. Groups had learnt the basics of change management and some identified a more sophisticated understanding of change processes in the NHS as essential for the group's motivation and survival. When gauging the impact of involvement strategies it would seem important to subscribe to broad indicators of success that include both process and outcome measures. PMID:16098151

Positive Feeling, Negative Meaning: Visualizing the Mental Representations of In-Group and Out-Group Smiles

PubMed Central

Dotsch, Ron; Wentura, Dirk

2016-01-01

Even though smiles are seen as universal facial expressions, research shows that there exist various kinds of smiles (i.e., affiliative smiles, dominant smiles). Accordingly, we suggest that there also exist various mental representations of smiles. Which representation is employed in cognition may depend on social factors, such as the smiling person’s group membership: Since in-group members are typically seen as more benevolent than out-group members, in-group smiles should be associated with more benevolent social meaning than those conveyed by out-group members. We visualized in-group and out-group smiles with reverse correlation image classification. These visualizations indicated that mental representations of in-group smiles indeed express more benevolent social meaning than those of out-group smiles. The affective meaning of these visualized smiles was not influenced by group membership. Importantly, the effect occurred even though participants were not instructed to attend to the nature of the smile, pointing to an automatic association between group membership and intention. PMID:26963621

Enhanced peripheral nerve regeneration by the combination of a polycaprolactone tubular prosthesis and a scaffold of collagen with supramolecular organization

PubMed Central

Maturana, Luiz G; Pierucci, Amauri; Simões, Gustavo F; Vidigal, Mateus; Duek, Eliana A R; Vidal, Benedicto C; Oliveira, Alexandre L R

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of implanting collagen with a supramolecular organization on peripheral nerve regeneration, using the sciatic nerve tubulization technique. For this purpose, adult female Sprague Dawley rats were divided into five groups: (1) TP – sciatic nerve repaired with empty polyethylene tubular prothesis (n = 10), (2) TPCL – nerve repair with empty polycaprolactone (PCL) tubing (n = 8), (3) TPCLF – repair with PCL tubing filled with an implant of collagen with a supramolecular organization (n = 10), (4) AG – animals that received a peripheral nerve autograft (n = 8), and (5) Normal nerves (n = 8). The results were assessed by quantification of the regenerated fibers, nerve morphometry, and transmission electron microscopy, 60 days after surgery. Immunohistochemistry and polarization microscopy were also used to analyze the regenerated nerve structure and cellular elements. The results showed that the AG group presented a larger number of regenerated axons. However, the TPCL and TPCLF groups presented more compact regenerated fibers with a morphometric profile closer to normal, both at the tube midpoint and 2 mm distal to the prosthesis. These findings were reinforced by polarization microscopy, which indicated a better collagen/axons suprastructural organization in the TPCLF derived samples. In addition, the immunohistochemical results obtained using the antibody anti-p75NTR as a Schwann cell reactivity marker demonstrated that the Schwann cells were more reactive during the regenerative process in the TPCLF group as compared to the TPCL group and the normal sciatic nerve. Altogether, the results of this study indicated that the implant of collagen with a supramolecular organization positively influenced and stimulated the regeneration process through the nerve gap, resulting in the formation of a better morphologically arranged tissue. PMID:24381812

The influence of cadence and power output on force application and in-shoe pressure distribution during cycling by competitive and recreational cyclists.

PubMed

Sanderson, D J; Hennig, E M; Black, A H

2000-03-01

The aim of this study was to determine the response of cyclists to manipulations of cadence and power output in terms of force application and plantar pressure distribution. Two groups of cyclists, 17 recreational and 12 competitive, rode at three nominal cadences (60, 80, 100 rev x min(-1)) and four power outputs (100, 200, 300, 400 W) while simultaneous force and in-shoe pressure data were collected. Two piezoelectric triaxial force transducers mounted in the right pedal measured components of the pedal force and orientation, and a discrete transducer system with 12 transducers recorded the in-shoe pressures. Force application was characterized by calculating peak resultant and peak effective pedal forces and positive and negative impulses. In-shoe pressures were analysed as peak pressures and as the percent relative load. The force data showed no significant group effect but there was a cadence and power main effect. The impulse data showed a significant three-way interaction. Increased cadence resulted in a decreased positive impulse, while increased power output resulted in an increased impulse. The competitive group produced less positive impulse but the difference became less at higher cadences. Few between-group differences were found in pressure, notable only in the pressure under the first metatarsal region. This showed a consistent pattern of in-shoe pressure distribution, where the primary loading structures were the first metatarsal and hallux. There was no indication that pressure at specific sites influenced the pedal force application. The absence of group differences indicated that pressure distribution was not the result of training, but reflected the intrinsic relationship between the foot, the shoe and the pedal.

How does social essentialism affect the development of inter-group relations?

PubMed

Rhodes, Marjorie; Leslie, Sarah-Jane; Saunders, Katya; Dunham, Yarrow; Cimpian, Andrei

2018-01-01

Psychological essentialism is a pervasive conceptual bias to view categories as reflecting something deep, stable, and informative about their members. Scholars from diverse disciplines have long theorized that psychological essentialism has negative ramifications for inter-group relations, yet little previous empirical work has experimentally tested the social implications of essentialist beliefs. Three studies (N = 127, ages 4.5-6) found that experimentally inducing essentialist beliefs about a novel social category led children to share fewer resources with category members, but did not lead to the out-group dislike that defines social prejudice. These findings indicate that essentialism negatively influences some key components of inter-group relations, but does not lead directly to the development of prejudice. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Amino and Acetamide Functional Group Effects on the Ionization and Fragmentation of Sugar Chains in Positive-Ion Mass Spectrometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamagaki, Tohru; Sugahara, Kohtaro; Watanabe, Takehiro

2014-01-01

To elucidate the influence of amino (-NH2) and acetamide (-NHCOCH3, -NAc) groups in sugar chains on their ionization and fragmentation, cycloamyloses (cyclodextrins, CyDs) and lacto-oligosaccharide are analyzed by MALDI TOF/TOF and ESI Q-TOF mass spectrometry. CyD derivatives substituted by amino or acetamide groups are ideal analytes to extract the function group effects, which are amino-CyD with one hexosamine (HexNH2) and acetamide-CyD with one N-acetyl hexosamine (HexNAc). Interestingly, the relative ion intensities and isotope-like patterns in their product ion spectra depend on the functional groups and ion forms of sugar chains. Consequently, the results indicate that a proton (H+) localizes on the amino group of the amino sugar, and that the proton (H+) induces their fragmentation. Sodium cation (Na+) attachment is independent from amino group and exerts no influence on their fragmentation patterns in amino group except for mono- and disaccharide fragment ions because there is the possibility of the reducing end effect. In contrast, a sodium cation localizes much more frequently on the acetamide group in acetamide-CyDs because the chemical species with HexNAc are stable. Thus, their ions with HexNAc are abundant. These results are consistent with the fragmentation of lacto-neo- N-tetraose and maltotetraose, suggesting that a sodium cation generally localizes much more frequently on the acetamide group in sugar chains.

Group housing during gestation affects the behaviour of sows and the physiological indices of offspring at weaning.

PubMed

Zhou, Q; Sun, Q; Wang, G; Zhou, B; Lu, M; Marchant-Forde, J N; Yang, X; Zhao, R

2014-07-01

To compare the behaviour of sows and the physiological indices of their offspring in stall and group-housing systems, 28 sows were randomly distributed into two systems with 16 sows in stalls, and the other 12 sows were divided into three groups with four sows per pen. The area per sow in stalls and groups was 1.2 and 2.5 m2, respectively. Back fat depth of the sow was measured. Salivary cortisol concentration of the sows, colostrum composition and piglets' serum biochemical indicators were evaluated. The behaviour of the sows, including agonistic behaviour, non-agonistic social behaviour, stereotypical behaviour and other behaviours at weeks 2, 9 and 14 of pregnancy were analysed. The results showed no differences in the back fat depth of sows. Colostrum protein, triglyceride, triiodothyronine, thyroxine and prolactin concentrations in the whey also demonstrated no significant differences between the two housing systems. Salivary cortisol concentration was significantly higher in the sows housed in groups than the sows in stalls. The concentrations of serum total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol were significantly higher in the offspring of sows housed in groups (P=0.006 and 0.005, respectively). The GLM procedure for repeated measures analysis showed the frequency of drinking, and non-agonistic social behaviour was significantly higher in the sows housed in groups than the sows in stalls; yet the frequency of agonistic and sham chewing demonstrated the opposite direction. The duration of standing was significantly longer in the sows housed in groups, but the sitting and stereotypical behaviour duration were significantly shorter compared with the sows in stalls. These results indicated that group housing has no obvious influence on the colostrum composition of sows; however, it was better for sows to express their non-agonistic social behaviour and reduce the frequency of agonistic behaviour and stereotypical behaviour. Meanwhile, group housing during gestation significantly increased serum total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol of offspring.

Cocos nucifera L. water improves reproductive indices in Wistar Rats.

PubMed

Kunle-Alabi, O T; Akindele, O O; Oyovwi, M O; Duro-Ladipo, M A; Raji, Y

2014-12-01

This study explored the effects of Cocos nucifera L. water (CW) on the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis (HPG) and fertility in Wistar rats. Adult male and female Wistar rats were treated orally as follows; Study 1: Group 1: control (distilled water), group 2: 20 ml/kg corn oil (danazol vehicle), group 3: 20 ml/kg CW, group 4: 40 ml/kg CW, group 5: danazol, group 6: danazol + 20 ml/kg CW and group 7: danazol + 40 ml/kg CW. 200 mg/ kg danazol was administered. Serum levels of LH, FSH, estradiol and testosterone; gonadal weights and sperm indices were assessed. Study 2: Group 1: control (distilled water), group 2: 20 ml/kg CW, group 3: 40 ml/kg CW for 6 and 2 weeks prior to mating in male and female rats respectively. Significant (p < 0.05) increases in estradiol concentration were observed in groups 3, 4, 6 and 7. Significant reductions in LH, FSH, estradiol and testosterone levels were observed in group 5 which were ameliorated in groups 6 and 7. Males showed significant increases in sperm count and motility in groups 3, 4, 6 and 7, and reductions in these variables along with viability in group 5. CW pre-treatment increased fecundity index and proportion of female pups from dams, while the pups from sires showed higher birth weights. CW acts on the HPG to positively influence reproductive function in both males and females and may aid in maternal preconception sex selection of female offspring.

The effects of medical group practice and physician payment methods on costs of care.

PubMed Central

Kralewski, J E; Rich, E C; Feldman, R; Dowd, B E; Bernhardt, T; Johnson, C; Gold, W

2000-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of payment methods on the costs of care in medical group practices. DATA SOURCES: Eighty-six clinics providing services for a Blue Cross managed care program during 1995. The clinics were analyzed to determine the relationship between payment methods and cost of care. Cost and patient data were obtained from Blue Cross records, and medical group practice clinic data were obtained by a survey of those organizations. STUDY DESIGN: The effects of clinic and physician payment methods on per member per year (PMPY) adjusted patient costs are evaluated using a two-stage regression model. Patient costs are adjusted for differences in payment schedules; patient age, gender, and ACG; clinic organizational variables are included as explanatory variables. DATA COLLECTION: Patient cost data were extracted from Blue Cross claims files, and patient and physician data from their enrollee and provider data banks. Medical group practice data were obtained by a mailed survey with telephone follow-up. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Capitation payment is correlated with lower patient care costs. When combined with fee-for-service with withhold provisions, this effect is smaller indicating that these two clinic payment methods are not interchangeable. Clinics with more physician compensation based on measures of resource use or based on some share of the net revenue of the clinic have lower patient care costs than those with more compensation related to productivity or based on salary. Salary compensation is strongly associated with higher costs. The use of physician profiles and clinical guidelines is associated with lower costs, but referral management systems have no such effect. The lower cost clinics are the smaller, multispecialty clinics. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that payment methods at both the medical group practice and physician levels influence the cost of care. However, the methods by which that influence is manifest is not clear. Although the organizational structure of clinics and their use of managed care programs appear to play a role, this influence is less than expected. PMID:10966087

Identifying common traits among Australian irrigators using cluster analysis.

PubMed

Kuehne, G; Bjornlund, H; Cheers, B

2008-01-01

In Australia there is a growing awareness that the over-allocation of water entitlements to irrigators needs to be reduced so that environmental flow allocations can be increased. This means that some water will need to be acquired from irrigators and returned to the environment. Most current water reform policies assume that irrigators are solely motivated by profit and will be willing sellers of water, but this might be an untenable approach. Authorities will need to consider new ways of encouraging the participation of irrigators in water reform. The main aim of this research was to identify the non-commercial influences acting on irrigators' behaviour, especially the influence of the values that they hold toward family, land, water, community and lifestyle. The study also aimed to investigate whether it is possible to group irrigators according to these values and then use the groupings to describe how these might affect their willingness to participate in environmental reforms. We clustered the irrigators into three groups with differing orientations; (i) Investors [25%]-profit oriented, (ii) Lifestylers [25%]-lifestyle oriented, (iii) Providers [50%]-family-succession oriented. This research indicates that when designing policy instruments to acquire water for environmental purposes policy-makers should pay more attention to the factors influencing irrigators' decision making, especially non-commercial factors. (c) IWA Publishing 2008.

Moving from theory to practice: A participatory social network mapping approach to address unmet need for family planning in Benin.

PubMed

Igras, Susan; Diakité, Mariam; Lundgren, Rebecka

2017-07-01

In West Africa, social factors influence whether couples with unmet need for family planning act on birth-spacing desires. Tékponon Jikuagou is testing a social network-based intervention to reduce social barriers by diffusing new ideas. Individuals and groups judged socially influential by their communities provide entrée to networks. A participatory social network mapping methodology was designed to identify these diffusion actors. Analysis of monitoring data, in-depth interviews, and evaluation reports assessed the methodology's acceptability to communities and staff and whether it produced valid, reliable data to identify influential individuals and groups who diffuse new ideas through their networks. Results indicated the methodology's acceptability. Communities were actively and equitably engaged. Staff appreciated its ability to yield timely, actionable information. The mapping methodology also provided valid and reliable information by enabling communities to identify highly connected and influential network actors. Consistent with social network theory, this methodology resulted in the selection of informal groups and individuals in both informal and formal positions. In-depth interview data suggest these actors were diffusing new ideas, further confirming their influence/connectivity. The participatory methodology generated insider knowledge of who has social influence, challenging commonly held assumptions. Collecting and displaying information fostered staff and community learning, laying groundwork for social change.

FOOD MICROORGANISMS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS.

PubMed

GRAVES, R R; FRAZIER, W C

1963-11-01

Some 870 cultures of predominating micro-organisms were isolated from market samples of hamburger, fresh pork sausage, fresh fish fillets, stewing beef, frozen chicken pot pie, frozen corn, frozen peas, and pasteurized and raw milk, before and after storage at different temperatures. The isolates were screened for their ability to influence the growth of Staphylococcus aureus strain 196E by means of spot-plate tests on APT and nutrient agars at 25 C. The 438 cultures that influenced the growth of S. aureus were retested on spot plates at 15, 30, and 42 C. After elimination of replicates, the 143 remaining cultures were classified into species, genera, or groups, and 14 different cultures were tested for their influence on the growth of S. aureus in APT broth at 25 C. Over half of the effective cultures inhibited S. aureus and less than half were stimulatory. Pork sausage had the highest proportion of inhibitory cultures, and stewing beef had the lowest. APT agar was better than nutrient agar for screening, and incubation at 15 C gave more effector organisms than at 30 and 42 C. Most of the lactic acid bacteria were inhibitory, but other groups of bacteria contained more stimulatory cultures than inhibitory ones. The three Escherichia coli cultures were stimulatory, but most other Escherichia cultures were inhibitory. Aerobacter and Paracolobactrum isolates were mostly stimulatory. Cultures of other kinds of bacteria were more or less evenly distributed between inhibitory ones and stimulatory ones. Genera containing mostly inhibitory bacteria were Streptococcus, Leuconostoc, and Lactobacillus. Inhibitory species were E. freundii and E. intermedia. Tests with S. aureus in broth indicated that all cultures inhibitory according to spot plates were inhibitory in broth, but stimulation on spot plates did not always indicate the same phenomenon in broth.

The development of intention-based morality: The influence of intention salience and recency, negligence, and outcome on children's and adults' judgments.

PubMed

Nobes, Gavin; Panagiotaki, Georgia; Engelhardt, Paul E

2017-10-01

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the influences on 4-8 year-olds' and adults' moral judgments. In both, participants were told stories from previous studies that had indicated that children's judgments are largely outcome-based. Building on recent research in which one change to these studies' methods resulted in substantially more intention-based judgment, in Experiment 1 (N = 75) the salience and recency of intention information were increased, and in Experiment 2 (N = 99) carefulness information (i.e., the absence of negligence) was also added. In both experiments even the youngest children's judgments were primarily intention-based, and in Experiment 2 punishment judgments were similar to adults' from 5-6 years. Comparisons of data across studies and experiments indicated that both changes increased the proportion of intention-based punishment judgments-but not acceptability judgments-across age-groups. These findings challenge and help to explain those of much previous research, according to which children's judgments are primarily outcome-based. However, younger participants continued to judge according to outcome more than older participants. This might indicate that young children are more influenced by outcomes than are adults, but other possible explanations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Independent and combined influence of neonatal and current body composition on academic performance in youth: The UP & DOWN Study.

PubMed

Esteban-Cornejo, I; Tejero-González, C M; Castro-Piñero, J; Conde-Caveda, J; Cabanas-Sanchez, V; Sallis, J F; Veiga, Óscar L

2015-06-01

Unhealthy body composition is a cause for concern across the lifespan. The objective of this study was to examine the independent and combined associations between neonatal and current body composition with academic performance among youth. This cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 1557 youth (745 girls) aged 10.4 ± 3.4 years. Birth weight and length at birth were self-reported. Current body composition was assessed by body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and percentage of body fat (BF%). Academic performance was assessed through schools records. Birth weight was related to all academic variables in boys, independent of potential confounders, including BMI; whereas WC, BMI and BF% were related to all academic performance indicators in both boys and girls, independent of potential confounders, including birth weight (all P < 0.05). In addition, the combined adverse effects of low birth weight and current overweight on academic performance were observed in both boys and girls for grade point average (GPA) indicator. Boys in the group with none adverse effect had significantly higher scores in GPA (score +0.535; 95% confidence interval, 0.082-0.989) than boys in the group of both adverse effects (P < 0.007); among girls, GPA score was higher in the group with none adverse effect than in the groups with one or two adverse effects (P for trend = 0.029). Neonatal and current body composition, both independently and combined, may influence academic performance in youth. © 2014 The Authors. Pediatric Obesity © 2014 World Obesity.

Metal distribution in coral reef complex Cayo Arcas in the Gulf of Mexico.

PubMed

Cram, Silke; Ponce de León, Claudia A; Sommer, Irene; Miceli, Susi; Fernández, Pilar; Rivas, Hilda; Galicia, Leopoldo

2009-04-01

This study evaluated the spatial and temporal distribution of metals in the coral reef system Cayos Arcas and Triangulos in the Campeche Bank region, off the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. No information has been generated before for the incorporation of natural and non-natural occurring metals, some of which are possibly endowed by the oil marine station Cayo Arcas. The multivariate exploratory study of the metals on the coral skeletons, showed the formation of two distinct groups. The metals that have the highest influence on the differentiation of the groups are the metals that are natural constituents of the coral skeletons, in particular Sr can explain much of the differences between the groups, and to a much lesser extent are the metals that could be indicators of pollution. This differentiation suggests that, in our case, the environment around the corals has a higher impact than the non-naturally occurring metals (and possible indicators of pollution). The two groups formed corresponded to: the coral cores influenced by open sea variables and the coral cores in the inner part of the keys which is less exposed to open sea variables. A chronological study was made to two samples that had the longest coral section and were situated in two clearly distinctive zones: an exposed surface subjected to high wave forces and another that was less exposed. Ni and Zn show an accumulation trend in both coral samples, while Ba showed an increase in incorporation around 1980 when the Cayo Arcas oil marine station was constructed.

Family environment influences emotion recognition following paediatric traumatic brain injury

PubMed Central

SCHMIDT, ADAM T.; ORSTEN, KIMBERLEY D.; HANTEN, GERRI R.; LI, XIAOQI; LEVIN, HARVEY S.

2011-01-01

Objective This study investigated the relationship between family functioning and performance on two tasks of emotion recognition (emotional prosody and face emotion recognition) and a cognitive control procedure (the Flanker task) following paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) or orthopaedic injury (OI). Methods A total of 142 children (75 TBI, 67 OI) were assessed on three occasions: baseline, 3 months and 1 year post-injury on the two emotion recognition tasks and the Flanker task. Caregivers also completed the Life Stressors and Resources Scale (LISRES) on each occasion. Growth curve analysis was used to analyse the data. Results Results indicated that family functioning influenced performance on the emotional prosody and Flanker tasks but not on the face emotion recognition task. Findings on both the emotional prosody and Flanker tasks were generally similar across groups. However, financial resources emerged as significantly related to emotional prosody performance in the TBI group only (p = 0.0123). Conclusions Findings suggest family functioning variables—especially financial resources—can influence performance on an emotional processing task following TBI in children. PMID:21058900

The influence of thermal biology on road mortality risk in snakes.

PubMed

Mccardle, Logan D; Fontenot, Clifford L

2016-02-01

Road mortality is a significant threat to terrestrial vertebrates in many areas, and the novel thermal environment of black-topped roads may represent ecological traps for some species and demographic groups. We investigated the relationship between ambient temperature and on-road detection in a snake assemblage in southeastern Louisiana by comparing observations of live snakes on a black-topped road, across measurements of air temperature and road temperature on survey days. Analyses indicated on-road detection of snakes was significantly influenced by ambient temperature conditions for five snake species. Additionally, road temperatures, and the difference between air and road temperatures, were strong drivers of on-road snake detections. Permutation analysis methods revealed that significant temperature related group (species or sex) structure exists in occurrences of snakes on the roadway, and that road temperature was the strongest driver of species differences. We also compared how air and road temperatures affected occurrence on the road between sexes in the colubrid snakes Nerodia fasciata, Nerodia cyclopion, Thamnophis proximus, and Pantherophis obsoletus. Males and females of the viviparous species N. fasciata, N. cyclopion, and T. proximus diverged significantly in temperature preferences, with females found under warmer conditions, while males and females of the oviparous species P. obsoletus did not. Road temperature was also the strongest driver of differences between sexes. Our results indicate that black-topped roads are an ecological trap that is heavily influenced by sex, reproductive condition, and species specific thermoregulatory requirements, particularly for viviparous species. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The impact of economic factors on treatment results for tumor inpatients in the under-developed Western region of China.

PubMed

Xu, Jun-Xiu; Gao, Jian-Min; Peng, Rong; Zhang, Wen

2016-01-01

To discuss the influences of economic factors on the treatment outcomes of cancer patients and the relaxation effects of medical insurance policies on the influences of economic factors. The concentration index (CI) and horizontal inequality (HI) of treatment outcomes of cancer patients were calculated and the role of the economy, disease, and other factors to HI was analyzed by describing the influence of treatment expense on the treatment outcomes of different cancer patients. The study showed that the equity of the death rate and the effective rate of six types of cancer patients was good. The HI of the cure rate was 0.225, indicating a strong, pro-rich inequity of the cancer inpatient cure rate, while the contribution of the economic factors to HI was 0.158. The uncured rate in the low-cost group represented the rate of patients who discontinued the treatment; the HI was -0.324, indicating a strong, pro-poor inequity. The relaxation effect on the HI of the cured rate by medical insurance was 14.9%, while the effect on the HI of the uncured rate was 18.7%. At present, medical insurance has demonstrated relaxation effects on the fairness of treatment outcomes to some extent. The main reason for this inequity comes from the payment of the items at present. To relieve such inequity to a greater extent, the payment system should be changed and diagnosis-related groups should be implemented.

Employee direct participation in organisational decisions and workplace safety.

PubMed

Widerszal-Bazyl, Maria; Warszewska-Makuch, Magdalena

2008-01-01

Managers from 192 companies filled out the Employee Direct Participation in Organisational Change questionnaire measuring employees' direct participation (DP) in organisational decisions. Four main forms of DP were identified: individual and group consultations, and individual and group delegation. Workplace safety was measured with the number of accidents, the number of employees working in hazardous conditions, accident absenteeism and sickness absence. Results showed that the 2 latter indicators were significantly related to some parameters of DP. Thus, companies that used face-to-face individual consultation had lower accident absenteeism than ones that did not. The same effect was true for group consultation with temporary groups, and individual and group delegation. Workplaces with high scores for scope for group consultation had lower accident absenteeism, and those with high scores for scope for group delegation had lower sickness absence. It was concluded that employee DP had a positive influence on workplace safety, even if involvement was not directly related to safety.

Female physicist doctoral experiences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dabney, Katherine P.; Tai, Robert H.

2013-06-01

The underrepresentation of women in physics doctorate programs and in tenured academic positions indicates a need to evaluate what may influence their career choice and persistence. This qualitative paper examines eleven females in physics doctoral programs and professional science positions in order to provide a more thorough understanding of why and how women make career choices based on aspects both inside and outside of school and their subsequent interaction. Results indicate that female physicists experience conflict in achieving balance within their graduate school experiences and personal lives and that this then influences their view of their future careers and possible career choices. Female physicists report both early and long-term support outside of school by family, and later departmental support, as being essential to their persistence within the field. A greater focus on informal and out-of-school science activities for females, especially those that involve family members, early in life may help influence their entrance into a physics career later in life. Departmental support, through advisers, mentors, peers, and women’s support groups, with a focus on work-life balance can help females to complete graduate school and persist into an academic career.

