Measures In Field Research Articles

ANOTACIÓN Á LEI 5/2017, DE 19 DE OUTUBRO, DE FOMENTO DA IMPLANTACIÓN DE INICIATIVAS EMPRESARIAIS EN GALICIA

A Lei 5/2017 de implantación de iniciativas empresarias de Galicia, contempla unha serie de medidas tendentes a mellora do desenvolvemento económico da Comunidade Autónoma de Galicia. Como complemento de medidas específicas noámbito administrativo orientadas a unha axilización na concesión nas autorizacións ambientais e da xestión do chan industrial, tal Lei contempla modificacións na Lei 5/1998 de Cooperativas de Galicia, permitindo a constitución de cooperativascon dúas persoas socias e contemplando unha reestruturación do Rexistro de cooperativas de Galicia.

Occurrence of Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), seasonal abundance of thrips vectors, and evaluation of TSWV control measures in dahlia fields

Occurrence of Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), seasonal abundance of thrips vectors, and evaluation of TSWV control measures in dahlia fields

Effects in rats of adolescent exposure to cannabis smoke or THC on emotional behavior and cognitive function in adulthood.

Cannabis use is common among adolescents and some research suggests that adolescent cannabis use increases the risk for depression, anxiety, and cognitive impairments in adulthood. In human studies, however, confounds may affect the association between cannabis use and the development of brain disorders. These experiments investigated the effects of adolescent exposure to either cannabis smoke or THC on anxiety- and depressive-like behavior and cognitive performance in adulthood in Long-Evans rats. Adolescent rats of both sexes were exposed to either cannabis smoke from postnatal days (P) 29-49 or ascending doses of THC from P35-45. When the rats reached adulthood (P70), anxiety-like behavior was investigated in the large open field and elevated plus maze, depressive-like behavior in the sucrose preference and forced swim tests, and cognitive function in the novel object recognition test. Despite sex differences on some measures in the open field, elevated plus maze, forced swim, and novel object recognition tests, there were no effects of either adolescent cannabis smoke or THC exposure, and only relatively subtle interactions between exposure conditions and sex, such that sex differences on some performance measures were slightly attenuated. Neither cannabis smoke nor THC exposure during adolescence produced robust alterations in adult behavior after a period of abstinence, suggesting that adverse effects associated with adolescent cannabis use might be due to non-cannabinoid concomitants of cannabis use.

Three-way partial VUS

The AUC and VUS for the ROC curve and surface are well known measures in various statistical fields. Since the partial AUC has only conditions on the FPR, this overlapped condition under the constraints of the TPR may reduce the efficiency and accuracy of the performance evaluation. For obtaining better performance measurement for high TPR and low FPR, the two-way partial AUC was proposed. In this work, the partial and two-way partial AUC are defined using the probability concept, and these are expressed with integration equations. Moreover, the partial VUS and three-way partial VUS for ROC surface are also derived.

Determining the best ISUM (Improved stock unearthing Method) sampling point number to model long-term soil transport and micro-topographical changes in vineyards

Advances in soil erosion measuring tools and micro-topography modelling will contribute to our understanding of land degradation processes and help to design correct erosion mitigation measures in agricultural fields. Vineyards being one of the most degraded agricultural landscapes, it is necessary to accurately predict soil erosion levels within them. One possible method to achieve this goal in vine plantations is ISUM (improved stock unearthing method). To apply ISUM, it is necessary to detect the graft unions which are recognised as passive bioindicators of the original micro-topography at the time of planting. In this paper, we propose a methodology to determine: (i) how many measuring points are necessary to reach the best estimate of soil erosion for developing current soil surface level maps; and (ii) which spatial interpolation method is the best to map the micro-topographical changes. ISUM was applied in the Ruwer-Mosel valley vineyards (Germany) using 18 measuring points at 10 cm intervals between opposite pair graft unions of 1.7 m inter-row distance. Several interpolation methods were used to map the micro-topography changes and anisotropic ordinary kriging (OK) emerged as the best as judged by the performance statistics of the coefficient of determination and the root-mean-square-error. Our findings demonstrated that soil erosion rates were 40.1, 39.4, 25.0, 38.9, 37.9, to 64.8 Mg ha−1 yr−1 over the 40 years since the establishment of the vineyard studied, when using 18, 15, 10, 7, 5 and 2 measuring points, respectively. We propose that ISUM can be standardised as using measuring points at 10 cm intervals.

