Relative Strength Research Articles

P-390 The percentage of regulatory T cells is associated with T follicular helper cell quantity in the peripheral blood of pregnant women

Abstract Study question Is there a relationship between the percentage of peripheral regulatory T cells (Treg) and other T cell subtypes in the first trimester of pregnancy? Summary answer The percentage of Treg cells showed a significant positive correlation with the quantity of T follicular helper cells (TFH). What is known already Regulatory T cells (Treg) play an essential role in the process of embryo implantation and maintenance of normal pregnancy. The quantity of these cells in the peripheral blood expands during the first trimester of pregnancy. Several studies report the importance of Treg in the control of the inflammatory process and in the pathophysiology of common adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, there is a scarce data about the quantitative relation between Treg and other important T sub-types during pregnancy. Study design, size, duration This is an observational study of 93 women, 28 to 53 years of age (mean 38 years), who had a blood sample during the first trimester (at 8-10 weeks of pregnancy). The study was conducted between November 2022 and October 2023. The exclusion criteria were history of recent inflammatory or infection disorders, recent antibiotic treatment, autoimmune diseases, oncological diseases, moderate or severe endometriosis, and endometrial polyps. Written informed consent was obtained from each participant. Participants/materials, setting, methods SIx peripheral T cell subtypes were measured by flow cytometry: T helpers % (CD3+CD4+CD8-/CD3+), T killers % (CD3+CD4-CD8+/CD3+), double-positive T cells % (CD3+CD4+CD8+/CD3+), double-negative T cells % (CD3+CD4-CD8-/ CD3+), T follicular helper cells % (CD3+CD4+CD8-CD185+/CD4+), T reg cells (CD4+CD8-CD25+CD127−/CD4+). Spearman’s correlation test was performed with all studied T cell subtypes in SPSS 21 package program. Main results and the role of chance The median percentage (range) of the studied T cell subtypes was: T helpers (51.7%, 12.1%÷91.45%), T killers (39.0%, 4.1%÷72.5%), DPT cells (1.2%, 0÷8.75), DNT cells (8.4%, 1.9%÷46.2%), Treg cells (4.6%, 1.9%÷12.7%), TFH cells (7.6%, 1.4%÷42.6%). To examine the association between the percentage of Treg cells and the other T cell subtypes, the Spearman’s Rho Correlation coefficient for non-paramentric data was used. No correlation was found between the quantity of Treg and T helpers, T killers, Total T cells, double-positive T cells (p > 0.05). In contrast, the percentage of Treg showed a significant positive correlation with the percentage of TFH (R = 0.36; p = 0.01), and a significant negative correlation with double-negative T cells (R= - 0.29; p = 0.04). Limitations, reasons for caution The main limitation of the study is that it was carried out only in a limited period of time during the pregnancy. Thus, it would be beneficial to compare the percentage of Treg cells with other T cell sub-types in the second and third trimester of pregnancy. Wider implications of the findings Our study demonstrated that Treg cells have stronger association with TFH cells than with other T cell subtypes. The strength of this quantitative relationship might be important for the normal progress of pregnancy, and it remains subject of further studies. Trial registration number not applicable

Regional fertility predictors based on socioeconomic determinants in Slovakia

The study's primary purpose was to recognise the effects of determinants on the level of fertility and thereby explain the differences in trends in the regions of Slovakia. At the turn of the century, the differences in fertility in regions increased, but the total fertility rate decreased. Multivariate statistical methods clarified the regional effects of the level and nature of fertility. Initial regression surveys indicated weak effects between regions, which led to applying factor and cluster analysis to establish regional types. Comprehensive regression analysis was then applied. The strength and nature of regional relationships differed at the inter- and intra-regional levels. Research has demonstrated significant differences in fertility rates dependent on the socioeconomic environment, as regional types uniquely link to determinants. Moreover, each determinant has specific spatial patterns with unequal regression coefficients at different regional levels, which cannot be evaluated constantly. Knowing how spatial variation in fecundity occurs will enable future studies to elucidate the processes involved. Finally, fertility is vital for social assessment and policy formulation, the study’s findings could inform local decision-makers and planners in identifying the socioeconomic conditions underlying fertility at the regional level and planning appropriate intervention strategies.