A sightability model for mountain goats

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rice, C.G.; Jenkins, K.J.; Chang, W.-Y.

2009-01-01

Unbiased estimates of mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) populations are key to meeting diverse harvest management and conservation objectives. We developed logistic regression models of factors influencing sightability of mountain goat groups during helicopter surveys throughout the Cascades and Olympic Ranges in western Washington during summers, 20042007. We conducted 205 trials of the ability of aerial survey crews to detect groups of mountain goats whose presence was known based on simultaneous direct observation from the ground (n 84), Global Positioning System (GPS) telemetry (n 115), or both (n 6). Aerial survey crews detected 77 and 79 of all groups known to be present based on ground observers and GPS collars, respectively. The best models indicated that sightability of mountain goat groups was a function of the number of mountain goats in a group, presence of terrain obstruction, and extent of overstory vegetation. Aerial counts of mountain goats within groups did not differ greatly from known group sizes, indicating that under-counting bias within detected groups of mountain goats was small. We applied HorvitzThompson-like sightability adjustments to 1,139 groups of mountain goats observed in the Cascade and Olympic ranges, Washington, USA, from 2004 to 2007. Estimated mean sightability of individual animals was 85 but ranged 0.750.91 in areas with low and high sightability, respectively. Simulations of mountain goat surveys indicated that precision of population estimates adjusted for sightability biases increased with population size and number of replicate surveys, providing general guidance for the design of future surveys. Because survey conditions, group sizes, and habitat occupied by goats vary among surveys, we recommend using sightability correction methods to decrease bias in population estimates from aerial surveys of mountain goats.

Dietary Vitamin C, E and β-Carotene Intake Does Not Significantly Affect Plasma or Salivary Antioxidant Indices and Salivary C-Reactive Protein in Older Subjects

PubMed Central

Gawron-Skarbek, Anna; Prymont-Przymińska, Anna; Godala, Małgorzata; Kolmaga, Agnieszka; Nowak, Dariusz; Szatko, Franciszek; Kostka, Tomasz

2017-01-01

It is not clear whether habitual dietary intake influences the antioxidant or inflammatory status. The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of antioxidative vitamins C, E, and β-carotene obtained from daily food rations on plasma and salivary Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC), uric acid and salivary C-reactive protein (CRP). The study involved 80 older subjects (66.9 ± 4.3 years), divided into two groups: group 1 (n = 43) with lower and group 2 (n = 37) with higher combined vitamins C, E and β-carotene intake. A 24-h dietary recall was obtained from each individual. TAC was assessed simultaneously with two methods in plasma (Ferric Reducing Ability of Plasma—FRAP, 2.2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl—DPPH) and in saliva (FRAS and DPPHS test). Lower vitamin C intake corresponded to higher FRAS. There were no other correlations between vitamins C, E or β-carotene intake and antioxidant indices. Salivary CRP was not related to any antioxidant indices. FRAS was decreased in group 2 (p < 0.01) but no other group differences for salivary or for plasma antioxidant parameters and salivary CRP were found. Habitual, not extra supplemented dietary intake does not significantly affect plasma or salivary TAC and salivary CRP. PMID:28698489

Flounder growth and production as indicators of the nursery value of marsh habitats in a Mediterranean lagoon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Franco, Anita; Fiorin, Riccardo; Zucchetta, Matteo; Torricelli, Patrizia; Franzoi, Piero

2010-11-01

Estuarine marshes are known as suitable nursery areas for many marine migrant fishes, such as flounder. The potential nursery value of such habitats was investigated in the Venice lagoon, by using growth and production of 0-group flounder as indicators. Size-frequency distribution analysis was performed on fish samples collected fortnightly, from March 2004 to June 2005, in two marsh sites, Dese and Tessera, differing in their origin and environmental conditions. Samples were mostly composed of juvenile individuals, belonging to 0- and 1-group cohorts (the latter being present in Tessera only). A higher total production, either annual or monthly, and faster growth of 0-group flounder was observed in Dese, associated to a higher ecological performance of 0-group individuals in this site, as indicated by the higher P:B ratio values. Dese is a site located in a marsh complex characterized by the relevant influence of a nearby river, and the observed higher potential nursery value of this marsh area with respect to the other is discussed in the light of the higher trophic status and other environmental conditions in this site. The production results were also compared to those from other estuarine environments commonly acknowledged as important nurseries for European flounder.

A reconnaissance study of oxygen, hydrogen and strontium isotopes in geochemically diverse lakes, Western Nebraska, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gosselin, D.C.; Nabelek, P.E.; Peterman, Z.E.; Sibray, S.

1997-01-01

Reconnaissance ??18O,, ??D, and ??87Sr data for fifteen lakes in the Western Lakes Region of the Sand Hills of Nebraska indicate dynamic hydrologic systems. The rather narrow range of ??87Sr from lake water (1.1 to 2.1) and groundwater (0.9 to 1.7) indicates that the groundwater is generally unradiogenic. Groundwater residence times and relatively unradiogenic volcanic ash within the dune sediments control the ??87Sr values. Based on the mutual variations of ??18O and ??D, the lakes can be divided into three groups. In Group 1, both ??18O and ??D values increase from spring to fall. The ??18O and ??D values in Group 2 decreased from spring to fall. Group 3 are ephemeral lakes that went dry some time during 1992. The data and isotopic modeling show that variations in the ratio of evaporation relative to groundwater inflow, local humidity conditions, and the ??(a) has substantial influence on the isotopic composition. In addition, isotopic behavior in ephemeral hakes can be rather unusual because of the changing activities of water and mineral precipitation and redissolution. The annual and interannual isotopic variability of these lakes which is reflected in the paleonvironmental indicators may be the rule rather than the exception in these types of systems.

A group's physical attractiveness is greater than the average attractiveness of its members: the group attractiveness effect.

PubMed

van Osch, Yvette; Blanken, Irene; Meijs, Maartje H J; van Wolferen, Job

2015-04-01

We tested whether the perceived physical attractiveness of a group is greater than the average attractiveness of its members. In nine studies, we find evidence for the so-called group attractiveness effect (GA-effect), using female, male, and mixed-gender groups, indicating that group impressions of physical attractiveness are more positive than the average ratings of the group members. A meta-analysis on 33 comparisons reveals that the effect is medium to large (Cohen's d = 0.60) and moderated by group size. We explored two explanations for the GA-effect: (a) selective attention to attractive group members, and (b) the Gestalt principle of similarity. The results of our studies are in favor of the selective attention account: People selectively attend to the most attractive members of a group and their attractiveness has a greater influence on the evaluation of the group. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

French College Students’ Sports Practice and Its Relations with Stress, Coping Strategies and Academic Success

PubMed Central

Décamps, Greg; Boujut, Emilie; Brisset, Camille

2012-01-01

College students at university have to face several stress factors. Although sports practice has been considered as having beneficial effects upon stress and general health, few studies have documented its influence on this specific population. The aim of this comparative study was to determine whether the intensity of the college students’ sports practice (categorized into three groups: rare, regular, or intensive) would influence their levels of stress and self-efficacy, their coping strategies, and their academic success/failure. Three self-completion questionnaires were administered to 1071 French freshmen during their compulsory medical visit at the preventive medicine service of the university. Results indicated that students with intensive sport practice reported lower scores of general stress, academic stress, and emotion-focused coping strategies, and higher scores of self-efficacy than those with rare practice. However, the proportion of successful students did not differ significantly between the three groups of sports practice. PMID:22514544

Types and Influence of Social Support on School Engagement of Young Survivors of Leukemia.

PubMed

Tougas, Anne-Marie; Jutras, Sylvie; Bigras, Marc

2016-08-01

The present study aimed to describe and explore the influence of social support on the school engagement of young survivors of pediatric leukemia. Fifty-three young Quebecers, previously diagnosed and treated for leukemia, completed a questionnaire measuring their school engagement and participated in an interview focusing on the support offered by four groups of relations with regard to school: parents, siblings, friends, and other nonprofessional relations. The interview responses revealed that parents were perceived to be the primary source of informational and emotional support, with support also provided to a lesser extent by friends, siblings, and members of the extended family. Inferential analyses indicated that young survivors report a higher school engagement score when they perceive themselves as receiving support from a greater number of groups of relations, especially from friends or siblings. © The Author(s) 2016.

Leveraging zinc interstitials and oxygen vacancies for sensitive biomolecule detection through selective surface functionalization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radha Shanmugam, Nandhinee; Muthukumar, Sriram; Chaudhry, Shajee; Prasad, Shalini

2015-03-01

In this study, functionally engineered EIS technique was implemented to investigate the influence of surface functionalization on sensitivity of biomolecule detection using nanostructured ZnO platform. Organic molecules with thiol and carboxylic functional groups were chosen to control biomolecule immobilization on zinc and oxygen-terminated 2D planar and 1D nanostructured ZnO surfaces. The amount of functionalization and its influence on charge perturbations at the ZnO-electrolyte interface were studied using fluorescence and EIS measurements. We observed the dependence of charge transfer on both the polarity of platform and concentration of cross-linker molecules. Such selectively modified surfaces were used for detection of cortisol, a major stress indicator. Results demonstrated preferential binding of thiol groups to Zn terminations and thus leveraging ZnO interstitials increases the sensitivity of detection over larger dynamic range with detection limit at 10fg/mL.

The influence of various excipients on the conversion kinetics of carbamazepine polymorphs in aqueous suspension.

PubMed

Tian, Fang; Saville, Dorothy J; Gordon, Keith C; Strachan, Clare J; Zeitler, J Axel; Sandler, Niklas; Rades, Thomas

2007-02-01

The influence of various excipients on the conversion of carbamazepine polymorphs to the dihydrate in aqueous suspension has been investigated. Ten excipients having functional groups which were potentially able to form hydrogen bonds with carbamazepine (group 1: methylcellulose, hypromellose (hydroxypropyl methylcellulose), hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC), 2-hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC), carmellose sodium (sodium carboxymethylcellulose), cellobiose; group 2: povidone (polyvinylpyrrolidone), povidone-vinyl acetate copolymer (povidone/VA) and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone; group 3: macrogol (polyethylene glycol) and polyethylene oxide-polypropylene oxide copolymer (PEO/PPO)) were selected. Carbamazepine polymorphic forms III and I were dispersed separately into each aqueous excipient solution (0.1%, w/v) for 30 min at room temperature. The inhibition effect of each excipient was quantified using Raman spectroscopy combined with multivariate analyses. The solubility parameter of each excipient was calculated and used for categorizing excipients. Excipients in groups 1 and 2, which had both low solubility parameters (< 27.0 MPa(1/2)) and strong hydrogen bonding groups, inhibited the conversion completely. With increasing solubility parameter, the inhibition effect decreased for group 1 excipients, especially for carbamazepine form I, which had a higher specific surface area. Also, the excipients of group 3, lacking strong hydrogen bonding groups, showed poor inhibition although they had low solubility parameters (< 21.0 MPa(1/2)). This study indicated the importance of both hydrogen bonding interaction and a suitable hydrophobicity (expressed by the solubility parameter) in the inhibition of the conversion of carbamazepine to the dihydrate.

Orexin A Differentially Influences the Extinction Retention of Recent and Remote Fear Memory

PubMed Central

Shi, Le; Chen, Wenhao; Deng, Jiahui; Chen, Sijing; Han, Ying; Khan, Muhammad Z.; Liu, Jiajia; Que, Jianyu; Bao, Yanping; Lu, Lin; Shi, Jie

2018-01-01

Recently the role of the orexin system in the learning and memory, especially orexin A, which could enhance fear memory through regulating the activity of amygdala, has drawn considerable attention. However, the relationship between orexin A and extinction memory remains unclear. To investigate the effect of orexin A on extinction memory in humans, we recruited 43 male subjects and divided them into a recent group and remote group. After acquiring Pavlovian fear conditioning, individuals in recent group experienced fear extinction 24 h after acquisition, and remote group underwent extinction 2 weeks later. Meanwhile, plasma orexin A levels before extinction were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Both groups received memory test 24 h after fear extinction. The results showed that both recent and remote groups successfully acquired fear conditioning and had spontaneous recovery at test. In particular, the correlational analysis indicated that orexin A levels before extinction were negatively associated with fear responses during test only in recent group, but not in remote group. Moreover, individuals with high orexin A levels still kept low fear responses after extinction in recent group by subgroup analyses. The results suggest that orexin A could influence the retention of recent fear memory extinction, without affecting remote fear extinction. These findings remind us the orexin system can be a potential treatment target for fear-related disorders, and the mechanisms of recent and remote fear extinction may be different. PMID:29773974

Does shoe heel design influence ground reaction forces and knee moments during maximum lunges in elite and intermediate badminton players?

PubMed

Lam, Wing-Kai; Ryue, Jaejin; Lee, Ki-Kwang; Park, Sang-Kyoon; Cheung, Jason Tak-Man; Ryu, Jiseon

2017-01-01

Lunge is one frequently executed movement in badminton and involves a unique sagittal footstrike angle of more than 40 degrees at initial ground contact compared with other manoeuvres. This study examined if the shoe heel curvature design of a badminton shoe would influence shoe-ground kinematics, ground reaction forces, and knee moments during lunge. Eleven elite and fifteen intermediate players performed five left-forward maximum lunge trials with Rounded Heel Shoe (RHS), Flattened Heel Shoe (FHS), and Standard Heel Shoes (SHS). Shoe-ground kinematics, ground reaction forces, and knee moments were measured by using synchronized force platform and motion analysis system. A 2 (Group) x 3 (Shoe) ANOVA with repeated measures was performed to determine the effects of different shoes and different playing levels, as well as the interaction of two factors on all variables. Shoe effect indicated that players demonstrated lower maximum vertical loading rate in RHS than the other two shoes (P < 0.05). Group effect revealed that elite players exhibited larger footstrike angle, faster approaching speed, lower peak horizontal force and horizontal loading rates but higher vertical loading rates and larger peak knee flexion and extension moments (P < 0.05). Analysis of Interactions of Group x Shoe for maximum and mean vertical loading rates (P < 0.05) indicated that elite players exhibited lower left maximum and mean vertical loading rates in RHS compared to FHS (P < 0.01), while the intermediate group did not show any Shoe effect on vertical loading rates. These findings indicate that shoe heel curvature would play some role in altering ground reaction force impact during badminton lunge. The differences in impact loads and knee moments between elite and intermediate players may be useful in optimizing footwear design and training strategy to minimize the potential risks for impact related injuries in badminton.

Does shoe heel design influence ground reaction forces and knee moments during maximum lunges in elite and intermediate badminton players?

PubMed Central

Cheung, Jason Tak-Man; Ryu, Jiseon

2017-01-01

Background Lunge is one frequently executed movement in badminton and involves a unique sagittal footstrike angle of more than 40 degrees at initial ground contact compared with other manoeuvres. This study examined if the shoe heel curvature design of a badminton shoe would influence shoe-ground kinematics, ground reaction forces, and knee moments during lunge. Methods Eleven elite and fifteen intermediate players performed five left-forward maximum lunge trials with Rounded Heel Shoe (RHS), Flattened Heel Shoe (FHS), and Standard Heel Shoes (SHS). Shoe-ground kinematics, ground reaction forces, and knee moments were measured by using synchronized force platform and motion analysis system. A 2 (Group) x 3 (Shoe) ANOVA with repeated measures was performed to determine the effects of different shoes and different playing levels, as well as the interaction of two factors on all variables. Results Shoe effect indicated that players demonstrated lower maximum vertical loading rate in RHS than the other two shoes (P < 0.05). Group effect revealed that elite players exhibited larger footstrike angle, faster approaching speed, lower peak horizontal force and horizontal loading rates but higher vertical loading rates and larger peak knee flexion and extension moments (P < 0.05). Analysis of Interactions of Group x Shoe for maximum and mean vertical loading rates (P < 0.05) indicated that elite players exhibited lower left maximum and mean vertical loading rates in RHS compared to FHS (P < 0.01), while the intermediate group did not show any Shoe effect on vertical loading rates. Conclusions These findings indicate that shoe heel curvature would play some role in altering ground reaction force impact during badminton lunge. The differences in impact loads and knee moments between elite and intermediate players may be useful in optimizing footwear design and training strategy to minimize the potential risks for impact related injuries in badminton. PMID:28334016

Loss of body weight and fat and improved lipid profiles in obese rats fed apple pomace or apple juice concentrate.

PubMed

Cho, Kyung-Dong; Han, Chan-Kyu; Lee, Bog-Hieu

2013-09-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of apple pomace (AP) and apple juice concentrate (AC) supplementation on body weight and fat loss as well as lipid metabolism in obese rats fed a high-fat diet. Diet-induced obese rats were assigned to three groups (n=8 for each group): high fat diet (HFD) control, HFD containing 10% (w/w) AP, and HFD containing 10% (w/w) AC. There was also a normal diet group (n=8). After 5 weeks, body weight gain, adipose tissue weight, serum and hepatic lipid profiles, liver morphology, and adipocyte size were measured. Body weight gain, white adipose tissue (WAT) weight, serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, epididymal adipocyte size, and lesion scores were significantly lower and serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration and brown adipose tissue weights were significantly higher in the AP and AC groups compared with the HFD group. In addition, atherogenic indices in the AP and AC groups were significantly lower than in the HFD group. These results indicate that supplementing apple products such as AP and AC may help suppress body weight and WAT gain, as well as improve lipid profiles in diet-induced obese rats.

Effects of dietary betaine supplementation subjected to heat stress on milk performances and physiology indices in dairy cow.

PubMed

Zhang, L; Ying, S J; An, W J; Lian, H; Zhou, G B; Han, Z Y

2014-09-12

This study aimed to determine whether feeding betaine to cows elevates their production performance during summer heat stress. Thirty-two lactating Holstein cows were randomly divided into 4 groups: the control group, which received a total mixed ration (TMR), and 3 experimental groups that received TMR blended with 10 g/day (group I), 15 g/day (group II), and 20 g/day (group III) betaine for 8 weeks. Milk and blood were sampled throughout the experimental period. The average maximum and minimum air temperatures were 28.3 and 24.1°C, respectively. The average temperature-humidity index was 78.6 units. The results showed that feeding betaine to cows increased feed intake, milk yield, milk lactose, milk protein, plasma cortisol, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and malondialdehyde levels (P<0.05); however, it caused HSP70 levels to decrease (P<0.05). The milk performance of group II was significantly affected. These results indicate that supplementing betaine to the diet of dairy cows increases their milk performance and improves their antioxidant capacity; these processes help relieve the cow from heat stress. In conclusion, supplementing dairy cows with 15 g/day betaine generated the most positive influence on performance and productivity, and hence caused the greatest reduction in heat stress.

Influence of Citric Acid on the Pink Color and Characteristics of Sous Vide Processed Chicken Breasts During Chill Storage

PubMed Central

Lim, Ki-Won

2015-01-01

Chicken breast dipped with citric acid (CA) was treated by sous vide processing and stored in a refrigerated state for 0, 3, 6, 9, and 14 d. A non-dipped control group (CON) and three groups dipped in different concentrations of citric acid concentration were analyzed (0.5%, 0.5CIT; 2.0%, 2CIT and 5.0%, 5CIT; w/v). Cooking yield and moisture content increased due to the citric acid. While the redness of the juice and meat in all groups showed significant increase during storage, the redness of the citric acid groups was reduced compared to the control group (p<0.05). The percentage of myoglobin denaturation (PMD) of the CA groups was also increased according to the level of CA during storage. Total aerobic counts, Enterobacteriaceae counts, volatile basic nitrogen and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were generally lower in the citric acid-treated samples than in untreated ones, indicating extended shelf life of the cooked chicken breast dipped in citric acid solution. The shear force of the 2CIT and 5CIT groups was significantly lower (p<0.05). The findings indicated positive effects in the physicochemical properties and storage ability of sous vide chicken breast at 2% and 5% citric acid concentrations. PMID:26761885

Loss of Body Weight and Fat and Improved Lipid Profiles in Obese Rats Fed Apple Pomace or Apple Juice Concentrate

PubMed Central

Cho, Kyung-Dong; Han, Chan-Kyu

2013-01-01

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of apple pomace (AP) and apple juice concentrate (AC) supplementation on body weight and fat loss as well as lipid metabolism in obese rats fed a high-fat diet. Diet-induced obese rats were assigned to three groups (n=8 for each group): high fat diet (HFD) control, HFD containing 10% (w/w) AP, and HFD containing 10% (w/w) AC. There was also a normal diet group (n=8). After 5 weeks, body weight gain, adipose tissue weight, serum and hepatic lipid profiles, liver morphology, and adipocyte size were measured. Body weight gain, white adipose tissue (WAT) weight, serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, epididymal adipocyte size, and lesion scores were significantly lower and serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration and brown adipose tissue weights were significantly higher in the AP and AC groups compared with the HFD group. In addition, atherogenic indices in the AP and AC groups were significantly lower than in the HFD group. These results indicate that supplementing apple products such as AP and AC may help suppress body weight and WAT gain, as well as improve lipid profiles in diet-induced obese rats. PMID:23909905

The influence of type 2 diabetes and gender on ventricular repolarization dispersion in patients with sub-clinic left ventricular diastolic dysfunction

PubMed Central

Jani, Ylber; Kamberi, Ahmet; Xhunga, Sotir; Pocesta, Bekim; Ferati, Fatmir; Lala, Dali; Zeqiri, Agim; Rexhepi, Atila

2015-01-01

Objective: To assess the influence of type 2 DM and gender, on the QT dispersion, Tpeak-Tend dispersion of ventricular repolarization, in patients with sub-clinic left ventricular diastolic dysfunction of the heart. Background: QT dispersion, that reflects spatial inhomogeneity in ventricular repolarization, Tpeak-Tend dispersion, this on the other hand reflects transmural inhomogeneity in ventricular repolarization, that is increased in an early stage of cardiomyopathy, and in patients with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, as well. The left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, a basic characteristic of diabetic heart disease (diabetic cardiomyopathy), that developes earlier than systolic dysfunction, suggests that diastolic markers might be sensitive for early cardiac injury. It is also demonstrated that gender has complex influence on indices of myocardial repolarization abnormalities such as QT interval and QT dispersion. Material and methods: We performed an observational study including 300 diabetic patients with similar epidemiological-demographic characteristics recruited in our institution from May 2009 to July 2014, divided into two groups. Demographic and laboratory echocardiographic data were obtained, twelve lead resting electrocardiography, QT, QTc, Tpeak-Tend-intervals and dispersion, were determined manually, and were compared between various groups. For statistical analysis a t-test, X2 test, and logistic regression are used according to the type of variables. A p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant for a confidence interval of 95%. Results: QTc max. interval, QTc dispersion and Tpeak-Tend dispersion, were significantly higher in diabetic group with subclinical LV (left ventricular) diastolic dysfunction, than in diabetic group with normal left ventricular diastolic function (445.24±14.7 ms vs. 433.55±14.4 ms, P<0.000; 44.98±18.78 ms vs. 32.05±17.9 ms, P<0.000; 32.60±1.6 ms vs. 17.46±2.0 ms, P<0.02. Prolonged QTc max. interval was found in 33% of patients, indiabetic group with subclinical left ventricular diastolic dysfunction vs. 13.3% of patients in diabetic group with normal left ventricular diastolic function, (Chi-square: 16.77, P<0.0001). A prolonged QTc dispersion, was found in 40.6% of patients, in diabetic group with subclinical left ventricular diastolic dysfunction vs. 20% of patients in diabetic group with normal left ventricular diastolic function Chi-square: 14.11, P<0.0002). A prolonged dispersion of Tpeak-Tend interval was found in 24% of patients in diabetic group with subclinical left ventricular diastolic dysfunction vs. 13.3% of patients in diabetic group with normal left ventricular diastolic function (Chi-square: 12.00, P<0.005). Females in diabetic group with subclinical left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in comparison with males in diabetic group with subclinical left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, have a significantly prolonged: mean QTc max. interval (23.3% vs. 10%, Chisquare: 12.0, P<0.005), mean QTc dispersion (27.3% vs. 13.3%, Chi-square: 10.24, P<0.001), mean Tpeak-Tend interval (10% vs. 3.3%, Chi-square: 5.77, P<0.01), mean Tpek-Tend dispersion (16.6% vs. 6.6%, Chi-square: 8.39, P<0.003). Conclusion: The present study has shown that influences of type 2 diabetes and gender in diabetics with sub-clinical left-ventricular diastolic dysfunction are reflected in a set of electrophysiological parameters that indicate a prolonged and more heterogeneous repolarization than in diabetic patients with normal diastolic function. In addition, it demonstrates that there exist differences between diabetic females with sub-clinic LV dysfunction and those with diabetes and normal LV function in the prevalence of increased set of electrophysiological parameters that indicate a prolonged and more heterogeneous repolarization. PMID:26550530

The influence of type 2 diabetes and gender on ventricular repolarization dispersion in patients with sub-clinic left ventricular diastolic dysfunction.