The Idea of Precaution: Ethical Requirements for the Regulation of New Biotechnologies in the Environmental Field.

The rapid emergence of new biotechnologies for selectively altering genetic material—so-called genome editing—has sparked public controversy about how their development and application in the environmental fields are to be regulated. Since the use of these new technologies harbors not only considerable potential but also risks of serious damage whose occurrence is uncertain due to their application in complex environmental systems, many national and international legal authorities are currently adhering to policies of precaution. According to critics, however, precautionary measures and the legal principle of precaution on which they are based are unduly restrictive in the case of the new biotechnologies, hindering advancements in both research and various fields of application. At the same time, legal notions of precaution are highly ambiguous within and across different national and international formulations, thereby further complicating the controversy about their implications. This paper goes beyond the concept of precaution as found in environmental law by examining the ethical significance and the ethical justification of precautionary measures in the environmental field. In particular, it clarifies the criterion of potential damage, disambiguates different types of epistemic bases in precaution decisions, and considers the relevance and implications of different ethical risk theories as to their response to epistemic uncertainty and vagueness. The two main conclusions are that, first, irrespective of the ethical risk theory embraced, there is an ethical obligation to take precautionary measures whenever serious damage is possible and the probability of damage occurring epistemically uncertain or vague. Regarding the risk assessment, it is argued that the burden of proof lies not with those who fear the occurrence of serious environmental damage. Rather, it is up to those whose actions give rise to such fears to demonstrate that serious damage is extremely improbable or scientifically absurd. Second, the moral responsibility to determine precaution situations and to specify appropriate precautionary measures is attributed not only to state authorities but also to industrial players as well as research communities. Based on these two conclusions, recommendations are given as to how the precautionary principle should be incorporated in political and legal decision-making.

Effectiveness of Art Therapy With Adult Clients in 2018-What Progress Has Been Made?

In the year 2000, an important art therapy literature review addressed an essential question—does art therapy work? It discussed 17 articles dealing with the issue of the effectiveness of art therapy. Two decades later, this research field has extended its scope and is flourishing. Several current reviews of research work have described the broad range of methods implemented today, which includes qualitative and quantitative studies; other reviews have focused on art therapy with specific populations, or by age group. The aim of this systematic literature review is to contribute to the ongoing discussion in the field by exploring the latest studies dealing with the effectiveness of art therapy with a broad scope of adult clients. We conducted a comprehensive search in four databases and review of every quantitative article that has addressed outcome measures in the art therapy field from 2000 to 2017. This paper presents the latest 27 studies in the field that examine the effectiveness of art therapy with adult clients and divides them into seven clinical categories: cancer patients, clients coping with a variety of medical conditions, mental health clients, clients coping with trauma, prison inmates, the elderly, and clients who have not been diagnosed with specific issues but face ongoing daily challenges. It underscores the potential effects of art therapy on these seven clinical populations, and recommends the necessary expansions for future research in the field, to enable art therapy research to take further strides forward.

Ecological Footprint as a sustainability indicator to analyze energy consumption in a Portuguese textile facility

The main objective of this paper is to apply Ecological Footprint methodology as a tool to analyze the Portuguese textile industry. This analysis is related to energy and resources consumption in dyeing, printing and finishing processes. It also includes identification of mitigation measures to increase energy efficiency, promoting at the same time the reduction of CO2 emissions and consequently the decrease in industry’s Ecological Footprint. Moreover, the analysis presents the Ecological Footprint reduction potential for each mitigation option proposed for an important textile facility located in the North Region of Portugal, used as a case study in this work. The results for the case study showed that the total Ecological Footprint accounted, for the year 2016, summed up to 4890 gha. Furthermore, the energy category corresponds to more than 50% of the total Ecological Footprint estimation, and natural gas was the most required fuel for the processes. The calculation of the Ecological Footprint in the textile facilities can be used as a tool to analyze the processes’ energy efficiency and to quantify the global impact of the implementation of mitigation measures in the energy field. The result is an indicator shown in a common unit, gha (global hectare) and it can be easily used to compare energy-intensive processes and industrial sectors. In addition, it can be used to analyze how each sector can impact the country’s total demand for resources.

