Major Hypotheses Research Articles

The Political and Religious Context of Juvenile Punishment: A Multilevel Examination of Juvenile Court Dispositions in Three Southern States

Objectives We examine the relationship between political and religious context and juvenile court dispositions, including whether case-level indicators of focal concerns are moderated by community politics and religion. Methods Using a sample of 55,328 juvenile defendants across 175 counties in three states, we first employ multilevel modeling to estimate the direct effects of political and religious context on odds of placement. Second, we examine cross-level interactions between political and religious context, on the one hand, and major case-level predictors of placement, on the other. Results We found mixed support for the hypotheses. While neither political nor religious context were directly associated with odds of placement, religious context moderated several case-level effects. Specifically, findings indicated that violent offenders were punished more harshly in more religious and more religiously homogeneous counties, defendants with a prior record were punished less harshly in more religious and more religiously homogenous counties, Hispanic defendants were punished less harshly in more evangelical counties, and male defendants were punished less harshly in more religiously homogeneous counties. Conclusion Juvenile punishment varies across different courts and systems, yet major contextual hypotheses for this variation (e.g., minority threat) have received limited empirical support. Our findings indicate that other aspects of community context, most notably religiosity, may moderate the relationship between case-level factors and juvenile court punishment.

STRES AKADEMIK DITINJAU DARI SELF-REGULATED LEARNING DAN STUDENT WELL-BEING PADA SISWA KELAS X DI SMKN 1 KARAWANG

This study aims to determine the effect of self-regulated learning and student well-being on student academic stress at SMK N 1 Karawang. In this study, there are three variables, namely self-regulated learning, student well-being, and academic stress. The major hypothesis of this study is that there is an effect of self-regulated learning and student well-being on students' academic stress at SMK N 1 Karawang. The number of samples used was 124 vocational students at SMK N 1 Karawang. Using purposive sampling method. The data method in this study uses quantitative methods. The analysis in this study uses multiple regression analysis using SPSS 22.0. Based on the test results, the hypothetical model has an outer loading value above 0.5 and Cronbach's alpha value for all constructs above 0.5. The results showed that there was an effect of self-regulated learning and student well-being on students' academic stress at SMK N 1 Karawang. The result of R Square in this study was 28.8%.

The Relationship between Psychological Contracts and Job Satisfaction with Turnover Intention at PT. X Contact Center Service Division

Humans are selective resources in choosing jobs and developing careers, if they are uncomfortable and there is no development at work, HR will decide or leave work. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the relationship between psychological contracts and job satisfaction and intention to leave PT.X Contact Center Services. 72 PT.X Contact Center Services personnel served as the study's sample. The Major Hypothesis is supported by the findings of the experiment assessing the impact of psychological contracts (X1) on turnover intention. This indicates that psychological contracts and the intention to leave the company are positively and significantly related. The major hypothesis is disproved, and the minor hypothesis is accepted, according to the findings of the experiment investigating the impact of job satisfaction (X2) on turnover intention. Accordingly, the intention of employees to leave their jobs is lower the higher their level of job satisfaction.

The Impact of the Sustainable Strategy on Strategic Performance: Field Study in the Iraqi Tourism Sector

The tourism industry, with its two sides (recreational and religious), is one of the important investment fields in Iraq, it is represented Iraq as the second economic source after the oil sector. So a need for serious efforts to develop the tourism sector and maintain its sustainability. This paper will be one of the important contributions in this field; the paper aims to explore the extent of the impact of the sustainable strategy on the level of overall performance in the Iraqi tourism sector. The field of research was some Iraqi tourist institutions at Iraqi tourism, Which covers the field of study on the one side, and can be studied on the other side, for the developing study methodology and organizing its main parts, the research paper adopted a major hypothesis that (there is a statistically significant effect of the sustainable strategy on the level of the overall performance of the Iraqi tourism sector), and for data collection, a checklist was used. The checklist In its questions covers the content required from the study of some tourist institutions in the Iraqi tourism sector, and the list was distributed to a sample of people working in the Iraqi tourism sector, size of the sample (43 people), with experience and academic specialization. The study reached a set of results, the most important of which are: the ability of the sustainable strategy to ensure continuously improve the overall tourism sector performance.