PubMed

Jani, Ylber; Kamberi, Ahmet; Xhunga, Sotir; Pocesta, Bekim; Ferati, Fatmir; Lala, Dali; Zeqiri, Agim; Rexhepi, Atila

2015-01-01

To assess the influence of type 2 DM and gender, on the QT dispersion, Tpeak-Tend dispersion of ventricular repolarization, in patients with sub-clinic left ventricular diastolic dysfunction of the heart. QT dispersion, that reflects spatial inhomogeneity in ventricular repolarization, Tpeak-Tend dispersion, this on the other hand reflects transmural inhomogeneity in ventricular repolarization, that is increased in an early stage of cardiomyopathy, and in patients with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, as well. The left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, a basic characteristic of diabetic heart disease (diabetic cardiomyopathy), that developes earlier than systolic dysfunction, suggests that diastolic markers might be sensitive for early cardiac injury. It is also demonstrated that gender has complex influence on indices of myocardial repolarization abnormalities such as QT interval and QT dispersion. We performed an observational study including 300 diabetic patients with similar epidemiological-demographic characteristics recruited in our institution from May 2009 to July 2014, divided into two groups. Demographic and laboratory echocardiographic data were obtained, twelve lead resting electrocardiography, QT, QTc, Tpeak-Tend-intervals and dispersion, were determined manually, and were compared between various groups. For statistical analysis a t-test, X(2) test, and logistic regression are used according to the type of variables. A p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant for a confidence interval of 95%. QTc max. interval, QTc dispersion and Tpeak-Tend dispersion, were significantly higher in diabetic group with subclinical LV (left ventricular) diastolic dysfunction, than in diabetic group with normal left ventricular diastolic function (445.24±14.7 ms vs. 433.55±14.4 ms, P<0.000; 44.98±18.78 ms vs. 32.05±17.9 ms, P<0.000; 32.60±1.6 ms vs. 17.46±2.0 ms, P<0.02. Prolonged QTc max. interval was found in 33% of patients, indiabetic group with subclinical left ventricular diastolic dysfunction vs. 13.3% of patients in diabetic group with normal left ventricular diastolic function, (Chi-square: 16.77, P<0.0001). A prolonged QTc dispersion, was found in 40.6% of patients, in diabetic group with subclinical left ventricular diastolic dysfunction vs. 20% of patients in diabetic group with normal left ventricular diastolic function Chi-square: 14.11, P<0.0002). A prolonged dispersion of Tpeak-Tend interval was found in 24% of patients in diabetic group with subclinical left ventricular diastolic dysfunction vs. 13.3% of patients in diabetic group with normal left ventricular diastolic function (Chi-square: 12.00, P<0.005). Females in diabetic group with subclinical left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in comparison with males in diabetic group with subclinical left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, have a significantly prolonged: mean QTc max. interval (23.3% vs. 10%, Chisquare: 12.0, P<0.005), mean QTc dispersion (27.3% vs. 13.3%, Chi-square: 10.24, P<0.001), mean Tpeak-Tend interval (10% vs. 3.3%, Chi-square: 5.77, P<0.01), mean Tpek-Tend dispersion (16.6% vs. 6.6%, Chi-square: 8.39, P<0.003). The present study has shown that influences of type 2 diabetes and gender in diabetics with sub-clinical left-ventricular diastolic dysfunction are reflected in a set of electrophysiological parameters that indicate a prolonged and more heterogeneous repolarization than in diabetic patients with normal diastolic function. In addition, it demonstrates that there exist differences between diabetic females with sub-clinic LV dysfunction and those with diabetes and normal LV function in the prevalence of increased set of electrophysiological parameters that indicate a prolonged and more heterogeneous repolarization.

Properties that influence the specific surface areas of carbon nanotubes and nanofibers.

PubMed

Birch, M Eileen; Ruda-Eberenz, Toni A; Chai, Ming; Andrews, Ronnee; Hatfield, Randal L

2013-11-01

Commercially available carbon nanotubes and nanofibers were analyzed to examine possible relationships between their Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface areas (SSAs) and their physical and chemical properties. Properties found to influence surface area were number of walls/diameter, impurities, and surface functionalization with hydroxyl and carboxyl groups. Characterization by electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, thermogravimetric analysis, and elemental analysis indicates that SSA can provide insight on carbon nanomaterials properties, which can differ vastly depending on synthesis parameters and post-production treatments. In this study, how different properties may influence surface area is discussed. The materials examined have a wide range of surface areas. The measured surface areas differed from product specifications, to varying degrees, and between similar products. Findings emphasize the multiple factors that influence surface area and mark its utility in carbon nanomaterial characterization, a prerequisite to understanding their potential applications and toxicities. Implications for occupational monitoring are discussed.

General physical activity levels influence positive and negative priming effects in young adults.

PubMed

Kamijo, Keita; Takeda, Yuji

2009-03-01

To investigate the relationship between general physical activity level and the cognitive functions of executive control in young adults using behavioral measures and event-related brain potentials. Forty young adults (mean age=21.1 yrs; 19 females) were differentiated on the basis of their regular physical activity level into two groups: active and sedentary. They performed a spatial priming task consisting of three conditions: control, positive, and negative priming. Spatial priming effects, which are related to executive control and occur automatically, were assessed as indicators of cognitive functioning. Negative priming effects on reaction time and P3 latency in the active group were larger than in the sedentary group. By contrast, positive priming effects were only observed in the sedentary group. The cognitive effects of regular physical activity could be observed using a relatively simple paradigm. The results indicate that regular physical activity has a beneficial effect on the cognitive processes on executive control in young adults. The present study provides additional evidence of the beneficial effects of regular physical activity on cognitive functioning in young adults.

[Evolution of the relative prices of food groups between 1939 and 2010 in the city of Sao Paulo, Southeastern Brazil].

PubMed

Yuba, Tania Yuka; Sarti, Flavia Mori; Campino, Antonio Carlos Coelho; Carmo, Heron Carlos Esvael do

2013-06-01

To analyze the evolution of relative prices of food groups and its influence on public healthy eating policies. Data from the municipality of Sao Paulo between 1939 and 2010 were analyzed based on calculating index numbers. Data from the Economic Researches Foundation Institute price database and weight structures (1939 to 1988) and from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (1989 to 2010) were used to. The price database was organized, its consistency tested and prices were deflated using the consumer price index. Relative prices were calculated and associated to food categories and groups, according to the food pyramid guide adapted for the Brazilian population. The price indices for each group were calculated according to Laspeyres modified formula. The general food price index was compared with the indices for each food group and respective category: fresh food, processed food, beverages, meat, legumes, milk and eggs, cereals and root vegetables and eating out. Price indices for fat, oil, spices, sugars and sweets and processed food showed relative price reduction. Fresh food, such as fruit and vegetables, showed an increase in relative prices. Other food groups, such as cereals, flour and pasta, meat, milk and egg, showed a steadier long term trend in relative prices. The evolution of relative prices of food in the city of Sao Paulo demonstrates a negative trend towards healthy eating at household level in the long run.

[Effects of community identity and topophilia on environmentally-conscious behavior].

PubMed

Nonami, Hiroshi; Kato, Junzo

2009-04-01

This study classified environmentally-conscious behaviors of residents (n = 335) along Lake Biwa as a common goods into personal and group behavioral intentions, and examined the determinants of these intentions. Identification with the community was a social identity, and differed from attachment to Lake Biwa, which was defined as topophilia. The results indicated that group behavior was affected by topophilia, while personal behavior was influenced by general attitudes about the environmental problems of the lake and evaluations of the cost for the behavior. Community identity had a significant effect on both personal and group behavior. Rational or emotional decision making processes resulted in two different types of environmentally-conscious behaviors.

Violent behavior and driving under the influence of alcohol: prevalence and association with impulsivity among individuals in treatment for alcohol dependence in Poland.

PubMed

Klimkiewicz, Anna; Jakubczyk, Andrzej; Wnorowska, Anna; Klimkiewicz, Jakub; Bohnert, Amy; Ilgen, Mark A; Brower, Kirk J; Wojnar, Marcin

2014-01-01

Driving while intoxicated or under the influence (DUI; for the purposes of this paper, we use the following terms synonymously: driving under the influence, driving while intoxicated, and drunk driving) and engaging in interpersonal violence are two injury-related problems of high public health importance that have both been linked to alcohol consumption. This study sought to estimate the prevalence of DUI and violence in a sample of individuals in treatment for alcohol dependence in Poland. Patient characteristics associated with DUI and violence involvement, with a particular focus on impulsivity, were examined. Three hundred and sixty-four patients consecutively admitted to four alcohol treatment programs in Warsaw, Poland participated in this study. Questions concerning history of interpersonal violence as well as those about DUI were derived from the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test. Impulsivity level was measured using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11, the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, and the stop-signal task. Among all participants in the study, 148 (40.1%) had been arrested in the past for DUI, and 196 (55%) reported involvement in a fight under the influence of alcohol (FUI). The DUI group had a significantly earlier onset of alcohol problems, a longer period of heavy alcohol use, and fewer women in comparison to participants without a DUI history. FUI patients were significantly younger, with a younger average age of onset of drinking problems, longer period of heavy drinking, and lower percentage of women than the non-FUI group. Both of the self-reported measures of impulsivity indicated a higher level of impulsivity among participants from the FUI group than those from the non-FUI group. © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Influence of family dynamics on burden among family caregivers in aging Japan

PubMed Central

Kusaba, Tesshu; Sato, Kotaro; Fukuma, Shingo; Yamada, Yukari; Matsui, Yoshinori; Matsuda, Satoshi; Ando, Takashi; Sakushima, Ken; Fukuhara, Shunichi

2016-01-01

Background. Long-term care for the elderly is largely shouldered by their family, representing a serious burden in a hyper-aging society. However, although family dynamics are known to play an important role in such care, the influence of caring for the elderly on burden among caregiving family members is poorly understood. Objective. To examine the influence of family dynamics on burden experienced by family caregivers. Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional study at six primary care clinics, involving 199 caregivers of adult care receivers who need long-term care. Participants were divided into three groups based on tertile of Index of Family Dynamics for Long-term Care (IF-Long score), where higher scores imply poorer relationships between care receivers and caregiving family: best, <2; intermediate, 2 to <5; worst, ≥5. The mean differences in burden index of caregivers (BIC-11) between the three groups were estimated by linear regression model with adjustment for care receiver’s activity of daily living and cognitive function. Results. Mean age of caregivers was 63.2 years (with 40.7% aged ≥ 65 years). BIC-11 scores were higher in the worst IF-Long group (adjusted mean difference: 4.4, 95% confidence interval: 1.2 to 7.5) than in the best IF-Long group. We also detected a positive trend between IF-Long score and BIC-11 score (P-value for trend <0.01). Conclusion. Our findings indicate that family dynamics strongly influences burden experienced by caregiving family members, regardless of the care receiver’s degree of cognitive impairment. These results underscore the importance of evaluating relationships between care receivers and their caregivers when discussing a care regimen for care receivers. PMID:27450988

Variability in muscle dysmorphia symptoms: the influence of weight training.

PubMed

Thomas, Liam S; Tod, David A; Lavallee, David E

2011-03-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a weight training session on muscle dysmorphia symptoms in young men who regularly weight trained. Using a within-subjects crossover design, 30 men (mean ± SD; 20.93 ± 2.60 years, 86.87 ± 10.59 kg, and 1.76 ± 0.01 m) were randomly allocated to 1 of 2 groups, and completed the Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder Inventory twice, once each on 2 separate days. One day 1, group 1 completed the questionnaire after a weight training session and group 2 on a rest day. One day 2, group 1 completed the questionnaire on a rest day and group 2 after a weight training session. The mean score for drive for size was significantly higher on a rest day (18.00) than on a training day (15.87; p = 0.001, d = 1.03). The mean score for appearance intolerance was significantly higher on a rest day (10.10) compared with that on a training day (8.97; p = 0.001, d = 0.69). The mean score for functional impairment was significantly higher on a rest day (10.20) than on a training day (9.47; p = 0.037, d = 0.40). These results provide evidence that muscle dysmorphia symptoms have state-like properties and may be influenced by situational variables. The results may indicate that strength and conditioning specialists and mental health professionals need to observe clients over time and take into account environmental variables before making decisions about the presence or absence of the condition.

Influence of background music on work attention in clients with chronic schizophrenia.

PubMed

Shih, Yi-Nuo; Chen, Chi-Sheng; Chiang, Hsin-Yu; Liu, Chien-Hsiou

2015-01-01

Work attention in persons with chronic schizophrenia is an important issue in vocational rehabilitation. Some of the research literature indicates that background music may influence visual attention performance. Based on the theory of occupational therapy, environmental sounds, colors and decorations may affect individual performance, this study thus examined the influence of music on work attention in persons with schizophrenia. Participants were recruited from a halfway house in Taipei. Forty-nine (49) patients with chronic schizophrenia volunteered. They had been accepted into vocational rehabilitation and a work-seeking program. The sample included 20 females and 29 males. The participant ages ranged between 29 and 63 years old, and their average age was 47 years old. Using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) study, the participants were assigned to one of three conditions: quiet environment as the control group (n= 16), classical light music as background music (n= 16), and popular music as background music (n= 17). For Group 1 (control group/quiet environment), there was no significant variance (sig = 0.172). For Group 2 (Classical light music), the intervention revealed significant variance (sig = 0.071*). For Group 3 (popular music), the intervention had significant variance (sig = 0.048**). The introduction of background music tended to increase attention test scores of persons with schizophrenia. Moreover, the increase in test attention scores was statistically significant when popular music was played in the background. This result suggested that background music may improve attention performance of persons with chronic schizophrenia. Future research is required with a larger sample size to support the study results.

Priming psychic and conjuring abilities of a magic demonstration influences event interpretation and random number generation biases

PubMed Central

Mohr, Christine; Koutrakis, Nikolaos; Kuhn, Gustav

2015-01-01

Magical ideation and belief in the paranormal is considered to represent a trait-like character; people either believe in it or not. Yet, anecdotes indicate that exposure to an anomalous event can turn skeptics into believers. This transformation is likely to be accompanied by altered cognitive functioning such as impaired judgments of event likelihood. Here, we investigated whether the exposure to an anomalous event changes individuals’ explicit traditional (religious) and non-traditional (e.g., paranormal) beliefs as well as cognitive biases that have previously been associated with non-traditional beliefs, e.g., repetition avoidance when producing random numbers in a mental dice task. In a classroom, 91 students saw a magic demonstration after their psychology lecture. Before the demonstration, half of the students were told that the performance was done respectively by a conjuror (magician group) or a psychic (psychic group). The instruction influenced participants’ explanations of the anomalous event. Participants in the magician, as compared to the psychic group, were more likely to explain the event through conjuring abilities while the reverse was true for psychic abilities. Moreover, these explanations correlated positively with their prior traditional and non-traditional beliefs. Finally, we observed that the psychic group showed more repetition avoidance than the magician group, and this effect remained the same regardless of whether assessed before or after the magic demonstration. We conclude that pre-existing beliefs and contextual suggestions both influence people’s interpretations of anomalous events and associated cognitive biases. Beliefs and associated cognitive biases are likely flexible well into adulthood and change with actual life events. PMID:25653626

Weak Concordance between Fish and Macroinvertebrates in Mediterranean Streams

PubMed Central

Larsen, Stefano; Mancini, Laura; Pace, Giorgio; Scalici, Massimiliano; Tancioni, Lorenzo

2012-01-01

Although anthropogenic degradation of riverine systems stimulated a multi-taxon bioassessment of their ecological integrity in EU countries, specific responses of different taxonomic groups to human pressure are poorly investigated in Mediterranean rivers. Here, we assess if richness and composition of macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages show concordant variation along a gradient of anthropogenic pressure in 31 reaches across 13 wadeable streams in central Italy. Fish and invertebrate taxonomic richness was not correlated across sites. However, Mantel test showed that the two groups were significantly, albeit weakly, correlated even after statistically controlling for the effect of environmental variables and site proximity. Variance partitioning with partial Canonical Correspondence Analysis showed that the assemblages of the two groups were influenced by different set of environmental drivers: invertebrates were influenced by water organic content, channel and substratum features, while fish were related to stream temperature (mirroring elevation) and local land-use. Variance partitioning revealed the importance of biotic interactions between the two groups as a possible mechanisms determining concordance. Although significant, the congruence between the groups was weak, indicating that they should not be used as surrogate of each other for environmental assessments in these Mediterranean catchments. Indeed, both richness and patterns in nestedness (i.e. where depauperate locations host only a subset of taxa found in richer locations) appeared influenced by different environmental drivers suggesting that the observed concordance did not result from a co-loss of taxa along similar environmental gradients. As fish and macroinvertebrates appeared sensitive to different environmental factors, we argue that monitoring programmes should consider a multi-assemblage assessment, as also required by the Water Framework Directive. PMID:23251432

Whatcha Doin' after School? A Review of the Literature on the Influence of After-School Programs on Young Black Males

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woodland, Malcolm H.

2008-01-01

Basic quality-of-life indicators including employment, access to health care, and involvement with the criminal justice system paint a grim picture for the lives of urban Black males; thus, it is increasingly important to identify prevention and intervention strategies that can improve outcomes for this group. After-school programs have been…

Investigating the Role of a Racially Biased Incident on Changes in Culture and Climate Indicators across Targeted and Non-Targeted Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeung, Fanny P.; Johnston, Marc P.

2014-01-01

This study explored the influences of a racially biased incident targeting Asian students at a compositionally diverse public research institution on the U.S. West coast after an unplanned incident that occurred during data collection of the Diverse Learning Environments survey. This occurrence created a unique opportunity to explore how 2 cohorts…

Physiological Indices of Bilingualism: Oral-Motor Coordination and Speech Rate in Bengali-English Speakers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chakraborty, Rahul; Goffman, Lisa; Smith, Anne

2008-01-01

Purpose: To examine how age of immersion and proficiency in a 2nd language influence speech movement variability and speaking rate in both a 1st language and a 2nd language. Method: A group of 21 Bengali-English bilingual speakers participated. Lip and jaw movements were recorded. For all 21 speakers, lip movement variability was assessed based on…

Development of resting cardiovascular activity during the first 2 years of life differs in breastfed and formula-fed boys and girls

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

To investigate whether early infant diet influences cardiovascular development we recorded resting heart-rate (HR) at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 mo in awake healthy children who were breastfed (BF) or fed milk formula (MF) or soy formula (SF) during infancy (n = 83-146/group/age). HR, and indices of autono...

Dominance hierarchy and social relationships in a group of captive black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti).

PubMed

Cui, Liang-Wei; Sun, Qing-Lei; Li, Bao-Guo

2014-05-01

Different types of dominance hierarchies reflect different social relationships in primates. In this study, we clarified the hierarchy and social relationships in a one-male unit of captive Rhinopithecus bieti observed between August 1998 and March 1999. Mean frequency of agonistic behaviour among adult females was 0.13 interactions per hour. Adult females exhibited a linear hierarchy with a reversal of 10.9%, indicating an unstable relationship; therefore, R. bieti appears to be a relaxed/tolerant species. The lack of a relationship between the agonistic ratio of the adult male towards adult females and their ranks indicated that males did not show increased aggression towards low-ranking females. Differentiated female affiliative relationships were loosely formed in terms of the male, and to some extent influenced by female estrus, implying that relationships between the male and females is influenced by estrus and not rank alone. A positive correlation between the agonistic ratio of adult females and their ranks showed that the degree to which one female negatively impacted others decreased with reduction in rank. Similarly, a positive correlation between the agonistic ratio of females and differences in rank suggests that a female had fewer negative effects on closely ranked individuals than distantly ranked ones. These data indicate that rank may influence relationships between females. A steeper slope of regression between the agonistic ratio and inter-female rank differences indicated that the extent of the power difference in high-ranking females exerting negative effects on low-ranking ones was larger during the mating season than the birth season, suggesting that rank may influence the mating success of females.

Dominance hierarchy and social relationships in a group of Captive black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti)

PubMed Central

CUI, Liang-Wei; SUN, Qing-Lei; LI, Bao-Guo

2014-01-01

Different types of dominance hierarchies reflect different social relationships in primates. In this study, we clarified the hierarchy and social relationships in a one-male unit of captive Rhinopithecus bieti observed between August 1998 and March 1999. Mean frequency of agonistic behaviour among adult females was 0.13 interactions per hour. Adult females exhibited a linear hierarchy with a reversal of 10.9%, indicating an unstable relationship; therefore, R. bieti appears to be a relaxed/tolerant species. The lack of a relationship between the agonistic ratio of the adult male towards adult females and their ranks indicated that males did not show increased aggression towards low-ranking females. Differentiated female affiliative relationships were loosely formed in terms of the male, and to some extent influenced by female estrus, implying that relationships between the male and females is influenced by estrus and not rank alone. A positive correlation between the agonistic ratio of adult females and their ranks showed that the degree to which one female negatively impacted others decreased with reduction in rank. Similarly, a positive correlation between the agonistic ratio of females and differences in rank suggests that a female had fewer negative effects on closely ranked individuals than distantly ranked ones. These data indicate that rank may influence relationships between females. A steeper slope of regression between the agonistic ratio and inter-female rank differences indicated that the extent of the power difference in high-ranking females exerting negative effects on low-ranking ones was larger during the mating season than the birth season, suggesting that rank may influence the mating success of females. PMID:24866491

[The subjective quality of life of patients with schizophrenia: influence of psychopathology and patients' expectations. A comparative study].

PubMed

Salomé, F; Petitjean, F; Germain, C; Demant, J-C

2004-01-01

Most studies on the quality of life (Qol) of patients with schizophrenia deal with objective living conditions and how they are perceived by hospitalized patients. The few studies that compare Qol for patients treated in part time services with the Qol of ambulatory patients do not show any significant difference in terms of subjective Qol. Some stu-dies evaluate the influence of psychopathology and needs (or expectations) on the subjective Qol in these groups of patients. Available data indicate that the general well-being is influenced by psychopathology (positive, negative or depressive symptoms) and unmet needs in ambulatory patients. They also show that subjective Qol in certain life domains (social relations, family relations, leisure, health, law and security) is influenced by negative symptoms, anxiety and depression in patients treated in part-time services. The aim of this study is to compare the objective and subjective Qol of patients with schizophrenia treated in part time services (day hospital and day care center) to the Qol of out-patients treated on a purely ambulatory basis (out patient clinic). We studied the Qol of 2 groups of 30 patients with schizophrenia (ICD 10 criteria) treated in various centers. The first group was made of ambulatory patients, the second one was constituted of patients treated in a day hospital or a day care center. Patients were matched for age, duration of illness, number of hospitalizations. The instruments used for rating were the following: Clinical Global Impression (CGI), Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), Positive And Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS), Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI-10). The Qol was measured with a french version of the Lancashire Quality Of Life Profile (LQOLP) (Salomé, Germain, Petitjean, Demant and Boyer, 2000). This instrument measures the objective Qol as well as the subjective Qol. It does possess satisfying psychometric properties and offers the possibility to establish Qol profiles. All Qol ratings were carried out by a clinician who was not involved in the treatment of the patients. When the 2 groups are compared our results indicate that ambulatory patients are less symptomatic, have a better level of functioning and a better objective Qol in such domains as: finances, living situation, family relations and health. There is no significant difference in terms of anxiety and depression as measured by the respective items of the PANSS. Patients treated in part-time services present higher scores of positive symptoms. Our results indicate that there is no significant difference for subjective Qol variables between the two groups, except for general well-being, that tends to be higher in ambulatory patients. When exploring the influence of clinical data on the Qol in each group, we find negative correlations in ambulatory patients between various domains of subjective Qol and illness severity (law and security, family relations, social relations, general well-being), global functioning (family relations, social relation, health) and positive symptoms (living conditions, law and security, family relations, social relations, health). In this same group, the subjective Qol for family relations is significantly correlated with several expectations in terms of Qol improvement (leisure, social relations, family relations, transport, work). In these patients, the subjective Qol for social relations is also significantly correlated with their expectations in terms of Qol improvement (work, money, lodging, affective relations, transport). There is no significant correlation between subjective Qol and expectations in patients treated in part-time services. Our results indicate that part time services treat schizophrenic patients with a lower level of global functioning and a higher level of symptom severity compared with ambulatory patients. These results confirm other studies that show no significant difference between these 2 groups in terms of subjective Qol. The subjective Qol in the field of relations (family and social) in ambulatory patients seems particularly sensitive to illness severity, positive symptoms and global functioning level. This has also been reported by other studies. In patients treated in part-time services, the subjective Qol, particularly for living conditions and security, seems sensitive to anxiety and depression. This has also been shown by other studies. Finally, our results underline the importance of patients' expectations in terms of subjective Qol, particularly in the field of relations (family and social) for ambulatory patients.

Initial construct validity evidence of a virtual human application for competency assessment in breaking bad news to a cancer patient.

PubMed

Guetterman, Timothy C; Kron, Frederick W; Campbell, Toby C; Scerbo, Mark W; Zelenski, Amy B; Cleary, James F; Fetters, Michael D

2017-01-01

Despite interest in using virtual humans (VHs) for assessing health care communication, evidence of validity is limited. We evaluated the validity of a VH application, MPathic-VR, for assessing performance-based competence in breaking bad news (BBN) to a VH patient. We used a two-group quasi-experimental design, with residents participating in a 3-hour seminar on BBN. Group A (n=15) completed the VH simulation before and after the seminar, and Group B (n=12) completed the VH simulation only after the BBN seminar to avoid the possibility that testing alone affected performance. Pre- and postseminar differences for Group A were analyzed with a paired t -test, and comparisons between Groups A and B were analyzed with an independent t -test. Compared to the preseminar result, Group A's postseminar scores improved significantly, indicating that the VH program was sensitive to differences in assessing performance-based competence in BBN. Postseminar scores of Group A and Group B were not significantly different, indicating that both groups performed similarly on the VH program. Improved pre-post scores demonstrate acquisition of skills in BBN to a VH patient. Pretest sensitization did not appear to influence posttest assessment. These results provide initial construct validity evidence that the VH program is effective for assessing BBN performance-based communication competence.