Social Program as a Product of Social Programming

In its multi-aspect character, the word enters broadly the sphere of public life and is also understood as a list, directory, communication (of theater, concert performances, performed roles and their performers, in radio and television programs, of authors of reports, scientific conferences and symposia), etc. The potential range of applicability of this concept is namely the basis of the transfer of its general meaning over even wider areas of applicability, within which to define its aspect meaning and content. For the purposes of our study, we determine the term in the aspect of a public activity, such as the one. In this sense, we use the term social whose definition is reflected in several aspects. It concerns the following: - the program is a promising concept for welfare growth and development of relations. It gives a general description of the strategy for development of the country in a particular historical period, the main areas of well-being growth and global qualitative and quantitative indicators to be reached during this period. Such concepts are contained in the programming documents of the governing parties and serve as a basis for development of relevant sections of the plans for economic and development; - the programs appear as special sections of the plans for economic and development (annual or in the long run) of the relevant regions, districts and municipalities for planning. Reflecting the perspective directions more thoroughly, they form the tasks for a certain stage and the ways for their achievement, reflect a deeper deployment of criteria in planning, economic development as a whole and its individual sections. Moreover, they appear not only as a final result of the economy development planning, but as a combination of knowledge about it; - the special programs stand out, involving the solving of certain crucial tasks and the corresponding concentration of resources. In this sense, the term social 100 is used mostly, although it refers to a narrower concept. Such programs often affect different sections of the socio-economic plans and require special coordination in the development of various sectors of the national economy. The programs contain specification of goals and objectives, reflect their hierarchy, serve for the formation of new forms to meet the needs of the population and the formation of corresponding new organizational relations. As a program, the combination of identified and feasible measures in a certain field can reasonably be considered in case that no unified program document, plan, etc.is received, but are based on a common concept interlinked and aimed at reaching a comprehensive goal.

Vpliv evropeizacije izobraževanja na potrženje in poblagovljenje politike in prakse izobraževanja odraslih v Sloveniji

V prispevku preučujemo evropeizacijske vplive na oblikovanje politike in prakse izobraževanja odraslih v Sloveniji. V prvem delu pojasnjujemo koncept evropeizacije izobraževanja, analiziramo evropsko politiko izobraževanja odraslih in opozarjamo na prevladujočo instrumentalno ekonomistično konceptualizacijo izobraževanja odraslih. V drugem, empiričnem delu analiziramo politiko izobraževanja odraslih – resoluciji o nacionalnem programu izobraževanja odraslih (2004, 2013) ter letne programe izobraževanja odraslih za obdobje od 2005 do 2018 – in opažamo, kako je evropski ekonomistični diskurz prežel nacionalni kontekst, kakor tudi, kako so finančni mehanizmi potržili področje izobraževanja odraslih v Sloveniji. Ugotavljamo, da se je slovenska politika izobraževanja odraslih priporočilom Evropske unije prilagodila tako, da so od začetka krize v letu 2008 do leta 2016 nacionalna sredstva za izobraževanje odraslih stalno upadala, kar je posledica varčevalnih ukrepov, ki zadevajo izobraževalni sistem, šele po letu 2016 so se postopno začela spet povečevati. S tem ko se Slovenija vztrajno podreja evropskim standardom, ki vključujejo zlasti reformo poklicnega izobraževanja, privatizacijo in komercializacijo izobraževanja odraslih, izgublja svojo izhodiščno vlogo, ki jo je pri razvoju izobraževanja odraslih imela po osamosvojitvi.

Outcomes of Hearing Aid Use by Individuals with Unilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss (USNHL).

