List Of Choices Research Articles

Between order and disorder: a 'weak law' on recent electoral behavior among urban voters?

A new viewpoint on electoral involvement is proposed from the study of the statistics of the proportions of abstentionists, blank and null, and votes according to list of choices, in a large number of national elections in different countries. Considering 11 countries without compulsory voting (Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Spain, and Switzerland), a stylized fact emerges for the most populated cities when one computes the entropy associated to the three ratios, which we call the entropy of civic involvement of the electorate. The distribution of this entropy (over all elections and countries) appears to be sharply peaked near a common value. This almost common value is typically shared since the 1970s by electorates of the most populated municipalities, and this despite the wide disparities between voting systems and types of elections. Performing different statistical analyses, we notably show that this stylized fact reveals particular correlations between the blank/null votes and abstentionists ratios. We suggest that the existence of this hidden regularity, which we propose to coin as a ‘weak law on recent electoral behavior among urban voters’, reveals an emerging collective behavioral norm characteristic of urban citizen voting behavior in modern democracies. Analyzing exceptions to the rule provides insights into the conditions under which this normative behavior can be expected to occur.

Escrever poemas: vozes em busca de um autor

<p> </p><p>No ensino-aprendizagem da produção escrita, o trabalho com gêneros envolve escolhas que se refletem nos textos dos alunos. A análise da amostra dos poemas da Olimpíada possibilitou a elaboração de um quadro das escolhas de professores e de alunos ao longo do processo de elaboração dos textos poéticos, permitindo identificar o elemento central para a produção desses gêneros: as marcas de autoria. Em busca do autor que sustenta o poema – na perspectiva da concepção bakhtiniana de autoria (FARACO, 2005, p. 45) e, ainda, com base nas indicações de Fiad (2008, p. 218), podemos dizer que essas marcas estariam no “como”, no “processo de transposições refratadas”, “na singularidade e no estilo”, e também “no viés valorativo”. Assim, em cada poema da amostra buscou-se analisar os elementos que surgem, vozes que se entrelaçam e indicam a sujeição ou a solução para a voz do aluno-poeta.</p><p> </p><object id="eb28e868-caaa-989f-abaa-daa7188f9987" type="application/gas-events-abn" width="0" height="0"></object>

The contribution of the medical history for the diagnosis of simulated cases by medical students

The case history is an important part of diagnostic reasoning. The patient management problem method has been used in various studies, but may not reflect the actual reasoning process because a list of choices is given to the subjects in advance. This study investigated the contribution of the history to making the correct diagnosis by using clinical case simulation, in which students obtained clinical information by themselves.

The Database for Inventory, Monitoring, and Assessment (DIMA)

Land managers increasingly need to collect, store, and analyze monitoring and assessment data sets that include multiple methods and occur over multiple years. For this reason, databases are becoming increasingly important for managing large monitoring and assessment data sets. The Database for Inventory, Monitoring, and Assessment (DIMA) is a highly customizable software tool for data collection, management, and interpretation. DIMA is a free Microsoft Access database that can be used easily without extensive knowledge of Access. i All that is needed to run DIMA is a PC computer with a copy of Microsoft Access. Data can be entered for common, nationally accepted, vegetation- and soilmonitoring methods in the fi eld using a tablet PC (touchscreen entry) or in the offi ce on a standard computer (keyboard entry) with user-specifi ed choice lists. DIMA can easily be customized to suit the user’s needs. DIMA was originally designed as an accompaniment to the Monitoring Manual for Grassland, Shrubland, and Savanna Ecosystems 1,2 (i.e., the Monitoring Manual). Just as the Monitoring Manual outlined a consistent approach to many fi eld methods, DIMA provides a consistent approach to the data collection of those methods. Initially, DIMA supported only a few core vegetation- and soil-monitoring methods, but it has since grown to hold the quantitative data collected according to the standard methods outlined in the Monitoring Manual, the qualitative data collected according to Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health, 3 and data collected using other nationally recognized methods (Table 1). Finally, data for developing Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) ecological site descriptions can be collected using DIMA starting at a low intensity (e.g., general site characteristics, waypoints, and photos) and building to a high intensity (e.g., detailed soil and vegetation data). In this article, we explain how DIMA facilitates the collection, management, and interpretation of fidata (Fig. 1), helping users make informed decisions, think about data in new ways, and link that data to other sources.