Initial construct validity evidence of a virtual human application for competency assessment in breaking bad news to a cancer patient

PubMed Central

Guetterman, Timothy C; Kron, Frederick W; Campbell, Toby C; Scerbo, Mark W; Zelenski, Amy B; Cleary, James F; Fetters, Michael D

2017-01-01

Background Despite interest in using virtual humans (VHs) for assessing health care communication, evidence of validity is limited. We evaluated the validity of a VH application, MPathic-VR, for assessing performance-based competence in breaking bad news (BBN) to a VH patient. Methods We used a two-group quasi-experimental design, with residents participating in a 3-hour seminar on BBN. Group A (n=15) completed the VH simulation before and after the seminar, and Group B (n=12) completed the VH simulation only after the BBN seminar to avoid the possibility that testing alone affected performance. Pre- and postseminar differences for Group A were analyzed with a paired t-test, and comparisons between Groups A and B were analyzed with an independent t-test. Results Compared to the preseminar result, Group A’s postseminar scores improved significantly, indicating that the VH program was sensitive to differences in assessing performance-based competence in BBN. Postseminar scores of Group A and Group B were not significantly different, indicating that both groups performed similarly on the VH program. Conclusion Improved pre–post scores demonstrate acquisition of skills in BBN to a VH patient. Pretest sensitization did not appear to influence posttest assessment. These results provide initial construct validity evidence that the VH program is effective for assessing BBN performance-based communication competence. PMID:28794664

How do stakeholder groups vary in a Delphi technique about primary mental health care and what factors influence their ratings?

PubMed

Campbell, S M; Shield, T; Rogers, A; Gask, L

2004-12-01

While mental health is a core part of primary care, there are few validated quality measures and little relevant internationally published research. Consensus panel methods are a useful means of developing quality measures where evidence is sparse and/or opinions are diverse. However, little is known about the dynamics of consensus techniques and the factors that influence the judgements and ratings of panels and individual panelists. (1) To describe differences in panel ratings on the quality of primary mental health care services by patient, carer, professional and managerial panels within a Delphi procedure; and (2) to explore why different panels and panelists rate quality indicators of primary mental health care differently. Two round postal Delphi technique and exploratory semi-structured interviews. 115 panelists across 11 panels. Eleven panelists were subsequently interviewed. 87 of 334 indicators (26%) were rated face valid by all 11 panels. There was little disagreement within panel ratings but significant differences between panels. The GP panel rated the least number of indicators valid (n = 138, 41%) and carers the most (n = 304, 91%). The way in which panelists interpreted and conceptualised the indicators and their definition of quality of mental health care affected the way in which participants made their ratings. Stakeholders in primary mental health care have diverse views of quality of care and these differences translate into how they rate quality indicators. Exploratory interviews suggest that ratings are influenced by past experience, expectations, definitions of quality of care, and perceived power relationships between stakeholders.

Need for Cognition and False Memory: Can One's Natural Processing Style Be Manipulated by External Factors?

PubMed

Wootan, Samantha S; Leding, Juliana K

2015-01-01

The purpose of this experiment was to provide an enhanced understanding of need for cognition (NFC) and its influence on one's memory accuracy. People who are high in NFC tend to put more cognitive effort into their mental processes than their low-NFC counterparts. To determine whether one's natural processing tendencies, as determined by NFC, can be influenced by external factors, manipulations to levels of processing were added. Participants viewed word lists from the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm and were instructed to process half of the DRM lists deeply and the other half shallowly. After all the lists were presented, participants completed 3 successive recall tests. The deep processing condition produced higher rates of false memories for both NFC groups than the shallow processing condition. In addition, the high-NFC group produced higher rates of target recall in both the deep and shallow conditions than the low-NFC group. However, the high-NFC group also produced higher rates of false recall for the shallowly processed lists. These data indicate that high-NFC people exhibit enhanced target recall for word lists, which may come at the expense of overall accuracy due to the increase of false recall.

The Relationship between Anger Expression and Its Indices and Oral Lichen Planus.

PubMed

Mehdipour, Masoumeh; Taghavi Zenouz, Ali; Farnam, Alireza; Attaran, Rana; Farhang, Sara; Safarnavadeh, Maryam; Gholizadeh, Narges; Azari-Marhabi, Saranaz

2016-05-01

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common inflammatory disease with unknown etiology. Depression, stress and anxiety are psychological factors that their influence on the expression of lichen planus by affecting the immune system's function has been confirmed. There is a probable relationship between anger and OLP expression. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the association of "anger" and OLP. In this descriptive study 95 subjects were included in 3 groups. A: patients with oral lichen planus, B: positive control, C: negative control. Anger and its indices were assessed by the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2) questionnaire, and pain was measured via the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The collected data were analyzed statistically using SPSS 18 software. The lichen planus and positive control groups bore higher total anger index (AX index) values compared with the negative control. Comparing anger expression-in (AXI) among the lichen planus and negative control groups revealed higher grades in lichen planus group. Evaluating the pain severity index (VAS) data and anger indices in lichen planus group, Spearman's Rank Correlation Test revealed a significant correlation between TAngR (reactional anger traits) and pain severity. The findings of this study indicated that there was a significant correlation between anger control and suppression of lichen planus development. On the other hand, the patients with more severe pain mostly expressed their anger physically. Based on the findings, we can make the claim that anger suppression and its control-in (gathering tension) may play a role in the development of lichen planus as a known psychosomatic disorders.

The Relationship between Anger Expression and Its Indices and Oral Lichen Planus

PubMed Central

Mehdipour, Masoumeh; Taghavi Zenouz, Ali; Farnam, Alireza; Attaran, Rana; Farhang, Sara; Safarnavadeh, Maryam; Gholizadeh, Narges

2016-01-01

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common inflammatory disease with unknown etiology. Depression, stress and anxiety are psychological factors that their influence on the expression of lichen planus by affecting the immune system's function has been confirmed. There is a probable relationship between anger and OLP expression. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the association of "anger" and OLP. In this descriptive study 95 subjects were included in 3 groups. A: patients with oral lichen planus, B: positive control, C: negative control. Anger and its indices were assessed by the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2) questionnaire, and pain was measured via the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The collected data were analyzed statistically using SPSS 18 software. The lichen planus and positive control groups bore higher total anger index (AX index) values compared with the negative control. Comparing anger expression-in (AXI) among the lichen planus and negative control groups revealed higher grades in lichen planus group. Evaluating the pain severity index (VAS) data and anger indices in lichen planus group, Spearman's Rank Correlation Test revealed a significant correlation between TAngR (reactional anger traits) and pain severity. The findings of this study indicated that there was a significant correlation between anger control and suppression of lichen planus development. On the other hand, the patients with more severe pain mostly expressed their anger physically. Based on the findings, we can make the claim that anger suppression and its control-in (gathering tension) may play a role in the development of lichen planus as a known psychosomatic disorders. PMID:27231675

Academic self-concept of ability and cortisol reactivity.

PubMed

Minkley, N; Westerholt, D M; Kirchner, W H

2014-05-01

The present study aimed to clarify the relationship between a school-specific trait (academic self-concept of ability [ASCA]) and hormonal stress response by using a trait-compatible stressor (test). First, we determined 52 students' ASCA scores for biology and measured their salivary cortisol concentration before and after a biology test (experimental group, n=28) or a free writing task (control group, n=24). For participants who took the test, statistical analysis indicated a significant negative correlation between ASCA score and cortisol response. In contrast, the control group showed a decrease in cortisol concentrations between test times and no correlation between cortisol concentration and ASCA scores were found. These findings indicated an interaction between ASCA scores and hormonal stress response when an academic-related stressor is present. Furthermore, these variables might influence each other adversely: high cortisol concentrations during a test situation may lead to greater feelings of insecurity, resulting in low ASCA scores and awareness of these low scores may lead to a further increase in cortisol, creating a vicious cycle.

Early childhood caries among Hawaii public school children, 1989 vs. 1999.

PubMed

Greer, Mark H K; Tengan, Susan L; Hu, Karen I; Takata, Joyce T

2003-03-01

Utilizing a standardized oral health assessment tool, public school children ages 5 through 9 were evaluated Statewide in 1989 and 1999. In both samples, it was demonstrated that Asian & Pacific Islander children (as a group), by contrast with Caucasian, African Amercan or Hispanic children, suffered from disproportionately high rates of dental caries, were more likely to have unmet treatment needs and less likely to utilize dental sealants. Significant variance among oral health/ oral disease indicators was found among ethnic and regional groups and all Hawaii cohorts were found to have poorer oral health indicators by contrast with U.S. national findings. Data was not found to follow any particular pattern with regards to urban vs. rural settings. This report shows the value of considering a variety of oral health indicators in evaluating the health of a community. More research needs to be done in evaluating the influence of socioeconomic status and cultural beliefs and practices on the oral health of young children in Hawai'i.

A baseline record of trace elements concentration along the beach placer mining areas of Kanyakumari coast, South India.

PubMed

Simon Peter, T; Chandrasekar, N; John Wilson, J S; Selvakumar, S; Krishnakumar, S; Magesh, N S

2017-06-15

Trace element concentration in the beach placer mining areas of Kanyakumari coast, South India was assessed. Sewage and contaminated sediments from mining sites has contaminated the surface sediments. Enrichment factor indicates moderately severe enrichment for Pb, minor enrichment for Mn, Zn, Ni, Fe and no enrichment for Cr and Cu. The Igeo values show higher concentration of Pb ranging in the scale of 3-4, which shows strong contamination due to high anthropogenic activity such as mining and terrestrial influences into the coastal regions. Correlation coefficient shows that most of the elements are associated with each other except Ni and Pb. Factor analysis reveals that Mn, Zn, Fe, Cr, Pb and Cu are having a significant loading and it indicates that these elements are mainly derived from similar origin. The cluster analysis clearly indicated that the mining areas are grouped under cluster 2 and non-mining areas are clustered under group 1. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Intersectionality of Stigmas among Key Populations of Older Adults Affected by HIV: a Thematic Analysis.

PubMed

Johnson Shen, Megan; Freeman, Ryann; Karpiak, Stephen; Brennan-Ing, Mark; Seidel, Liz; Siegler, Eugenia L

2018-03-26

The present study examined the intersectionality of stigma across varying groups of older persons living with HIV (PWH). Four focus groups of older PWH (gay/bisexual men, heterosexual men, heterosexual and bisexualwomen, and Spanish-speaking) were audio-recorded and transcribed. Inductive thematic text analysis was used to identify qualitative themes. Five major themes emerged from the data: 1) disclosure of HIV status; 2) types of stigma experienced; 3) discrimination experienced; 4) other outcomes associated with experiencing stigma; and 5) influence of aging on social isolation experienced due to stigma. Findings indicate women did not suffer from the intersection of stigmas. Other groups suffered from the intersection of stigma due to HIV status and age (gay/bisexual males); HIV status and perceived stigma of sexual orientation or drug use (heterosexual males); and HIV status and culture/ethnicity (Spanish-speaking). Results indicate that many at-risk groups, including heterosexual men, homosexual men, and Spanish-speaking individuals, experience an intersection of stigma between aging and their sexuality, HIV status, or real or perceived drug use. Results highlight the need for HIV support, especially social support, to address intersection of stigmas for unique groups of individuals disproportionately affected by HIV.

Internet Cancer Support Groups

PubMed Central

Chee, Wonshik; Tsai, Hsiu-Min; Lin, Li-Chen; Cheng, Ching-Yu

2006-01-01

Internet Cancer Support Groups (ICSGs) are an emerging form of support group on Internet specifically for cancer patients. Previous studies have indicated the effectiveness of ICSGs as a research setting or a data-collection method. Yet recent studies have also indicated that ICSGs tend to serve highly educated, high-income White males who tend to be at an early stage of cancer. In this article, a total of 317 general ICSGs and 229 ethnic-specific ICSGs searched through Google.com, Yahoo.com, http://Msn.com, AOL.com, and ACOR.org are analyzed from a feminist perspective. The written records of group discussions and written memos by the research staff members were also analyzed using content analysis. The idea categories that emerged about these groups include (a) authenticity issues; (b) ethnicity and gender issues; (c) intersubjectivity issues; and (d) potential ethical issues. The findings suggest that (a) researchers adopt multiple recruitment strategies through various Internet sites and/or real settings; (b) researchers raise their own awareness of the potential influences of the health-related resources provided by ICSGs and regularly update their knowledge related to the federal and state standards and/or policies related to ICSGs; and (c) researchers consider adopting a quota-sampling method. PMID:15681976

Prehabilitation influences exercise-related psychological constructs such as self-efficacy and outcome expectations to exercise.

PubMed

Brown, Kent; Loprinzi, Paul D; Brosky, Joseph A; Topp, Robert

2014-01-01

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a clinical condition affecting more than 27 million Americans. There is no known cure for OA other than replacing the diseased joint with a joint prosthesis, a process called total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The TKA projections for the year 2016 are 1,046,000, and this number is predicted to increase by 600% to more than 3.4 million cases by 2030. The purpose of this study was to determine whether knee OA patients who engage in guided exercise (prehabilitation) before their TKA report higher levels of self-efficacy to exercise (SEE) and higher outcome expectations for exercise (OEE) than those who do not. Thirty-one participants were randomized into 2 groups (16 in prehabilitation group [PRE] and 15 in control group [CON]), all participants completed the protocol (22 women and 9 men). The PRE group participated in an exercise intervention (prehabilitation) 3 times per week for 8 weeks before TKA. One-way repeated measures analysis of variance was used to investigate the effects of group (PRE vs. CON), time (baseline T1, T2, T3, and T4), and the interaction of group and time on the dependent variables of SEE and OEE. This analysis indicated that SEE did not change over time (p = 0.62) or between the groups (p = 0.86). The analysis of the OEE indicated a significant time effect (p = 0.008). Post hoc analysis indicated that the CON group significantly declined between T2 and T4. The PRE group did not significantly change their OEE over the 4 data collection points of the study.

Resilience following spinal cord injury: A prospective controlled study investigating the influence of the provision of group cognitive behavior therapy during inpatient rehabilitation.

PubMed

Guest, Rebecca; Craig, Ashley; Nicholson Perry, Kathryn; Tran, Yvonne; Ephraums, Catherine; Hales, Alison; Dezarnaulds, Annalisa; Crino, Rocco; Middleton, James

2015-11-01

To examine change in resilience in people with spinal cord injury (SCI) when group cognitive behavior therapy (GCBT) was added to routine psychosocial rehabilitation (RPR). A prospective repeated-measures cohort design was used to determine the efficacy of the addition of GCBT (n = 50). The control group consisted of individuals receiving RPR, which included access to individual CBT (ICBT) when required (n = 38). Groups were assessed on 3 occasions: soon after admission, within 2 weeks of discharge, and 6-months postdischarge. Measures included sociodemographic, injury, and psychosocial factors. The outcome variable was resilience, considered an important outcome measure for recovery. To adjust for baseline differences in self-efficacy, depressive mood and anxiety between the 2 groups, these factors were entered into a repeated measures multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) as covariates. Latent class analysis was used to determine the best-fitting model of resilience trajectories for both groups. The MANCOVA indicated that the addition of GCBT to psychosocial rehabilitation did not result in improved resilience compared with the ICBT group. Trajectory data indicated over 60% were demonstrating acceptable resilience irrespective of group. Changes in resilience mean scores suggest the addition of GCBT adds little to resilience outcomes. Latent class modeling indicated both groups experienced similar trajectories of improvement and deterioration. Results highlight the importance of conducting multivariate modeling analysis that isolates subgroups of related cases over time to understand complex trajectories. Further research is needed to clarify individual differences in CBT intervention preference as well as other factors which impact on resilience. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Evaluation of F+ RNA and DNA Coliphages as Source-Specific Indicators of Fecal Contamination in Surface Waters

PubMed Central

Cole, Dana; Long, Sharon C.; Sobsey, Mark D.

2003-01-01

Male-specific (F+) coliphages have been investigated as viral indicators of fecal contamination that may provide source-specific information for impacted environmental waters. This study examined the presence and proportions of the different subgroups of F+ coliphages in a variety of fecal wastes and surface waters with well-defined potential waste impacts. Municipal wastewater samples had high proportions of F+ DNA and group II and III F+ RNA coliphages. Bovine wastewaters also contained a high proportion of F+ DNA coliphages, but group I and IV F+ RNA coliphages predominated. Swine wastewaters contained approximately equal proportions of F+ DNA and RNA coliphages, and group I and III F+ RNA coliphages were most common. Waterfowl (gull and goose) feces contained almost exclusively F+ RNA coliphages of groups I and IV. No F+ coliphages were isolated from the feces of the other species examined. F+ coliphage recovery from surface waters was influenced by precipitation events and animal or human land use. There were no significant differences in coliphage density among land use categories. Significant seasonal variation was observed in the proportions of F+ DNA and RNA coliphages. Group I F+ RNA coliphages were the vast majority (90%) of those recovered from surface waters. The percentage of group I F+ RNA coliphages detected was greatest at background sites, and the percentage of group II F+ RNA coliphages was highest at human-impacted sites. Monitoring of F+ coliphage groups can indicate the presence and major sources of microbial inputs to surface waters, but environmental effects on the relative occurrence of different groups need to be considered. PMID:14602607

Effect of probiotics and thyme essential oil on the essential amino acid content of the broiler chicken meat.

PubMed

Alfaig, Ebrahim; Angelovičova, Maria; Kral, Martin; Bučko, Ondrej

2014-01-01

Differences in the types and percentages of essential amino acids (EAAs) in food could influence the value of protein consumed and proteins with a high content of EAAs are the most important components of poultry meat. The use of probiotics for meat and carcass quality improvement has been questioned, while feed supplementation with thyme essential oil (TEO) could be considered as useful natural supplement to be applied in the poultry industry to improve meat quality. Day-old broilers Ross 308 (n = 400) were randomly divided into four groups based on the feed supplement as follows: control, probiotics 0.05%, TEO 0.05% and combination of probiotics and TEO, while the fattening period was 42 days. Six birds of both sexes from each group were selected as a sample, slaughtered and then stored (-18°C) for 6 months till the analysis. The muscular homogeneous sample (50 g) from the breast and thigh of each sample bird was analysed by the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy method using the device Nicolet 6700. The essential amino acids content was determined and the quality indicators include chemical score, amino acid score, EAA index and biological value were calculated. The obtained results show that for all the tested EAAs of the breast and thigh muscles, the content numerically increased gradually and progressively within the groups as the control scored the minimum followed by the probiotics group, then the combination group and finally the TEO group which scored the highest results. It can be concluded that the TEO promoted the increase of all the EAAs and consequently the quality indicators with significant different compared with the control group and significantly different for some EAAs and quality indicators compared with the probiotics group and the combination group.

Influence of LVAD function on mechanical unloading and electromechanical delay: a simulation study.

PubMed

Heikhmakhtiar, Aulia Khamas; Ryu, Ah Jin; Shim, Eun Bo; Song, Kwang-Soup; Trayanova, Natalia A; Lim, Ki Moo

2018-05-01

This study hypothesized that a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) shortens the electromechanical delay (EMD) by mechanical unloading. The goal of this study is to examine, by computational modeling, the influence of LVAD on EMD for four heart failure (HF) cases ranging from mild HF to severe HF. We constructed an integrated model of an LVAD-implanted cardiovascular system, then we altered the Ca 2+ transient magnitude, with scaling factors 1, 0.9, 0.8, and 0.7 representing HF1, HF2, HF3, and HF4, respectively, in order of increasing HF severity. The four HF conditions are classified into two groups. Group one is the four HF conditions without LVAD, and group two is the conditions treated with continuous LVAD pump. The single-cell mechanical responses showed that EMD was prolonged with the higher load. The findings indicated that in group one, the HF-induced Ca2 + transient remodeling prolonged the mechanical activation time (MAT) and decreased the contractile tension, which reduced the left ventricle (LV) pressure, and increased the end-diastolic strain. In group two, LVAD shortened MAT of the ventricles. Furthermore, LVAD reduced the contractile tension, and end-diastolic strain, but increased the aortic pressure. The computational study demonstrated that LVAD shortens EMD by mechanical unloading of the ventricle.

Contextual influences on participation in community organizing: a multilevel longitudinal study.

PubMed

Christens, Brian D; Speer, Paul W

2011-06-01

This article reports results from a study of contextual influences on participation among people involved in congregation-based community organizing. Data are drawn from 11,538 individual participants in 115 congregations taking part in one of five local organizing initiatives in different cities over a five-year period. Analyses used 3-level longitudinal models with binary indicators of participation/non-participation in group meetings each successive year as the criterion. Time-varying predictors at level-1 included prior participation in group meetings as a control, the types of group meetings that participants attended, the number of face-to-face meetings held between each participant and organizing staff of the local organizing initiatives, and a measure of the involvement of participants' affiliation networks. At level-2, demographic information was collected for a subset of participants (N = 461) and was included in a separate model. Neighborhood compositional characteristics were examined at level-3, including median income, economic heterogeneity, and residential stability. Study results found that characteristics of organizational settings (i.e., types of group meetings attended and frequency of face-to-face contact) predicted future participation in group meetings but that individual and neighborhood-level demographic characteristics were generally not predictive of future participation in community organizing activities.

Local v. microhabitat influences on the fish fauna of tidal pools in north-east Brazil.

PubMed

Godinho, W O; Lotufo, T M C

2010-02-01

This study explored the influence of microhabitat characteristics, such as sandy, rocky and algal bottom, holes, area and depth, on tide-pool fish descriptors (evenness, total number of fish, diversity and species richness). Even when the rockpool microhabitats differed amongst beaches, the tidal fish assemblages were closely grouped by site rather than by characteristics of the tide pools. Fish assemblages were mostly represented by juvenile fishes from 29 species, of which 14 were observed in only one of the three sites. This indicates that sites, rather than microhabitat association, might play a major role for the rockpool ichthyofauna in north-east Brazil.

Age, sex, and performance influence the visuospatial working memory network in childhood.

PubMed

Spencer-Smith, Megan; Ritter, Barbara Catherine; Mürner-Lavanchy, Ines; El-Koussy, Marwan; Steinlin, Maja; Everts, Regula

2013-01-01

This study describes the influence of age, sex, and working memory (WM) performance on the visuospatial WM network. Thirty-nine healthy children (7-12 years) completed a dot location functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task. Percent signal change measured the intensity and laterality indices measured the asymmetry of activation in frontal and parietal brain regions. Old children showed greater intensity of activation in parietal regions than young children but no differences in lateralization were observed. Intensity of activation was similar across sex and WM performance groups. Girls and high WM performers showed more right-sided lateralization of parietal regions than boys and low WM performers.

An exploration of culture, diabetes, and nursing in the South Asian community: a metasynthesis of qualitative studies.

PubMed

Fleming, Elizabeth; Gillibrand, Warren

2009-04-01

South Asian people are often perceived as a homogenous group whose culture is prescriptive and constraining. A metasynthesis of how culture influences diabetes self-management in the context of a South Asian population was undertaken. Theory explication was used to deconstruct and reconceptualize the findings of the studies. Eleven publications reported themes of health beliefs, individuality, context, and shared experiences. The results indicate that culture does not influence diabetes self-management in a rigid and prescriptive way; instead, individuals negotiate and interpret culture in a shifting and diverse context. An individualized approach to delivering culturally appropriate nursing care should be taken.

Clan, Language, and Migration History Has Shaped Genetic Diversity in Haida and Tlingit Populations From Southeast Alaska

PubMed Central

Schurr, Theodore G.; Dulik, Matthew C.; Owings, Amanda C.; Zhadanov, Sergey I.; Gaieski, Jill B.; Vilar, Miguel G.; Ramos, Judy; Moss, Mary Beth; Natkong, Francis

2013-01-01

The linguistically distinctive Haida and Tlingit tribes of Southeast Alaska are known for their rich material culture, complex social organization, and elaborate ritual practices. However, much less is known about these tribes from a population genetic perspective. For this reason, we analyzed mtDNA and Y-chromosome variation in Haida and Tlingit populations to elucidate several key issues pertaining to the history of this region. These included the genetic relationships of Haida and Tlingit to other indigenous groups in Alaska and Canada; the relationship between linguistic and genetic data for populations assigned to the Na-Dene linguistic family, specifically, the inclusion of Haida with Athapaskan, Eyak, and Tlingit in the language family; the possible influence of matrilineal clan structure on patterns of genetic variation in Haida and Tlingit populations; and the impact of European entry into the region on the genetic diversity of these indigenous communities. Our analysis indicates that, while sharing a “northern” genetic profile, the Haida and the Tlingit are genetically distinctive from each other. In addition, Tlingit groups themselves differ across their geographic range, in part due to interactions of Tlingit tribes with Athapaskan and Eyak groups to the north. The data also reveal a strong influence of maternal clan identity on mtDNA variation in these groups, as well as the significant influence of non-native males on Y-chromosome diversity. These results yield new details about the histories of the Haida and Tlingit tribes in this region. PMID:22549307

Peer influence on speeding behaviour among male drivers aged 18 and 28.

PubMed

Møller, Mette; Haustein, Sonja

2014-03-01

Despite extensive research, preventive efforts and general improvements in road safety levels, the accident risk of young male drivers remains increased. Based on a standardized survey of a random sample of 2018 male drivers at the age of 18 and 28, this study looked into attitudes and behaviours related to traffic violations of male drivers. More specifically, the role of peer influence on speeding was examined in both age groups. In regression analyses it could be shown that the descriptive subjective norm, i.e., the perception of friends' speeding, was the most important predictor of speeding in both age groups. Other significant factors were: negative attitude towards speed limits, injunctive subjective norm, and the perceived risk of having an accident when speeding. In the older age group it was more common to drive faster than allowed and their speeding was largely in line with the perceived level of their friends' speeding. In the younger age group a higher discrepancy between own and friends' speeding was found indicating that young male drivers are socialized into increased speeding behaviour based on peer pressure. By contrast for the 28-year-olds peer pressure mainly seems to maintain or justify individual speeding behaviour. It is suggested that preventive measures should take these different influences of peer pressure into account by using a peer-based approach for the 18-year-olds and a more individual approach for the 28-year-olds. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Does autonomic diabetic neuropathy influence microcirculation reactivity in adolescents with diabetes type 1?].