Unilateral sensorineural hearing loss (USNHL) can have a negative impact on functions associated with the advantages of balanced, binaural hearing. Although single-sided deafness, which is a complete loss of audibility in one ear, has gained increased interest in the published research, there is a gap in the literature concerning hearing aid outcomes for individuals with residual, or otherwise "aidable," hearing in the affected ear. To assess hearing aid outcomes for a group of individuals with USNHL with residual, aidable function. A quasi-experimental study of hearing aid outcomes with paired comparisons made between unaided and aided test conditions. A convenience sample of twenty-two individuals with USNHL, with sufficient residual hearing in the affected ear as to receive audibility from use of a hearing aid, were recruited into the study from September 2011 to August 2012. Each participant was fit with a digital behind-the-ear hearing aid coupled to a custom ear mold. Assessments were performed at baseline (unaided) and after a three-month field trial (aided) with primary outcomes involving objective measures in sound field yielding signal-to-noise ratio loss (SNR Loss) via the Quick Speech-in-Noise Test and word recognition scores (WRS) via the Northwestern University Auditory Test, No. 6. Outcomes also involved the administration of two well-established subjective benefit questionnaires: The Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) and the 49-item Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ49). As a group, participants showed significantly improved median SNR Loss thresholds when aided in a test condition that included spatial separation of speech and noise, with speech stimuli directed toward the worse ear and noise stimuli directed toward the better ear (diff. = -4.5; p < 0.001). Hearing aid use had a small, though statistically significant, negative impact on median SNR Loss thresholds, when speech and noise stimuli originated from the same 0° azimuth (diff. = 1.0; p = 0.018). This was also evidenced by the median WRS in sound field (diff. = -6.0; p = 0.006), which was lowered from 98% in the unaided state to 92% in the aided state. Results from the SSQ49 showed statistically significant improvement on all subsection means when participants were aided (p < 0.05), whereas results from the APHAB were generally found to be unremarkable between unaided and aided conditions as benefit was essentially equal to the 50th percentile of the normative data. At the close of the study, it was observed that only slightly more than half of all participants chose to continue use of a hearing aid after their participation. We observed that hearing aid use by individuals with USNHL can improve the SNR Loss associated with the interference of background noise, especially in situations when there is spatial separation of the stimuli and speech is directed toward the affected ear. In addition, hearing aid use by these individuals can provide subjective benefit, as evidenced by the APHAB and SSQ49 subjective benefit questionnaires.

津波被災農地の除塩対策 : 1.青森県おいらせ町津波被災水田の除塩対策(進歩総説: 津波被災農地土壌の実態調査と除塩対策)

津波被災農地の除塩対策 : 1.青森県おいらせ町津波被災水田の除塩対策(進歩総説: 津波被災農地土壌の実態調査と除塩対策)

Relationship between speech intelligibility and objective measures in sound fields with a discrete long-path echo

The outdoor public address system is one of the important methods to notify evacuation information in disaster situations. However, when speech announcements are simultaneously radiated from a number of dispersedly located loudspeakers, speech intelligibility decreases because of temporal or spatial segregation of speech streams, just like a long-path echo in large closed spaces. The present study is focusing on relationship between speech intelligibility and spatial characteristics of long-path echo. Useful-detrimental ratio (U50) was tested to predict speech intelligibility scores in sound fields with a discrete long-path echo. A noteworthy feature of U50 is that all energy of long-path echo is explicitly counted as detrimental energy. The results of intelligibility tests demonstrated that the feature led to lower intelligibility predictions, that is, predictions on the safe side. Meanwhile, the prediction errors increased when the difference between interaural differences for the direct sound and the long-path echo. The extended U50 to consider binaural effects referring to the concept of binaural speech transmission index [van Wijingaarden and Drullman, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 123, 4514-4523 (2008)] showed a higher correlation with the intelligibility scores relative to the original U50.

Rescaling the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for Use in Primary Care.

The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist (PCL) is a 17-item self-report measure of PTSD symptom severity that has demonstrated excellent psychometric properties across a variety of settings, purposes, and populations. The PCL is widely used in busy Department of Defense primary care settings as part of routine PTSD screening, requiring that it is easy for patients to complete and providers to score. The clinical utility of the PCL may be improved through use of a zero-anchored Likert-type response scale by providing intuitive anchors for respondents and fewer calculations for clinic staff; however, changes to the response scale may invalidate the known psychometric properties of the measure. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the equivalence of a zero-anchored PCL to the traditional one-anchored PCL. Differences in total scores were examined using inferential confidence intervals. Substantial overlap of the inferential confidence intervals and small Rg (maximum probable difference) value of 0.68 indicated that the zero-anchored PCL is equivalent to the one-anchored PCL on the basis of our specified delta (amount of difference considered inconsequential). These findings support the use of a zero-anchored PCL in clinical practice, and more broadly, the use of zero-anchored measures in the larger field of psychological assessment.