Knowledge of primary prevention of diabetic retinopathy among general ophthalmologists, mid level eye care personnel and general physicians in Oman

Objective:We present the outcomes of knowledge of diabetes and associated ocular complications among personnel comprising the eye care team in Oman.Materials and Methods:A closed ended questionnaire was administered during November 2008 and November 2009 to eye care team members in six regions of Oman, where trainings were held. All participants of these trainings were included in our study. The questionnaire comprised 15 questions that tested the knowledge of the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes and its ocular complications. They circled the most suitable reply for a list of choices. The replies were compared with the gold standard (answers from a medical retina specialist, a diabetologist's and general ophthalmologists answers). The participants were divided into two groups; acceptable (more than 50% score compared to gold standard) and less than desired (less than 50% score compared to gold standard.) We estimated the areas of acceptable level of knowledge in different subgroups.Results:All 87 (100%) of eye care team members participated. Of the 42 general ophthalmologists, 30 (71.4%) had an acceptable level of knowledge about primary prevention, ideal blood sugar and blood pressure levels and complication of diabetes. The acceptable level of knowledge among mid level eye care providers and general physicians was found in 15 (54.5%) and 4 (33.3%) respondents respectively.Conclusion:Less than the desired number of participants of the eye care team had an acceptable level of knowledge about primary prevention, ideal blood sugar and blood pressure levels and complications of diabetes. The training of eye care personnel need to enhance knowledge in the weak areas is identified in this study.

Rehabilitation of Smell after Total Laryngectomy

Rehabilitation of Smell after Total Laryngectomy

Life Cycle Assessment of fossil energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in Chinese pear production

A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed to analyze environmental consequences of different pear production chains in terms of fossil energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in China. The assessment identified hotspots that contributed significantly to the environmental impacts of pear production from the cradle to the point of sale. The results showed that GHG emissions and fossil energy use varied in the different production chains because the environmental performance does not associate with the farming systems (i.e. organic vs. conventional), but is co-determined by farm topography and thus machinery use, by market demands to seasonality of products and thus the need for storage, and by local farming practices including manure management. The LCA could be used as a tool to guide selections of agricultural inputs with the aim of reducing environmental impacts. The results of the LCA analysis indicate that a list of choices are available to reduce energy use and GHG emission in the pear production chain, namely substitution of the traditional storage systems by an efficiently controlled atmosphere storage system, using manure for biogas production, conversion from the conventional farming to organic farming, and reduction of mechanical cultivation.

Dermatology Top Stories of 2010

Dear Readers, As 2010 comes to an end, Journal Watch Dermatology wants to thank you again for your readership and support. December typically generates lists — gift lists, New Year's resolutions, top-grossing films, and, of course, our own Journal Watch Dermatology lists. As in 2009, we present two views of the dermatologic literature: our Editors' Choice list …

Mechanical spectroscopy, internal friction and ultrasonic attenuation: Collection of works

An extensive collection of recommended books and proceedings from numerous conferences on internal friction, mechanical spectroscopy, and ultrasonic attenuation is provided. Reflecting the complicated history of the 20th century, books published in English and in Russian are presented in two separate sections. International and national conferences organized in various countries are listed. Supplementary lists referring to conferences held in the People's Republic of China, Poland, Russia, the Soviet Union, and Ukraine are also provided. The interesting evolution of mechanical spectroscopy from internal friction and ultrasonic attenuation in solids is clearly demonstrated, and a choice list of retrospective papers illustrates the evolution of the field. A brief review of mechanical spectroscopy, therefore, is included. Numerous research areas investigated by internal friction and mechanical spectroscopy are addressed, including point defect relaxations, electronic and phonon relaxations, dislocation relaxations, grain boundary relaxations, domain induced relaxations (magnetic, ferroelectric), magnetomechanical relaxations, phase transformations, glass transitions, interface effects as well as a wide array of applications specific to physics and materials science. For many years now, there has been a definite need to provide a thorough list of references that might cover major national conferences and books published in English and other languages. This work strives to achieve this goal.

Dermatology Top Stories of 2009

Dear Readers, This year, I am pleased to introduce a new way of looking at the Dermatology Top Stories of 2009. We have compiled two lists for you: Our Editors' Choice list shows which stories the Journal Watch Dermatology editors considered to be the most important of the past year. Because meeting the needs of our …

Positive Perceptions of Access to Online Library Resources Correlates with Quality and Quantity of Scholarly Publications among Finnish Academics

A Review of: 
 Vakkari, Pertti. “Perceived Influence of the Use of Electronic Information Resources on Scholarly Work and Publication Productivity.” Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 59.4 (Feb. 15, 2008): 602-12. 
 