PubMed

Urban, Mirosława; Peczyńska, Jadwiga; Kowalewski, Marek; Głowińska-Olszewska, Barbara

2007-01-01

Microcirculation is known to be disturbed in many organs of diabetic patients. Retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy might be considered as the cause of the functional and morphological changes at the level of microcirculation. The aim of the study was to assess by means of dynamic capillaroscopy the influence of autonomic diabetic nephropathy (CAN) in adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus on capillary blood flow (CBV) in skin microcirculation. The study group consisted of 18 patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (mean age 15+/-2 years). In 9 of them the diagnosis of CAN was made on the basis of Ewing tests. The control group consisted of 10 healthy persons aged 15+/-1.5 years. CBV was measured in capillars of the nailfold of the fourth finger during rest and after 2 minutes of arterial occlusion (the occlusion pressure - above 20 mmHg systolic blood pressure - was obtained by the occlusion of brachial artery using sphygnomanometer cuff). The resting CBV did not differ between patients with CAN, without CAN and healthy controls (0.39+/-0.06, 0.41+0.05 i 0.42+/-0.07). The values of the peak CBV significantly differ between the examined groups (CAN: 0.75+0.1; without CAN: 0.86+/-0.11; control group: 0.98+/-0.09, p<0.01). The obtained results indicate that the presence of the autonomic diabetic neuropathy significantly influences the regulatory function of microcirculation, which may predispose to occurrence of different late diabetic complications.

Afraid to be there? Evaluating the relation between presence, self-reported anxiety, and heart rate in a virtual public speaking task.

PubMed

Felnhofer, Anna; Kothgassner, Oswald D; Hetterle, Thomas; Beutl, Leon; Hlavacs, Helmut; Kryspin-Exner, Ilse

2014-05-01

The link between anxiety and presence in a virtual environment (VE) is still a subject of an unresolved debate, with little empirical research to support theoretical claims. Thus, the current study analyzed presence, self-reported anxiety, and a physiological parameter (heart rate [HR]) in a sample of 30 high anxious and 35 low anxious participants. Both groups delivered a 5 minute speech in a virtual lecture hall. Results indicate no mediating influences of presence on group differences in self-reported state anxiety during the speech, but point toward negative correlations between state anxiety and the iGroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ) scales "sense of being there" and "realism." Furthermore, HR was found to be unrelated to self-reported presence. Only the IPQ scale "spatial presence" showed a marginally significant influence on group differences in state anxiety. The present results support the assumption that presence and anxiety are logically distinct, meaning that presence does not directly influence the intensity of an emotion felt in a VE. Rather, it constitutes a precondition for an emotion to be at all elicited by a VE. Also, HR has proven to be no adequate substitute measure for presence, since it only assesses anxiety not presence. It may, however, mediate the interplay between trait anxiety and state anxiety. Possible implications of the current findings are discussed alongside the problem of using presence questionnaires that seem to be prone to subjective bias (i.e., participants confusing presence and emotion).

From Parasite Encounter to Infection: Multiple-Scale Drivers of Parasite Richness in a Wild Social Primate Population

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benavides J. A.; Huchard, E.; Pettorelli, N.; King, A. J.; Brown, M. E.; Archer, C. E.; Appleton, C. C.; Raymond, M.; Cowlishaw, G.

2011-01-01

Host parasite diversity plays a fundamental role in ecological and evolutionary processes, yet the factors that drive it are still poorly understood. A variety of processes, operating across a range of spatial scales, are likely to influence both the probability of parasite encounter and subsequent infection. Here, we explored eight possible determinants of parasite richness, comprising rainfall and temperature at the population level, ranging behavior and home range productivity at the group level, and age, sex, body condition, and social rank at the individual level. We used a unique dataset describing gastrointestinal parasites in a terrestrial subtropical vertebrate (chacma baboons, Papio ursinus), comprising 662 faecal samples from 86 individuals representing all age-sex classes across two groups over two dry seasons in a desert population. Three mixed models were used to identify the most important factor at each of the three spatial scales (population, group, individual); these were then standardised and combined in a single, global, mixed model. Individual age had the strongest influence on parasite richness, in a convex relationship. Parasite richness was also higher in females and animals in poor condition, albeit at a lower order of magnitude than age. Finally, with a further halving of effect size, parasite richness was positively correlated to day range and temperature. These findings indicate that a range of factors influence host parasite richness through both encounter and infection probabilities, but that individual-level processes may be more important than those at the group or population level.

Influence of Previous Failed Antispasticity Therapy on the Efficacy and Tolerability of THC:CBD Oromucosal Spray for Multiple Sclerosis Spasticity.

PubMed

Haupts, Michael; Vila, Carlos; Jonas, Anna; Witte, Kerstin; Álvarez-Ossorio, Lourdes

2016-01-01

Sativex® (THC:CBD oromucosal spray) is indicated as add-on treatment for patients with moderate to severe multiple sclerosis (MS) spasticity. We aimed to determine whether antispasticity treatment history influenced the efficacy and safety of add-on THC:CBD oromucosal spray in MS spasticity patients. Post hoc analysis of an enriched-design clinical trial of THC:CBD oromucosal spray versus placebo, using records of patients under previous and current ineffective antispasticity therapies. Subgroups were patients with at least 1 failed therapy attempt with either baclofen or tizanidine (Group 1) or at least 2 failed therapy attempts with both baclofen and tizanidine (Group 2). Of 241 patients in the intent-to-treat population, 162 and 57 patients met the criteria for Groups 1 and 2, respectively. In all groups, response on the spasticity 0-10 Numerical Rating Scale was significantly greater with THC:CBD oromucosal spray versus placebo, for minimal clinically important difference (MCID ≥18% improvement vs. baseline) and clinically important difference (CID, ≥30% improvement vs. baseline). THC:CBD oromucosal spray improved spasticity-related symptoms such as sleep quality and timed 10-meter walk independent of the number of prior failed therapy attempts. Tolerability was not influenced by pre-treatment history. THC:CBD oromucosal spray provided consistent relief with good tolerability in MS spasticity patients irrespective of their antispasticity pre-treatment history. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Social Stigma Toward Suicide: Effects of Group Categorization and Attributions in Korean Health News.

PubMed

Lee, Hannah; An, Soontae

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of health news content on the stigma of suicide. In particular, this study tested whether the onset controllability and group categorization had a causal effect on people's stigma toward suicide. The results indicated that stigma scores were lower for those who read an article explaining the causes of suicide as uncontrollable than for those who read an article explaining the causes as controllable. Also, lower stigma scores were observed for those who read an article depicting suicidal people as the in-group compared to those who read an article depicting suicidal people as the out-group. Furthermore, stigma scores were the highest for those exposed to an article with the out-group categorization combined with the controllable causes of suicide.

Effects of the Original Versus Revised Bloom's Taxonomy on Lesson Planning Skills: A Turkish Study Among Pre-Service Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bümen, Nilay T.

2007-07-01

The original taxonomy of educational objectives, developed by Benjamin S.␣Bloom and his associates in the 1950s, was revised several decades later by a group of educationists and cognitive psychologists, who developed a revised taxonomy (RT). This article describes a Turkish study carried out among a group of pre-service teachers in order to compare the influence of the two systems on lesson planning skills. The results confirmed other studies that have indicated a number of advantages of the revised system over the earlier one.

The HOT (Healthy Outcome for Teens) project. Using a web-based medium to influence attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control and intention for obesity and type 2 diabetes prevention.

PubMed

Muzaffar, Henna; Chapman-Novakofski, Karen; Castelli, Darla M; Scherer, Jane A

2014-01-01

We hypothesized that Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) constructs (behavioral belief, attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, knowledge and behavioral intention) regarding preventive behaviors for obesity and type 2 diabetes will change favorably after completing the web-based intervention, HOT (Healthy Outcome for Teens) project, grounded in the TPB; and that passive online learning (POL) group will improve more than the active online learning (AOL) group. The secondary hypothesis was to determine to what extent constructs of the TPB predict intentions. 216 adolescents were recruited, 127 randomly allocated to the treatment group (AOL) and 89 to the control group (POL). The subjects completed a TPB questionnaire pre and post intervention. Both POL and AOL groups showed significant improvements from pretest to posttest survey. However, the results indicated no significant difference between POL and AOL for all constructs except behavioral belief. Correlational analysis indicated that all TPB constructs were significantly correlated with intentions for pretest and posttest for both groups. Attitude and behavioral control showed strongest correlations. Regression analysis indicated that TPB constructs were predictive of intentions and the predictive power improved post intervention. Behavioral control consistently predicted intentions for all categories and was the strongest predictor for pretest scores. For posttest scores, knowledge and attitude were the strongest predictors for POL and AOL groups respectively. Thus, HOT project improved knowledge and the TPB constructs scores for targeted behaviors, healthy eating and physical activity, for prevention of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Factors Associated With Volunteering Among Racial/Ethnic Groups: Findings From the California Health Interview Survey.

PubMed

Johnson, Kimberly J; Lee, S Hannah

2017-06-01

The present study investigated how volunteering was influenced by individual resources and social capital among four racial/ethnic groups of adults aged 50 and older. The data came from the California Health Interview Survey, a statewide sample that includes non-Hispanic Whites ( n = 18,927), non-Hispanic Asians ( n = 2,428), non-Hispanic Blacks ( n = 1,265), and Hispanics ( n = 3,799). Logistic regression models of volunteering were estimated to explore the effects of human and social capital within and across the racial/ethnic groups. Compared to Whites, racial/ethnic minority adults volunteered less. Although education was a significant predictor of volunteering across all groups, the findings indicated group-specific factors related to human and social capital. Results showed similarities and differences associated with volunteer participation among diverse racial/ethnic groups. The findings underscore the importance of understanding ways of creating inclusive opportunities for civic engagement among an increasingly diverse population.

Social Influence on Risk Perception During Adolescence

PubMed Central

Magis-Weinberg, Lucía; Speekenbrink, Maarten; Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne

2015-01-01

Adolescence is a period of life in which peer relationships become increasingly important. Adolescents have a greater likelihood of taking risks when they are with peers rather than alone. In this study, we investigated the development of social influence on risk perception from late childhood through adulthood. Five hundred and sixty-three participants rated the riskiness of everyday situations and were then informed about the ratings of a social-influence group (teenagers or adults) before rating each situation again. All age groups showed a significant social-influence effect, changing their risk ratings in the direction of the provided ratings; this social-influence effect decreased with age. Most age groups adjusted their ratings more to conform to the ratings of the adult social-influence group than to the ratings of the teenager social-influence group. Only young adolescents were more strongly influenced by the teenager social-influence group than they were by the adult social-influence group, which suggests that to early adolescents, the opinions of other teenagers about risk matter more than the opinions of adults. PMID:25810453

Social influence on risk perception during adolescence.

PubMed

Knoll, Lisa J; Magis-Weinberg, Lucía; Speekenbrink, Maarten; Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne

2015-05-01

Adolescence is a period of life in which peer relationships become increasingly important. Adolescents have a greater likelihood of taking risks when they are with peers rather than alone. In this study, we investigated the development of social influence on risk perception from late childhood through adulthood. Five hundred and sixty-three participants rated the riskiness of everyday situations and were then informed about the ratings of a social-influence group (teenagers or adults) before rating each situation again. All age groups showed a significant social-influence effect, changing their risk ratings in the direction of the provided ratings; this social-influence effect decreased with age. Most age groups adjusted their ratings more to conform to the ratings of the adult social-influence group than to the ratings of the teenager social-influence group. Only young adolescents were more strongly influenced by the teenager social-influence group than they were by the adult social-influence group, which suggests that to early adolescents, the opinions of other teenagers about risk matter more than the opinions of adults. © The Author(s) 2015.

Progression paths in children's problem solving: The influence of dynamic testing, initial variability, and working memory.

PubMed

Resing, Wilma C M; Bakker, Merel; Pronk, Christine M E; Elliott, Julian G

2017-01-01

The current study investigated developmental trajectories of analogical reasoning performance of 104 7- and 8-year-old children. We employed a microgenetic research method and multilevel analysis to examine the influence of several background variables and experimental treatment on the children's developmental trajectories. Our participants were divided into two treatment groups: repeated practice alone and repeated practice with training. Each child received an initial working memory assessment and was subsequently asked to solve figural analogies on each of several sessions. We examined children's analogical problem-solving behavior and their subsequent verbal accounts of their employed solving processes. We also investigated the influence of verbal and visual-spatial working memory capacity and initial variability in strategy use on analogical reasoning development. Results indicated that children in both treatment groups improved but that gains were greater for those who had received training. Training also reduced the influence of children's initial variability in the use of analogical strategies with the degree of improvement in reasoning largely unrelated to working memory capacity. Findings from this study demonstrate the value of a microgenetic research method and the use of multilevel analysis to examine inter- and intra-individual change in problem-solving processes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Willingness of patients with ankylosing spondylitis to pay for inpatient treatment is influenced by the treatment environment and expectations of improvement.

PubMed

Boonen, A; Severens, J L; van Tubergen, A; Landewé, R; Bonsel, G; van der Heijde, D; van der Linden, Sj

2005-11-01

To assess the willingness to pay (WTP) for treatment in a spa resort of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and to assess if the experience of a spa influences the WTP. 120 patients participating in a randomised trial comparing 3 weeks' treatment in a spa resort in Austria or in the Netherlands with a control group completed a WTP questionnaire before and after spa treatment. Patients indicated on a payment card the maximal co-payment they wanted to contribute for three scenarios that included (a) two levels of improvement in pain and stiffness and (b) two treatment environments: a rehabilitation hospital and a spa resort. At baseline, patients wanted to contribute more for the same improvement after treatment in a spa resort compared with a rehabilitation hospital (p<0.003), and were prepared to pay more when expected effects were higher (p<0.001). No differences were found between men and women, pain, or income. After the trial none of the treatment groups showed a change in their WTP. The WTP of patients with AS for inpatient treatment is influenced by the treatment environment and the expected improvement. Experiencing treatment in a spa resort does not influence the co-payment.

An exploration of the knowledge base used by Irish and U.S. child protection social workers in the assessment of intimate partner violence.

PubMed

Forgey, Mary Ann; Allen, Mary; Hansen, Johna

2014-01-01

Child welfare practitioners in many countries now have increased responsibility for assessing intimate partner violence (IPV) as part of their child risk assessment process. Much research-based knowledge has accumulated about IPV and its impact on children that can inform this process. This exploratory study examined the extent to which research-based knowledge in IPV is influencing what child welfare practitioners explore in relation to IPV during their assessment process. Using a focus group format, two cohorts of child welfare practitioners, one located in Dublin County, Ireland, and one from the New York City metropolitan area, were asked what information they deem critical to explore about IPV, why they explore this content, and how they explore it. Results indicated that a wide range of information about IPV was reported as gathered by both groups, however, explicit research knowledge was not identified as a major influence for exploring these areas. Standardized IPV risk assessment instruments were also not reported as used by any of the participants. Other influences, such as practice experience, social work education, and legal or regulatory directives, had a much greater influence on the social worker's information gathering process in relation to IPV than research.

Forest and flooding with special reference to the White River and Ouachita River basins, Arkansas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bedinger, M.S.

1979-01-01

The observed response of trees to hydrologic stress and distribution of trees in relation to habitat indicate that flooding, ground-water level, soil moisture, soil factors, and drainage characteristics exert a strong influence on bottomland forest species distribution. The dominant hydrologic factor influencing the distribution of bottomland tree species is flooding. Individual tree species are distributed as a function of frequency and duration of flooding. In the lower White and Ouachita River basins, the flood plains consist of a series of terraces, progressively higher terraces having less frequent flooding and less duration of flooding, and a significantly different composition of forest tree species. The sites studied can be divided into four basic groups and several subgroups on the basis of flood characteristics. On Group I (water hickory-overcup oak) sites, flooded near annually 32 to 40 percent of the time, the dominant species are water hickory and overcup oak. On Group II (nuttall oak) sites, flooded near annually 10 to 21 percent of the time, a more varied flora exists including nuttall oak, willow oak, sweetgum, southern hackberry, and American elm. The third group (Group III or shagbark hickory-southern red oak) of sites is flooded at intervals from 2 to 12 years. This group includes southern red oak, shagbark hickory, and black gum. The presence of blackjack oak in addition to Group III species marks Group IV (not flooded in historic time). (Kosco-USGS)

Internal limiting membrane peeling and gas tamponade for myopic foveoschisis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Meng, Bo; Zhao, Lu; Yin, Yi; Li, Hongyang; Wang, Xiaolei; Yang, Xiufen; You, Ran; Wang, Jialin; Zhang, Youjing; Wang, Hui; Du, Ran; Wang, Ningli; Zhan, Siyan; Wang, Yanling

2017-09-08

Myopic foveoschisis (MF) is among the leading causes of visual loss in high myopia. However, it remains controversial whether internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling or gas tamponade is necessary treatment option for MF. PubMed, EMBASE, CBM, CNKI, WANFANG DATA and VIP databases were systematically reviewed. Outcome indicators were myopic foveoschisis resolution rate, visual acuity improvement and postoperative complications. Nine studies that included 239 eyes were selected. The proportion of resolution of foveoschisis was higher in ILM peeling group than non-ILM peeling group (OR = 2.15, 95% CI: 1.06-4.35; P = 0.03). The proportion of postoperative complications was higher in Tamponade group than non-Tamponade group (OR = 10.81, 95% CI: 1.26-93.02; P = 0.03). However, the proportion of visual acuity improvement (OR = 1.63, 95% CI: 0.56-4.80; P = 0.37) between ILM peeling group and non-ILM peeling group and the proportion of resolution of foveoschisis (OR = 1.80, 95% CI: 0.76-4.28; P = 0.18) between Tamponade group and non-Tamponade group were similar. Vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane peeling could contribute to better resolution of myopic foveoschisis than non-peeling, however it does not significantly influence the proportion of visual acuity improvement and postoperative complications. Vitrectomy with gas tamponade is associated with more complications than non-tamponade and does not significantly influence the proportion of visual acuity improvement and resolution of myopic foveoschisis.

Patella morphological alteration after patella instability in growing rabbits.

PubMed

Niu, Jinghui; Qi, Qi; Niu, Yingzhen; Dong, Conglei; Dong, Zhenyue; Cui, Peng; Wang, Fei

2017-07-11

The shape of the patella has been considered to be a predisposing factor resulting in patellar instability, but the effects of abnormal patella position during its development are unclear. The present study evaluated patellar morphological changes after patella instability and evaluated the influence of patellar instability on the patella shape. Twenty rabbits that were 2 months old were included in the study. The left knee of each rabbit, defined as the experimental group (N = 20 knees/group), underwent a medial soft tissue restraint release. The right knee of each rabbit, defined as the control group (N = 20 knees/group), did not undergo any surgical procedures. A CT scan was performed on each knee before surgery and 6 months post-surgery to measure the transverse diameter, thickness, Wiberg index, and Wiberg angle for analysis of the patellar morphological changes. Cross-specimen examination was conducted to evaluate the differences between the experimental group and the control group. The four indices remained the same between the two groups before surgery. However, 6 months after surgery, the mean transverse diameter of the patellae in the experimental group was significantly longer than that in the control group (P < 0.001), while the mean thickness in the experimental group was not significantly greater than that in the control group (P = 0.314), resulting in a flattened shape. The Wiberg indices were not significantly different between the two groups. However, the mean Wiberg angle was higher in the experimental group than in the control group (P < 0.001), which resulted in a flattened articular surface of the patella. The sectional shape and articular surface of the patella became more flattened after patella instability in this study, which indicates that patella dysplasia could be caused by patella instability. Clinically, early intervention for adolescent patients with patella instability is important.

Analysis of the hematopoietic tissue in Pleurodeles waltl newts exposed to 2 g hypergravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Domaratskaya, Elena; Nikonova, Tatyana M.; Grigoryan, Eleonora N.; Dvorochkin, Natalya; Yousuf, Rukhsana; Almeida, Eduardo; Butorina, Nina N.

2012-07-01

Gravity is an important factor in creating biologically-relevant mechanical loads, and in spaceflight living organisms encounter both microgravity as well as hypergravity conditions. Here we studied the influence of hypergravity on the hematopoietic tissue of P. waltl newts in parallel with tissue regeneration experiments of the newt lens and tail. At day 9 post-surgery one group of newts was subjected to centrifugation at 2 g (2G, 12 days), while another was kept at 1 g. In addition, a basal control in wet mats, at 1g, (BC, 1G), and an aquarium control, neutrally buoyant, (AC, low G), were also performed. Differential blood counts and histological analysis of the spleen and liver were carried out in experimental and control groups of animals. At day 21 post-surgery in all groups (AC, 1G, and 2G), the number of neutrophils in the blood was significantly lower than in BC indicating a decrease in the inflammation induced by surgery. The 2G group however, showed numbers of neutrophils significantly higher than AC (neutrally buoyant) animals. This result suggests that post-operative inflammation can persist longer at 2 g that under unloaded aquarium conditions. In contrast we did not observe any significant differences in lymphocyte numbers between any experimental and control groups. Histological examination of the liver and spleen also did not show any significant morphological alterations due to hypergravity. These results indicate that 12 day exposure to hypergravity at 2 g, had only partial influence on newt hematopoiesis, possibly extending the duration of surgery-related inflammatory responses. Data obtained with newts in our previous experiments on Foton-M2 and Foton-M3 flights in microgravity also showed only slight effect on blood cells. Furthermore microgravity also did not cause any morphological changes in the hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues, and did not impair the proliferative capacity of newt hematopoietic cells. In sum these results indicate the newt hematopoietic system has only limited sensitivity to the spectrum of altered gravity condition, possibly reflecting this amphibian species pre-adaptation to varying levels of gravity, both in land at 1g and in water under partially unloaded conditions.

The Effect of the Type and Colour of Placebo Stimuli on Placebo Effects Induced by Observational Learning.

PubMed

Świder, Karolina; Bąbel, Przemysław

2016-01-01

Research shows that placebo analgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia can be induced through observational learning. Our aim was to replicate and extend these results by studying the influence of the type and colour of stimuli used as placebos on the placebo effects induced by observational learning. Three experimental and two control groups were tested. All participants received pain stimuli of the same intensity preceded by colour lights (green and red) or geometric shapes (circles and squares). Before receiving pain stimuli, participants in the experimental groups, but not in the control groups, observed a model who rated pain stimuli that were preceded by either green lights (green placebo group), red lights (red placebo group), or circles (circle placebo group) as being less painful than those preceded by either red lights (green placebo group), green lights (red placebo group), or squares (circle placebo group). As a result participants in the experimental groups rated pain stimuli preceded by either green lights (green placebo group), red lights (red placebo group), or circles (circle placebo group) as being less painful than the participants in the control groups did, indicating that placebo effect was induced. No statistically significant differences were found in the magnitudes of the placebo effects between the three experimental groups (green placebo, red placebo, and circle placebo groups), indicating that neither the type nor the colour of placebo stimuli affected the placebo effects induced by observational learning. The placebo effects induced by observational learning were found to be unrelated to the individual differences in pain anxiety, fear of pain, and empathy.

The Effect of the Type and Colour of Placebo Stimuli on Placebo Effects Induced by Observational Learning

PubMed Central

Świder, Karolina; Bąbel, Przemysław

2016-01-01

Research shows that placebo analgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia can be induced through observational learning. Our aim was to replicate and extend these results by studying the influence of the type and colour of stimuli used as placebos on the placebo effects induced by observational learning. Three experimental and two control groups were tested. All participants received pain stimuli of the same intensity preceded by colour lights (green and red) or geometric shapes (circles and squares). Before receiving pain stimuli, participants in the experimental groups, but not in the control groups, observed a model who rated pain stimuli that were preceded by either green lights (green placebo group), red lights (red placebo group), or circles (circle placebo group) as being less painful than those preceded by either red lights (green placebo group), green lights (red placebo group), or squares (circle placebo group). As a result participants in the experimental groups rated pain stimuli preceded by either green lights (green placebo group), red lights (red placebo group), or circles (circle placebo group) as being less painful than the participants in the control groups did, indicating that placebo effect was induced. No statistically significant differences were found in the magnitudes of the placebo effects between the three experimental groups (green placebo, red placebo, and circle placebo groups), indicating that neither the type nor the colour of placebo stimuli affected the placebo effects induced by observational learning. The placebo effects induced by observational learning were found to be unrelated to the individual differences in pain anxiety, fear of pain, and empathy. PMID:27362552

A path analysis model for explaining unsafe behavior in workplaces: the effect of perceived work pressure.

PubMed

Ghasemi, Fakhradin; Kalatpour, Omid; Moghimbeigi, Abbas; Mohhamadfam, Iraj

2018-06-01

Unsafe behavior is closely related to occupational accidents. Work pressure is one the main factors affecting employees' behavior. The aim of the present study was to provide a path analysis model for explaining how work pressure affects safety behavior. Using a self-administered questionnaire, six variables supposed to affect safety employees' behavior were measured. The path analysis model was constructed based on several hypotheses. The goodness of fit of the model was assessed using both absolute and comparative fit indices. Work pressure was determined not to influence safety behavior directly. However, it negatively influenced other variables. Group attitude and personal attitude toward safety were the main factors mediating the effect of work pressure on safety behavior. Among the variables investigated in the present study, group attitude, personal attitude and work pressure had the strongest effects on safety behavior. Managers should consider that in order to improve employees' safety behavior, work pressure should be reduced to a reasonable level, and concurrently a supportive environment, which ensures a positive group attitude toward safety, should be provided. Replication of the study is recommended.

[Influence of Submerged Plants on Microbial Community Structure in Sediment of Hongze Lake].

