Broad Sample Research Articles

Construction of a competency evaluation model for Clinical Research Coordinators in China: a study based on the Delphi method and questionnaire survey

PurposeAs the number of clinical trials in China continues to grow, the assessment of competency of Clinical Research Coordinators (CRCs), who play a crucial role in clinical trials, has become...

Paleoenvironmental factors controlling organic-rich formations deposition in the Babouri-Figuil Basin (Northern Cameroon)

The Babouri-Figuil Basin is an intracratonic basin (half-graben) in northern Cameroon that is genetically connected to the Benue Trough from Nigeria, and is an area of interest in terms of petroleum prospectivity. Recent studies highlighted the presence of organic-rich formations in the basin. However, none of these works have identified factors that governed the accumulation of organic matter (OM) in the sediments. The main objective of this work is the characterization of these formations through palynofacies and organic geochemical techniques (total organic carbon - TOC, total sulfur, insoluble residue and biomarkers), in order to determine the organic facies, their depositional environments and the main drivers for organic enrichment in the basin. The current study reveals that black shale and massive claystone lithologies constitute the main organic-rich formations in the basin, with TOC reaching up to 26.08 wt%, being characterized by a dominance of bacterially-derived amorphous OM. Palynofacies and biomarker data revealed that these formations are positively associated with anoxic conditions and a partly highly saline and stratified lake water column. The deposition of organic-rich formations in the Babouri-Figuil Basin was mainly controlled by restriction conditions which developed in connection with the regional tectonic framework. The Lower Cretaceous rifting episode in the West and Central African Rift System (WCARS) basins led to the formation of accommodation space, a reduction in water levels, and the development of anoxic conditions within the basin, facilitating the deposition of organic-rich formations. Therefore, the organic enrichment of the Babouri-Figuil Basin has been predominantly controlled by its tectonic evolution, particularly during the syn-rift phase. This phase created favorable conditions for the deposition and preservation of OM, including the establishment of anoxic conditions. Additionally, the paleoclimate (arid conditions), the development of bacterial biomass, and the basin's paleogeography all played a significant role in this process. The organic-rich formations of the Babouri-Figuil Basin show characteristics of prospective petroleum source rocks (high organic content, high proportion of oil-prone kerogen, significant thickness and lateral extension). The combination of organic-rich formations with sandstone deposits above and extensive claystone/shale deposits on top can indicate the presence of an oil play in the basin. A detailed study with broader sampling is needed to investigate thoroughly the variation of organic facies and the influence of paleoenvironmental factors that control the deposition of thick source rock intervals.

How Green Product and Green Promotion Factors to Consider in Purchasing Decision?

Preserving the environment and maintaining health are shared responsibilities. A robust immune system and overall good health are essential for everyone. Health is fundamental to carrying out daily life effectively. While a strong immune system is crucial, maintaining other bodily functions is equally important for optimal well-being. These efforts are crucial not only for enhancing quality of life but also for preventing global warming. Therefore, this study examines the influence of green products and green promotions on consumer purchase decisions. Employing a quantitative approach with an explanatory method, the research involved 224 Tropicana Slim consumers in Yogya Junction, Cirebon City, who had purchased the product at least once. Data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach with the partial least squares (PLS) method. The findings indicate that green products and green promotions significantly impact consumer purchase decisions. As evidenced by the test results (t-value for Green Product > 6.722, p-value < 0.000; t-value for Green Promotion > 4.923, p-value < 0.000), both hypotheses are supported. This confirms that green products and green promotions positively influence purchasing decisions. We expect future research with a broader sample and more robust methodologies to strengthen these findings.

Does regime type matter for economic institutions in non‐democracies?

AbstractWe provide evidence that the quality of economic institutions in non‐democracies is not uniform, and differences in the type of political regimes lead to such variations. By dividing non‐democracies into four groups of monarchies, personal dictatorships, party dictatorships, and military dictatorships, we argue that monarchies perform better than the others due to their structural characteristics. Using a broad sample of non‐democracies, we empirically find that the performance of economic institutions is better in monarchies compared to other forms of dictatorships. Moreover, no significant difference is observed between the performance of personal, party, and military dictatorships.