 Objective – To investigate the relationship between academics’ use of library electronic resources and their opinions regarding how these resources have impacted their work, and to investigate the association between this perceived influence and publication productivity during the previous two years.
 
 Design – Two specific questions added to an annual online user-survey questionnaire; additional data mined from survey
 
 Setting – Twenty-two Finnish Universities served by FinELib, the Finnish Electronic Library.
 
 Subjects – Seven hundred and sixty seven academic staff and full-time doctoral students.
 
 Methods – A questionnaire was posted in April 2007 on FinELib’s homepage and advertised on each university library’s main page, and focused on respondents’ experience in the previous two years. Participants selected answers either from a list of category choices, or, when measuring perceptions, by rating agreement with statements along a four-point scale.
 Controlled variables measured were the respondents’ academic position, their discipline, membership in a research group, whether their literature use was discipline-specific or interdisciplinary, and their perception of the availability online of the relevant core literature.
 
 The independent variable measured was the scholars’ perception of the impact of the use of electronic library resources on their work. The dependent variable measured was the scholars’ self-reported publications in the two years preceding the survey.
 
 Main Results – Participants reported a positive impact on the efficiency of their work, most strongly in areas of ease of access, with lesser impacts in the range of materials available to them and the ease with which they can keep up-to-date in their field. To a lesser extent, the scholars perceived a positive impact on the quality of their work. 
 
 Upon analysis, the study found that access to online library resources improved scholars’ work by the interconnected mechanisms of the ease of access and breadth of resources available positively impacting their ability to keep abreast of new developments and inspiring new ideas.
 
 The study found mixed results between perceived improved access and number of publications. Although representation in national publications was not significantly impacted, there was a positive correlation with the number of international publications. There were interesting differences among disciplines and academic status, with a decreased impact among scholars in the humanities, and greater impact among lower-status or novice academics.
 
 Conclusion – There are positive perceptions of the accessibility of online information and of its impact on the quality of work, and a correlation between these perceptions and the number of international publications, thus validating the investment in providing access to digital information resources to Finnish academics.

Antifungal Immunotherapy and Immunomodulation: A Double‐hitter Approach to Deal with Invasive Fungal Infections

In recent years, the incidence of life-threatening fungal infections has dramatically increased. Despite significant developments in antifungal chemotherapy, its efficacy remains limited by the inability to sterilize infected organs and the tendency to induce resistance and cause side effects. In response to these challenges, it is now recognized that several aspects of antifungal immunity can be modulated to better deal with fungal infections. Extensive work was carried out on the development and testing of preventive and therapeutic antifungal vaccines. The potential use of cytokines, adoptive T-cell transfer, monoclonal antibodies (MoAb) and antimicrobial peptides (AMP) as solo or adjunctive therapies is also receiving much attention. Although each of these immune-based treatment strategies has many advantages and some shortcomings, none on its own, has proven satisfactorily effective to deal with invasive fungal infections. Appropriate combinations that optimize the advantages and minimize the disadvantages of immune-based antifungals are still lacking mainly due to the immense difficulty in sorting out candidate combinations given the long list of choices. In this review, immune-based antifungals are divided into two general categories on the basis of the intended target being the host (immunomodulation through vaccines, cytokines, adoptive T-cell transfer or MoAb) or the pathogen (immunotherapy through MoAb or AMP). Potential advantages and disadvantages of immunotherapy and immunomodulation are tentatively discussed so as to facilitate the design of future studies that aim at devising more potent immune-based antifungal treatment combinations.

Origins of violence in soccer: a psychological survey in southern Brazil

This study aimed to analyze the opinions of sports psychologists on the main causes of aggressive attitudes during professional soccer games. Sixteen psychologists from fi rst division teams in Brazil’s Southern region were investigated during the fi rst semester of 2004. They indicated the fi ve most important items in a multiple choice list proposed by the researchers, numbering them in order of importance. The data were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively, and, in the opinions of this study’s participants, the most worrying factors were the importance of a game (41 points), provocation by opponents (37), coaches’ attitudes (33), team performance (25) and losing scorelines (23). Results suggest the need for professional teams to take measures internally, with the participation of sports psychologists, and also for external measures to be taken, such as changing certain rules of the game in order to decrease aggressiveness on the soccer field.

