Weak Statistical Relationship Research Articles

An air quality and boundary layer dynamics analysis of the Los Angeles basin area during the Southwest Urban NOx and VOCs Experiment (SUNVEx)

Abstract. The NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory (CSL) conducted the Southwest Urban NOx and VOCs Experiment (SUNVEx) to study emissions and the role of boundary layer (BL) dynamics and sea-breeze (SB) transitions in the evolution of coastal air quality. The study presented utilizes remote sensing and in situ observations in Pasadena, California. Separate analyses are conducted on the synoptic conditions during ozone (O3) exceedance (>70 ppb) and non-exceedance (<70 ppb) days, as well as the fine-structure variability of in situ chemistry measurements during BL growth and SB transitions. Diurnal analyses spanning August 2021 revealed a markedly different wind direction during evenings preceding O3 exceedance (northerly) versus non-exceedance (easterly) days. Increased O3 occurred simultaneously with warmer and drier conditions, a reduction in winds, and an increase in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5). While the average BL height was lower and surface pressure was higher, the day-to-day variability of these quantities led to an overall weak statistical relationship. Investigations focused on the fine-structure variability of in situ chemistry measurements superimposed on background trends were conducted using a novel multivariate spectral coherence mapping (MSCM) technique that combined the spectral structure of two or more independent measurements through a wavelet analysis as reported by maximum-normalized scaleograms. A case study was chosen to illustrate the MSCM technique, where the dominant peaks in scaleograms were identified and compared to BL height during the growth phase. The temporal widths of peaks (τmax) derived from VOC and nitrogen oxide (NOx) scaleograms, as well as scaleograms combining VOCs, NOx, and variations in BL height, indicated a broadening with respect to time as the BL increased in depth. A separate section focused on comparisons between τmax and BL height during August 2021 revealed uncorrelated or weakly correlated scatter, except in the case of VOCs when really large τmax and relatively deep BL heights were ignored. Instances of large τmax and relatively deep BL heights occurred near sunrise and as onshore flow entered Pasadena, respectively. Wind transitions likely influenced both the dynamical evolution of the BL and tracer advection and thus offer additional challenges when separating factors contributing to the fine structure. Other insights gained from this work include observations of descending wind jets from the San Gabriel Mountains that were not resolved by the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model and the derivation of intrinsic properties of oscillations observed in NOx and O3 during the interaction between an SB and enhanced winds above the BL that flowed in opposition to the SB.

Age Identification of Farmland Shelterbelt Using Growth Pattern Based on Landsat Time Series Images

Farmland shelterbelt, as a category of shelterbelt in forestry ecological engineering, has an important influence on agricultural sustainability in agricultural systems. Timely and accurate acquisition of farmland shelterbelt age is not only essential to understanding their shelter effects but also directly relates to the adjustment of subsequent shelterbelt projects. In this study, we developed an age identification method using growth pattern to extract the age of shelterbelt (i.e., years after planting) based on Landsat time series images. This method was applied to a typical area of shelterbelt construction in the north of Changchun, China. The results indicated that the accuracy of age identification reached a stable situation when the permissible age error exceeded 3 years, achieving an accuracy of approximately 90%. Moreover, the accuracy at different growth phases (1–3 years, 4–15 years, 16–30 years, and >30 years) decreased with increasing age, and the accuracy of each growth phase can reach more than 80% when the permissible age error is beyond 7 years. Compared to building the typically weak statistical relationship between the shelterbelt age and remote sensing characteristic information to derive age, this method presented a direct age identification method for fine-scale age extraction of the shelterbelt. It introduced a novel perspective for shelterbelt age identification and the assessment of shelterbelt project advancement on the regional scale.