Differences in job satisfaction of male and female teachers in private and public secondary schools

BackgroundPositive feelings about one’s work are referred to as job satisfaction. On the other hand, a bad attitude regarding one's employment is job discontent. In mainstream research, studies on work satisfaction are commonplace. There have been thousands of research done all around the world. Teachers at secondary schools in Pakistan are taking the lead in conducting research on work satisfaction, despite the fact that this field is still underutilized.Aim and objectivesThe current study’s goal was to find out how satisfied male and female instructors were with their jobs in Bahawalpur, Pakistan’s private and public secondary schools. Teachers employed at Pakistan’s public and private schools in Bahawalpur were the study’s targeted demographic, which was chosen for this cross-sectional quantitative investigation. Random sampling was used in the selection of the research sample.MethodThere were five hundred male and female secondary school teachers in the final sample. The survey was self-administered using a 36-item structured questionnaire by good docs. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed in the data analysis to examine the collected information. The participants were categorized based on their age, gender, experience, qualifications, and type of institution (public vs. private) in order to determine the difference in work satisfactions using one-way ANOVA and an independent sample t-test.FindingsThe findings showed that compared to male instructors, female teachers had higher levels of satisfaction. ConclusionThe research investigated that different public and private school teachers' work satisfactions are based on factors including age, experience, and qualifications.LimitationsThe research findings may not be applicable to other school districts and a sizable population living in Bahawalpur, Pakistan. The author selected a broad sample of teachers (male/female) from public and private schools.Managerial implicationsThe current study was to characterize the elements that lead to teacher satisfaction and discontent among secondary school instructors in Bahawalpur, Pakistan.

Exploration, Distributed Attention, and Development of Category Learning

Category learning is a crucial aspect of cognition that involves organizing entities into equivalence classes. Whereas adults tend to focus on category-relevant features, young children often distribute attention between relevant and irrelevant ones. The reasons for children’s distributed attention are not fully understood. In two category-learning experiments with adults and with children aged 4, 5, and 6 (N = 201), we examined potential drivers of distributed attention, including (a) immature filtering of distractors and (b) the general tendency for exploration or broad information sampling. By eliminating distractor competition, we reduced filtering demands. Despite identifying the features critical for accurate categorization, children, regardless of their categorization performance, continued sampling more information than was necessary. These results indicate that the tendency to sample information extensively contributes to distributed attention in young children. We identify candidate drivers of this tendency that need to be examined in future research.

Microgeographic speed, reliability, and traffic externalities

This paper estimates congestion externalities on a broad sample of roads in England’s capital region. A fixed effects approach that compares across times of day finds that 10% more traffic increases travel time by 4%, erodes reliability, and finds smallest marginal effects on high-capacity roads. I incorporate both expected travel time and reliability into a model of congestion externalities. Combining the model with travel data, I find that Central London’s Congestion Charge exceeds tolled drivers’ external costs if they only reflect travel time and reliability. Despite the large toll in London’s city centre, I find that deadweight loss in untolled parts of the city remains substantial, and that accounting for reliability increases deadweight loss by as much as 55%.

NETWORK ANALYSIS OF SINGLE-NUCLEOTIDE POLYMORPHISMS ASSOCIATED WITH ABERRANT INFLAMMATION IN TRAUMA PATIENTS SUGGESTS A ROLE FOR VESICLE-ASSOCIATED INFLAMMATORY PROGRAMS INVOLVING CD55.