Ocbil Theory as a Potential Unifying Framework for Investigating Narrow Endemism in Mediterranean Climate Regions.

OCBIL theory addresses the ecology, evolution, and conservation of biodiversity and cultural diversity on old climatically buffered infertile landscapes, which are especially prominent in southwest Australia and the Greater Cape Region of South Africa. Here, as a contribution to general theory on endemism, a few case studies are briefly discussed to ascertain the relevance of hypotheses in OCBIL theory to understanding narrow endemism in Mediterranean climate regions. Two new conservation management hypotheses are also introduced-minimising disturbance of OCBILS and conserving cross-culturally to achieve best outcomes. Case studies of endemics in southwest Australia (e.g., Eucalyptus caesia, Anigozanthos, Cephalotaceae, Daspypogonaceae) and South Africa (Moraea, Conophytum) and more limited evidence for the Mediterranean Region conform to OCBIL theory predictions. Narrow endemics, concentrated in OCBILs, have diverse origins that embrace major hypotheses of OCBIL theory such as prolonged persistence and diversification in refugia, limited dispersal, coping with inbreeding in small disjunct population systems (the James Effect), special adaptations to nutrient-deficient soils, and special vulnerabilities (e.g., to soil disturbance and removal). Minimising disturbance to OCBILs is recommended as the primary conservation strategy. OCBIL theory has a potentially significant role to play in advancing understanding of narrow endemism of plants in Mediterranean climate regions and elsewhere.

Cortical Inhibition, Plasticity, and Sleep.

Sleep is essential for the formation of long-term memory ([Diekelmann and Born, 2010][1]). Two major hypotheses have emerged linking the memory functions of sleep to cortical excitability and plasticity. The synaptic homeostasis hypothesis ([Tononi and Cirelli, 2003][2]) states that sleep

Systematic review and meta-analysis: Season of birth and schizophrenia risk

ObjectiveWinter birth has been hypothesized to be associated with increased schizophrenia risk for nearly a century. Major hypotheses regarding the potential etiological risk factors for schizophrenia such as vitamin D deficiency and virus exposure in utero are predicated based on the observation that risk of schizophrenia is higher in children born in winter months. MethodsWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the association between season and month of birth and risk of schizophrenia. We further investigated this relationship stratified by hemisphere. ResultsForty-three studies spanning 30 countries and territories and 440,039 individuals with schizophrenia were included in this meta-analysis. Winter births were associated with a small but statistically significant increased risk of schizophrenia (OR 1.05, 95 % CI 1.03–1.07, p < 0.0001) and summer births were associated with a small but statistically significant decreased risk of schizophrenia (OR 0.96, 95 % CI 0.94–0.98, p = 0.0001). Stratified subgroup analysis demonstrated no significant difference between hemispheres in the risk of schizophrenia for either winter or summer births. ConclusionsAnalysis using birth month data demonstrated a clear seasonal trend towards increased risk of schizophrenia being associated with winter birth months and decreased risk of schizophrenia in summer-to-fall months in the Northern but not Southern Hemisphere. These data suggest a small-but-substantial increased risk of schizophrenia in winter birth month. Further research needs to examine potential etiologic causes for this association.

Teaching Grammar through Inductive Approach and Competence of Prospective Teachers

In Pakistan, traditional grammar teaching is not fruitful as students are notperforming better. It was needed to find new grammar teaching method.So, the study aimed to see the effect of inductive grammar teachingapproach on the teaching competence of prospective teachers. The studywas quasi experimental by design. The major hypothesis of the study wasthe difference of observed grammar teaching competence of theprospective teachers taught grammar through inductive teaching approachand traditional teaching is not significant.

Predicting ecosystem productivity based on plant community traits.