PubMed

Zhang, Ding-yu; Zhang, Ting-xi; Dong, Dan-ping; Li, De-fang; Wang, Guo-xiang

2016-05-15

Phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) method was applied to analyze the influence of submerged plants on sediment microbial community structure, in order to investigate the changes of sediment microbial community structure for different kinds of the submerged plants in different growth periods. Particularly, Potamogeton crispus L., Potamogeton pectinatus L and the mixed group were chosen as the typical submerged plants in Hongze Lake for investigation in this paper. The results indicated that the change of total PLFAs in different periods was significant, on the contrary, the PLFA change for different groups in the same period was insignificant. The values of G⁺ PLFA/G⁻ PLFA in the submerged plant group were also highly related to the different growth periods, which demonstrated that the root function of the submerged plant had a severe impact on the microbial community in sediment. Furthermore, some environmental factors, such as Temperature, pH, TOC and DO, were correlated to characteristic phospholipid of PLFAs in sediment, which means the environmental factors could also affect the microbial community structure.

Perils and positives of science journalism in Australia.

PubMed

McKinnon, Merryn; Howes, Johanna; Leach, Andrew; Prokop, Natasha

2017-03-01

Scientists, science communicators and science journalists interact to deliver science news to the public. Yet the value of interactions between the groups in delivering high-quality science stories is poorly understood within Australia. A recent study in New Zealand on the perspectives of the three groups on the challenges facing science journalism is replicated here in the context of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. While all three groups perceived the quality of science journalism as generally high, the limitations of non-specialists and public relation materials were causes for concern. The results indicate that science communicators are considered to play a valuable role as facilitators of information flow to journalists and support for scientists. Future studies on the influence and implications of interactions between these three groups are required.

Building a responsive teacher: how temporal contingency of gaze interaction influences word learning with virtual tutors

PubMed Central

Lee, Hanju; Kanakogi, Yasuhiro; Hiraki, Kazuo

2015-01-01

Animated pedagogical agents are lifelike virtual characters designed to augment learning. A review of developmental psychology literature led to the hypothesis that the temporal contingency of such agents would promote human learning. We developed a Pedagogical Agent with Gaze Interaction (PAGI), an experimental animated pedagogical agent that engages in gaze interaction with students. In this study, university students learned words of a foreign language, with temporally contingent PAGI (live group) or recorded version of PAGI (recorded group), which played pre-recorded sequences from live sessions. The result revealed that students in the live group scored considerably better than those in the recorded group. The finding indicates that incorporating temporal contingency of gaze interaction from a pedagogical agent has positive effect on learning. PMID:26064584

Unexpected fungal communities in the Rehai thermal springs of Tengchong influenced by abiotic factors.

PubMed

Liu, Kai-Hui; Ding, Xiao-Wei; Salam, Nimaichand; Zhang, Bo; Tang, Xiao-Fei; Deng, Baiwan; Li, Wen-Jun

2018-05-01

Fungal communities represent an indispensable part of the geothermal spring ecosystem; however, studies on fungal community within hot springs are still scant. Here, we used Illumina HiSeq 2500 sequencing to detect fungal community diversity in extremely acidic hot springs (pH < 4) and neutral and alkaline springs (pH > 6) of Tengchong-indicated by the presence of over 0.75 million valid reads. These sequences were phylogenetically assigned to 5 fungal phyla, 67 order, and 375 genera, indicating unexpected fungal diversity in the hot springs. The genera such as Penicillium, Entyloma, and Cladosporium dominated the fungal community in the acidic geothermal springs, while the groups such as Penicillium, Engyodontium, and Schizophyllum controlled the fungal assemblages in the alkaline hot springs. The alpha-diversity indices and the abundant fungal taxa were significantly correlated with physicochemical factors of the hot springs particularly pH, temperature, and concentrations of Fe 2+ , NH 4 + , NO 2 -, and S 2- , suggesting that the diversity and distribution of fungal assemblages can be influenced by the complex environmental factors of hot springs.

The effects of stress and affiliation on social decision-making: Investigating the tend-and-befriend pattern.

PubMed

Steinbeis, Nikolaus; Engert, Veronika; Linz, Roman; Singer, Tania

2015-12-01

The prevalence of psychosocial stress in Western societies is constantly on the rise. Its influence on social decision-making, however, remains poorly understood. Whereas, it is known that stress triggers psychological and physiological defense mechanisms, indications of such patterns in social decisions are ambivalent. We sought to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of stress-induced social decisions. We recruited 145 men, who were individually exposed to either a psychosocial stressor or a control condition, while primed with affiliation by interacting either with members of an in- or an out-group. We found that stressed participants were less trusting and engaged in less costly punishment compared to the non-stressed control group. Interacting with out-group members led to less reciprocity and more spiteful punishment. There was no interaction between stress and the affiliation conditions in any of the used social-decision-making paradigms. Lastly, while stress-reactive cortisol levels had no effect on trust behavior, higher baseline cortisol was correlated with greater trust. Our findings suggest that previous ambiguities in data reported on the influence of stress on social decisions, namely tend-and-befriend behavior may have arisen through critical social confounds in the induction of stress. When controlling for potential social confounds, stress may trigger fight-or-flight behavior as indicated by increased social anxiety. These findings highlight the considerable context-dependence of psychosocial stress and its effects on social behavior. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The influence of film-induced mood on pain perception.

PubMed

Weisenberg, M; Raz, T; Hener, T

1998-06-01

It has been shown that a person's mood can influence pain tolerance. Films have been used as a means of inducing a desired mood. The effect on pain perception of film type and film length to induce mood was investigated. Previous research with brief humorous films had not indicated any unique advantage of humor over distraction approaches. Other recent research had indicated that after exposure to film stimulation there is a need to wait approximately 40 min before physiological changes can be obtained. Thus, the present study varied both film type and length and introduced a 30-min waiting period following the mood induction via film prior to exposure to cold-pressor pain. Two hundred subjects in nine different groups participated in the study. Three types of films were used: (1) humorous, (2) holocaust, (3) neutral. Three lengths of each type were also used: 15 min, 30 min, and 45 min. In addition, a tenth no-film group served as a control for the effects of a film. Each subject was given a baseline trial of cold-pressor pain, a trial immediately following the film and a trial 30 min later. Results indicated an advantage in increased pain tolerance for the humorous film and an increased pain tolerance for the longer film regardless of type only after the 30-min waiting period. Results were discussed from a pain theoretical perspective with emphasis placed on returning to psychological manipulations of the sensory aspects of pain and not just the cognitive/emotional/motivational dimensions.

Sexually dimorphic aggression indicates male gray wolves specialize in pack defense against conspecific groups

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cassidy, Kira A.; Mech, L. David; MacNulty, Daniel R; Stahler, Daniel R.; Smith, Douglas W.

2017-01-01

Aggression directed at conspecific groups is common among gregarious, territorial species, and for some species such as gray wolves (Canis lupus) intraspecific strife is the leading cause of natural mortality. Each individual in a group likely has different measures of the costs and benefits associated with a group task, such as an aggressive attack on another group, which can alter motivation and behavior. We observed 292 inter-pack aggressive interactions in Yellowstone National Park between 1 April 1995 and 1 April 2011 (>5300 days of observation) in order to determine the role of both sexes, and the influence of pack, age, and other traits on aggression. We recorded the behaviors and characteristics of all individuals present during the interactions (n = 534 individuals) and which individuals participated in each step (i.e. chase, attack, kill, flight) of the interaction. Overall, all wolves were more likely to chase rivals if they outnumbered their opponent, suggesting packs accurately assess their opponent’s size during encounters and individuals adjust their behavior based on relative pack size. Males were more likely than females to chase rival packs and gray-colored wolves were more aggressive than black-colored wolves. Male wolves and gray-colored wolves also recorded higher cortisol levels than females and black-colored wolves, indicating hormonal support for more intense aggressive behavior. Further, we found a positive correlation between male age and probability of chasing, while age-specific participation for females remained constant. Chasing behavior was influenced by the sex of lone intruders, with males more likely to chase male intruders. This difference in behavior suggests male and female wolves may have different strategies and motivations during inter-pack aggressive interactions related to gray wolf mating systems. A division of labor between pack members concerning resource and territory defense suggests selection for specific traits related to aggression is an adaptive response to intense competition between groups of conspecifics.

Sexually dimorphic aggression indicates male gray wolves specialize in pack defense against conspecific groups.

PubMed

Cassidy, Kira A; Mech, L David; MacNulty, Daniel R; Stahler, Daniel R; Smith, Douglas W

2017-03-01

Aggression directed at conspecific groups is common among gregarious, territorial species, and for some species such as gray wolves (Canis lupus) intraspecific strife is the leading cause of natural mortality. Each individual in a group likely has different measures of the costs and benefits associated with a group task, such as an aggressive attack on another group, which can alter motivation and behavior. We observed 292 inter-pack aggressive interactions in Yellowstone National Park between 1 April 1995 and 1 April 2011 (>5300days of observation) in order to determine the role of both sexes, and the influence of pack, age, and other traits on aggression. We recorded the behaviors and characteristics of all individuals present during the interactions (n=534 individuals) and which individuals participated in each step (i.e. chase, attack, kill, flight) of the interaction. Overall, all wolves were more likely to chase rivals if they outnumbered their opponent, suggesting packs accurately assess their opponent's size during encounters and individuals adjust their behavior based on relative pack size. Males were more likely than females to chase rival packs and gray-colored wolves were more aggressive than black-colored wolves. Male wolves and gray-colored wolves also recorded higher cortisol levels than females and black-colored wolves, indicating hormonal support for more intense aggressive behavior. Further, we found a positive correlation between male age and probability of chasing, while age-specific participation for females remained constant. Chasing behavior was influenced by the sex of lone intruders, with males more likely to chase male intruders. This difference in behavior suggests male and female wolves may have different strategies and motivations during inter-pack aggressive interactions related to gray wolf mating systems. A division of labor between pack members concerning resource and territory defense suggests selection for specific traits related to aggression is an adaptive response to intense competition between groups of conspecifics. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Clinical characteristics of sleep disorders in patients with Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Mao, Zhi-Juan; Liu, Chan-Chan; Ji, Su-Qiong; Yang, Qing-Mei; Ye, Hong-Xiang; Han, Hai-Yan; Xue, Zheng

2017-02-01

In order to investigate the sleep quality and influencing factors in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), 201 PD patients were enrolled and underwent extensive clinical evaluations. Subjective sleep evaluation was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). It was found that poor sleep quality (77.11%) and excessive daytime sleepiness (32.34%) were commonly seen in PD patients and positively correlated with disease severity. Then 70 out of the 201 PD patients and 70 age- and sex-matched controls underwent a polysomnographic recording. The parameters were compared between PD group and control group and the influencing factors of sleep in PD patients were analyzed. The results showed that sleep efficiency (SE) was significantly decreased (P<0.01), and sleep latency (SL) and the arousal index (AI) were increased (P<0.05) in the PD group as compared with those in the control group. SE and total sleep time (TST) were positively correlated with the Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) stage. There was significant difference in the extent of hypopnea and hypoxemia between the PD group and the control group (P<0.05). Our results indicate that PD patients have an overall poor sleep quality and a high prevalence of sleep disorder, which may be correlated with the disease severity. Respiratory function and oxygen supply are also affected to a certain degree in PD patients.

The influence of occupational chronic lead exposure on the levels of selected pro-inflammatory cytokines and angiogenic factors.

PubMed

Machoń-Grecka, A; Dobrakowski, M; Boroń, M; Lisowska, G; Kasperczyk, A; Kasperczyk, S

2017-05-01

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of occupational exposure to lead on the blood levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and selected factors that influence angiogenesis. The study population was divided into two groups. The first group consisted of 56 male workers chronically exposed to lead. The second group (control) was comprised of 24 male administrative workers. The serum levels of interleukin 1β (IL-1β), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) were significantly higher in the group of workers chronically exposed to lead compared to control values by 38%, 68%, and 57%, respectively. Similarly, the values of soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (sVEGFR-1) and fibroblast growth factor-basic (FGF-basic) were higher by 19% and 63%, respectively. In the group of workers chronically exposed to lead, there were positive correlations between the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α) and angiogenic factors (VEGF, FGF-basic, sVEGFR-1, and soluble angiopoietin receptor). In the control group, there were no correlations between the levels of the abovementioned parameters. Results of the present study indicate that chronic occupational lead exposure promotes inflammatory processes via induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines, modulates angiogenesis, and elicits interdependencies between the immune response and angiogenic factors.

Bioimpedance for oedema evaluation after total knee arthroplasty.

PubMed

Pichonnaz, Claude; Bassin, Jean-Philippe; Currat, Damien; Martin, Estelle; Jolles, Brigitte M

2013-09-01

Electrical bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) allows the evaluation of limb extracellular fluid (R0) and total fluid (Rinf). BIS could facilitate post-surgical oedema evaluation after total knee arthroplasty (TKA), as it is easily performed and is non-invasive. However, neither its applicability in this context nor the influence of metallic implants on measurement has been evaluated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of TKA implants on the BIS R0 and Rinf variables used for oedema evaluation. This was a prospective non-randomized comparative clinical trial. One oedema-free group of patients with TKA was compared with a group presenting similar characteristics except for the arthroplasty, to assess the influence of the implant on BIS measurement in the absence of oedema. The TKA group included 15 patients who had undergone surgery more than a year previously, and the control group included 19 patients awaiting TKA surgery. Volume and perimeter measurements served as reference criterions. The lower limb percentage differences for BIS, knee perimeter and volume were calculated. The significance of differences between groups was calculated for all measurement methods, using the Mann-Whitney test. The setting was a Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology in a university hospital. The differences between groups were not significant for R0, Rinf, volume and perimeter. R0 showed the smallest mean difference in limb percentage difference between groups [means (SD): TKA 3.98 (8.09), controls 3.97 (5.16)]. The lower-leg percentage difference in the TKA group is comparable with that of healthy subjects. R0 can be used for oedema evaluation following TKA surgery, as there was no sign of alteration from the metallic implant. These findings indicate the potential for early oedema evaluation after TKA. More research is warranted to extensively validate the application of BIS for oedema evaluation after TKA. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Effects of arginine vasopressin on musical working memory.

PubMed

Granot, Roni Y; Uzefovsky, Florina; Bogopolsky, Helena; Ebstein, Richard P

2013-01-01

Previous genetic studies showed an association between variations in the gene coding for the 1a receptor of the neuro-hormone arginine vasopressin (AVP) and musical working memory (WM). The current study set out to test the influence of intranasal administration (INA) of AVP on musical as compared to verbal WM using a double blind crossover (AVP-placebo) design. Two groups of 25 males were exposed to 20 IU of AVP in one session, and 20 IU of saline water (placebo) in a second session, 1 week apart. In each session subjects completed the tonal subtest from Gordon's "Musical Aptitude Profile," the interval subtest from the "Montreal Battery for Evaluation of Amusias (MBEA)," and the forward and backward digit span tests. Scores in the digit span tests were not influenced by AVP. In contrast, in the music tests there was an AVP effect. In the MBEA test, scores for the group receiving placebo in the first session (PV) were higher than for the group receiving vasopressin in the first session (VP) (p < 0.05) with no main Session effect nor Group × Session interaction. In the Gordon test there was a main Session effect (p < 0.05) with scores higher in the second as compared to the first session, a marginal main Group effect (p = 0.093) and a marginal Group × Session interaction (p = 0.88). In addition we found that the group that received AVP in the first session scored higher on scales indicative of happiness, and alertness on the positive and negative affect scale, (PANAS). Only in this group and only in the music test these scores were significantly correlated with memory scores. Together the results reflect a complex interaction between AVP, musical memory, arousal, and contextual effects such as session, and base levels of memory. The results are interpreted in light of music's universal use as a means to modulate arousal on the one hand, and AVP's influence on mood, arousal, and social interactions on the other.

Genetic and environmental influences on the allocation of adolescent leisure time activities.

PubMed

Haberstick, Brett C; Zeiger, Joanna S; Corley, Robin P

2014-01-01

There is a growing recognition of the importance of the out-of-school activities in which adolescents choose to participate. Youth activities vary widely in terms of specific activities and in time devoted to them but can generally be grouped by the type and total duration spent per type. We collected leisure time information using a 17-item leisure time questionnaire in a large sample of same- and opposite-sex adolescent twin pairs (N = 2847). Using both univariate and multivariate genetic models, we sought to determine the type and magnitude of genetic and environmental influences on the allocation of time toward different leisure times. Results indicated that both genetic and shared and nonshared environmental influences were important contributors to individual differences in physical, social, intellectual, family, and passive activities such as watching television. The magnitude of these influences differed between males and females. Environmental influences were the primary factors contributing to the covariation of different leisure time activities. Our results suggest the importance of heritable influences on the allocation of leisure time activity by adolescents and highlight the importance of environmental experiences in these choices.

Genetic and Environmental Influences on the Allocation of Adolescent Leisure Time Activities

PubMed Central

Haberstick, Brett C.; Zeiger, Joanna S.; Corley, Robin P.

2014-01-01

There is a growing recognition of the importance of the out-of-school activities in which adolescents choose to participate. Youth activities vary widely in terms of specific activities and in time devoted to them but can generally be grouped by the type and total duration spent per type. We collected leisure time information using a 17-item leisure time questionnaire in a large sample of same- and opposite-sex adolescent twin pairs (N = 2847). Using both univariate and multivariate genetic models, we sought to determine the type and magnitude of genetic and environmental influences on the allocation of time toward different leisure times. Results indicated that both genetic and shared and nonshared environmental influences were important contributors to individual differences in physical, social, intellectual, family, and passive activities such as watching television. The magnitude of these influences differed between males and females. Environmental influences were the primary factors contributing to the covariation of different leisure time activities. Our results suggest the importance of heritable influences on the allocation of leisure time activity by adolescents and highlight the importance of environmental experiences in these choices. PMID:24967407

β-Diversity of Functional Groups of Woody Plants in a Tropical Dry Forest in Yucatan

PubMed Central

López-Martínez, Jorge Omar; Sanaphre-Villanueva, Lucía; Dupuy, Juan Manuel; Hernández-Stefanoni, José Luis; Meave, Jorge Arturo; Gallardo-Cruz, José Alberto

2013-01-01

Two main theories have attempted to explain variation in plant species composition (β-diversity). Niche theory proposes that most of the variation is related to environment (environmental filtering), whereas neutral theory posits that dispersal limitation is the main driver of β-diversity. In this study, we first explored how α- and β-diversity of plant functional groups defined by growth form (trees, shrubs and lianas, which represent different strategies of resource partitioning), and dispersal syndrome (autochory, anemochory and zoochory, which represent differences in dispersal limitation) vary with successional age and topographic position in a tropical dry forest. Second, we examined the effects of environmental, spatial, and spatially-structured environmental factors on β-diversity of functional groups; we used the spatial structure of sampling sites as a proxy for dispersal limitation, and elevation, soil properties and forest stand age as indicators of environmental filtering. We recorded 200 species and 22,245 individuals in 276 plots; 120 species were trees, 41 shrubs and 39 lianas. We found that β-diversity was highest for shrubs, intermediate for lianas and lowest for trees, and was slightly higher for zoochorous than for autochorous and anemochorous species. All three dispersal syndromes, trees and shrubs varied in composition among vegetation classes (successional age and topographic position), whilst lianas did not. β-diversity was influenced mostly by proxies of environmental filtering, except for shrubs, for which the influence of dispersal limitation was more important. Stand age and topography significantly influenced α-diversity across functional groups, but showed a low influence on β-diversity –possibly due to the counterbalancing effect of resprouting on plant distribution and composition. Our results show that considering different plant functional groups reveals important differences in both α- and β-diversity patterns and correlates that are not apparent when focusing on overall woody plant diversity, and that have important implications for ecological theory and biodiversity conservation. PMID:24040014

The role of community, family, peer, and school factors in group bullying: implications for school-based intervention.

PubMed

Mann, Michael J; Kristjansson, Alfgeir L; Sigfusdottir, Inga Dora; Smith, Megan L

2015-07-01

Although an ecological perspective suggests the importance of multiple levels of intervention, most bullying research has emphasized individual- and school-focused strategies. This study investigated community and family factors that influence school efforts to reduce odds of group bullying behavior and victimization. We used multilevel logistic regression to analyze data from the 2009 Youth in Iceland population school survey (N = 7084, response rate: 83.5%, 50.8% girls). Parental support and time spent with parents were protective against group bullying behavior while worsening relationships with teachers and disliking school increased the likelihood of such behavior. Knowing kids in the area increased the likelihood of group bullying while intergenerational closure was a protective factor. Normlessness was consistently positively related to group bullying. We found no indication of higher-level relationships across the bullying models. Parental support was protective against victimization. Disliking school, intergenerational closure, and anomie/normlessness were strongly and negatively related to victimization. We found some indication of multilevel relationships for victimization. Findings support efforts to increase family and community connection, closure, and support as a part of school-based intervention. These factors become more important as young people participate in or experience greater odds of group bullying behavior and victimization. © 2015, American School Health Association.

Impact of Burnout on Organizational Outcomes, the Influence of Legal Demands: The Case of Ecuadorian Physicians.

PubMed

Ochoa, Paola

2018-01-01

Interest in burnout has developed extensively worldwide, but there is scarce the literature regarding the consequences that new legal demands have on burnout and on organizational outcomes in physicians. The global context of the medical profession has been characterized in the recent years by changes in the employment patterns, profound intensification of work, and increment of labor flexibility. In this context, the study aims to analyze the influence of burnout on organizational outcomes in physicians, depending on new legal demands perception in Ecuador. Regarding the method, the research was cross sectional and in the first stage, studied the psychometric characteristics, validity and reliability of the instrument to assess burnout through a series of confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). In a second part, we assessed, the robustness of the model of causal relations between the burnout dimensions and organizational outcomes. We carried out a series of path analysis, structural equation model. The study was accomplished in five hospitals and the sample was incidental, comprising 435 physicians from Ecuador. We divided the group in two subcategories, Sample A, composed by participants that considered that new Criminal Code (COIP) affects them and the Sample B, the group of physicians who believed that the COIP does not affect them. Burnout was assessed with the Spanish adaptation of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the Organizational outcomes were measured with a seven-item self-report questionnaire, and we included an item regarding to the influence of new Criminal Code. We formulated four hypotheses, that considered that physicians who believed that the COIP affect them experience a greater negative influence of burnout on organizational outcomes. The results indicated that the group of physicians who believed that the COIP affects them (Sample A) experienced a greater negative influence of cynicism on productivity than Sample B. Moreover, the lack of efficacy dimension had more positive influence on turnover in group that believed that the Criminal Code does not affect their practice. The study is unique because incorporated new legal demands to traditional relation burnout and organizational outcomes in physicians.

Impact of Burnout on Organizational Outcomes, the Influence of Legal Demands: The Case of Ecuadorian Physicians

PubMed Central

Ochoa, Paola

2018-01-01

Interest in burnout has developed extensively worldwide, but there is scarce the literature regarding the consequences that new legal demands have on burnout and on organizational outcomes in physicians. The global context of the medical profession has been characterized in the recent years by changes in the employment patterns, profound intensification of work, and increment of labor flexibility. In this context, the study aims to analyze the influence of burnout on organizational outcomes in physicians, depending on new legal demands perception in Ecuador. Regarding the method, the research was cross sectional and in the first stage, studied the psychometric characteristics, validity and reliability of the instrument to assess burnout through a series of confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). In a second part, we assessed, the robustness of the model of causal relations between the burnout dimensions and organizational outcomes. We carried out a series of path analysis, structural equation model. The study was accomplished in five hospitals and the sample was incidental, comprising 435 physicians from Ecuador. We divided the group in two subcategories, Sample A, composed by participants that considered that new Criminal Code (COIP) affects them and the Sample B, the group of physicians who believed that the COIP does not affect them. Burnout was assessed with the Spanish adaptation of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the Organizational outcomes were measured with a seven-item self-report questionnaire, and we included an item regarding to the influence of new Criminal Code. We formulated four hypotheses, that considered that physicians who believed that the COIP affect them experience a greater negative influence of burnout on organizational outcomes. The results indicated that the group of physicians who believed that the COIP affects them (Sample A) experienced a greater negative influence of cynicism on productivity than Sample B. Moreover, the lack of efficacy dimension had more positive influence on turnover in group that believed that the Criminal Code does not affect their practice. The study is unique because incorporated new legal demands to traditional relation burnout and organizational outcomes in physicians. PMID:29780347

Comparing the Psychometric Properties of Two Physical Activity Self-Efficacy Instruments in Urban, Adolescent Girls: Validity, Measurement Invariance, and Reliability

PubMed Central

Voskuil, Vicki R.; Pierce, Steven J.; Robbins, Lorraine B.

2017-01-01

Aims: This study compared the psychometric properties of two self-efficacy instruments related to physical activity. Factorial validity, cross-group and longitudinal invariance, and composite reliability were examined. Methods: Secondary analysis was conducted on data from a group randomized controlled trial investigating the effect of a 17-week intervention on increasing moderate to vigorous physical activity among 5th–8th grade girls (N = 1,012). Participants completed a 6-item Physical Activity Self-Efficacy Scale (PASE) and a 7-item Self-Efficacy for Exercise Behaviors Scale (SEEB) at baseline and post-intervention. Confirmatory factor analyses for intervention and control groups were conducted with Mplus Version 7.4 using robust weighted least squares estimation. Model fit was evaluated with the chi-square index, comparative fit index, and root mean square error of approximation. Composite reliability for latent factors with ordinal indicators was computed from Mplus output using SAS 9.3. Results: Mean age of the girls was 12.2 years (SD = 0.96). One-third of the girls were obese. Girls represented a diverse sample with over 50% indicating black race and an additional 19% identifying as mixed or other race. Both instruments demonstrated configural invariance for simultaneous analysis of cross-group and longitudinal invariance based on alternative fit indices. However, simultaneous metric invariance was not met for the PASE or the SEEB instruments. Partial metric invariance for the simultaneous analysis was achieved for the PASE with one factor loading identified as non-invariant. Partial metric invariance was not met for the SEEB. Longitudinal scalar invariance was achieved for both instruments in the control group but not the intervention group. Composite reliability for the PASE ranged from 0.772 to 0.842. Reliability for the SEEB ranged from 0.719 to 0.800 indicating higher reliability for the PASE. Reliability was more stable over time in the control group for both instruments. Conclusions: Results suggest that the intervention influenced how girls responded to indicator items. Neither of the instruments achieved simultaneous metric invariance making it difficult to assess mean differences in PA self-efficacy between groups. PMID:28824487

Effect of dietary mannanoligosaccharide supplementation on nutrient digestibility, hindgut fermentation, immune response and antioxidant indices in dogs.

