Indication Of Relationship Research Articles

Regional static diversification and relatedness between industries

Abstract Relatedness has often been shown to have a central role in regional diversification. Knowledge flows between related industries are an important source of innovation, leading to industry growth and the establishment of new industries. Earlier studies have focused on dynamic diversification into new industries, but in this study, we emphasize static diversification, that is, changes in the balance between existing industries in a region. We use linked employer–employee data from Denmark and construct a range of measures at the level of regional industries. The role of relatedness in static diversification 2008–2013 is then analyzed based on industry characteristics in 2008. We find that relatedness plays a more important role in regions that are either spatially peripheral or economically non-peripheral, while relatedness has no relationship to static diversification on average. In addition to the empirical result, we contribute by comparing indices of relatedness, suggesting an alternative employment-weighted index, and conceptualizing relatedness as itself a disparity dimension of diversity. We finally ask how static and dynamic diversification affect disparity. We find that human capital intensity plays an important role in the link between diversification and the evolution of disparity.

Representation of Friendship and Aggressive Behavior in Primary School Children.

This study examines the representation of friendship during middle childhood and its impact on aggressive behavior. The literature shows that friendship is almost a “gym of social skills,” which, in turn, are protective factors against aggressive behavior; in this regard, the quality of friendship is especially important, but this quality becomes less and less accessible to direct observation as children grow older and spend most of their time in the externally regulated environment of primary school. To assess friendship quality requires allowing children to present their own perspective on the relationship, a goal that we have tackled through drawing. Children aged 6–11 years were individually asked to draw themselves and a close friend in two situations (i.e., relational wellbeing and relational distress) and to complete a 20-item scale of physical and verbal aggression. Data were analyzed with three main aims, namely, (1) to show if and how the representation of two core features of relationships (i.e., relatedness and individuality) changes according to the situation and/or according to the children’s gender; (2) to focus on the representation of distressing situations to verify if they coincide with forms of conflict and if they differ according to the children’s gender; and (3) to verify if the strength of indices of relatedness and individuality, both in situations of wellbeing and distress, predicts children’s tendency to enact aggressive behaviors. The results confirm that relatedness is the dominant feature of friendship, especially in the situation of wellbeing and when the situation becomes distressing. Conflict is not always present when children do not feel fine with their friends; boys and girls do not differ significantly in this regard, but they do differ in terms of the management of relatedness and individuality when problematic situations arise. In line with previous studies, sex is the main predictor of aggressive behavior with peers, with boys more at risk than girls; however, the capacity to relate with one’s own friend even in difficult times (in which boys are not inferior to girls) predicts lesser aggression with peers in general.

The Snowmelt Niche Differentiates Three Microbial Life Strategies That Influence Soil Nitrogen Availability During and After Winter.

Soil microbial biomass can reach its annual maximum pool size beneath the winter snowpack and is known to decline abruptly following snowmelt in seasonally snow-covered ecosystems. Observed differences in winter versus summer microbial taxonomic composition also suggests that phylogenetically conserved traits may permit winter- versus summer-adapted microorganisms to occupy distinct niches. In this study, we sought to identify archaea, bacteria, and fungi that are associated with the soil microbial bloom overwinter and the subsequent biomass collapse following snowmelt at a high-altitude watershed in central Colorado, United States. Archaea, bacteria, and fungi were categorized into three life strategies (Winter-Adapted, Snowmelt-Specialist, Spring-Adapted) based upon changes in abundance during winter, the snowmelt period, and after snowmelt in spring. We calculated indices of phylogenetic relatedness (archaea and bacteria) or assigned functional attributes (fungi) to organisms within life strategies to infer whether phylogenetically conserved traits differentiate Winter-Adapted, Snowmelt-Specialist, and Spring-Adapted groups. We observed that the soil microbial bloom was correlated in time with a pulse of snowmelt infiltration, which commenced 65 days prior to soils becoming snow-free. A pulse of nitrogen (N, as nitrate) occurred after snowmelt, along with a collapse in the microbial biomass pool size, and an increased abundance of nitrifying archaea and bacteria (e.g., Thaumarchaeota, Nitrospirae). Winter- and Spring-Adapted archaea and bacteria were phylogenetically clustered, suggesting that phylogenetically conserved traits allow Winter- and Spring-Adapted archaea and bacteria to occupy distinct niches. In contrast, Snowmelt-Specialist archaea and bacteria were phylogenetically overdispersed, suggesting that the key mechanism(s) of the microbial biomass crash are likely to be density-dependent (e.g., trophic interactions, competitive exclusion) and affect organisms across a broad phylogenetic spectrum. Saprotrophic fungi were the dominant functional group across fungal life strategies, however, ectomycorrhizal fungi experienced a large increase in abundance in spring. If well-coupled plant-mycorrhizal phenology currently buffers ecosystem N losses in spring, then changes in snowmelt timing may alter ecosystem N retention potential. Overall, we observed that snowmelt separates three distinct soil niches that are occupied by ecologically distinct groups of microorganisms. This ecological differentiation is of biogeochemical importance, particularly with respect to the mobilization of nitrogen during winter, before and after snowmelt.