With the rapid accumulation of plant trait data, major opportunities have arisen for the integration of these data into predicting ecosystem primary productivity across a range of spatial extents. Traditionally, traits have been used to explain physiological productivity at cell, organ, or plant scales, but scaling up to the ecosystem scale has remained challenging. Here, we show the need to combine measures of community-level traits and environmental factors to predict ecosystem productivity at landscape or biogeographic scales. We show how theory can extend the production ecology equation to enormous potential for integrating traits into ecological models that estimate productivity-related ecosystem functions across ecological scales and to anticipate the response of terrestrial ecosystems to global change.

General Self-Esteem as the Mechanism Through Which Early-Childhood Parental Trust and Support Affect Adolescents' Learning Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model.

Parental trust and support are machineries for children's cognitive growth and behaviors exhibited at a later age. Their influence on students' learning engagement at school has been reported, but little is known about the mechanisms through which such a proposed causal effect occurs. This study tested 2 major proposed hypotheses; (1) general self-esteem (GSE) mediates the causal relationship between parents' trust and support (PTS) and Learning engagement (LE). (2) The mediation effect is further moderated by students' college grade level. Data was collected from 1139 college students in Tanzania (Mage = 22.5, SDage = 0.681) who filled out an online-designed questionnaire. SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science), PROCESS macro of SPSS, and JASP (Jeffrey's Amazing Statistical Program) were used for analyzing data. The results indicated that GSE had a mediating effect (β = .0912, SE = 0.0134, P < .001) on the causal relationship between PTS and LE. The unmediated (direct) effect of PTS on LE (β = .2125, SE = 0.0419, P < .001) was lower than the total effect (β = .3037, SE = 0.0553, P < .001) after the mediation. The interaction effects of PTS (β = .0463, P < .001) and GSE (β = .0495, P < .001) on students' college grades were statistically significant, indicating that the mediation effect of GSE on the causal relationship between PTS and LE was moderated by college grades. Parental trust and support enhance students' behavioral learning at school through their general self-esteem, built from the family level (parenting).

Update on the Epidemiology, Pathogenesis, and Biomarkers of Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy With Subcortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is the most common monogenic disorder of the cerebral small blood vessels. It is caused by mutations in the NOTCH3 gene on chromosome 19, and more than 280 distinct pathogenic mutations have been reported to date. CADASIL was once considered a very rare disease with an estimated prevalence of 1.3-4.1 per 100,000 adults. However, recent large-scale genomic studies have revealed a high prevalence of pathogenic NOTCH3 variants among the general population, with the highest risk being among Asians. The disease severity and age at onset vary significantly even among individuals who carry the same NOTCH3 mutations. It is still unclear whether a significant genotype-phenotype correlation is present in CADASIL. The accumulation of granular osmiophilic material in the vasculature is a characteristic feature of CADASIL. However, the exact pathogenesis of CADASIL remains largely unclear despite various laboratory and clinical observations being made. Major hypotheses proposed so far have included aberrant NOTCH3 signaling, toxic aggregation, and abnormal matrisomes. Several characteristic features have been observed in the brain magnetic resonance images of patients with CADASIL, including subcortical lacunar lesions and white matter hyperintensities in the anterior temporal lobe or external capsule, which were useful in differentiating CADASIL from sporadic stroke in patients. The number of lacunes and the degree of brain atrophy were useful in predicting the clinical outcomes of patients with CADASIL. Several promising blood biomarkers have also recently been discovered for CADASIL, which require further research for validation.

Molecular mechanisms of amyloid-β peptide fibril and oligomer formation: NMR-based challenges.