The effect of innovation orientation on firm performance: evidence from micro and small manufacturing firms in selected towns of Awi Zone, Ethiopia

Innovation in micro and small enterprises is widely regarded as one of the most important sources of sustainable competitive advantage with an embedded purpose of performance improvement in an increasingly changing environment. This study aimed to examine the effect of innovation on the performance of micro and small manufacturing firms in selected towns of Awi Zone, Amhara, Ethiopia. The target population of the study was 643 micro and small manufacturing firms in Injibara, Dangila, and Tilili; a number provided by Awi zone enterprise development office data during 2021. Data were drawn from a sample of 247 manufacturing firms using cross-sectional primary data collected from wood and metal manufacturing firms in selected towns of Awi Zone. The study adopted descriptive and explanatory designs and used correlation and multiple linear regression analysis to estimate the effect of innovation on firm performance. The regression results revealed that product, process, marketing and organizational innovation were positively and significantly related to firm performance, while product innovation was found to have a strong positive effect on the dependent variable firm performance followed by process and organizational innovation, respectively. However, a weak statistical relationship was reported between marketing innovation and the performance of manufacturing firms than other variables. Hence, firms which have a strong orientation towards product, process, organizational and marketing innovation have better performance in manufacturing firms in the study area.

LSD-induced increase of Ising temperature and algorithmic complexity of brain dynamics

A topic of growing interest in computational neuroscience is the discovery of fundamental principles underlying global dynamics and the self-organization of the brain. In particular, the notion that the brain operates near criticality has gained considerable support, and recent work has shown that the dynamics of different brain states may be modeled by pairwise maximum entropy Ising models at various distances from a phase transition, i.e., from criticality. Here we aim to characterize two brain states (psychedelics-induced and placebo) as captured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), with features derived from the Ising spin model formalism (system temperature, critical point, susceptibility) and from algorithmic complexity. We hypothesized, along the lines of the entropic brain hypothesis, that psychedelics drive brain dynamics into a more disordered state at a higher Ising temperature and increased complexity. We analyze resting state blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI data collected in an earlier study from fifteen subjects in a control condition (placebo) and during ingestion of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Working with the automated anatomical labeling (AAL) brain parcellation, we first create "archetype" Ising models representative of the entire dataset (global) and of the data in each condition. Remarkably, we find that such archetypes exhibit a strong correlation with an average structural connectome template obtained from dMRI (r = 0.6). We compare the archetypes from the two conditions and find that the Ising connectivity in the LSD condition is lower than in the placebo one, especially in homotopic links (interhemispheric connectivity), reflecting a significant decrease of homotopic functional connectivity in the LSD condition. The global archetype is then personalized for each individual and condition by adjusting the system temperature. The resulting temperatures are all near but above the critical point of the model in the paramagnetic (disordered) phase. The individualized Ising temperatures are higher in the LSD condition than in the placebo condition (p = 9 × 10-5). Next, we estimate the Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW) complexity of the binarized BOLD data and the synthetic data generated with the individualized model using the Metropolis algorithm for each participant and condition. The LZW complexity computed from experimental data reveals a weak statistical relationship with condition (p = 0.04 one-tailed Wilcoxon test) and none with Ising temperature (r(13) = 0.13, p = 0.65), presumably because of the limited length of the BOLD time series. Similarly, we explore complexity using the block decomposition method (BDM), a more advanced method for estimating algorithmic complexity. The BDM complexity of the experimental data displays a significant correlation with Ising temperature (r(13) = 0.56, p = 0.03) and a weak but significant correlation with condition (p = 0.04, one-tailed Wilcoxon test). This study suggests that the effects of LSD increase the complexity of brain dynamics by loosening interhemispheric connectivity-especially homotopic links. In agreement with earlier work using the Ising formalism with BOLD data, we find the brain state in the placebo condition is already above the critical point, with LSD resulting in a shift further away from criticality into a more disordered state.