Relationships among soil moisture at various depths under diverse climate, land cover and soil texture

Soil moisture is an important component of the hydrological cycle and a key mediator between land surface and atmospheric interactions. Although substantial progress has been made in remote sensing of soil moisture at different spatial scales, the shallow penetration depth of remote sensors greatly limits their utility for applications in meteorological modelling and hydrological studies where the critical variable of interest is the root-zone soil moisture content. Therefore, this study assesses the relationship between soil moisture at the surface (10 cm) and in lower soil layers (20, 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 cm) under varying climates, soils, and vegetation types. Cross-correlation analysis is applied to daily in-situ soil moisture measurements from 4712 locations in agricultural lands across the contiguous United States. Our analysis demonstrates that zero-day lag always produced the highest correlation between 10 cm soil moisture and soil moisture in the lower layers. In addition, a positive and strong relationship between 10 and 20 cm soil moisture (r = 0.84) was observed, while the relationships between 10 and 40 cm soil moisture were moderate (r = 0.52). The decline in cross-correlation continued to the deeper soil layers, which indicated that, on a daily timescale, the surface soil moisture gradually becomes decoupled with soil moisture at greater depths. Therefore, our research suggests that the estimation of soil moisture in the soil layers <40 cm based on surface soil moisture is most promising. However, the influence of climate, land cover, and soil textures on the strength of relationships between surface and lower layers makes the prediction difficult. The comparatively weak relationship between precipitation and soil moisture (0.09–0.32), as well as the relationship between reference evapotranspiration (ETo) and soil moisture (−0.19–0.18), in this study can be attributed to scale mismatching from different data sources.

Effect of freeze-thaw cycles and chloride salt erosion coupling conditions on fatigue properties of PE-ECC

Engineered cementitious composites (ECC), which are a kind of novel composite building material with high ductility and high toughness, can be utilized in areas susceptible to salt-freezing damage, such as that caused by snowmelt agents, seawater, and saline soils. In this paper, engineered cementitious composites reinforced with polyethylene fibers (PE) are analyzed to study the changes in the flexural static load properties, and flexural fatigue life of PE-ECC specimens after four different freeze-thaw cycles (0, 50, 100 and 150) in fresh water and a 3.5% mass fraction NaCl solution. The results show that upon reaching 150 freeze-thaw cycles, there was a notable disparity in the relative equivalent flexural strength between specimens subjected to chloride salt freeze-thaw and freshwater freeze-thaw environments, with the former exhibiting a 1.07-fold increase in damage compared to the latter specimens. Using the relative dynamic elastic modulus as the damage variable, a relationship model was made between the relative equivalent flexural strength and the freeze-thaw damage degree of PE-ECC in two freeze-thaw environments. The flexural fatigue life of PE-ECC after freeze-thaw obeyed a two-parameter Weibull distribution, and the P-S-N curves at various reliability probabilities correlated well with the test results. The safety coefficient of PE-ECC varied with changes in freeze-thaw conditions, necessitating an increase in the safety coefficient to assure structural safety in locations with more severe freeze-thaw damage. The results of this study can serve as a reference for the development of freeze-thaw-resistant designs for PE-ECC structures in future applications.

Normativity vs. uniqueness: effects of social relationship strength on neural representations of others.

Understanding others involves inferring traits and intentions, a process complicated by our reliance on stereotypes and generalized information when we lack personal information. Yet, as relationships are formed, we shift toward nuanced and individualized perceptions of others. This study addresses how relationship strength influences the creation of unique or normative representations of others in key regions known to be involved in social cognition. Employing a round-robin interpersonal perception paradigm (N = 111, 20 groups of five to six people), we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine whether the strength of social relationships modulated the degree to which multivoxel patterns of activity that represented a specific other were similar to a normative average of all others in the study. Behaviorally, stronger social relationships were associated with more normative trait endorsements. Neural findings reveal that closer relationships lead to more unique representations in the medial prefrontal cortex and anterior insula, areas associated with mentalizing and person perception. Conversely, more generalized representations emerge in posterior regions like the posterior cingulate cortex, indicating a complex interplay between individuated and generalized processing of social information in the brain. These findings suggest that cortical regions typically associated with social cognition may compute different kinds of information when representing the distinctiveness of others.