PubMed

Pawar, Mahesh M; Pattanaik, Ashok K; Sinha, Dharmendra K; Goswami, Tapas K; Sharma, Kusumakar

2017-01-01

Use of prebiotics in companion animal nutrition is often considered advantageous over probiotics because of the ease of handling, ability to withstand processing and storage etc. While most of the studies on prebiotic use in dogs have been done with processed food as basal diet, the response in relation to homemade diet feeding is not very well explored. The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary mannanoligosaccharide (MOS) supplementation on nutrient digestibility, hindgut fermentation, immune response and antioxidant indices in dogs. Ten Spitz pups were divided into two groups: control (CON) with no supplementation, and experimental (MOS) wherein the basal diet was supplemented with MOS at 15 g/kg diet. All dogs were fed on a home-prepared diet for a period of 150 days. The study protocol included a digestion trial, periodic blood collection and analysis for lipid profile and erythrocytic antioxidants. Immune response of the animals was assessed towards the end of the feeding period. Results revealed no significant ( P > 0.05 ) variations in palatability score, intake and apparent digestibility of nutrients between the groups. Faecal score, faeces voided, faecal pH, concentrations of ammonia, lactate and short-chain fatty acids were comparable ( P > 0.05 ) between the two groups. Cell-mediated immune response, assessed as delayed-type of hypersensitivity response, was significantly higher ( P < 0.05 ) in the MOS group. The percent of lymphocyte sub-populations CD4+ and ratio of CD4+:CD8+ were also significantly ( P < 0.05 ) higher in MOS group. The serum IgG levels were similar ( P > 0.05 ) in both the groups. Supplementation of MOS lowered ( P < 0.05 ) serum total- and LDL- cholesterol levels, when compared with the control group. The erythrocytic antioxidant indices were similar ( P > 0.05 ) between the two groups. The results indicated that supplementation of MOS at the rate of 15 g/kg in the diet of dog augmented the cell-mediated immune response and serum lipid profile without any influences on digestibility of nutrients, hindgut fermentation and antioxidants indices.

Risky decision making in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A meta-regression analysis.

PubMed

Dekkers, Tycho J; Popma, Arne; Agelink van Rentergem, Joost A; Bexkens, Anika; Huizenga, Hilde M

2016-04-01

ADHD has been associated with various forms of risky real life decision making, for example risky driving, unsafe sex and substance abuse. However, results from laboratory studies on decision making deficits in ADHD have been inconsistent, probably because of between study differences. We therefore performed a meta-regression analysis in which 37 studies (n ADHD=1175; n Control=1222) were included, containing 52 effect sizes. The overall analysis yielded a small to medium effect size (standardized mean difference=.36, p<.001, 95% CI [.22, .51]), indicating that groups with ADHD showed more risky decision making than control groups. There was a trend for a moderating influence of co-morbid Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBD): studies including more participants with co-morbid DBD had larger effect sizes. No moderating influence of co-morbid internalizing disorders, age or task explicitness was found. These results indicate that ADHD is related to increased risky decision making in laboratory settings, which tended to be more pronounced if ADHD is accompanied by DBD. We therefore argue that risky decision making should have a more prominent role in research on the neuropsychological and -biological mechanisms of ADHD, which can be useful in ADHD assessment and intervention. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors Associated with Neurologists' Provision of MS Patient Care

PubMed Central

Halpern, Michael T.; Teixeira-Poit, Stephanie M.; Kane, Heather; Frost, Corey; Keating, Michael; Olmsted, Murrey

2014-01-01

Neurologists are central to providing quality care for individuals with MS. However, neurologist shortages may restrict access to care for MS patients. To examine factors influencing neurologists' provision of MS care, we surveyed 1,700 US neurologists to assess demographic/practice characteristics, training, and attitudes toward MS care. The study population consisted of 573 respondents: 87 (15.2%) MS subspecialists and 486 (84.8%) “other neurologists,” including subspecialists in other neurology areas (i.e., non-MS) and general neurologists. MS subspecialists indicating they “enjoy interacting with MS patients” had a significantly greater rate of MS patients seen per week. In separate analyses of the “other neurologists” group, the rate of MS patients seen was lower among neurologists in university-based groups or those practicing in major cities; female neurologists; and neurologists who indicated lack of sufficient knowledge regarding MS patient care. Rates of MS patients seen were significantly greater for other neurologists who agreed that MS care involved “ability to improve patient outcomes and quality of life”; “dynamic area with evolving treatment options”; and “enjoy interacting with MS patients.” Understanding factors influencing MS patient care by neurologists and developing policies for appropriate access to care is critical for optimal outcomes among this population. PMID:24949203

Prostate-specific antigen increase during dutasteride to indicate the need for prostate biopsy: influence of prostatic inflammation.

PubMed

Sciarra, Alessandro; Maggi, Martina; Fasulo, Andrea; Salciccia, Stefano; Gentile, Vincenzo; Cattarino, Susanna; Gentilucci, Alessandro

2017-08-01

The aim of this study was to analyze the significance of an increase in total prostate-specific antigen (PSA) serum levels despite dutasteride treatment as a predictor of prostate cancer (PC) at biopsy. We focused our attention on the rate of the first PSA increase and on the influence of prostatic inflammation. From 2011 to 2016, 365 men with a previous negative prostate biopsy and persistent elevated PSA levels received dutasteride treatment. The population was followed for a range of 12-48 months. One hundred twelve cases with a confirmed PSA increase >0.5 ng/ml over the nadir value during the follow-up were included in Group A and underwent a new prostate biopsy. In Group A, the PSA increase was associated with PC at the re-biopsy in 66% of cases. The percentage of PSA reduction after 6 months of treatment was not a significant indicator of the risk for PC. The distribution of inflammatory infiltrates significantly (p<00.01) varied from positive to negative prostate biopsies. The relative risk for PC at biopsy significantly increased according to PSA level during dutasteride. Treatment with dutasteride can help to analyze PSA kinetic. A persistent prostatic inflammation is a factor able to reduce the performance of PSA kinetic during dutasteride treatment.

Quality of working life indicators in Canadian health care organizations: a tool for healthy, health care workplaces?

PubMed

Cole, Donald C; Robson, Lynda S; Lemieux-Charles, Louise; McGuire, Wendy; Sicotte, Claude; Champagne, Francois

2005-01-01

Quality-of-work-life (QWL) includes broad aspects of the work environment that affect employee learning and health. Canadian health care organizations (HCOs) are being encouraged to monitor QWL, expanding existing occupational health surveillance capacities. To investigate the understanding, collection, diffusion and use of QWL indicators in Canadian HCOs. We obtained cooperation from six diverse public HCOs managing 41 sites. We reviewed documentation relevant to QWL and conducted 58 focus groups/team interviews with strategic, support and programme teams. Group interviews were taped, reviewed and analysed for themes using qualitative data techniques. Indicators were classified by purpose and HCO level. QWL indicators, as such, were relatively new to most HCOs yet the data managed by human resource and occupational health and safety support teams were highly relevant to monitoring of employee well-being (119 of 209 mentioned indicators), e.g. sickness absence. Monitoring of working conditions (62/209) was also important, e.g. indicators of employee workload. Uncommon were indicators of biomechanical and psychosocial hazards at work, despite their being important causes of morbidity among HCO employees. Although imprecision in the definition of QWL indicators, limited links with other HCO performance measures and inadequate HCO resources for implementation were common, most HCOs cited ways in which QWL indicators had influenced planning and evaluation of prevention efforts. Increase in targeted HCO resources, inclusion of other QWL indicators and greater integration with HCO management systems could all improve HCO decision-makers' access to information relevant to employee health.

[Influence of macrophages on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor mRNA, homeobox B2 mRNA, and integrin alpha nu beta3 in vascular endothelial strain].

PubMed

Liu, Liang; Liu, Chang; Zhang, Xiao-qi; Ming, Jia; Liu, Xu-sheng; Xu, Hui; Cheng, Tian-min

2005-06-01

To investigate the influence of macrophages on the expression of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor (KDR) mRNA, homeobox B2 (HOXB2) mRNA, and integrin alpha nu beta3 in vitro in vascular endothelial strain. Human umbilical vein cells (ECV304) were cultured in vitro and divided into 4 groups, i.e. (1) ECV304 group, (2) ECV304 + conA group [with conA (25 microg/ml in culture) added to ECV304], (3) ECV304 + U937 group (with 1 x 10(5)/ml of U937 cells added to 1 x 10(5)/ml ECV 304), (4) ECV304 + U937 + conA group [with 1 x 10(5)/ml of U937 cells and conA (25 microg/ml in culture)] groups. Forty-eight hours after culturing, the expression of integrin receptor alpha nu beta3 and the changes in the expression of KDR mRNA and HOXB2 mRNA in each group were determined by immunofluorescent technique and RT-PCR, respectively. The expression of integrin receptor alpha nu beta3, KDR mRNA, and HOXB2 mRNA in ECV304 group were 6.7 +/- 1.5, 0.633 +/- 0.012, and 0.674 +/- 0.004, respectively, while those in ECV304 + U937 + conA group (10.2 +/- 1.7, 0.879 +/- 0.003, 0.947 +/- 0.003) were obviously more upregulated when compared with those in ECV304 group (P < 0.01). No difference in the above indices was found between ECV304 and ECV304 + conA, ECV304 + U937 groups (P > 0.05). Macrophages activated by ConA can accelerate the proliferation, migration and adhesion to the basement membrane matrix of vascular endothelial cells through the influence on the expression of KDR mRNA, HOXB2 mRNA and integrin alpha nu beta3, and through this pathway the angiogenesis is modulated.

The influence of body mass index and outdoor temperature on the autonomic response to eating in healthy young Japanese women.

PubMed

Okada, Masahiro; Kakehashi, Masayuki

2014-01-01

The influences of body weight and air temperature on the autonomic response to food intake have not been clarified. We measured heart rate variability before and after lunch, as well as the effects of outdoor temperature and increased body mass index (BMI), in healthy young Japanese women. We studied 55 healthy young female university students. Heart rate variability was measured before lunch, immediately after lunch, 30 min after lunch, and 1 h after lunch to determine any correlations between heart rate variability, outdoor temperature, and BMI. In addition, multiple regression analysis was performed to elucidate the relationship between heart rate variability and outdoor temperature before and after lunch. A simple slope test was conducted to show the relationship between the low-to-high frequency ratio (1 h after lunch) and outdoor temperature. Subjects were divided into a low BMI group (range: 16.6-20.3) and a high BMI group (range: 20.4-32.9). The very low frequency component of heart rate variability, an index of thermoregulatory vasomotor control exerted by the sympathetic nervous system, was significantly diminished after lunch in the high BMI group (P < 0.01). A significant decrease in the low-to-high frequency (LF/HF) ratio, which represents the balance between the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems, was evident in the low BMI group after lunch, indicating parasympathetic system dominance (P = 0.001). In addition, a significant association was found between the LF/HF ratio and outdoor temperature after lunch with a lower BMI (P = 0.002), but this association disappeared with higher BMIs. Autonomic responses to eating showed clear differences according to BMI, indicating that the sensitivity of the autonomic nervous system may change with increases in BMI.

Dazzle camouflage and the confusion effect: the influence of varying speed on target tracking.

PubMed

Hogan, Benedict G; Cuthill, Innes C; Scott-Samuel, Nicholas E

2017-01-01

The formation of groups is a common strategy to avoid predation in animals, and recent research has indicated that there may be interactions between some forms of defensive coloration, notably high-contrast 'dazzle camouflage', and one of the proposed benefits of grouping: the confusion effect. However, research into the benefits of dazzle camouflage has largely used targets moving with constant speed. This simplification may not generalize well to real animal systems, where a number of factors influence both within- and between-individual variation in speed. Departure from the speed of your neighbours in a group may be predicted to undermine the confusion effect. This is because individual speed may become a parameter through which the observer can individuate otherwise similar targets: an 'oddity effect'. However, dazzle camouflage patterns are thought to interfere with predator perception of speed and trajectory. The current experiment investigated the possibility that such patterns could ameliorate the oddity effect caused by within-group differences in prey speed. We found that variation in speed increased the ease with which participants could track targets in all conditions. However, we found no evidence that motion dazzle camouflage patterns reduced oddity effects based on this variation in speed, a result that may be informative about the mechanisms behind this form of defensive coloration. In addition, results from those conditions most similar to those of published studies replicated previous results, indicating that targets with stripes parallel to the direction of motion are harder to track, and that this pattern interacts with the confusion effect to a greater degree than background matching or orthogonal-to-motion striped patterns.

Pinitol Supplementation Does Not Affect Insulin-Mediated Glucose Metabolism and Muscle Insulin Receptor Content and Phosphorylation in Older Humans12

PubMed Central

Campbell, Wayne W.; Haub, Mark D.; Fluckey, James D.; Ostlund, Richard E.; Thyfault, John P.; Morse-Carrithers, Hannah; Hulver, Matthew W.; Birge, Zonda K.

2008-01-01

This study assessed the effect of oral pinitol supplementation on oral and intravenous glucose tolerances and on skeletal muscle insulin receptor content and phosphorylation in older people. Fifteen people (6 men, 9 women; age 66 ± 8 y; BMI 27.9 ± 3.3 kg/m2; hemoglobin A1c 5.39 ± 0.46%, mean ± SD) completed a 7-wk protocol. Subjects were randomly assigned to groups that during wk 2−7 consumed twice daily either a non-nutritive beverage (Placebo group, n = 8) or the same beverage with 1000 mg pinitol dissolved into it (Pinitol group, n = 7, total dose = 2000 mg pinitol/d). Testing was done at wk 1 and wk 7. In the Pinitol group with supplementation, 24-h urinary pinitol excretion increased 17-fold. The fasting concentrations of glucose, insulin, and C-peptide, and the 180-min area under the curve for these compounds, in response to oral (75 g) and intravenous (300 mg/kg) glucose tolerance challenges, were unchanged from wk 1 to wk 7 and were not influenced by pinitol. Also, pinitol did not affect indices of hepatic and whole-body insulin sensitivity from the oral glucose tolerance test and indices of insulin sensitivity, acute insulin response to glucose, and glucose effectiveness from the intravenous glucose tolerance test, estimated using minimal modeling. Pinitol did not differentially affect total insulin receptor content and insulin receptor phosphotyrosine 1158 and insulin receptor phosphotyrosine 1162/1163 activation in vastus lateralis samples taken during an oral-glucose–induced hyperglycemic and hyperinsulinemic state. These data suggest that pinitol supplementation does not influence whole-body insulin-mediated glucose metabolism and muscle insulin receptor content and phosphorylation in nondiabetic, older people. PMID:15514265

Impact of gestational weight gain on fetal growth in obese normoglycemic mothers: a comparative study.

PubMed

Elhddad, Agzail S; Fairlie, Fiona; Lashen, Hany

2014-08-01

To assess the pattern of gestational weight gain (GWG) and its effect on fetal growth among normogylycemic obese and lean mothers. Prospective longitudinal study. Teaching hospitals, Sheffield, UK. Forty-six euglycemic obese and 30 lean mothers and their offspring. The contrast slope of GWG was calculated and its impact on fetal growth trajectory and birth anthropometry examined in both groups. The GWG contrast slope trended significantly upward in both groups but it was steeper among lean mothers (p = 0.003), particularly in second trimester. Lean mothers had a biphasic GWG pattern with a higher early weight gain (p = 0.02), whereas obese mothers had a monophasic GWG. Both groups had similar third trimester GWG. The GWG contrast slope was influenced by early pregnancy maternal anthropometry in the obese group only. Nonetheless, the obese mothers' glucose and insulin indices had no significant relationship to GWG. GWG had a significant positive relationship with intrauterine femur length (r = 0.32, p = 0.04) and abdominal circumference (r = 0.42, p = 0.006) growth trajectories, as well as birthweight standard deviation scores (r = 0.32, p = 0.036) and the ponderal index (r = 0.45, p = 0.003) in the obese mothers. Gestational weight gain among lean mothers is biphasic and significantly higher than their obese counterparts, but without effect on fetal growth. The obese mothers' monophasic weight gain was influenced by their anthropometry, but not by their insulin or glucose indices, and impacted on the growth of their babies. © 2014 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Social identity influences stress appraisals and cardiovascular reactions to acute stress exposure.

PubMed

Gallagher, Stephen; Meaney, Sarah; Muldoon, Orla T

2014-09-01

This study tested a recent theoretical development in stress research to see whether group membership influenced cardiovascular reactions following exposure to acute stress. Participants (N = 104) were exposed to a message in which a maths test was described as stressful or challenging by an ingroup member (a student) or outgroup member (a stress disorder sufferer). Systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure(DBP) and heart rate (HR) were monitored throughout a standard reactivity study. As expected, a significant interaction was found; relative to those who were told that the task was challenging, ingroup members reported more stress and had higher DBP and HR reactivity when told by an ingroup member that the maths task was stressful; task information did not have the same effect for outgroup members. These results indicate that informational support is not constant but varies as a function of group membership. Finally, this recent development in stress research may prove useful for those interested in investigating the interactions between social, psychological and physiological processes underlying health disparities. What is already known on this subject? Stress is a common risk factor for hypertension and coronary heart disease. Social support has been found to reduce cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress. The influence of social support on stress varies as a consequence of social identity. What does this study add? The social group that one belongs to influences how one appraises and responds to stress. Social identity provides a useful framework for understanding how social processes are associated with health disparities. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

Iconicity influences how effectively minimally verbal children with autism and ability-matched typically developing children use pictures as symbols in a search task.

PubMed

Hartley, Calum; Allen, Melissa L

2015-07-01

Previous word learning studies suggest that children with autism spectrum disorder may have difficulty understanding pictorial symbols. Here we investigate the ability of children with autism spectrum disorder and language-matched typically developing children to contextualize symbolic information communicated by pictures in a search task that did not involve word learning. Out of the participant's view, a small toy was concealed underneath one of four unique occluders that were individuated by familiar nameable objects or unfamiliar unnamable objects. Children were shown a picture of the hiding location and then searched for the toy. Over three sessions, children completed trials with color photographs, black-and-white line drawings, and abstract color pictures. The results reveal zero group differences; neither children with autism spectrum disorder nor typically developing children were influenced by occluder familiarity, and both groups' errorless retrieval rates were above-chance with all three picture types. However, both groups made significantly more errorless retrievals in the most-iconic photograph trials, and performance was universally predicted by receptive language. Therefore, our findings indicate that children with autism spectrum disorder and young typically developing children can contextualize pictures and use them to adaptively guide their behavior in real time and space. However, this ability is significantly influenced by receptive language development and pictorial iconicity. © The Author(s) 2014.

Influence of dental correction on nociceptive test responses, fecal appearance, body condition score, and apparent digestibility coefficient for dry matter of Zamorano-leones donkeys (Equus asinus).

PubMed

Rodrigues, J B; Ferreira, L M; Bastos, E; San Roman, F; Viegas, C; Santos, A S

2013-10-01

The influence of dental correction on nociceptive (pressure) test responses, fecal appearance, BCS, and apparent digestibility coefficient for DM was studied in 18 Zamorano-Leonés donkeys, an endangered local breed from the Zamora province in Spain. For this purpose, donkeys were divided into 2 homogeneous control and treatment groups, based on age, BCS, and dental findings. On d 1, 45, 90, and 135, BCS and nociceptive test responses were evaluated in all donkeys. Feed and fecal samples were collected from all donkeys for 3 consecutive days, starting at each of the aforementioned days. Apparent digestibility coefficient for DM was estimated, using ADL as an internal marker. A progressive decrease of positive nociceptive test responses was observed from d 1 up to 90 (P < 0.01) in the treatment group. No difference between groups was observed for BCS. However, BCS at d 90 was greater (P = 0.018) than observed on d 1 or 45, indicating a time influence. Concerning apparent digestibility coefficient for DM, there were differences among collection days in apparent digestibility coefficient for DM (P < 0.05). No differences in fecal appearance were observed between treatments or collection days. This study highlighted the importance of regular dental care for not only Zamorano-Leonés donkeys but also the equid population, in general, to improve their welfare.

Longitudinal changes in body mass index of children affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

PubMed

Zheng, W; Yokomichi, H; Matsubara, H; Ishikuro, M; Kikuya, M; Isojima, T; Yokoya, S; Tanaka, T; Kato, N; Chida, S; Ono, A; Hosoya, M; Tanaka, S; Kuriyama, S; Kure, S; Yamagata, Z

2017-04-01

The evacuation and disruption in housing caused by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and following nuclear radiation may have influenced child health in many respects. However, studies regarding longitudinal childhood growth are limited. Therefore, in this study we aimed to explore the influence of the earthquake on longitudinal changes in body mass index in preschool children. Participants were children from nursery schools who cooperated with the study in the Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. The exposed group consisted of children who experienced the earthquake during their preschool-age period (4-5 years old). The historical control group included children who were born 2 years earlier than the exposed children in the same prefectures. Trajectories regarding body mass index and prevalence of overweight/obesity were compared between the two groups using multilevel analysis. Differences in the changes in BMI between before and after the earthquake, and proportion of overweight/obesity was compared between the two groups. We also conducted subgroup analysis by defining children with specific personal disaster experiences within the exposed group. A total of 9722 children were included in the study. Children in the exposed group had higher body mass indices and a higher proportion of overweight after the earthquake than the control group. These differences were more obvious when confined to exposed children with specific personal disaster experiences. Children's growth and development-related health issues such as increased BMI after natural disasters should evoke great attention.

Relationship between reaction rate constants of organic pollutants and their molecular descriptors during Fenton oxidation and in situ formed ferric-oxyhydroxides.

PubMed

Jia, Lijuan; Shen, Zhemin; Su, Pingru

2016-05-01

Fenton oxidation is a promising water treatment method to degrade organic pollutants. In this study, 30 different organic compounds were selected and their reaction rate constants (k) were determined for the Fenton oxidation process. Gaussian09 and Material Studio software sets were used to carry out calculations and obtain values of 10 different molecular descriptors for each studied compound. Ferric-oxyhydroxide coagulation experiments were conducted to determine the coagulation percentage. Based upon the adsorption capacity, all of the investigated organic compounds were divided into two groups (Group A and Group B). The percentage adsorption of organic compounds in Group A was less than 15% (wt./wt.) and that in the Group B was higher than 15% (wt./wt.). For Group A, removal of the compounds by oxidation was the dominant process while for Group B, removal by both oxidation and coagulation (as a synergistic process) took place. Results showed that the relationship between the rate constants (k values) and the molecular descriptors of Group A was more pronounced than for Group B compounds. For the oxidation-dominated process, EHOMO and Fukui indices (f(0)x, f(-)x, f(+)x) were the most significant factors. The influence of bond order was more significant for the synergistic process of oxidation and coagulation than for the oxidation-dominated process. The influences of all other molecular descriptors on the synergistic process were weaker than on the oxidation-dominated process. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Use the predictive models to explore the key factors affecting phytoplankton succession in Lake Erhai, China.

PubMed

Zhu, Rong; Wang, Huan; Chen, Jun; Shen, Hong; Deng, Xuwei

2018-01-01

Increasing algae in Lake Erhai has resulted in frequent blooms that have not only led to water ecosystem degeneration but also seriously influenced the quality of the water supply and caused extensive damage to the local people, as the lake is a water resource for Dali City. Exploring the key factors affecting phytoplankton succession and developing predictive models with easily detectable parameters for phytoplankton have been proven to be practical ways to improve water quality. To this end, a systematic survey focused on phytoplankton succession was conducted over 2 years in Lake Erhai. The data from the first study year were used to develop predictive models, and the data from the second year were used for model verification. The seasonal succession of phytoplankton in Lake Erhai was obvious. The dominant groups were Cyanobacteria in the summer, Chlorophyta in the autumn and Bacillariophyta in the winter. The developments and verification of predictive models indicated that compared to phytoplankton biomass, phytoplankton density is more effective for estimating phytoplankton variation in Lake Erhai. CCA (canonical correlation analysis) indicated that TN (total nitrogen), TP (total phosphorus), DO (dissolved oxygen), SD (Secchi depth), Cond (conductivity), T (water temperature), and ORP (oxidation reduction potential) had significant influences (p < 0.05) on the phytoplankton community. The CCA of the dominant species found that Microcystis was significantly influenced by T. The dominant Chlorophyta, Psephonema aenigmaticum and Mougeotia, were significantly influenced by TN. All results indicated that TN and T were the two key factors driving phytoplankton succession in Lake Erhai.

Psychosocial predictors of cannabis use in adolescents at risk.

PubMed

Hüsler, Gebhard; Plancherel, Bernard; Werlen, Egon

2005-09-01

This research has tested a social disintegration model in conjunction with risk and protection factors that have the power to differentiate relative, weighted interactions among variables in different socially disintegrated groups. The model was tested in a cross-sectional sample of 1082 at-risk youth in Switzerland. Structural equation analyses show significant differences between the social disintegration (low, moderate, high) groups and gender, indicating that the model works differently for groups and for gender. For the highly disintegrated adolescents results clearly show that the risk factors (negative mood, peer network, delinquency) are more important than the protective factors (family relations, secure sense of self). Family relations lose all protective value against negative peer influence, but personal variables, such as secure self, gain protective power.