Critical illness stemming from severe traumatic injury is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and involves the dysfunction of multiple organ systems, driven, at least in part, by dysregulated inflammation. We and others have shown a key role for genetic predisposition to dysregulated inflammation and downstream adverse critical illness outcomes. Recently, we demonstrated an association among genotypes at the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs10404939 in LYPD4, dysregulated systemic inflammation, and adverse clinical outcomes in a broad sample of ~1000 critically ill patients. We sought to gain mechanistic insights into the role of LYPD4 in critical illness by bioinformatically analyzing potential interactions among rs10404939 and other SNPs. We analyzed a dataset of common (i.e., not rare) SNPs previously defined to be associated with genotype-specific, significantly dysregulated systemic inflammation trajectories in trauma patients, in comparison to a control dataset of common SNPs determined to exhibit an absence of genotype-specific inflammatory responses. In the control dataset, this analysis implicated SNPs associated with phosphatidylinositol and various membrane transport proteins, but not LYPD4. In the patient subset with genotypically dysregulated inflammation, our analysis suggested the co-localization to lipid rafts of LYPD4 and the complement receptor CD55, as well as the neurally related CNTNAP2 and RIMS4. Segregation of trauma patients based on genotype of the CD55 SNP rs11117564 showed distinct trajectories of organ dysfunction and systemic inflammation despite similar demographics and injury characteristics. These analyses define novel interactions among SNPs that could enhance our understanding of the response to traumatic injury and critical illness.

Volunteer participation and depression: Interplay of familial trust and autonomy

Depression, a critical public health concern, has a complex relationship with volunteerism, one often seen as beneficial for mental health but varying across cultural contexts. This study probed this dynamic within China, factoring in the moderating effects of familial trust and individual autonomy. Engaging a broad sample of 16,348 individuals aged between 15 and 64 years from the 2018 China Labor-Force Dynamics Survey, I deployed a cross-sectional design with stratified probability sampling. Advanced statistical analyses using Stata software revealed that volunteerism was linked to heightened depressive symptoms, but this effect was significantly moderated by familial trust, especially among those individuals with greater autonomy. These insights challenge the assumption that volunteerism is universally advantageous for mental health, underscoring the nuanced role of cultural context and advocating for culturally informed mental health interventions.

Environmentally sustainable apparel merchandising of recycled cotton-polyester blended garments: Analysis of consumer preferences and purchasing behaviors

This research work examines how consumer behavior and purchasing pattern are affected by recycled cotton-polyester blended clothing, with a particular emphasis on sustainable apparel merchandising. The use of recycled materials has drawn a lot of attention as environmental sustainability in the fashion business is growing attention. In order to investigate customer behavior, perceptions, preferences and purchasing decisions regarding recycled cotton-polyester blended clothing.This research employed a mixed-methods design that included both qualitative and quantitative methods. For a deeper understanding of the customer attitudes, opinions and motives towards sustainable fashion recycled materials in particular, this phase qualitatively involves a one-on-one interview and focus group discussions based on age, gender social class as well as the level of education. In addition, the study considers aspects such as longevity in use, wear resistance, quality, ease of use and clothing comfort that influence buying decisions. Using data from the qualitative phase as a foundation, the quantitative phase uses surveys given to a broad consumer sample to measure consumer preferences and purchasing pattern for recycled cotton-polyester clothing. This research aims at identifying the key factors that impact the preference of customers and buying behavior for recycled cotton and polyester blends based apparel. Additionally, it aims to assess how well sustainable clothing merchandising techniques work to promote these goods. This study indicates that individuals aged 25–45 from higher social strata and with higher educational attainment exhibit greater awareness and preference for recycled apparel with more than 60 % demonstrating a marked inclination towards these products.

A Catalog of Broad Hα and Hβ Active Galactic Nuclei in MaNGA

Broad Hα and Hβ emission lines (FWHM > 1000 km s−1) are incredibly efficient tracers of the high-velocity clouds encircling active galactic nuclei (AGNs). As a result, we search for these broad-line AGN in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey’s Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) catalog. We identify 301 broad-line Hα galaxies and 801 broad-line Hβ galaxies in the catalog. In total, we detect 1042 unique broad-line galaxies with luminosities between 1037 and 1043 erg s−1; 60 feature both broad Hα and broad Hβ emission. We also determine that the broad-line region radius ranges between 0.01 and 46 lt-days, with a median radius of 0.1 lt-days (0.02 pc) for our broad Hβ sample. In addition, we find that both samples feature a higher fraction of galaxy mergers (44% for the broad Hα sample and 43% for the broad Hβ sample), compared to the full MaNGA galaxy sample (26%), which suggests that merger-driven fueling is strongly active in our sample.