Green human resource management and sustainability: moderating role of absorptive capacity

Purpose This research aims to investigate the influence of green human resource management (HRM), with analysis and description of job position, recruitment, selection, training, performance assessment and rewards on sustainability with the resource-based view (RBV) theory as underlying theory. The extent to which absorptive capacity strengthened the “green HRM-sustainability” link as a buffering mechanism was also examined. Design/methodology/approach The study model was tested with empirical data gathered from 253 Indonesian oil and gas firms. The elicited data were analysed using structural equation modelling using partial least squares (PLS). Findings Resultantly, the (i) analysis and description of job position and (ii) recruitment positively influenced sustainability. Absorptive capacity also influenced the strength of the moderated relationship between (i) recruitment and (ii) training and sustainability. Originality/value As far as we know, this is the first study which assigned the moderator role of absorptive capacity in a relationship between green HRM and sustainability in oil and gas firms in Indonesia. Notably, the theoretical and practical implications of applying the empirical outcomes to the oil and gas sector were extensively discussed.

Evolutionary allometry of the canid baculum (Carnivora: Mammalia)

Abstract While the mammalian baculum shows enormous morphological variability, the baculum of canids is highly conserved, with most variation restricted to size. Here, we explore the allometric relationship between baculum length and body size in extant and extinct canids. Examination of 26 species in the extant subfamily Caninae using standard linear regression revealed isometry. Phylogenetic regression also revealed an allometric slope indistinguishable from isometry. This pattern differs from the substantially negative slopes seen in other mammalian clades. The strength of the canid allometric relationship (r2) is also greater than in other clades, suggesting functional constraints on their baculum size. The constraints may be related to the copulatory tie that is characteristic of canids, and/or their monogamous mating system. Complete bacula are known from just four extinct species. The two complete bacula from the extinct subfamily Borophaginae (Aelurodon ferox and Aelurodon stirtoni) fall on the same allometric relationship as the living canids. However, the baculum of the extinct dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus, from the extant subfamily Caninae) and from the extinct subfamily Herperocyoninae, Hesperocyon gregarius, are significantly longer than expected based on their body sizes, suggesting that they may have had a different reproductive biology from that of extant canines.

Relationship Marketing and Customer Loyalty: The Moderating Effect of Relationship Duration, Strength, and Intensity

ABSTRACT Research shows that relationship marketing and customer loyalty are significantly correlated without considering the time or intensity dimension of the relationship. So, this study investigates whether relationship duration, strength, and intensity moderate the association between relationship marketing and customer loyalty in an emerging market. We adopt a quantitative research approach and a cross-sectional survey design to collect the data from 500 customers in the fund management industry of Ghana. We analyze the data using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and hierarchical regression model. The results reveal that the four relationship marketing dimensions (i.e. trust, commitment, communication, and conflict handling) have a significant positive association with customer loyalty. Furthermore, relationship strength and intensity significantly augment and moderate the association between relationship marketing dimensions and customer loyalty. However, relationship duration could neither augment nor moderate the association between the relationship marketing dimensions and customer loyalty. We have made a significant contribution to literature by establishing the effectiveness of relationship strength and intensity as moderators on the association between relationship marketing dimensions and customer loyalty in the fund management industry of an emerging market.