ANALYSIS OF MARITIME PIRACY BY USING QUALITATIVE METHODS

Nearly 90% of world trade is transported by sea. Maritime piracy is a major threat for maritime security, shippers, crews, cargo owners and insurance companies. Main reasons of piracy and armed robbery attacks, piracy statistics, international conventions, regulation and multinational efforts were examined and maritime piracy against ships are analyzed in the period 2015 to 2020 in the study. The Chi Square Test (χ2) was used to test statistical relationship between categorical variables such as piracy attacks by years, months and hours, types, regions and type of vessels attacked. The results of the frequeny distributions show that the most piracy attacks occurred in 2015 (20.9%), the most attacks were in March-April-May (30.2%), the most attacks were occured between the hours 24:00-04:00 (29.2%) the most attacks occurred in South East Asia (42.6%), the most type of attacks against to ships were boarded (79.1%), the most attacks were occurred against bulk carriers (28.6), Marshall Islands-flagged ships were the most attacked (17.1%). The results of Chi-Square Test show that there is a weak statistical relationship between the piracy attacks by months and regions; there is a weak statistical relationship between the piracy attacks by years and type of attacks. There is no statistical relationship between other variables. In the conclusion part of the study, some suggestions are proposed to combat the maritime piracy.

Knowledge as A Predictor of Hypertension Prevention Practices Among Secondary School Teachers in a Selected Local Government Area in Oyo State, Nigeria

Globally, hypertension remains one of the most pressing public health challenges. Therefore, this study investigated knowledge as a predictor of hypertension prevention practices among secondary school teachers in Ogbomoso North Local Government in Nigeria. The research adopted a cross-sectional survey design. 418 public secondary school teachers in Ogbomoso North, Oyo State, were selected through a multistage sampling technique. A validated questionnaire was used for data collection. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 23, was used at a 95% confidence interval. The results showed that almost half of the teachers, 184 (47.8%) were between the ages of 40 and 49 years with mean±SD of 42.64±7.779 years. Majority of the teachers (96.1%) knew that hypertension is caused by high blood pressure and early detection through regular monitoring is important. The risk factors were rightly identified by over half of the teachers. The level of knowledge was computed on a 21-point rating scale with mean±SD of 14.79±2.298. The level of preventive measures was moderate with a mean±SD of 15.34±4.983 on a 24-point rating scale. Knowledge had a significant but weak statistical relationship with practice of hypertension preventive measures (R2=0.040; p< 0.01). The findings of the study suggest that there are gaps in knowledge regarding hypertension among teachers in Oyo State, which could influence their behaviours towards prevention. There is a need for comprehensive health education for this group of teachers.

Is Weather Index Insurance Sufficient for Smallholder Protection? Emerging Insights from Rainfall-Index Calibration of Maize Crop Losses in Central-West Nigeria

Residual impacts from rainfall deficit and failures of traditional crop insurance to protect smallholders are resulting in economic losses threatening Post-Paris adaptation target in Nigeria. Weather index insurance is being considered as a possible pathway towards sharing farmers’ risks. This paper analyzed the reliability of rainfall indexes as proxy for calibrating grain crop losses in designing index-based insurance product for farmers in Central-West Nigeria. Results reveal that two strongest correlated rainfall indexes in the development phase of maize are the second dekad cumulative rainfall climatology and cumulative rainfall below the pre-set 440mm threshold, however it was the third dekad cumulative rainfall climatology and consecutive dry days of total rainfall < daily 2.5 mm threshold in the reproductive stage. There is an overall weak statistical relationship between maize yield and rainfall indexes calibrated in middle savannah belt of Nigeria. This study provides a firsthand empirical validation that rainfall-based indexes are though fairly promising but not sufficiently measure actual farmers’ income losses, hence should not be regarded as a standalone safety-net for protecting smallholders. Careful consideration is required in developing appropriate weather indexes for designing index-based insurance product that will fully captured food crop losses significantly attributed to rainfall deficits, thus facilitate uptake in the semi-arid savannah zone of Nigeria.

