Causative Identification Research Articles

Identification of structures and causation in flow graphs

Flow graphs in rough set theory exhibit intuitive and explicit formalization, straightforward computation, parallel processing and Markov property. This paper focuses on the extraction of flow graphs directly from data in the form of attribute-value tables as well as the identification of the causation between variables in such tables. Using the equivalence classes and the partitions derived directly from data tables, the variables having Markov property can be founded to form the structures that can be integrated into flow graphs. Then based on these structures, the causation hidden in data tables can be identified via the front-door criterion proposed by Pearl, also sometimes via the back-door criterion. The relation between the existence of the causation and the flow graph among variables has been established. According to the illustrations, the identification of the causation also relates to the selection of data sample, besides these flow graphs which are similar to the structures hidden in front-door criterion and part in back-door criterion.

ACTIVITY, IMBALANCE AND ADAPTATION RESPONSES OF FUNCTIONAL SYSTEMS OF ORGANISM OF FOREIGN STUDENTS OF PEOPLES’ FRIENDSHIP UNIVERSITY OF RUSSIA IN MEGAPOLIS CONDITIONS

The identification of causation and incidence between the impact of environmental factors and changes in the human adaptive potential is one of the urgent tasks of ecological and biological monitoring. The aim: a comparative assessment of the state activity of functional systems, imbalance and the nature of adaptation reactions of the body in foreign students, students from Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Methods. The activity of the functional systems and the imbalance were determined by the method of electropuncture diagnostics (EPD) according to Y. Nakatani. 180 men-students (aged 18-22) of PFUR from Russia, CIS, Southeast Asia, Middle East, Latin America and Africa were examined (30 people in each group). The nature of the adaptive reactions of the body was evaluated in 916 students by the method of L.H. Garkavi et al. To determine the adaptation reactions, 200 peripheral blood cells were analyzed. Results. It was found that the lower the average current and the higher the degree of imbalance in EPD in foreign students from different climatic and geographical zones, the more the percentage of unfavorable adaptation reactions is noted - correlation coefficients r = -0.9048 and r = +0.8989, respectively. Unfavorable adaptation reactions - acute stress, chronic stress and reaction of re-activation (AS, ChS, REA), to a greater degree reaction of extra activation, were more often observed in students from Africa and Latin America. Conclusions. The change in climatic, ecological, chronobiological and social conditions in foreign students is accompanied by a significant decrease in the energy potential, expressed by an imbalance in the activity of the body's functional systems and, accordingly, to a greater extent, by manifestations of adverse adaptive reactions-stress and reaction of re-activation. Revealing the dependence in change of climatic-ecological and social living conditions with a reliable deterioration in the indicators of the functional state of young people most clearly indicates the need for a purposeful correction of the adaptation potential in foreign students coming to study in the Moscow megapolis.

Modeling of the Fasting Plasma Glucose Identified an Equation Providing Significantly Earlier Identification of Overt Type 2 Diabetes in Nonhuman Primates (NHPs)

In type 2 diabetes, both identification of causation and initiation of prevention efforts are likely optimized if initiated at the earliest point in the disease progression; we therefore sought to determine if a better diagnostic threshold for fasting plasma glucose (FPG) than the current ADA level (FPG 蠅 126 mg/dl) might be defined while balancing sensitivity and specificity. Longitudinal data were obtained under a constant environment and a healthy diet from NHPs that frequently and spontaneously develop the same type 2 diabetes as occurs in humans. Mathematical modeling of the exponential relationship between glucose (Y) and age (X) identified the natural breakpoint in the progression to diabetes. When Y was replaced with -100/Y and X with X3, the plot for -100/Y against X3 revealed a strong linear relationship, with the optimal equation of best fit: Y = 1/[-a/100-(b/100)X3]. Using regression analysis a significant change in slope for each monkey was identified at the FPG of 83±14 mg/dl. By contrast, if diabetes was defined using either the 126 mg/dl or the 100 mg/dl levels, the diagnosis was delayed by 2.2 and 1.4 years respectively. Of a population of 267 rhesus monkeys studied longitudinally, all monkeys with 2 consecutive FPG levels >80 mg/dl progressed to diabetes or died enroute with significantly impaired glucose tolerance. These data reveal that a significantly lower FPG for the diagnosis of diabetes should be considered to optimize causal investigations and prevention efforts.

Identification of Causation between Misdiagnosis and Death by the “Loss of Chance” Theory: Two Case Reports

Case 1: A 62-year-old patient was admitted to a provincial hospital for dull epigastric pain and was diagnosed with chronic atrophic cholecystitis, turgid type of gallstone and suspected gallbladder lesion. Two days later a laparotomy and cholecystectomy were performed. The result of the tests on the intraoperative quick diagnosis showed chronic cholecystitis. Several days later the surgeon in charge received the regular paraffin pathological diagnosis report which showed suspected adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder. He did not pay any attention to this report and the patient was not informed of this matter. Consequently the patient visited another hospital and the correct diagnosis, carcinoma of gallbladder, was made. The patient died 8 months later. Case 2: A 54-year-old patient went to a county hospital because of abdominal discomfort and underwent an abdominal computed tomography CT) examination. The results of this examination showed that the body of the pancreas appeared abnormally large in size. The doctor failed to make a correct diagnosis. Later, doctors in another hospital made the diagnoses of suspected carcinoma of the pancreas based on the primary computed tomography imaging mentioned above. The patient eventually died 10 months later. The family members of the deceased held the opinion that the patients deaths resulted from the misdiagnosis, while the hospital held the opposite opinions. Utilizing the theory called “loss of chance” and epidemiological investigations, we, forensic medical experts, point to the fact that the misdiagnoses were predisposing factors of death, and the degree of contribution should be between 20% and 40%, 10% and 15%, respectively.

Refining the Oil Curse

Is there a resource curse? Some scholars argue that resource income is associated with slower transitions to democracy; others contend that the negative effects of resources are conditional on factors such as institutional quality. To test these competing hypotheses, this article exploits the price spike caused by the 1973 oil embargo, which transformed several countries with latent oil industries into resource-reliant states. Our quasi-experimental research design allows for better identification of causation than the associational approaches common in the literature. We use the method of synthetic controls to compare the political development of states that received resource-derived revenue with how these states would have behaved in a counterfactual world without such revenue. We find that there is little evidence that a resource curse systematically prevents democratization or that institutional quality alone determines outcomes. Nevertheless, resource income meaningfully affects outcomes and even contributes to democratization in some instances.

Alcoholism in the Elderly

Alcoholism in the elderly is of great concern, however, it is a confusing issue. There are numerous theories of causation. Elderly alcoholics have been divided into early and late onset groups by theorists. Drinking practices among the elderly tent to follow generational patterns. Medical problems related to alcoholism include neurological and physiological difficulties, especially involiving the cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems. The elderly tend to do well in treatment, however there are problems in identifying elderly alcoholics and getting them to treatment. Future research needs include identification of causation, better categorization of elderly alcoholics and demonstration of the efficacy of service provider training about alcoholism.