Curse or a Blessing: Excessive Use of ChatGPT in Academia

This research study provides a comprehensive analysis of excessive use of ChatGPT in academia which started a debate that either the excessive use of ChatGPT in academia is a blessing or a curse. Recently, the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) like ChatGPT had dramatically enhanced the human and computer interaction by offering the unparalleled accessibility and convenience. The study has measured the potential factors of academia which caused the excessive use of ChatGPT. Instant gratification (IG), academia work overload (AW) and social isolation (SI) has been taken as the predictors of excessive use of ChatGPT in academia. By employing the Uses and Gratification theory, it has been observed that how university students seek the help of AI for gratification, to minimize their work load and to mitigate the impact of social isolation. To escape from hard work, to reduce the life stressor and to gain comfort, students constantly seek for positive reinforcement from their tutors. So, positive reinforcement (PR) has been taken as a mediator in the relationship between IG, AW, SI and excessive use of ChatGPT. Access and technical know-how will strengthen the relationship of IG, AW, SI and PR while lack of technological literacy will lessen the strength of such relationship. Hence, technological literacy (TL) has been taken a moderator for IG, AW, SI and PR. Data has been collected from a homogenous population of business and management students of public and private universities of southern Punjab, Pakistan. A survey has been by conducted by distributing a structured questionnaire to 1100 graduate and undergraduate students. Out of which 678 students responded. At the end 617 useable responses were recorded for analysis. It has been found that IG, AW and SI enhances the use of ChatGPT while PR partially moderates this relationship. Additionally, TL strengths the relationship of IG, AW, SI and PR. The study measured the possible reasons of excessive use of ChatGPT in the academia while the perils of AI is yet to be explored in academia.

Correlation of ctDNA and LDH levels in patients with soft tissue sarcoma: A single-center experience.

e23535 Background: Our study aims to examine the relationship between the presence of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in patients diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma (STS). There is emerging yet limited data on the applicability of ctDNA in STS. LDH is a cheaper readily available test that has been associated with unfavorable overall survival in different malignancies. This research aims to understand the correlation between ctDNA and LDH as a tool to assess its utility as indirect markers of response to treatment in STS. Methods: This was a single-center retrospective chart review on patients diagnosed with STS. Eligibility criteria included a confirmed diagnosis and available measurements of both ctDNA and LDH levels. Correlation was compared between Non-hispanic whites (NHW) and Hispanics (H). Data was sourced from our electronic medical record and Signatera™ assay to obtain the primary endpoints. Specimens were standardized in accordance to Natera’s™ specifications. Study endpoints included the correlation coefficients between ctDNA and LDH levels. A two-stage study design was applied for a robust analysis. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (denoted as r) was employed for statistical analysis, assessing the strength and direction of the monotonic relationship between ctDNA and LDH levels. Marker values were treated as continuous variables in these analyses. All analyses were executed in GraphPad Prism software. Results: The cohort comprised 33 patients with STS (14 NHW, 19 H). The median LDH in H was 189 (interquartile range (IQR) = 184) vs 184 (IQR = 105) in NHW. Comparatively, the median ctDNA in H was 0 (IQR = 39.3) and also 0 (IQR = 11.1) in NHW. The overall correlation between ctDNA and LDH levels was moderate positive (r = 0.5, p = 0.002), indicating a consistent, though not necessarily linear, relationship. Subgroup analysis showed r = 0.19 (p = 0.52) in NHW and r = 0.43 (p = 0.1) in H groups, suggesting ethnic variability in the ctDNA-LDH correlation. These findings were statistically significant within the predefined confidence limits and probability values. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated a significant correlation between ctDNA levels and LDH in STS patients, implying that higher ctDNA may be associated with higher LDH levels. This association can lead clinicians in monitoring LDH more frequently as an indirect marker of response to treatment in STS. This correlation suggests an increased tumor burden with a higher inflammatory response, with variations across different racial groups. The wider availability of LDH testing compared to ctDNA in many centers highlights LDH's potential as an indirect marker for STS. Further research with larger prospective cohorts is essential to confirm LDH's role paired with ctDNA in guiding treatment decisions in STS, enhancing its utility in clinical practice.