Evaluating the impact of research using the altmetrics approach (case study: the field of scientometrics)

PurposeThis paper aims to assess the impact of research in the field of scientometrics by using the altmetrics (social media metrics) approach.Design/methodology/approachThis is an applied study which uses scientometric and altmetrics methods. The research population consists of the studies and their citations published in the two core journals (Scientometrics and Journal of Informetrics) in a period of five years (included 1,738 papers and 11,504 citations). Collecting and extracting the studies directly was carried from Springer and ScienceDirect databases. The Altmetric Explorer, a service provided by Altmetric.com, was used to collect data on studies from various sources (www.altmetric.com/). The research studies with the altmetric scores were identified (included 830 papers). The altmetric scores represent the quantity and quality of attention that the study has received on social media. The association between altmetric scores and citation indicators was investigated by using correlation tests.FindingsThe findings indicated a significant, positive and weak statistical relationship between the number of citations of the studies published in the field of scientometrics and the altmetric scores of these studies, as well as the number of readers of these studies in the two social networks (Mendeley and Citeulike) with the number of their citations. In this study, there was no statistically significant relationship between the number of citations of the studies and the number of readers on Twitter. In sum, the above findings suggest that some social networks and their indices can be representations of the impact of scientific papers, similar citations. However, owing to the weakness of the correlation coefficients, the replacement of these two categories of indicators is not recommended, but it is possible to use the altmetrics indicators as complementary scientometrics indicators in evaluating the impact of research.Originality/valueInvestigating the impact of research on social media can reflect the social impact of research and can also be useful for libraries, universities, and research organizations in planning, budgeting, and resource allocation processes.

Editorial

Editorial

STUDY OF STATIC STRENGTH STABILITY OF THE ABDOMINAL, TRUNK AND GLUTEAL MUSCLES OF CHILDREN IN PRE-SCHOOL AGE WITH OVERWEIGHT

The increasing incidence of overweight and obese pre-school children is a serious medical and social problem for almost all countries [10]. There is also a need for starting prevention from the earliest possible age. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of infant weight on the static-strength stability of the abdominal, trunk, and gluteal muscles in normal and overweight children. Study cohort:104 children at 5 to 6 years of age for the period 2017-2018 at the territory of the Stara Zagora municipality. A modified Kraus-Weber test according to V. Zhelev, L. Venova was applied to determine the static-strength stability of the trunk, abdominal and gluteal muscles. The study found an increase in the strength of the abdominal, trunk and gluteal muscles with age in the study group. Girls exhibited better static strength of abdominal flexors, gluteal muscles and trunk extensors than boys. The presence of an indirect, weak statistical relationship between the infant's weight and the strength of the flexors of the abdomen and hip joint, the trunk extensors and the lower limb extensors is demonstrated.

Zoo Attractions and Trinidadian Student Attitudes toward Animal Welfare

The issue of animal welfare has slowly risen to the fore in Trinidad and Tobago. The importation of the Caribbean's first two giraffes, Mandela and Melman, into the Emperor Valley Zoo, Trinidad has piqued the interest of the national community. The present quantitative study sought to explore student attitudes toward animal welfare and Mandela and Melman as zoo attractions in two student populations: first year sociology (n = 90) and veterinary medicine students (n = 34) and to assess the extent to which area of study and gender impact upon their attitudes. Participants were administered a structured questionnaire comprising two scales: the Animal Attitude Scale (AAS) to measure student attitudes to the various uses of animals in society, and a separate scale developed for this study to measure their attitudes toward Mandela and Melman. Gender accounted for a significant amount of the variance in student welfare attitudes. Female students expressed more positive attitudes toward animal welfare and toward Mandela and Melman. A weak statistical relationship was found between area of study and student welfare concerns. However, it was concluded that students were generally concerned about the welfare of animals and expressed positive attitudes toward welfare issues.