Gestalt grouping and common onset masking.

PubMed

Kahan, Todd A; Mathis, Katherine M

2002-11-01

A four-dot mask that surrounds and is presented simultaneously with a briefly presented target will reduce a person's ability to identity that target if the mask persists beyond target offset and attention is divided (Enns & Di Lollo, 1997, 2000). This masking effect, referred to as common onset masking, reflects reentrant processing in the visual system and can best be explained with a theory of object substitution (Di Lollo, Enns, & Rensink, 2000). In the present experiments, we investigated whether Gestalt grouping variables would influence the strength of common onset masking. The results indicated that (1) masking was impervious to grouping by form, similarity of color, position, luminance polarity, and common region and (2) masking increased with the number of elements in the masking display.

Gender influences on preschool children's social problem-solving strategies.

PubMed

Walker, Sue; Irving, Kym; Berthelsen, Donna

2002-06-01

The authors investigated gender influences on the nature and competency of preschool children's social problem-solving strategies. Preschool-age children (N = 179; 91 boys, 88 girls) responded to hypothetical social situations designed to assess their social problem-solving skills in the areas of provocation, peer group entry, and sharing or taking turns. Results indicated that, overall, girls' responses were more competent (i.e., reflective of successful functioning with peers) than those of boys, and girls' strategies were less likely to involve retaliation or verbal or physical aggression. The competency of the children's responses also varied with the gender of the target child. Findings are discussed in terms of the influence of gender-related social experiences on the types of strategies and behaviors that may be viewed as competent for boys and girls of preschool age.

Characterizing scientific production of Italian Oral Surgery professionals through evaluation of bibliometric indices.

PubMed

Tetè, Stefano; Zizzari, Vincenzo Luca; De Carlo, Alessandro; Lorusso, Felice; Di Nicola, Marta; Piattelli, Adriano; Gherlone, Enrico; Polimeni, Antonella

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to characterize the scientific production of Italian Oral Surgery professionals by evaluating different bibliometric indices. The bibliometric evaluation was conducted on the Scopus Database upon all the Active Members joining three important Italian scientific societies in Oral Surgery (SIdCO, SIO, and SICOI). The scientific production was analysed by considering the number of total publications, number of total citations, h-index, and hc-index. Moreover, the overall sample was divided into two groups (Academics and Not Academics), according to the fact the professionals had or not a university position, and then into sub-groups according to the different career lengths. Statistical analyses were performed to compare the scientific productivity amongst groups. For all the considered parameters a lack of homogeneity between groups was reported, and significantly greater mean values were recorded for the Academics compared to the Not Academics Group. Moreover, the h-index values increased more regularly as the career length progressed than the hc-index values, even if the last seemed to be less variable. h- and hc-indices are both stable bibliometric parameters, but as the hc-index values are related not only to the number of citation but also to their age, it seems to be less influenced by the authors' career length. Bibliometric analysis of the scientific production in dentistry may facilitate the recognition of factors that may further enhance research activity and clinical performance and be useful for a comparative assessment of authors or research groups in terms of quality and quantity of the scientific production.

Indicators' role: How do they influence Strategic Environmental Assessment and Sustainable Planning - The Chinese experience.

PubMed

Gao, Jingjing; Christensen, Per; Kørnøv, Lone

2017-08-15

As an information carrier and communication medium, indicators provide useful decision-making assistance in setting process goals and effectively reaching the goals. The main focus of this article is to investigate indicators' role in influencing planning through Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) especially related to Chinese experiences. From the perspective of planning and decision-making theory, the influence on planning is studied as influence of planning structure and influence of planning actors. Such a conceptual framework is applied in order to demonstrate how the use of indicators can influence planning through a SEA process. The study holds two empirical levels. On a general level, based on an online survey, this article investigates SEA practitioners' experiences in using indicators. On a case level, two urban plans are selected to provide more detailed experiences. The case level investigation is based on a documentary study and individual interviews with SEA practitioners/planners. By exploring how indicators influence planning through the structure of and the actors within SEA, this study tries to provide an overview of indicators' role in SEA. The results indicate that indicators are perceived as a useful tool in the Chinese SEA system. By improving and simplifying the procedures of SEA, the indicators exert more structural influence on SEA and on plan making. On the other hand, indicators are also shown to have more influence through political actors than found among technical actors. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Use of context in emotion perception: The role of top-down control, cue type, and perceiver's age.

PubMed

Ngo, Nhi; Isaacowitz, Derek M

2015-06-01

Although context is crucial to emotion perception, there are various factors that can modulate contextual influence. The current research investigated how cue type, top-down control, and the perceiver's age influence attention to context in facial emotion perception. In 2 experiments, younger and older adults identified facial expressions contextualized by other faces, isolated objects, and scenes. In the first experiment, participants were instructed to ignore face, object, and scene contexts. Face context was found to influence perception the least, whereas scene context produced the most contextual effect. Older adults were more influenced by context than younger adults, but both age groups were similarly influenced by different types of contextual cues, even when they were instructed to ignore the context. In the second experiment, when explicitly instructed that the context had no meaningful relationship to the target, younger and older adults both were less influenced by context than when they were instructed that the context was relevant to the target. Results from both studies indicate that contextual influence on emotion perception is not constant, but can vary based on the type of contextual cue, cue relevance, and the perceiver's age. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Lifetime influences for cannabis cessation in male incarcerated indigenous australians.

PubMed

Jacups, Susan; Rogerson, Bernadette

2015-01-01

Urban non-indigenous populations report life events (marriages, employment) as influences for self-initiated cannabis cessation. However, this hasn't been investigated in remote indigenous populations with different social paradigms. We investigate cannabis use, harms, and poly-substance misuse in 101 consenting male incarcerated indigenous Australians. Interviews applied quantitative and qualitative questions assessing demographic characteristics, criminal history, drug use, the Marijuana Problems Inventory (MPI), and cannabis-cessation influences. Comparisons used Chi Square, Analysis of Variance, and Nvivo software. Cannabis use groups (current users, ex-users, and never users) were demographically similar except that current users reported more juvenile legal problems, younger school departure, and lower school achievement (p < 0.05). Mean cannabis consumption was 12.3 cones/day. Incarceration and family responsibilities were the strongest cessation influences. Employment responsibilities and negative self-image were rarely cited as influences. High cannabis use, with its associated problems, is concerning. These identified influences indicate incarceration should be used for substance reduction programs, plus post-release follow-up. Community-based programs focusing on positive influences, such as family responsibilities and social cohesion, may be successful within indigenous populations with strong kinship responsibilities, rather than programs that focus solely on substance harms.

The influence of resistance exercise training on the levels of anxiety in ischemic stroke.

PubMed

Aidar, Felipe José; de Oliveira, Ricardo Jacó; Silva, António José; de Matos, Dihogo Gama; Mazini Filho, Mauro Lúcio; Hickner, Robert C; Machado Reis, Victor

2012-01-01

The aim of this pilot study was to analyze the effect of a strength training program on indicators of trait and state anxiety in patients with ischemic stroke. The subjects were divided into two groups: experimental group (EG) consisting of 11 subjects aged 51.7 ± 8.0 years and a control group (CG) with 13 subjects aged 52.5 ± 7.7 years. EG underwent 12 weeks of strength training, with a frequency of three times a week. For data collection, a State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was used. Significant differences were found between pre- and posttest in EG for trait anxiety (43.2 ± 12.5 pretest 39.9 ± 7.3 posttest) and state anxiety (46.9 ± 7.6 pretest 44.9 ± 7.7 posttest) with no differences in CG for trait anxiety (42.9 ± 12.2 pretest 42.6 ± 12.1 posttest) and state anxiety (47.4 ± 8.1 pretest 47.5 ± 8.0 posttest). In the evaluation between the groups, significant differences were found for all indicators of trait anxiety (39.9 ± 7.3 EG; 42.6 ± 12.1 CG) and state anxiety (44.9 ± 7.7 EG; 47.5 ± 8.0 CG). This pilot study indicates that strength training may provide an improvement in trait and state anxiety more than one year after stroke.

The Influence of Resistance Exercise Training on the Levels of Anxiety in Ischemic Stroke

PubMed Central

Aidar, Felipe José; de Oliveira, Ricardo Jacó; Silva, António José; de Matos, Dihogo Gama; Mazini Filho, Mauro Lúcio; Hickner, Robert C.; Machado Reis, Victor

2012-01-01

The aim of this pilot study was to analyze the effect of a strength training program on indicators of trait and state anxiety in patients with ischemic stroke. The subjects were divided into two groups: experimental group (EG) consisting of 11 subjects aged 51.7 ± 8.0 years and a control group (CG) with 13 subjects aged 52.5 ± 7.7 years. EG underwent 12 weeks of strength training, with a frequency of three times a week. For data collection, a State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was used. Significant differences were found between pre- and posttest in EG for trait anxiety (43.2 ± 12.5 pretest 39.9 ± 7.3 posttest) and state anxiety (46.9 ± 7.6 pretest 44.9 ± 7.7 posttest) with no differences in CG for trait anxiety (42.9 ± 12.2 pretest 42.6 ± 12.1 posttest) and state anxiety (47.4 ± 8.1 pretest 47.5 ± 8.0 posttest). In the evaluation between the groups, significant differences were found for all indicators of trait anxiety (39.9 ± 7.3 EG; 42.6 ± 12.1 CG) and state anxiety (44.9 ± 7.7 EG; 47.5 ± 8.0 CG). This pilot study indicates that strength training may provide an improvement in trait and state anxiety more than one year after stroke. PMID:23213625

Chronic Subdural Hematoma Preceded by High-Impact Trauma: Does the Intensity of Trauma Influence the Pathogenesis of Traumatic Chronic Subdural Hematoma?

PubMed

Park, Ki-Su; Lee, Chang-Heon; Park, Seong-Hyun; Hwang, Sung-Kyoo; Hwang, Jeong-Hyun

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the intensity of trauma influences the pathogenesis of traumatic chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH). Thirty-one patients treated surgically for traumatic CSDH were divided into high-impact and lowimpact groups according to the intensity of trauma. They were respectively evaluated with respect to clinical and radiological findings at presentation, and the subdural concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor, and beta-trace protein (ΒTP) [a highly specific protein in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)] related to the pathogenesis of CSDH. If ΒTP (subdural fluid/serum) was > 2, an admixture of CSF to the subdural fluid was indicated. The ΒTP (subdural fluid/serum) was > 2 in all patients with a traumatic CSDH. The mean concentration of subdural ΒTP in the high-impact group was higher than in the low-impact group (6.1 mg/L versus 3.9 mg/L), and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.02). In addition, mean concentrations of IL-6, IL-8 and VEGF were higher in the high-impact group, as compared to the low-impact group, though the differences did not reach statistical significance. Trauma may be related to CSF leakage into the subdural space in CSDH, and the intensity of trauma may influence the amount of CSF leakage. Although there is no direct correlation between the amount of CSF leakage and other subdural molecules, the intensity of trauma may be associated with larger concentrations of molecules in traumatic CSDH.

The influence of individualized music on patients in physical restraints: a pilot study.

PubMed

Janelli, Linda M; Kanski, Genevieve W; Wu, Yow-Wu Bill

This pilot study explored the relationship between listening to preferred music and the behavioral responses of patients who are physically restrained. Thirty patients, ranging in age from 65 to 93, participated in one of three groups. The first group included patients who were out of restraining devices while listening to preferred music. Patients in the second group were out of restraining devices and not exposed to music. The third group comprised patients who were in restraining devices while listening to preferred music. Listening to preferred music had no significant effect on decreasing patients' negative behaviors or on increasing positive behaviors observed during the intervention phase of the study. The higher mean scores for positive behaviors and lower mean scores for negative behaviors for the first group may indicate some benefits to patients who are out of restraints and listening to preferred music.

Ethnicity, Forms of Capital, and Educational Achievement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Driessen, Geert W. J. M.

2001-11-01

Bourdieu's cultural capital thesis is an attempt to explain how social class influences the transmission of educational inequality. In this article, the question of the extent to which various forms of capital also apply to ethnic minorities stands central. On the basis of Dutch and American research findings, a model is formulated and empirically tested with the aid of data from the Dutch Primary Education cohort study. Students from four ethnic groups are included: Dutch, Surinamese, Turkish, and Moroccan. The main variables are language and math test scores, socio-economic milieu, and a number of capital indicators, including financial resources, linguistic resources, parental reading behavior, and educational resources within the family. The results show no mediating effect of resources within the various ethnic groups. The findings also suggest that in research and practice it is relevant to not treat ethnic groups as one homogenous group, but to differentiate between the various groups.

Acoustic reflex on newborns: the influence of the 226 and 1,000 Hz probes.

PubMed

Jacob-Corteletti, Lilian Cássia Bórnia; Duarte, Josilene Luciene; Zucki, Fernanda; Mariotto, Luciane Domingues Figueiredo; Lauris, José Roberto Pereira; Alvarenga, Kátia de Freitas

2015-01-01

To analyze the occurrence of acoustic reflex and its threshold on newborns using the 226 and 1,000 Hz probes. Thirty-six newborns with "PASS" results in newborn hearing screening and tympanogram with one or two peaks for both probe tones were included. Group I comprised 20 full-term newborns without risk indicator for hearing loss, and Group II comprised 16 newborns with at least one risk indicator. The study about ipsilateral acoustic reflex thresholds was conducted in 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 4,000 Hz. The groups presented the acoustic reflex thresholds between 50 and 100 dB for both probe tones. In the comparison between the probes, there were differences in all frequencies evaluated in Group I, with the lowest threshold mean for the 1,000 Hz probe. In Group II, differences were detected at 2,000 Hz. The mean acoustic reflex thresholds were similar in both groups for the 226 Hz probe. There was a difference for the 1,000 Hz probe in all tested frequencies. The percentage of response was higher in both groups for the 1,000 Hz probe. The kappa test showed extremely poor agreement in the comparison of results between both probes. The occurrence of acoustic reflex was higher in newborns and its thresholds were lower with the 1,000 Hz probe both for healthy newborns and for newborns at risk.

The Joint Effects of Smoking and Alcohol Drinking on Lipid-Related Indices among Chinese Males-Comparing Exercise and Non-Exercise Groups.

PubMed

Yang, Jian; Ye, Jun; Guo, Qiao; Sun, Yining; Zheng, Yansong; Zhang, Yongliang

2018-06-11

Smoking and drinking are two predisposing factors for dyslipidemia. Exercise has been proposed as a strategy to improve the blood lipids. However, it remains unclear how smoking and drinking jointly affect blood lipids and whether exercise influences their effects. To evaluate the effects of smoking and drinking, either alone or in combination, on lipid-related indices in both exercise and non-exercise groups among Chinese men. This study was conducted in a health examination center between 2015 and 2016. A sample of 6,179 male subjects was divided into exercise and non-exercise groups. Logistic and linear regression analyses were used to calculate the odds ratios for abnormal lipid-related indices and correlation coefficients between smoking/drinking and lipid-related indices. In the study population, the percentage of stable smokers and stable drinkers was 46.3% (2,860/6,179) and 77.6% (4,795/6,179), respectively. An increased smoking amount was significantly associated with an elevated triglyceride (TG) level and a decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level. Heavier smokers had higher odds ratios for high TG and low HDL-C. Heavier drinkers had higher levels of total cholesterol (TC), TG, and HDL-C and higher odds ratios for high TC and high TG but lower odds ratio for low HDL-C. The exercise group had lower TG levels and higher HDL-C levels than did the non-exercise group. Both heavier smoking and heavier drinking were associated with poorer TG levels, and the results suggest that drinking may be helpful for HDL-C. Exercise may relieve the negative effects of smoking and drinking.

Group Influences on Individual Aggression and Prosociality: Early Adolescents Who Change Peer Affiliations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berger, Christian; Rodkin, Philip C.

2012-01-01

The present study addresses the influence that group norms exert on individual aggressive and prosocial behavior. The study hypothesis is that for early adolescents who change their peer group affiliations, the characteristics of the group they are leaving (departing-group influence) are not as influential as those of the group that they are…

Social factors influencing natal dispersal in male white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus).

PubMed

Jack, Katharine M; Sheller, Claire; Fedigan, Linda M

2012-04-01

White-faced capuchin males disperse from their natal group at around 4.5 years of age, but there is much variation in dispersal timing: our youngest confirmed disperser was 19 months and the oldest 11 years old. In this study, we investigate possible factors influencing dispersal decisions in this species. Between 1983 and 2010, 64 males were born into three study groups in Santa Rosa National Park, Area de Conservación Guanacaste, and Costa Rica. As of August 2010, 21 died or were presumed dead (<14 months), 13 remained natal residents, and 30 were presumed dispersers. We used backward logistic regression to identify proximate factors that predict the occurrence of male natal dispersal. The occurrence of a takeover (significant positive association) and group size (nonsignificant negative association) were included in the model. Male age, number of maternal brothers, and number of adult males were not significant predictors of natal dispersal. The resultant model correctly classified 97% of dispersed and 89% of resident natal males, for an overall success rate of 95%. The occurrence of a group takeover was the strongest predictor of male dispersal, with natal males being 18.7 times more likely to disperse in the context of a group takeover than during peaceful times. A linear regression model showed that the tenure length of a male's probable father influences the age of natal dispersal, explaining 15% of the observed variation in age. However, when our oldest disperser was removed (an outlier) this effect disappeared. Collectively, these results indicate that group instability, as evidenced by the occurrence of a takeover, shorter tenure length of a natal male's father, and smaller group size, triggers natal dispersal in this species while the converse leads to a delay. These data add to our growing evidence of the enormous impact that takeovers have on the behavioral ecology of this species. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Objective and subjective psychosocial functioning in bipolar disorder: an investigation of the relative importance of neurocognition, social cognition and emotion regulation.

PubMed

Van Rheenen, Tamsyn E; Rossell, Susan L

2014-06-01

People with bipolar disorder (BD) experience significant psychosocial impairment. Understandings of the nature and causes of such impairment is limited by the lack of research exploring the extent to which subjectively reported functioning should be valued as an indicator of objective dysfunction, or examining the relative influence of neurocognition, social cognition and emotion regulation on these important, but different aspects of psychosocial functioning in the context of mania and depression symptoms. This study aimed to address this paucity of research by conducting a comprehensive investigation of psychosocial functioning in a well characterised group of BD patients. Fifty-one BD patients were compared to 52 healthy controls on objectively and subjectively assessed psychosocial outcomes. Relationships between current mood symptoms, psychosocial function and neurocognitive, social cognitive and emotion regulation measures were also examined in the patient group. Patients had significantly worse scores on the global objective and subjective functioning measures relative to controls. In the patient group, although these scores were correlated, regression analyses showed that variance in each of the measures was explained by different predictors. Depressive symptomatology was the most important predictor of global subjective functioning, and neurocognition had a concurrent and important influence with depressive symptoms on objective psychosocial function. Emotion regulation also had an indirect effect on psychosocial functioning via its influence on depressive symptomatology. As this study was cross-sectional in nature, we are unable to draw precise conclusions regarding contributing pathways involved in psychosocial functioning in BD. These results suggest that patients' own evaluations of their subjective functioning represent important indicators of the extent to which their observable function is impaired. They also highlight the importance of incorporating cognitive and emotion regulation assessments into clinical practice when working to reduce psychosocial dysfunction with patients diagnosed with BD. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterization of diverse subvariants of the meningococcal factor H (fH) binding protein for their ability to bind fH, to mediate serum resistance, and to induce bactericidal antibodies.

PubMed

Seib, Kate L; Brunelli, Brunella; Brogioni, Barbara; Palumbo, Emmanuelle; Bambini, Stefania; Muzzi, Alessandro; DiMarcello, Federica; Marchi, Sara; van der Ende, Arie; Aricó, Beatrice; Savino, Silvana; Scarselli, Maria; Comanducci, Maurizio; Rappuoli, Rino; Giuliani, Marzia M; Pizza, Mariagrazia

2011-02-01

Neisseria meningitidis is a commensal of the human nasopharynx but is also a major cause of septicemia and meningitis. The meningococcal factor H binding protein (fHbp) binds human factor H (fH), enabling downregulation of complement activation on the bacterial surface. fHbp is a component of two serogroup B meningococcal vaccines currently in clinical development. Here we characterize 12 fHbp subvariants for their level of surface exposure and ability to bind fH, to mediate serum resistance, and to induce bactericidal antibodies. Flow cytometry and Western analysis revealed that all strains examined expressed fHbp on their surface to different extents and bound fH in an fHbp-dependent manner. However, differences in fH binding did not always correlate with the level of fHbp expression, indicating that this is not the only factor affecting the amount of fH bound. To overcome the issue of strain variability in fHbp expression, the MC58ΔfHbp strain was genetically engineered to express different subvariants from a constitutive heterologous promoter. These recombinant strains were characterized for fH binding, and the data confirmed that each subvariant binds different levels of fH. Surface plasmon resonance revealed differences in the stability of the fHbp-fH complexes that ranged over 2 orders of magnitude, indicating that differences in residues between and within variant groups can influence fH binding. Interestingly, the level of survival in human sera of recombinant MC58 strains expressing diverse subvariants did not correlate with the level of fH binding, suggesting that the interaction of fHbp with fH is not the only function of fHbp that influences serum resistance. Furthermore, cross-reactive bactericidal activity was seen within each variant group, although the degree of activity varied, suggesting that amino acid differences within each variant group influence the bactericidal antibody response.

Do socioeconomic factors influence breast cancer screening practices among Arab women in Qatar?

PubMed

Donnelly, Tam Truong; Al Khater, Al-Hareth; Al Kuwari, Mohamed Ghaith; Al-Bader, Salha Bujassoum; Al-Meer, Nabila; Abdulmalik, Mariam; Singh, Rajvir; Chaudhry, Sofia; Fung, Tak

2015-01-22

Breast cancer incidence rates are rising in Qatar. Although the Qatari government provides subsidised healthcare and screening programmes that reduce cost barriers for residents, breast cancer screening (BCS) practices among women remain low. This study explores the influence of socioeconomic status on BCS among Arab women in Qatar. A multicentre, cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted with 1063 Arab women (87.5% response rate) in Qatar from March 2011 to July 2011. Women who were 35 years or older and had lived in Qatar for at least 10 years were recruited from seven primary healthcare centres and women's health clinics in urban and semiurban regions of Qatar. Associations between socioeconomic factors and BCS practice were estimated using χ(2) tests and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Findings indicate that less than one-third of the participants practised BCS appropriately, whereas less than half of the participants were familiar with recent BCS guidelines. Married women and women with higher education and income levels were significantly more likely to be aware of and to practise BCS than women who had lower education and income levels. Findings indicate low levels of awareness and low participation rates in BCS among Arab women in Qatar. Socioeconomic factors influence these women's participation in BCS activities. The strongest predictors for BCS practice are higher education and higher income levels. Additional research is needed to explore the impact of economic factors on healthcare seeking behaviours in the Middle Eastern countries that have a high national gross domestic product where healthcare services are free or heavily subsidised by the government; promotion of BCS and intervention strategies in these countries should focus on raising awareness about breast cancer, the cost and benefit of early screening for this disease, particularly among low-income women. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Pathological gambling severity and co-occurring psychiatric disorders in individuals with and without anxiety disorders in a nationally representative sample.

PubMed

Giddens, Justine Lauren; Stefanovics, Elina; Pilver, Corey Elizabeth; Desai, Rani; Potenza, Marc Nicholas

2012-08-30

While anxiety disorders (ADs) and pathological gambling (PG) frequently co-occur with each other and other Axis I and Axis II disorders, previous studies have not examined the relative influence of ADs on the co-occurrences between PG severity and non-anxiety psychopathologies. The current study used data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (N=43,093) to examine the influence of past-year ADs on the associations between past-year PG severity measures based on DSM-IV criteria for PG and non-anxiety psychiatric disorders. The findings revealed that increased PG severity was associated with Axes I and II psychopathology in both the groups with and without ADs. Significant anxiety-by-gambling-group interactions were also observed, particularly with respect to mood and personality disorders. The interactions indicate a stronger relationship between PG severity and psychopathology in participants without ADs than in those with ADs. Future research should investigate specific factors contributing to the co-occurrence of anxiety, gambling, and other psychiatric disorders and how the co-occurrences might influence clinically relevant phenomena such as treatment selection or course. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pathological gambling severity and co-occurring psychiatric disorders in individuals with and without anxiety disorders in a nationally representative sample

PubMed Central

Giddens, Justine Lauren; Stefanovics, Elina; Pilver, Corey Elizabeth; Desai, Rani; Potenza, Marc Nicholas

2012-01-01

While anxiety disorders (ADs) and pathological gambling (PG) frequently co-occur with each other and other Axis I and Axis II disorders, previous studies have not examined the relative influence of ADs on the co-occurrences between PG severity and non-anxiety psychopathologies. The current study used data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (N=43,093) to examine the influence of past-year ADs on the associations between past-year PG severity measures based on DSM-IV criteria for PG and non-anxiety psychiatric disorders. The findings revealed that increased PG severity was associated with Axes I and II psychopathology in both the groups with and without ADs. Significant anxiety-by-gambling-group interactions were also observed, particularly with respect to mood and personality disorders. The interactions indicate a stronger relationship between PG severity and psychopathology in participants without ADs than in those with ADs. Future research should investigate specific factors contributing to the co-occurrence of anxiety, gambling, and other psychiatric disorders and how the co-occurrences might influence clinically relevant phenomena such as treatment selection or course. PMID:22534498