The need for spatially resolved observations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in protoplanetary discs

Context. The signatures of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been observed in protoplanetary discs, and their emission features obtained from spectral energy distributions (SED) have been used in the literature to characterise their size and determine their abundance. Aims. Two simple disc models (uniform PAH distribution against a PAH gap in the inner disc) are compared to investigate the difference of their SED and obtainable information. Methods. We used the radiative transfer code RADMC-3D to model the SED of two protoplanetary discs orbiting a typical Herbig star, one of which features a depletion of PAHs in the inner disc. We further created artificial images of the discs at face-on view to extract radial profiles of the PAH emission in the infrared. Results. We find that the extracted PAH features from an SED provide limited information about the PAHs in protoplanetary disc environments, except for the ionisation state. The distribution of PAHs in a protoplanetary disc influences the total observed PAH luminosity in a non-linear fashion and alters the relative strength between the 3.3 µm and 11.3 µm features. Furthermore, we produced radial profiles at the 3 µm, 6 µm and, 11 µm PAH emission features and find that they follow a double power-law profile where the slope reflects the radiative environment (single photon regime vs. multi-photon regime) in which the PAHs lie. Conclusions. Using spatially resolved techniques such as IFU or imaging in the era of the James Webb Space Telescope, we find that multi-wavelength radial emission profiles will not only provide information on the spatial distribution of the PAHs, but may also provide information on their size and underlying UV environment, which is crucial for photo-evaporative disc wind models.

Make a Charitable Birthday Wish on Facebook: An Extended Theory of Planned Behavior

ABSTRACT Social media fundraising has become an important tool for nonprofits to raise money. Focusing on one specific fundraising tool, Facebook birthday fundraiser, the current study developed an extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model and included three external variables, relationship strength with the fundraiser creator, perceived risk regarding personal information safety, and personal relevance of the fundraising cause. An online survey was conducted to investigate their influences on Facebook users’ donation intention and behaviors. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were conducted, and hypothetical correlations were tested. Results showed that relationship strength significantly influenced subjective norms, attitude toward the fundraiser, self-efficacy, and perceived behavior control. Perceived risk positively influenced subjective norms. Personal relevance positively affected donation intention. Relationships among factors from previous TBP studies were also tested and verified. Implications and limitations of the study were discussed.

Legacies of millennial-scale climate oscillations in contemporary biodiversity in eastern North America.

The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) has caused significant climate changes over the past 90 000 years. Prior work has hypothesized that these millennial-scale climate variations effected past and contemporary biodiversity, but the effects are understudied. Moreover, few biogeographic models have accounted for uncertainties in palaeoclimatic simulations of millennial-scale variability. We examine whether refuges from millennial-scale climate oscillations have left detectable legacies in the patterns of contemporary species richness in eastern North America. We analyse 13 palaeoclimate estimates from climate simulations and proxy-based reconstructions as predictors for the contemporary richness of amphibians, passerine birds, mammals, reptiles and trees. Results suggest that past climate changes owing to AMOC variations have left weak but detectable imprints on the contemporary richness of mammals and trees. High temperature stability, precipitation increase, and an apparent climate fulcrum in the southeastern United States across millennial-scale climate oscillations aligns with high biodiversity in the region. These findings support the hypothesis that the southeastern United States may have acted as a biodiversity refuge. However, for some taxa, the strength and direction of palaeoclimate-richness relationships varies among different palaeoclimate estimates, pointing to the importance of palaeoclimatic ensembles and the need for caution when basing biogeographic interpretations on individual palaeoclimate simulations. This article is part of the theme issue 'Ecological novelty and planetary stewardship: biodiversity dynamics in a transforming biosphere'.

A Study on Digital Literacy Skills and Library Services Delivery in Tamil Nādu Universities - A Correlation