To completely treat and ultimately prevent dementia, it is essential to elucidate its pathogenic mechanisms in detail. There are two major hypotheses for the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's dementia: the β-amyloid (Aβ) hypothesis and the tau hypothesis. The modified amyloid hypothesis, which proposes that toxic oligomers rather than amyloid fibrils are the essential cause, has recently emerged. Aβ peptides [Aβ(1-40) and Aβ(1-42)] form highly insoluble aggregates in vivo and in vitro. These Aβ aggregates contain many polymorphisms, whereas Aβ peptides are intrinsically disordered in physiological aqueous solutions without any compact conformers. Over the last three decades, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has greatly contributed to elucidating the structure of each polymorph, while solution NMR has revealed the dynamic nature of the transient conformations of the monomer. Moreover, several methods to investigate the aggregation process based on the observation of magnetization saturation transfer have also been developed. The complementary use of NMR methods with cryo-electron microscopy, which has rapidly matured, is expected to clarify the relationship between the amyloid and molecular pathology of Alzheimer's dementia in the near future. This review article is an extended version of the Japanese article, Insights into the Mechanisms of Oligomerization/Fibrilization of Amyloid β Peptide from Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, published in SEIBUTSU BUTSURI Vol. 62, p. 39-42 (2022).

Involvement of activation induced cytidine deaminase in malignant B-cells expressing two distinct M-components as an etiology of biclonal gammopathy

Biclonal gammopathy (BG) is a rare phenomenon in which 2 M proteins are detected in the same patient, with 2 major hypotheses regarding its etiology. One potential explanation is that completely different malignant B-cell clones produce different M proteins, while the other is that there is a malignant clone that produces both M proteins simultaneously. In this study, we examined 2 cases of B-cell malignancy with BG and found that some cells were double positive for both M proteins by immunofluorescence and flow cytometry. However, most of the remaining cells were single positive cells that produced only one of the M proteins. We hypothesized that double positive cells were in the process of transitioning from 1 single positive cell to another single positive cell, and that class switch recombination (CSR) would be involved as a mechanism. We then examined the expression of activation induced cytidine deaminase (AICDA), which is responsible for CSR, and found that lymphoma/myeloma cells in 2 BG patients were positive for AICDA by immunostaining. Our study is the first report suggesting that AICDA may be involved in the pathogenesis of BG.

Role of Higher Education Growth in Enhancing Economic Growth, Innovation Advancement and Technological Progress in Uganda (1970–2014)

We examine the role of growth in higher education in enhancing economic growth, innovation advancement and technological progress in Uganda during the 1970 to 2014 period. Higher education is measured by the higher (tertiary) education gross enrolment ratio (GER). The major hypothesis of the study is that “Higher education growth enhances economic growth, innovation advancement and technical progress”. The study is important because Uganda still has low levels of higher education GER, innovation and technology. Data set employed in the empirical analyses was obtained from the United Nations statistics database and analyzed using the generalised least squares (GLS) technique. First, we find that a 1% increase in higher education GER growth had the potential of causing economic growth, innovation advancement, technological progress and total factor (TF) to increase by 0.82, 0.10, 0.27 and 0.56%, respectively, during the given period. Second, empirical evidence shows that a 1% increase in economic growth, innovation advancement, technological progress and TF the potential of causing higher education GER growth to increase by 1.08, 5.02, 1.36 and 1.42%, respectively, during the given period. Third, over the given period, a 1% growth in innovation, technical progress and TF productivity had the potential of causing economic growth to increase by 4.63, 1.33 and 1.14 %, respectively. Fourth, a 1% growth in higher education GER had the potential of causing a rise in labour generation and capital accumulation growth by 0.53 and 1.56%, respectively.

Inductive Approach and Grammatical Awareness of Student Teachers

To assess the effectiveness of inductive approach for teaching grammar on grammatical awareness of student teachers was the major objective of the study. The difference between the achievement scores in grammatical awareness test of the student teachers treated with inductive grammar teaching approach and the student teachers in traditional approach group is not significant- was the major hypothesis. The study was quasi experimental in nature. Pre and post tests were conducted by using a self-developed grammar achievement test. Two class sections of BS Education were selected conveniently and randomly labelled as control and experimental group. Inductive approach for teaching grammar was applied in the experimental group whereas control group was dealt with traditional grammar teaching. Results indicated that the student teachers taught through inductive grammar teaching approach performed better in test of grammatical awareness than the student teachers taught through traditional teaching. Difference in man achievement score among high, low and average achievers in the treatment group was not significant in test of grammatical awareness. Similarly, the difference in mean achievement score was also not significant between female and male student teachers in the treatment group.