Phylogenetic relatedness, phenotypic similarity and plant–soil feedbacks

Summary Plant–soil feedbacks contribute to species invasions, the maintenance of biodiversity and climate change impacts on terrestrial ecosystems. Despite their far‐reaching importance, we lack a general understanding of the ecological and evolutionary determinants of plant–soil feedbacks. We conducted a large‐scale plant–soil feedback experiment using 49 co‐occurring plant species from southern Ontario, Canada, representing a wide phylogenetic range. We tested whether the effects of soil conditioning vary among these species and whether different focal species respond similarly to the same soil conditioning. Next, we investigated whether plant traits and soil feedbacks depend on phylogenetic similarity and which plant traits affect plant–soil feedbacks between pairs of plant species. Finally, we used our experimental results to test whether soil feedbacks affect co‐occurrence of species in the field. We found evidence of both strong positive and negative soil feedbacks between pairs of plant species. Our soil‐conditioning treatment explained nearly 20% of the variation in focal species performance. Phylogenetic relatedness and phenotypic similarity between plant species were unrelated to the strength of their soil feedback. However, numerous plant traits of the conditioning species influenced the strength of soil feedbacks on focal species, including specific leaf area and total above‐ground productivity. Trait differences between species were also predictive of plant–soil feedbacks, though for some pairs of species, increased trait differences were associated with positive plant–soil feedbacks and for others, trait differences were associated with negative plant–soil feedbacks. Plant species co‐occurrence in the field was related to their experimentally determined soil feedbacks but only for particular plant species. Synthesis. Our results illustrate how evolutionary history and phenotypic variation shape plant–soil feedbacks and highlight the need for trait‐based studies. Due to the unique evolutionary history of individual traits and the variability in their importance across all possible interacting species, we show that indices of overall phenotypic and phylogenetic relatedness are poor predictors of plant–soil feedbacks at large phylogenetic scales. We conclude that a detailed trait‐based approach can be used to predict plant–soil feedbacks, and laboratory measures of soil feedbacks can explain patterns of co‐occurrence in nature.

Automated semantic indices related to cognitive function and rate of cognitive decline

The objective of our study is to introduce a fully automated, computational linguistic technique to quantify semantic relations between words generated on a standard semantic verbal fluency test and to determine its cognitive and clinical correlates. Cognitive differences between patients with Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment are evident in their performance on the semantic verbal fluency test. In addition to the semantic verbal fluency test score, several other performance characteristics sensitive to disease status and predictive of future cognitive decline have been defined in terms of words generated from semantically related categories (clustering) and shifting between categories (switching). However, the traditional assessment of clustering and switching has been performed manually in a qualitative fashion resulting in subjective scoring with limited reproducibility and scalability. Our approach uses word definitions and hierarchical relations between the words in WordNet®, a large electronic lexical database, to quantify the degree of semantic similarity and relatedness between words. We investigated the novel semantic fluency indices of mean cumulative similarity and relatedness between all pairs of words regardless of their order, and mean sequential similarity and relatedness between pairs of adjacent words in a sample of patients with clinically diagnosed probable (n=55) or possible (n=27) Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment (n=31). The semantic fluency indices differed significantly between the diagnostic groups, and were strongly associated with neuropsychological tests of executive function, as well as the rate of global cognitive decline. Our results suggest that word meanings and relations between words shared across individuals and computationally modeled via WordNet and large text corpora provide the necessary context to account for the variability in language-based behavior and relate it to cognitive dysfunction observed in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.

Anxious and Avoidant Attachment, Vibrator Use, Anal Sex, and Impaired Vaginal Orgasm