The Study is about to find a correlation between Digital Literacy skills and the Library Services Delivery in Tamil Nadu Universities and more than 75 library professionals of selected Tamil Nādu Universities through random sampling method are used for the study. A questioner in Google Form was designed and circulated among the 75 users through e-mail for data collection using random sampling method. Out of the 75 questioners circulated, only 63 are dully filled and found suitable for data analysis. Descriptive and inferential statistics was used for analysis of Data and Single hypothesis with 0.05 level of significance using the linear regression was tested. Subsequently, Creswell correlational ranking was used to decide the strength of relationship strength between variables and results are displayed in frequency tables. The findings of the study show that majority of library professionals have Digital Literacy skill, a considerable number of Library Professionals have to improve their digital literacy skill in areas like ability to use computer systems for information dissemination, ability to use different software, design a simple webpage, obtain product keys for software, design Mobile Applications, and design Cloud Applications etc. Among other skills and among the numerous services provided by the library, the library professionals were skillful in using internet to search and communicate information, conduct website evaluation and use Boolean logic etc. Moreover, Study results showed a correlational value of 0.963 and the hypothesis yielded a p-value less than 0.05. Which implies that the null Hypothesis is rejected, and it is concluded that there is evidence of linear relationship and hence there is significant relationship between the Digital Literacy Skills of the Library professionals and the Library Service Delivery of the Identified universities in Tamil Nādu. Based on the results of the study it is recommended that library authorities should focus on the ways and means of, intensifying the efforts in creating awareness and should be initiated steps that the library professionals should be provided with appropriate training on digital literacy skills, their application and essence, in order to enable them to acquire more of the skills, together with applying them to maximize the library service delivery, among other things for better service to the users.

Association between surrogate marker of insulin resistance and bone mineral density in US adults without diabetes.

Patients with osteoporosis are often diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes. Insulin resistance is a prediabetic state, and triglyceride glucose-body mass index (TyG-BMI) has been recognized as a potential predictor of it, valuable in assessing prediabetes, atherosclerosis, and other diseases. However, the validity of TyG-BMI in osteoporosis studies remains inadequate. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between TyG-BMI and BMD as well as the effect of TyG-BMI on the odds of developing osteoporosis in US adults without diabetes. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data were obtained. The relationship between TyG-BMI and BMD was evaluated via multivariate linear regression models. Smoothed curve fitting and threshold effect analysis explored potential non-linear relationships, and age, gender, and race subgroup analyses were performed. In addition, multivariate logistic regression models were employed to analyze its potential role in the development of osteoporosis. In a study of 6501 participants, we observed a significant positive correlation between the TyG-BMI index and BMD, even after adjusting for covariates and categorizing TyG-BMI. The study identified specific TyG-BMI folding points-112.476 for the total femur BMD, 100.66 for the femoral neck BMD, 107.291 for the intertrochanter BMD, and 116.58 for the trochanter BMD-indicating shifts in the relationship's strength at these thresholds. While the association's strength slightly decreased after the folding points, it remained significant. Subgroup analyses further confirmed the positive TyG-BMI and BMD correlation. Multivariate linear regression analyses indicated a lower osteoporosis risk in participants with higher TyG-BMI levels, particularly in menopausal women over 40 and men over 60. This study suggests a positive correlation between BMD and TyG-BMI in US adults without diabetes. Individuals with higher levels of TyG-BMI may have a lower risk of osteoporosis.

Clustered DTN routing based on sensing node relationship strength

AbstractDelay tolerant networks (DTNs) is a network evolved from mobile networks. Differing from the traditional network, which has a stable end‐to‐end transmission path, DTNs are sparse and intermittently connected mobile ad hoc network, which are widely used in harsh environments, such as battlefields, seabed, space communication networks, and so on. In DTNs, intermittent connectivity, partitioned network, long delays and node mobility characteristics make the network fail to communicate frequently, therefore, how to successfully forward the message is of extreme importance. Up to now, almost all the traditional models in DTNs use the store‐carry‐forward method. This paper proposes a novel clustered DTN routing model based on sensing node relationship strength. The routing mechanism takes advantage of the number of other nodes encountered by the nodes in the process of movement and the changes in the number of nodes to calculate the strength of the relationship between nodes, and clusters DTN routing according to the strength of the relationship between nodes. Moreover, the relationship between nodes in a cluster and other clusters is used to transmit messages between clusters, and messages are transmitted within clusters according to the strength of the relationship between nodes. Simulation results show that the routing mechanism not only increases the success rate of message transmission, but also reduces the transmission delay of messages and improves network performance.

Cognitive Profile in Autism and ADHD: A Meta-Analysis of Performance on the WAIS-IV and WISC-V.