PENGARUH JOB INVOLVEMENT DAN PERSONALITY TERHADAP SAFETY PERFORMANCE PADA ABK KRI TNI ANGKATAN LAUT

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of job involvement and personality on the safety performance of Indonesia Navy Ship Crew. This study uses a quantitative approach. The population in this study amounted to 95. The sampling technique in this study was stratified random sampling. Based on the results of data analysis that has been carried out on the major hypothesis testing, the significance value in the anova table is 0.000 &lt; 0.05, so it can be concluded that job involvement and personality jointly affect the safety performance of Indonesia Navy Ship Crew. In the results of the major hypothesis test, it was also found that the R Square value was 0.185, so it can be concluded that the effect of the job involvement and personality variables together on the safety performance of the crew of the Indonesia Navy Ship Crew is 18.5%. In the results of the minor hypothesis test, it was found that the effective contribution of job involvement to safety performance was 10.1% and the effective contribution of personality to safety performance was 17.8%, while the remaining 82.2% was influenced by other variables not included in the study.

A Review of the Pathogenesis and Chinese Medicine Intervention of Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disease that is primary characterized as a cognitive disorder. Its pathology is characterized by the formation of senile plaques in the brain from amyloid-beta (Aβ) aggregation, neuronal fibrillary tangles from hyperphosphorylated tau protein aggregation, prolonged inflammatory responses, and neuronal death. The pathogenesis and clinical manifestations of AD are complex, but aging is generally accepted as one of the most important contributing factors. In addition, there are several hypotheses, including the Aβ hypothesis based on amyloid plaques, the tau hypothesis based on neuronal fiber entanglement, the inflammation hypothesis based on long-term inflammatory responses causing brain damage, and the neuroprotection hypothesis based on synaptic dysfunction and neuronal death. Although the pathogenesis of AD has been broadly classified into four major hypotheses, there are multiple forms of interactions, which is one of the reasons for its complex pathogenesis. Numerous epidemiological studies have shown the important role of genes in AD, followed by brain damage, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity as risk factors for the disease. Despite years of research, several mysteries in AD remain unsolved. Drugs based on various pathogenetic hypotheses are being investigated in large numbers, but the effects are unsatisfactory. In recent years, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has made excellent progress and is expected to provide a new possibility for AD treatment. In this review, we focus on the latest developments in studies on the risk factors-Aβ aggregates and related factors such as apolipoprotein E, synaptic loss, and fatty acids, and then present the progress in the research of TCM based on the above pathogenesis, intended to provide a research reference and treatment for AD.

Systematic bias and the phylogeny of Coleoptera—A response to Cai et al. (2022) following the responses to Cai et al. (2020)

AbstractSystematic bias is one of the major phylogenetic issues arising over the last two decades. Using methods designed to reduce compositional and rate heterogeneity, hence systematic bias, Cai and co‐workers (2022) (= CEA22) reanalyzed the DNA sequence dataset for Coleoptera of Zhang et al. (2018) (= ZEA). CEA22 suggest that their phylogenetic results and major evolutionary hypotheses about the Coleoptera should be favoured over other recently published studies. Here, we discuss the methodology of CEA22 with particular attention to how their perfunctory reanalysis of ZEA obfuscates rather than illuminates beetle phylogeny. Similar to published rebuttals of an earlier study of theirs, we specifically find that many of their claims are misleading, unsupported, or false. Critically, CEA22 fail to establish the stated premise for their reanalysis. They fail to demonstrate how composition or rate heterogeneity supposedly impacted the phylogeny estimate of ZEA, let alone the results of other recent studies. Moreover, despite their claim of comprehensive sampling of Coleoptera, their dataset is neither the most diverse with respect to species and higher taxa included, nor anywhere near the largest in terms of sequence data and sampled loci. Although CEA22 does contribute additional fossils for calibration, those seeking the best available estimate for Coleoptera phylogeny and evolution based on molecular data are advised to look elsewhere.