Using a Multiyear Temporal Climate-Analog Approach to Assess Climate Change Impacts on Park Visitation

AbstractBecause of the perceived weather sensitivity of park visitation in Ontario, Canada, several previous assessments have examined the impact of climate change. However, these assessments have predominantly been based on modeling approaches (regression analysis). The current study uses a multiyear temporal climate-analog approach to reassess the impact of climate change on visitation to Pinery Provincial Park in southwestern Ontario based on the observed effects of historical climatic anomalies on park visitation from 2000 to 2016. Consideration was also given to major events such as the North American terror attacks on 11 September 2001 and the confounding effect that events such as this may have had on the results. There were no statistically significant relationships (at the 95% confidence level) between seasonal climatic anomalies and park visitation in Ontario during the winter or spring seasons. There was a weak statistical relationship between anomalously warm summer seasons and park visitation, when compared to summer seasons with climatically normal temperatures; however, the presence of nonclimatic variables may have confounded these results, producing a false positive. Autumn-season park visitation was most sensitive to climatic anomalies, with the warmest temperatures causing visitation to increase by 37%, the wettest conditions causing visitation to decrease by 11%, and the driest conditions resulting in a 24% increase. These observed seasonal temperature anomalies represent temporal climate analogs for projected climate change across the span of the twenty-first century. Thus, the results of this study suggest that previous assessments may have overestimated the positive impacts of projected climate change on park visitation in this region.

Stand age estimation of rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) plantations using an integrated pixel- and object-based tree growth model and annual Landsat time series

Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) plantations are a rapidly increasing source of land cover change in mainland Southeast Asia. Stand age of rubber plantations obtained at fine scales provides essential baseline data, informing the pace of industrial and smallholder agricultural activities in response to the changing global rubber markets, and local political and socioeconomic dynamics. In this study, we developed an integrated pixel- and object-based tree growth model using Landsat annual time series to estimate the age of rubber plantations in a 21,115 km2 tri-border region along the junction of China, Myanmar and Laos. We produced a rubber stand age map at 30 m resolution, with an accuracy of 87.00% for identifying rubber plantations and an average error of 1.53 years in age estimation. The integration of pixel- and object-based image analysis showed superior performance in building NDVI yearly time series that reduced spectral noises from background soil and vegetation in open-canopy, young rubber stands. The model parameters remained relatively stable during model sensitivity analysis, resulting in accurate age estimation robust to outliers. Compared to the typically weak statistical relationship between single-date spectral signatures and rubber tree age, Landsat image time series analysis coupled with tree growth modeling presents a viable alternative for fine-scale age estimation of rubber plantations.

Diameter of inflow as a predictor of radiocephalic fistula flow.

The optimal method for vascular access surveillance is largely unknown. A previous case-control study suggested a simplified anatomical measure obtained by Doppler ultrasound-the narrowest segment of the circuit or "minimal luminal diameter" may identify patients with a dysfunctional radiocephalic arteriovenous fistula. The relationship between minimal luminal diameter and access flow (Qa) in the radiocephalic arteriovenous fistula has not previously been studied. Patients undergoing Doppler ultrasound of a radiocephalic arteriovenous fistula over an 8-month period were identified retrospectively. Minimal luminal diameter was identified and demographic and clinical data were collected. Qa was estimated by Doppler estimation of brachial artery flow. The relationship between minimal luminal diameter and Qa was examined by correlation and using different levels of minimal luminal diameter as a simplified measure to detect or exclude low Qa (<600 mL/min). A total of 81 Doppler ultrasound scans were performed. In all, 26 scans demonstrated brachial artery flow <600 mL/min. Simple logistic regression indicated a weak statistical relationship between the minimal luminal diameter and Qa (R2 = 0.27, p < 0.01). Minimal luminal diameter performed poorly as a marker of low Qa with low specificity, however, showed high negative predictive value for ruling out low Qa at a minimal luminal diameter of 3.2 mm or higher (94%). Qa estimated by brachial artery flow correlated well with Qa estimated by indicator dilution (R2 = 0.83, p < 0.01) without significant mean difference or proportional bias. Minimal luminal diameter correlates weakly with Qa. Low minimal luminal diameter values should not be used in isolation to determine low Qa for a radiocephalic arteriovenous fistula. Conversely, minimal luminal diameter >3.2 mm largely excludes a low-flow radiocephalic arteriovenous fistula in this cohort. Brachial artery flow is a reasonable measure of Qa in comparison with indicator dilution.