Detecting accelerated long-term forgetting remotely in a community sample of people with epilepsy: Evidence from the Crimes and Four Doors tests

People with epilepsy often report experiencing memory problems though these are not always detectable using standard neuropsychological measures. One form of difficulty that may be relatively prevalent in epilepsy is termed accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF), typically described as relatively greater loss of memory over days or weeks following initial encoding. The current study used remote assessment to examine memory and forgetting over one week in a broad community sample of people with epilepsy and healthy control participants, using two recently developed tests, one verbal (the Crimes test) and one visual (the Four Doors test). These were administered as part of a short battery of cognitive measures, run remotely with participants over Zoom. Across this community-derived sample, people with epilepsy reported more memory complaints and demonstrated significantly faster forgetting on both the verbal and visual tests. This difference was not attributable to level of initial learning performance and was not detectable through delayed recall on a standard existing test. Our results suggests that ALF may be more common than suspected in people with epilepsy, leading to a potentially important source of memory problems that are currently undetected by standard memory tests.

Asociación entre las cadenas ligeras de neurofilamento en suero (sNfL) y los trastornos neurológicos en una muestra representativa de adultos en los Estados Unidos: un estudio transversal

BackgroundWhile increased neurofilament light chain (NfL) in serum concentrations are linked to the progression of several neurological conditions, their distribution and implications within the general adult population remain largely unexplored. The current research aims to clarify the relationship among serum NfL levels and neurological disorders in a broad and representative population sample. MethodsWe utilized information gathered from 1,751 adults involved in the 2013-2014 cycle of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Our analytical approach encompassed logistic regression, smoothed curve fitting, and subgroup analyses to identify potential correlations between serum NfL levels and neurological conditions, including depression, severe hearing and visual impairments, stroke, subjective memory deficits, and sleep problems. ResultsAfter adjusting for confounders, we found that higher serum NfL concentrations were significantly associated with increased risks of depression, stroke, subjective memory deficits, and longer sleep duration (P<.05). Subgroup analyses supported these findings. Additionally, BMI significantly influenced the relationship between serum NfL levels and subjective memory deficits. ConclusionOur research shows that higher serum NfL levels are strongly related to an elevated risk for several neurological disorders. These findings highlight the role of serum NfL serving as a critical marker for early detection and monitoring of neurological conditions, emphasizing its importance in both clinical and public health settings.

Lineage diversification and rampant hybridization among subspecies explain taxonomic confusion in the endemic Hawaiian fern Polypodium pellucidum.

Polypodium pellucidum, a fern endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, encompasses five ecologically and morphologically variable subspecies, suggesting a complex history involving both rapid divergence and rampant hybridization. We employed a large target-capture data set to investigate the evolution of genetic, morphological, and ecological variation in P. pellucidum. With a broad sampling across five Hawaiian Islands, we deciphered the evolutionary history of P. pellucidum, identified nonhybrid lineages and intraspecific hybrids, and inferred the relative influence of geography and ecology on their distributions. Polypodium pellucidum is monophyletic, dispersing to the Hawaiian archipelago 11.53-7.77 Ma and diversifying into extant clades between 5.66 and 4.73 Ma. We identified four nonhybrid clades with unique morphologies, ecological niches, and distributions. Additionally, we elucidated several intraspecific hybrid combinations and evidence for undiscovered or extinct "ghost" lineages contributing to extant hybrid populations. We provide a foundation for revising the taxonomy of P. pellucidum to account for cryptic lineages and intraspecific hybrids. Geologic succession of the Hawaiian Islands through cycles of volcanism, vegetative succession, and erosion has determined the available habitats and distribution of ecologically specific, divergent clades within P. pellucidum. Intraspecific hybrids have likely arisen due to ecological and or geological transitions, often persisting after the local extinction of their progenitors. This research contributes to our understanding of the evolution of Hawai'i's diverse fern flora and illuminated cryptic taxa to allow better-informed conservation efforts.