Theory of the Robin quantum wall in a linear potential. I. Energy spectrum, polarization and quantum‐information measures

Information‐theoretical concepts are employed for the analysis of the interplay between a transverse electric field applied to a one‐dimensional surface and Robin boundary condition (BC), which with the help of the extrapolation length Λ zeroes at the interface a linear combination of the quantum mechanical wave function and its spatial derivative, and its influence on the properties of the structure. For doing this, exact analytical solutions of the corresponding Schrödinger equation are derived and used for calculating energies, dipole moments, position and momentum quantum information entropies and their Fisher information and and Onicescu information energies and counterparts. It is shown that the weak (strong) electric field changes the Robin wall into the Dirichlet, (Neumann, ), surface. This transformation of the energy spectrum and associated waveforms in the growing field defines an evolution of the quantum‐information measures; for example, it is proved that for the Dirichlet and Neumann BCs the position (momentum) quantum information entropy varies as a positive (negative) natural logarithm of the electric intensity what results in their field‐independent sum . Analogously, at and the position and momentum Fisher informations (Onicescu energies) depend on the applied voltage as () and its inverse, respectively, leading to the field‐independent product (). Peculiarities of their transformations at the finite nonzero Λ are discussed and similarities and differences between the three quantum‐information measures in the electric field are highlighted with the special attention being paid to the configuration with the negative extrapolation length. image

The challenging interplay between rheumatoid arthritis, ageing and comorbidities

BackgroundThe incidence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is expected to increase over the next 10 years in the European Union because of the increasing proportion of elderly people. As both RA and ageing are associated with emerging comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease, malignancies and osteoporosis, these factors will have a profound effect on the management of RA. In addition, both increasing age and comorbidities may independently alter commonly used RA-specific outcome measures.DiscussionAge-related decline in immune cell functions (immunosenescence), such as a decrease in T-cell function, may contribute to the development of RA, as well as comorbidity. The chronic immune stimulation that occurs in RA may also lead to premature ageing and comorbidity. The interplay between RA, ageing and (emerging) comorbidities is interesting but complex. Cardiovascular disease, lung disease, malignancies, bone and muscle wasting and neuropsychiatric disease all occur more frequently in RA patients as compared to the general population. It is unclear how RA should be managed in ‘today’s world of multiple comorbidities’. Evidence that treatment of RA improves comorbidities is currently lacking, although some promising indirect observations are available. On the other hand, there is limited evidence that medication regularly prescribed for comorbidities, such as statins, might improve RA disease activity. Both ageing and comorbidity have an independent effect on commonly used outcome measures in the RA field, such as the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and the clinical disease activity index (CDAI). Prospective studies, that also account for the presence of comorbidity in (elderly) RA patients are therefore urgently needed. To address gaps in knowledge, future research should focus on the complex interdependencies between RA, ageing and comorbidity. In addition, these findings should be integrated into daily clinical practice by developing and testing integrated and coordinated health care services. Adaptation of management recommendations is likely required.SummaryThe elderly RA patient who also deals with (emerging) comorbidities presents a unique challenge to treating clinicians. A paradigm shift from disease-centered to goal-oriented approach is needed to develop adequate health care services for these patients.

Asynchronous Flowering or Buffer Zones: Technical Solutions for Small‐scale Farming

SummaryTo ensure consumers' and farmers' freedom of choice, many countries have regulated the labelling of products derived from genetically modified (GM) crops and coexistence of conventional and GM fields. On the basis of published research results a guide for Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) was compiled to facilitate maize coexistence in farming zones with temperate climate. In the frame of the PRICE EU‐funded research project we validated these recommended measures in real agricultural fields representing the worst case scenario, i.e. small‐scale farming in a region with around 75 per cent commercial GM maize. The two alternative strategies proposed in the GAP, buffer zones and flowering asynchrony, successfully guaranteed coexistence in the frame of the present EU regulation. These measures do not lead to unnecessary costs, are simple to apply and are compatible with small deviations resulting from common agricultural practices. The results are applicable for temperate zones such as Southern Europe and cannot easily be transferred to other parts of Europe due to differences in climatic conditions which limit the use of different flowering times as a coexistence strategy.