Disturbances in intimate relationships are among the risk factors for female sexual dysfunction. Insecure styles of anxious attachment (preoccupations about abandonment) and avoidant attachment (avoidance of closeness in relationships) are robustly associated with sexual problems, relationship difficulties, and several indices of poorer physical and mental health. Similar indices of poorer sexual, relationship, and health functioning are associated with impairment of orgasm triggered by penile-vaginal stimulation (vaginal orgasm), but unrelated or related to greater frequency of other sexual behaviors. However, research examining the differential association of sexual activities with insecure attachment styles has been lacking. The aim of this study was to test the hypotheses that insecure attachment styles are associated with lesser vaginal orgasm consistency, and are unrelated or directly related to greater frequency of other sexual behaviors. Seventy coitally experienced women recruited at a Scottish university completed the Revised Experience in Close Relationships scale, and reported their frequency of various sexual behaviors (and corresponding orgasms) in a recent representative month. The main outcome measures for this study are multivariate correlations of various sexual activities with insecure attachment styles, age, and social desirability response bias. Anxious attachment was associated with lesser vaginal orgasm consistency, but with higher frequency of vibrator and anal sex orgasms. Avoidant attachment was associated with higher frequency of vibrator orgasms. Neither anxious nor avoidant attachment was associated with lifetime number of penile-vaginal intercourse partners. The results provide evidence that inability to attain a vaginal orgasm is associated with anxious attachment, among other indices of poorer mental health and relatedness. Vaginal orgasm might be the relevant sexual activity for the maintenance of a secure attachment style with a sexual partner and/or more insecurely attached women might have difficulties in attaining vaginal orgasms and be more inclined to sexual activities characterized by more emotional and physical detachment, as part of a characterological discomfort with intimacy.

Social network analysis: A new methodology for counseling research.

Social network analysis (SNA) is a set of procedures that use indices of relatedness among individuals to produce representations of social structures and positions inherent in dyads or groups. This approach differs from traditional research strategies in that the focus is on developing an understanding of the ongoing transactions and the implications of transactional patterns between individuals, groups, or other social units. Although the primary emphasis in SNA is on the social context, network analysts also include traditional individual-differences variables as potential explanatory factors. SNA methods provide the means to derive a more complete view of a given social environment. A group-psychotherapy example is used to provide an overview of SNA, introducing the concepts, notation, and statistical methods used by the current generation of network researchers. Methodological issues are discussed, applications are reviewed, and resources are recommended for those wishing to learn more about SNA.

Indices of journal citation relatedness and citation relationships among aquatic biology journals

Simple quantitative indices of pair-wise journal citation relatedness (based on the numbers of references given to and received from a journal title, which are provided by Science Citation Index database) are translated by an automatic clustering procedure into a meaningful map diagram reflecting topical relatedness of journals within a field of science. Such a map for 60 journals in marine and freshwater biology and related sciences published in 1987 reveals a tight cluster of marine biology journals quite distinct from the freshwater biology journal cluster and from the fisheries cluster. The journals within the marine biology cluster and those with strongest pair-wise links with them can be regarded as the core journals in marine biology. Indices of unilateral citation relatedness are used to obtain diagrams, which we term citograms. The citograms visualize patterns of citation relatedness of a journal (its citing and being cited). Journal self-citation can be meaningfully estimated using the bilateral index of relatedness. Self-citation is high in specialized or regional journal titles. It also appears to be quite substantial in journals of broader scope, which possibly reflect authors' subjective preferences.

A Polymorphism of the Paraoxonase Gene Associated With Variation in Plasma Lipoproteins in a Genetic Isolate

The Hutterite Brethren are a genetic isolate characterized by high indices of relatedness and a communal agrarian lifestyle. We hypothesized that variation of the paraoxonase (PON) gene that underlies the interindividual variation in plasma PON activity would be associated with variation in fasting plasma lipoprotein variables in this group. In 793 Hutterites, we measured plasma lipids, lipoproteins, and apolipoproteins and analyzed DNA for genotypes of the protein polymorphism at amino acid residue 192 of PON. We observed that genotypes of PON were significantly associated with variation in plasma concentrations of total, HDL, non-HDL, and LDL cholesterol, total triglycerides, and apolipoprotein (apo) B. Homozygotes for the low-activity variant of PON had significantly lower levels of plasma apoB-related biochemical variables than heterozygotes and homozygotes for the high-activity variant of PON. Homozygotes for the low-activity variant of PON also had significantly lower ratios of total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol/HDL cholesterol, and apoB/apoA-I than heterozygotes and homozygotes for the high-activity variant of PON. We found no evidence for a gene-gender interaction for any plasma lipoprotein variable. The PON polymorphism accounted for about 1% of the variation in total cholesterol and related lipoprotein traits in the Hutterites. These observations suggest that PON is a significant genetic determinant of plasma lipoprotein levels.

A polymorphism of the angiotensinogen gene associated with variation in blood pressure in a genetic isolate.

The Hutterite Brethren are a genetic isolate characterized by high indices of relatedness and a communal agrarian lifestyle. We hypothesized that variation of the angiotensinogen (AGT) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) genes would be associated with variation in resting blood pressure in this group. We also hypothesized that the association would depend on the sex of the subjects. In 741 Hutterites, we measured blood pressure in quadruplicate and analyzed DNA for genotypes of an insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of ACE and of two protein polymorphisms of AGT, namely, M235T and T174M. We tested for association between variation in systolic and diastolic blood pressures and genotypic class. We observed that genotypes of AGT codon 174 were significantly associated with variation in systolic blood pressure. We also tested for an interaction between the AGT genotype and sex. We observed that genotypes of AGT codon 174 were significantly associated with variation in systolic blood pressure only in men. The AGT codon 174 polymorphism accounted for 3.1% of the total variation in systolic blood pressure in men. The association of AGT variation with resting blood pressure in men is consistent with the existence of important structural elements within, flanking, or proximal to the AGT gene, whose functional impact might be related to differences in sex.