We're building it up to burn it down: fire occurrence and fire-related climatic patterns in Brazilian biomes.

BackgroundTerrestrial biomes in South America are likely to experience a persistent increase in environmental temperature, possibly combined with moisture reduction due to climate change. In addition, natural fire ignition sources, such as lightning, can become more frequent under climate change scenarios since favourable environmental conditions are likely to occur more often. In this sense, changes in the frequency and magnitude of natural fires can impose novel stressors on different ecosystems according to their adaptation to fires. By focusing on Brazilian biomes, we use an innovative combination of techniques to quantify fire persistence and occurrence patterns over time and evaluate climate risk by considering key fire-related climatic characteristics. Then, we tested four major hypotheses considering the overall characteristics of fire-dependent, fire-independent, and fire-sensitive biomes concerning (1) fire persistence over time; (2) the relationship between climate and fire occurrence; (3) future predictions of climate change and its potential impacts on fire occurrence; and (4) climate risk faced by biomes.MethodsWe performed a Detrended Fluctuation Analysis to test whether fires in Brazilian biomes are persistent over time. We considered four bioclimatic variables whose links to fire frequency and intensity are well-established to assess the relationship between climate and fire occurrence by confronting these climate predictors with a fire occurrence dataset through correlative models. To assess climate risk, we calculated the climate hazard, sensitivity, resilience, and vulnerability of Brazilian biomes, and then we multiplied the Biomes’ vulnerability index by the hazards.ResultsOur results indicate a persistent behaviour of fires in all Brazilian biomes at almost the same rates, which could represent human-induced patterns of fire persistence. We also corroborated our second hypothesis by showing that most fire-dependent biomes presented high thermal suitability to fire, while the fire-independent biome presented intermediate suitability and fire-sensitive biomes are the least suitable for fire occurrence. The third hypothesis was partially corroborated since fire-dependent and independent biomes are likely to increase their thermal suitability to fire, while fire-sensitive biomes are likely to present stable-to-decreasing thermal suitability in the future. Finally, our fourth hypothesis was partially corroborated since most fire-dependent biomes presented low climate risk, while the fire-independent biome presented a high risk and the fire-sensitive biomes presented opposite trends. In summary, while the patterns of fire persistence and fire occurrence over time are more likely to be related to human-induced fires, key drivers of burned areas are likely to be intensified across Brazilian biomes in the future, potentially increasing the magnitude of the fires and harming the biomes’ integrity.

The Beginning of Meiosis in Mammalian Female Germ Cells: A Never-Ending Story of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors.

Meiosis is the unique division of germ cells resulting in the recombination of the maternal and paternal genomes and the production of haploid gametes. In mammals, it begins during the fetal life in females and during puberty in males. In both cases, entering meiosis requires a timely switch from the mitotic to the meiotic cell cycle and the transition from a potential pluripotent status to meiotic differentiation. Revealing the molecular mechanisms underlying these interrelated processes represents the essence in understanding the beginning of meiosis. Meiosis facilitates diversity across individuals and acts as a fundamental driver of evolution. Major differences between sexes and among species complicate the understanding of how meiosis begins. Basic meiotic research is further hindered by a current lack of meiotic cell lines. This has been recently partly overcome with the use of primordial-germ-cell-like cells (PGCLCs) generated from pluripotent stem cells. Much of what we know about this process depends on data from model organisms, namely, the mouse; in mice, the process, however, appears to differ in many aspects from that in humans. Identifying the mechanisms and molecules controlling germ cells to enter meiosis has represented and still represents a major challenge for reproductive medicine. In fact, the proper execution of meiosis is essential for fertility, for maintaining the integrity of the genome, and for ensuring the normal development of the offspring. The main clinical consequences of meiotic defects are infertility and, probably, increased susceptibility to some types of germ-cell tumors. In the present work, we report and discuss data mainly concerning the beginning of meiosis in mammalian female germ cells, referring to such process in males only when pertinent. After a brief account of this process in mice and humans and an historical chronicle of the major hypotheses and progress in this topic, the most recent results are reviewed and discussed.