Speech Understanding in Children With Normal Hearing: Sound Field Normative Data for BabyBio, BKB-SIN, and QuickSIN.

The primary goal was to establish normative data for the Pediatric AzBio "BabyBio," QuickSIN, and BKB-SIN measures in the sound field for children with normal hearing. Tertiary care hospital; cochlear implant (CI) program. Forty-one children with normal hearing were recruited across four age groups (5-6, 7-8, 9-10, and 11-12 yr). Sentence recognition testing was assessed at four different signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs, +10, +5, 0, and -5 dB) for BabyBio sentences as well as for the BKB-SIN and QuickSIN tests. All measures were presented in the sound field at 60 dBA except QuickSIN, which was presented at 70 dBA. BabyBio sentence recognition, BKB-SIN SNR-50, and QuickSIN SNR-50 were analyzed to establish sound field norms. BabyBio sentence recognition approached ceiling at all SNRs with mean scores ranging from 86% at -5 dB SNR to 99.3% at +10 dB SNR. Mean QuickSIN SNR-50 was 6.6 dB. Mean BKB-SIN SNR-50 was 1.6 dB with sound field data being consistent with insert earphone normative data in the BKB-SIN manual. Performance for all measures improved with age. Children with normal hearing achieve ceiling-level performance for BabyBio sentence recognition at SNRs used for clinical CI testing (≥ 0 dB SNR) and approach ceiling level even at -5 dB SNR. Consistent with previous reports, speech recognition in noise improved with age from 5 to 12 years in children with normal hearing. Thus, speech recognition in noise might also increase in the CI population across the same age range warranting age-specific norms for CI recipients. Last, the QuickSIN test could be substituted for the BKB-SIN test with appropriate age-normative data.

Exploring Client Expectations in Marriage and Family Therapy

Expectations influence experiences and are an important factor in interpersonal exchanges. Within therapy, client expectations are a common factor contributing to client change. It is important for both clinicians and researchers to explore the breadth and nature of their clients’ expectations for treatment in order to provide personalized and effective care. Furthermore, client expectations may be predictive of client outcomes and thus may be a worthwhile target for intervention. Despite the importance of understanding client expectations, little research has been done on this topic in the field of marriage and family therapy. This may be due to a need for a robust measure for client expectations that goes beyond studying individual adult clients and which is also feasible to administer. This article provides information about existing measures in the mental health field and suggests guidelines for the development of a measure that would be appropriate for the field of marriage and family therapy.

Utility and Validity of Authentic Assessments and Conventional Tests for International Early Childhood Intervention Purposes: Evidence from U.S. National Social Validity Research

The reported U.S. incidence of delay/disability in young children, and thus need for services, is far higher than those currently receiving early intervention supports and services [1]. Government representatives and policymakers in the U.S. have concluded that traditional tests fail to capture sufficient numbers of young children who must access early intervention supports at a critical life moment [2], even though state regulations often mandate their use. The early intervention field regards authentic assessments as a more effective alternative. However, few U.S. studies have been conducted to compare and validate the use of either conventional tests or authentic assessments for early intervention purposes. National social validity research in the United States by Bagnato et al. [3,4] revealed that authentic assessments fulfill the qualities/needs of the early childhood intervention field better than conventional tests. However, no national studies had been conducted to examine the qualities and patterns of use for authentic and conventional measures among interdisciplinary professionals. Based on an expanded national internet survey in the current follow-up research, we compared the qualities/patterns of use among professionals for both types of measures in the early childhood intervention field. Overall, median ratings indicate that the top authentic assessments are more valid/useful than the most popular conventional tests to accomplish most early intervention purposes. Based on the results, we share the implications as “practice-based research evidence” to guide international policymakers, professionals, and parents to advocate, choose, and use “best measures for best practices.”