A gene-gender interaction affecting plasma lipoproteins in a genetic isolate.

The Hutterite Brethren are a genetic isolate characterized by high indices of relatedness and a communal agrarian lifestyle. We hypothesized that variation in their apolipoprotein (apo) E and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) genes would be associated with variation in fasting plasma lipoproteins. We measured plasma lipids, lipoproteins, and apolipoproteins and analyzed DNA for genotypes of apoE and LPL in 803 Hutterites. We observed that apoE and LPL genotypes were significantly associated with variations in plasma total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and apoB. When the data were subdivided by sex, apoE genotype was associated with plasma apoB-related traits in men, but LPL genotype was not. In contrast, LPL genotype was associated with plasma apoB-related traits in women, including triglycerides and LDL cholesterol. After accounting for age, body mass index, and colony of origin, the variation in these variables was much more significantly associated with LDL genotype than with apoE genotype in women but not in men. The association of LPL variation with plasma lipoproteins in women suggests that the functional effects of important structural elements within, flanking, or proximal to the LPL gene on chromosome 8p22 may be sex related.

Comparative aspects of transferrin-reticulocyte interactions: Membrane receptors and iron uptake

1. 1. A comparative study was made of transferrin and iron uptake by rabbit, rat and human reticulocytes and chick embryo erythrocytes from rabbit, rat, human, chicken and porcine transferrins, human lactoferrin and chicken conalbumin. 2. 2. Three methods were used, viz. direct and competitive uptake studies of transferrin and iron by the four species of cells, and competitive studies of transferrin binding by solubilized membrane receptors (rabbit reticulocytes only). 3. 3. Methods were devised to analyse the data so as to obtain indices of relatedness or relative affinities of each type of heterologous transferrin compared with the homologous plasma transferrin. 4. 4. The results indicate that the differences in rates of iron uptake found with transferrin and cells from various species are largely due to variation in the affinity of cellular receptors for different transferrins. 5. 5. It is concluded that the procedures used in this investigation allow the assessment of phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary trends on the basis of functional attributes of proteins and cells and that these could be compared with results obtained by structural studies of the proteins.

Factors In The Natural Language Of Personality: Re-Analysis, Comparison, And Interpretation Of Six Major Studies.

Psychometric studies of the organization of the "natural language of personality" have typically employed rating scales as measurement medium and factor analysis as statistical technique. The results of such investigations over the past 30 years have varied greatly, both with respect to number of factors and with respect to the constructs generated. Re-analysis of the correlations of six studies, including the classical work of Cattell, indicated that the domain appears to be well described by five factors, with some suggestion of a sixth. The five factors were related across studies, using the Kaiser-Hunka-Bianchini method. Generally, the factors were highly related, with most indices of relatedness exceeding .90. The five-factor model was tested by the multiple-group method, used to factor a large-scale study of teachers' ratings of children. With slight modification of the originally hypothesized structure, the five-factor model accounted for the observed relationships quite well. The five constructs suggested by the factors appear to be domains of research effort and theoretical concern which have long been of interest to psychologists.

The invariance of sentence performance structures across language modality.

Native users of American Sign Language were asked to manipulate sentences in four different ways: sign them at slow rate, parse them, make relatedness judgments of pairs of signs taken from each sentence, and recall the sentences. The data obtained from these four tasks (pause durations, parsing values, indices of relatedness and probe latencies) were used to construct hierarchical performance structures for each of the sentences. The resulting structures were highly similar across tasks; that is, performance structures are not task specific. The four measures at each sign boundary in each sentence were well predicted by a performance model, elaborated by Grosjean, Grosjean, and Lane for speech, that combines a parsing measure with a symmetry measure. Thus performance structures appear to be founded in the processing of language, be it visual or oral, and not in the properties of any particular communication modality.

Effect of total association and conceptual cohesiveness among words on recall, clustering, and recognition association.

Two indices of verbal relatedness, the Index of Total Association (ITA) and the Index of Concept Cohesiveness (ICC) computed from single-response free word-associations were used to design lists of words presented to Ss for free recall for three successive trials. Amount of free recall and clustering in recall were significantly related to ITA, ICC, and trials. Amount recalled was more sensitive to total association (ITA) than to recoding processes (ICC); clustering was sensitive to both. The recognition of word sets subsequent to list presentation was systematically related to the ITA and ICC of the word sets.