Examining undergraduate students' abstraction of conic sections in a dynamic geometry environment

In solid geometry, the concept of conic sections plays an important role in teaching graphs such as parabolas, ellipses, and hyperbolas to undergraduate students in Mathematics Education. It is understood that the abstraction process in mastering conic sections is strongly needed. This study examines the abstraction process of conic sections among third-year undergraduate Mathematics Education students (4 males and 21 females) at Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM), Indonesia. The data was collected by analyzing students' responses in a 60-minute diagnostic test using the Abstraction in Context (AiC) framework. The test consists of 3 questions, validated by 2 Professors of UMM (average score = 4.14) and 2 lecturers (average score = 4.04). The results showed that 1 male and 11 female students did not reach the construction stage of AiC. Subsequently, a student with a low diagnostic test score and the least completion of AiC stages was observed further through an interview. This student passed through all stages of abstraction with the help of DGE. We also underscored undergraduates' challenges in this process, particularly in visualizing conic section objects, spatial thinking, and employing appropriate mathematical signs. Based on these findings, further research with a broader sample is needed to explore diverse abstraction processes.

Impact of TOC (Teacher Organizational Commitment) and VTLE (Virtual Teaching Learning Environment) on Teachers'&amp;nbsp;Innovative Work Behavior (TIWB) Influencing ICT Skills and Employees Creativity

The&amp;nbsp;use&amp;nbsp;of technology in education has challenged traditional paradigms of teaching and learning, resulting in instructor adaptability and creativity. The&amp;nbsp;rapid advancement of digitalization has resulted in an unparalleled array of tools and platforms that educators can employ to augment the&amp;nbsp;learning process. Consequently, the&amp;nbsp;objective&amp;nbsp;of this study was to examine&amp;nbsp;the&amp;nbsp;relationships among teacher organizational commitment (TOC), teachers'&amp;nbsp;innovative&amp;nbsp;work behavior&amp;nbsp;(TIWB), virtual teaching-learning environments (VTLE), employee&amp;nbsp;creativity and ICT abilities. It also explored how technology readiness and virtual integration play a moderating influence. A quantitative&amp;nbsp;study approach was used, with a broad sample&amp;nbsp;of teachers from various educational institutions participating. Data was collected from 502 teachers using validated self-report surveys that measured the&amp;nbsp;dimensions under research. The&amp;nbsp;variables' relationships were&amp;nbsp;examined using structural equation modeling. The&amp;nbsp;results showed that teacher organizational commitment and creative&amp;nbsp;work behavior are&amp;nbsp;positively correlated. Virtual teaching-learning environments were&amp;nbsp;discovered to have&amp;nbsp;a considerable&amp;nbsp;impact on innovative&amp;nbsp;work behavior. ICT skills and employee&amp;nbsp;creativity strongly&amp;nbsp;were associated&amp;nbsp;with innovative&amp;nbsp;work behavior. Furthermore, virtual integration and technological readiness were&amp;nbsp;recognized as important moderators that shape&amp;nbsp;the&amp;nbsp;interactions between commitment, virtual environments, innovation, and creativity. This study advances our understanding of the&amp;nbsp;interactions between technology, commitment, innovation, and virtual worlds in influencing instructors' behavior. It emphasizes the&amp;nbsp;significance&amp;nbsp;of dedication and technological integration in promoting innovative&amp;nbsp;teaching techniques. The&amp;nbsp;study provides guidance&amp;nbsp;for educators, educational organizations, and legislators who&amp;nbsp;want to improve&amp;nbsp;education in the&amp;nbsp;digital era.