A Nutritious Field Trip

A class trip to the local grocery store is an engaging way to reinforce a unit on nutrition as students make connections between a real-life experience and their classroom learning. Research shows that students often remember a field trip well into adulthood and even recall specific exhibits and facts. Field trips generally bring to mind a trip to a museum, zoo, or nature center, but a field trip to a grocery store provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate their understanding of nutrition science and food choices. Research has shown that nutrition education programs can effectively improve the dietary behavior of children. Nutrition education in students’ elementary school experiences should focus on lessons that teach about the importance of choosing healthful food. This field trip can be connected to a unit in which students learn about food groups and ultimately work together to create a list of nutritious and healthful meal choices. It has been written for grade 3, but it can be adapted to meet the needs of older students.

Classifier combination for sketch-based 3D part retrieval

In this paper, we present a search method with multi-class probability estimates for sketch-based 3D engineering part retrieval. The purpose of using probabilistic output from classification is to support high-quality part retrieval by motivating user relevance feedback from a ranked list of top categorical choices. Given a free-hand user sketch, we use an ensemble of classifiers to estimate the likelihood of the sketch belonging to each predefined category by exploring the strengths of various individual classifiers. Complementary shape descriptors are used to generate classifiers with probabilistic output using support vector machines (SVM). A weighted linear combination rule, called adapted minimum classification error (AMCE), is developed to concurrently minimize the classification errors and the log likelihood errors. Experiments are conducted using our Engineering Shape Benchmark database to evaluate the proposed combination rule. User studies show that users can easily identify the desired classes and then the parts under the proposed method and algorithms. Compared with the best individual classifier, the classification accuracy using AMCE increased by 7% for 3D models, and the average best rank improved by 11.6% for sketches.

Electronic aids for daily living

OVERVIEW Electronic aids for daily living (EADLs) are devices used to help people access, operate, and control electrical appliances in the home, school, or workplace. The primary purpose of an EADL is consistent performance of necessary daily tasks. These devices also maximize functional ability and independence. Other names for EADLs are environmental control systems and environmental control units. Persons who use and benefit most from these devices are those with severe physical limitations that affect their mobility and upper limbs. Common diagnoses are tetraplegia, muscular atrophy, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. EADLs are controlled either by an ability switch, touch screen, voice recognition, or integrated with other controls; controls can be integrated with computer access, wheelchair controls, or augmentative communication devices. For persons who use a switch to operate an EADL, a dual switch offers more control by allowing them to scan and select at their own speed and ability. Single-switch operation requires the user to activate the device by scanning through a list of choices, which limits the speed of operation to the scanning speed programmed into the unit. Integrated controls that operate an EADL are helpful and often necessary when a person has a limited number of switch-control sites available. For example, by integrating controls, a person can operate an environmental control system through the same controls (sip'n'puff switch, joystick, head array, etc.) used to operate a wheelchair. CATEGORIES Two broad categories of EADLs exist: computer-based and stand-alone. A computer-based EADL is a combination of hardware and software that is added to a computer system and allows control of the environment. A standalone EADL does not rely on a computer for its function. In general, a computer-based voice-activated EADL can offer superior voice recognition, vast amounts of visual and auditory feedback and prompting, and superior programmability. Although a computer-based system can be used for other functions in addition to control of the environment, the system becomes more vulnerable to viruses, glitches, and crashes. Stand-alone EADLs are not subject to the general vulnerabilities that can plague a computer system that is used for multiple applications. Stand-alone systems usually offer fewer options in terms of feedback, prompting, and programmability. Stand-alone systems are often more easily transported. Additional EADL resources can be found in the Appendix (available online only at http://www.rehab.research.va.gov). EADL feedback to the user may be visual or auditory. Visual feedback can be either static or dynamic. Static visual feedback could include a fixed label on each option. Dynamic visual feedback allows the options to change in accordance with the user input or option being presented. Auditory feedback could be in the form of a beep or a given word or phrase. Depending on the EADL, a combination of visual and auditory feedback is possible. DEVICES TO CONTROL Common types of electrical appliances controlled by EADLs are telephones, lights, door openers, door locks, fans, drapes, blinds, beds, audiovisual equipment, home climate controls, call systems, and security cameras. These appliances are usually controlled by one of the following methods: (1) infrared (IR), (2) X-10, and (3) direct connection. IR controls many different appliances in the same way a television remote control. IR transmission requires line of sight. As a result, the controlling signal cannot operate a device located in another room or even in the same room if the two devices cannot see one another with a ray of light. If a device requires IR control, an IR extension cable or distribution box can be used to extend the signal to the remote area. Alternatively, IR can be transformed into a radio frequency (RF) signal, which will allow more pervasive transmission of the signal. …