Previous research has suggested that neurodevelopmental conditions may be associated with distinctive cognitive profiles on the Wechsler intelligence tests (of which the most recent editions are the WAIS-IV and WISC-V). However, the extent to which a cognitive profile can be reliably identified for individuals meeting criteria for autism or ADHD remains unclear. The present review investigated this issue. A search was conducted in PsycInfo, Embase, and Medline in October 2022 for papers reporting the performance of children or adults diagnosed with autism or ADHD on the WAIS-IV or the WISC-V. Test scores were aggregated using meta-analysis. Scores were analyzed from over 1,800 neurodivergent people reported across 18 data sources. Autistic children and adults performed in the typical range for verbal and nonverbal reasoning, but scored ~1 SD below the mean for processing speed and had slightly reduced scores on working memory. This provides evidence for a "spiky" cognitive profile in autism. Performance of children and adults with ADHD was mostly at age-expected levels, with slightly reduced scores for working memory. Although the pattern of performance on the Wechsler tests is not sufficiently sensitive or specific to use for diagnostic purposes, autism appears to be associated with a cognitive profile of relative strengths in verbal and nonverbal reasoning and a weakness in processing speed. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder appears less associated with a particular cognitive profile. Autistic individuals may especially benefit from a cognitive assessment to identify and support with their strengths and difficulties.

Interrelatedness patterns of knowledge representation in extension concept mapping

Extension concept mapping enhances existing maps by integrating new knowledge, yielding an additional map. This study focuses on two potential extension designs: Extended Kit-Build and Extended Scratch-Build methods. While prior research favored Extended Kit-Build for cognitive knowledge comprehension and map scores, it lacked insights into concept map-relatedness patterns. The tight connections among knowledge representations demonstrate a remarkable level of expertise and the profoundness of an individual’s understanding. This study reveals interrelatedness patterns in extension concept mapping activities that connect previous and new knowledge. The dataset was obtained from a database that accommodates the results of concept mapping activities of 55 university students on two material topics. The study employed a two-group design, wherein the experimental cohort embraced the Extended Kit-Build approach, contrasting with the control cohort’s utilization of the Extended Scratch-Build approach. Extension Relationship scores were utilized to evaluate the knowledge interrelatedness patterns in extension concept mapping. The scoring method assessed both the number and quality of concept map proposition relationships. The experimental group established a statistically more significant quantity and qualitative strength of extension relationships than those within the control group. In the experimental group, a statistically noteworthy positive correlation emerged between the scores of extension relationships and students’ comprehension.

Traffic transfer between social media and E-commerce platform: the role of social media affordances

Traffic transfer between social media and E-commerce platform: the role of social media affordances

Divergent future change in South Atlantic Ocean Dipole impacts on regional rainfall in CMIP6 models

The South Atlantic Ocean Dipole (SAOD) exerts strong influence on climate variability in parts of Africa and South America. Here we assess the ability of an ensemble of 35 state-of-the-art coupled global climate models to simulate the SAOD impacts on regional rainfall for the historical period (1950–2014), and their future projections (2015–2079). For both periods we consider the peak phase of the dipole in austral winter. Observational analysis reveals four regions with spatially coherent SAOD impacts on rainfall; Northern Amazon, Guinea Coast, Central Africa, and Southeast Brazil. The observed rainfall response to the SAOD over Northern Amazon (0.31 mm d−1), Guinea Coast (0.38 mm d−1), and Southeast Brazil (0.12 mm d−1) are significantly underestimated by the modeled ensemble-mean response of 0.10 ± 0.15 mm d−1, 0.05 ± 0.15 mm d−1, −0.01 ± 0.04 mm d−1, respectively. A too southerly rain belt in the ensemble, associated with warmer-than-observed Atlantic cold tongue, leads to better performance of models over Central Africa (46% simulate observations-consistent SAOD-rainfall correlations) and poor performance over the Guinea Coast (only 5.7% simulate observations-consistent SAOD-rainfall correlations). We also find divergent responses among the projections of ensemble members precluding a categorical statement on the future strength of the SAOD-rainfall relationship in a high-emissions scenario. Our results highlight key uncertainties that must be addressed to enhance the value of SAOD-rainfall projections for the affected African and South American countries.