Analysing student satisfaction with teaching strategies in vocational education

PurposePedagogical and digital innovation in vocational education training (VET) is scarce as well as research on the subject. The pandemic may have prompted a modernization of VET that needs to be examined with a focus on the main subjects: the students. The purpose of this paper is to analyse students' perspectives on henceforth VET pedagogies. We aim to investigate students' perspectives and satisfaction regarding the didactic strategies and teaching modalities they experience to inform further trends in VET.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative and cross-sectional study was conducted, gathering the views of 460 Catalan VET students through a questionnaire. Data were analysed descriptively and applying the generalised linear model (GLM) mediation model to address the specific aims detailed below.FindingsThe findings show that the most frequent and preferred teaching strategies are lecturing and active learning, while situated learning is found to be less frequent and preferred. Face-to-face is the preferred teaching mode for all teaching strategies. The internship modality does not affect students' satisfaction with teaching strategies, while the professional brunch does.Research limitations/implicationsThe limited responses gathered and the impact of the pandemic on the students' views limit the widespread applicability of the results. Future work must collect data from a broader sample and within a context of normality to determine current pedagogies and the use of digital technologies in VET.Originality/valueLiterature on VET pedagogies is scarce, and little is known about the predictable boost that the pandemic gave to the digitalisation and pedagogical modernisation of VET. Our study sheds light on the shift towards combined teaching strategies with a particular focus on active learning.

The new science of sleep: From cells to large-scale societies.

In the past 20 years, more remarkable revelations about sleep and its varied functions have arguably been made than in the previous 200. Building on this swell of recent findings, this essay provides a broad sampling of selected research highlights across genetic, molecular, cellular, and physiological systems within the body, networks within the brain, and large-scale social dynamics. Based on this raft of exciting new discoveries, we have come to realize that sleep, in this moment of its evolution, is very much polyfunctional (rather than monofunctional), yet polyfunctional for reasons we had never previously considered. Moreover, these new polyfunctional insights powerfully reaffirm sleep as a critical biological, and thus health-sustaining, requisite. Indeed, perhaps the only thing more impressive than the unanticipated nature of these newly emerging sleep functions is their striking divergence, from operations of molecular mechanisms inside cells to entire group societal dynamics.

Using exploratory graph analysis (EGA) in validating the structure of the Perth alexithymia questionnaire in Iranians with chronic pain.

Chronic pain's influence on emotional well-being can be significant. It may evoke feelings of despair, frustration, nervousness, and melancholy in individuals, which often manifest as reactions to enduring pain and disruptions in their daily lives. In this study, we seek to perform Bootstrap Exploratory Graph Analysis (EGA) on the Persian Version of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ) in a cohort of people with chronic pain. The research concentrated on the population of individuals encountering chronic pain within Tehran province from 2022 to 2023. Ultimately, the analysis comprised information from 234 male participants (with a mean age of 30.59, SD = 6.84) and 307 female participants (with a mean age of 30.16, SD = 6.65). After data collection, statistical analysis was conducted using the EGAnet2.0.4 package in R.4.3.2 software. The outcome of bootstrapped EGA unveiled a two-dimensional configuration of the PAQ comprising Factor 1 denoted as negative difficulty in describing and identifying feelings (N-DDIF) and Factor 2 characterized as general-externally orientated thinking (GEOT), representing robust structural integrity and item consistency (all items have stabilities > 0.70). These findings endorse the validity of the PAQ, as evidenced by its confirmation in a broader sample using a novel methodology consistent with existing literature on two-factor decentering models.

Integrative taxonomy reveals exceptional species diversity of Lucasioides from China (Isopoda: Oniscidea: Agnaridae)

The genus Lucasioides Kwon, 1993 (Isopoda: Oniscidea: Agnaridae) occurs in Asia, but confined only to China, Japan, Korea, and Russian Siberia. The ambiguously morphological differences among some members of the genus make a dilemma: the species recognition, whether morphologically similar or different, is uncertain. In this paper, we present first morphometric and molecular data for the genus from a broad sample. DNA sequences (mitochondrial COI, nuclear 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, and NaK) were generated and integrated with morphological evidence to reveal the cryptic species and delimit the new species within the genus. Seven species are described as new to science: Lucasioides digitatussp. nov., L. dissectussp. nov., L. dianensissp. nov., L. formosussp. nov., L. gracilentussp. nov., L. schmidtisp. nov. and L. subcurvatussp. nov. To date, Lucasioides species from China are 44.4% as many as all the known congeners worldwide, showing the exceptional species diversity of Lucasioides species from China. The results demonstrate that the integrative taxonomy is especially important to reveal the cryptic species among the high morphological similarity of taxa, as well as providing an effective way for species identification to accelerate the exploration of woodlice biodiversity.