Websites of note

Websites of note

Will Choice‐Based Reform Work for Medicare? Evidence from the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program

. To examine the effect of premiums and benefits on the health plan choices of older enrollees who choose Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) health plans as their primary payer. Administrative enrollment data from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and plan premiums and benefits data taken from the Checkbook Guide to health plans. We estimate individual plan choice models where the choice of health plan is a function of out-of-pocket premium, actuarial value, plan attributes, and individual characteristics. Plan attributes include plan structure (fee-for-service/preferred provider organization, point-of-service, or health maintenance organization), drug benefit structure, and whether or not the plan covers other types of spending such as dental services and diabetic supplies. The models are estimated by conditional logit. Our study focuses on three populations that currently choose FEHBP as their primary health care coverage and are similar to the Medicare population: current employees and retirees who are approaching the age of Medicare eligibility (ages 60-64) and current federal employees age 65+. Current employees age 65+ are eligible for Medicare, but their FEHBP plan is their primary payer. Retirees and employees 60-64 are not yet eligible for Medicare but are similar in many respects to recently age-eligible Medicare beneficiaries. We also estimate our model for current employees age 55 and younger as a comparison group. We select a random sample of retirees and employees age 60-64, as well as all current employees age 65+, from the OPM administrative database for the calendar year 2001. The plan choices available to each person are determined by the plans participating in their metropolitan statistical area. We match plan premium and attribute information from the Checkbook Guide to each plan in the enrollee's list of choices. We find that current workers 65+, 60-64, and non-Medicare eligible retirees are sensitive to variation in plan premiums. The premium elasticities for these groups are similar in magnitude to those of the age 55 and under employee group. Older workers and retirees not yet eligible for Medicare are willing to pay a substantial amount for plans with open provider networks. The willingness to pay for open networks is significantly greater for these groups than for younger employees. Willingness to pay for open network plans varies significantly by income, but varies little by age within group. Our finding that older workers and non-Medicare eligible retirees are sensitive to plan premiums suggests that choice-based reform of Medicare would lead to cost-conscious choices by Medicare beneficiaries. However, our finding that these groups are willing to pay more for open network plans than younger employees suggest that higher risk individuals may migrate toward higher benefit, higher cost plans. Our findings on the relationship between income and willingness to pay for open network plans suggest that means testing is a viable reform for lowering Medicare program costs.

Using Multi-Pseudocriteria and Fuzzy Outranking Relation Analysis for Material Selection of Bipolar Plates for PEFCs

A multiple pseudocriteria and fuzzy outranking relations were used to demonstrate a new approach for the material selection of the bipolar plate of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). By introducing a decision matrix, the revised Simos method is used to define a set of weighting factors and to perform the ranking stability analysis. A list of all possible choices from the best to the worst is then obtained using the ELECTRE III method (Elimination and Choice Translating Reality III) by taking into account all materials selection criteria, including the cost criterion. Finally, for a given case study, similarities and differences observed between the results of the proposed approach and those of earlier works are discussed. It was concluded that this approach can be used to identify an effective material for bipolar plate application in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.

TOPSIS multiple-criteria decision support analysis for material selection of metallic bipolar plates for polymer electrolyte fuel cell

Several kinds of metallic bipolar plates for PEMFCs are currently being developed in order to meet the demands of cost reduction, stack volume, lower weight and enhanced power density. This work shows an application of the Technique of ranking Preferences by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM) method for solving the material selection problem of metallic bipolar plates for polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC), which often involves multiple and conflicting objectives. The proposed methodological tool can aid the material designer in the modeling and selection of suitable materials according to a set of predefined criteria. After introducing the theoretical background, a case study is presented for the material selection of a bipolar plate in a PEFC. A list of all possible choices, from the best to the worst materials, is obtained by taking into account all the material selection criteria, including the cost of production. A user-defined code in Mathematica has been developed to facilitate the implementation of the method. It was shown that the optimum value of each criterion is independent of other criteria values (i.e., no interaction is allowed). The proposed approach may be applied to other problems of material selection of fuel cell components.