The impact of deforestation, urbanization, public investments, and agriculture on human welfare in the Brazilian Amazonia

The relationship between human welfare and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazonia has traditionally been thought to follow a boom-and-bust pattern. According to this pattern, forest clearing triggers rapid increases in human welfare levels (“the boom”) due to short-term economic gains; these levels then drop to below national or regional averages (“the bust”) after the forest stocks have declined, thus causing the local populations to become deprived of ecosystem services. However, recent studies have questioned the validity of this boom-and-bust pattern. In this paper, we use panel data and simultaneous autoregressive models to evaluate the effects of deforestation, urbanization, public investments, agriculture, and state policies on temporal changes in human welfare that occurred across multiple municipalities in the Brazilian Amazonia from 2005 to 2012, a period during which governments implemented a set of strategies aimed at controlling deforestation across the region. We found that: (a) signals of a boom-and-bust pattern are weak at the regional level, and therefore this pattern cannot be generalized across the entire region; (b) human welfare is increasing more rapidly in low-development municipalities than in high-development cities, and all municipalities are converging on at least one regional average rather than on a national average; (c) urbanization does not lead to positive changes in human welfare, which indicates that the infrastructure available in regional urban centers is limited; (d) public investments are negatively associated with human welfare growth, thus signifying that if public investments are not used to leverage the potential of other sectors of the local economy, human welfare will not improve; (e) agriculture is negatively associated with positive changes in human welfare at the local level, possibly due to the dominance of cattle-ranching as the predominant economic activity of this sector; and (f) state-level policies matter, and future analyses of regional trends in the realm of development and conservation across this region should take such policies into account. Finally, we suggest that although human welfare and deforestation retain a weak statistical relationship, we cannot contend that they have been fully decoupled. Forest loss across the region is still pervasive, and institutions are too weak to sustain the transition from a frontier development model to a conservation-centered model.

Senyvo amžiaus asmenų griuvimams įtakos turinčių fizinių, kognityvinių savybių raiška ir jų sąsajos

griuvimams įtakią fizinių, kognityvinių savybių raišką ir jų sąsajas. Tyrimo metodai: mokslinės literatūros analizė; testavimai (plaštakos raumenų jėgos matavimas, dinaminės pusiausvyros vertinimas „Stotis ir eiti“, statinės pusiausvyros vertinimas modifikuotu „Rombergo“ testu ir aparatu „Sigma Balance PAD“, kūno apimčių ir kūno masės matavimai, protinės veiklos vertinimas MMSE testu, apklausa žodžiu. Statistinė duomenų analizė atlikta naudojant SPSS 17 (aprašomoji statistika, vidurkių palyginimo T testas, Anova testas, koreliacinė analizė). Tiriamieji. Tyrime dalyvavo 65 asmenys, kurių amžiaus vidurkis buvo 74,3 metai. Minimalus amžius – 60 metų, maksimalus – 86 metai. Tiriamieji pagal amžiaus grupes pasiskirstė: 60-74 m. – 41,3 %, 75 ir daugiau m. – 58,7 %. Rezultatai. Rombergo testo rezultatai tendencingai prastėja sudėtingėjant šios užduoties reikalavimams. Tiriamiesiems geriau sekėsi atlikti Rombergo testą atsimerkus nei užsimerkus. Užduoties „Atsistoti ir eiti“ atlikimo laiko vidurkis – 15,9 sek. Minimalios protinės veiklos testas (MMSE) parodė, kad daugiau nei 2/3 pagyvenusių ir senų asmenų pasižymi normaliomis kognityvinėmis funkcijomis, likusieji turi šių funkcijų mažesnių ar didesnių sutrikimų. Vertinant rankų jėgą standartiniu dinamometru nustatyta, kad dešinėje ir kairėje rankoje ji vidutiniškai siekė 24 kg. Kairės rankos žasto apimtis – 31,9 cm, dešinės – 32,5 cm, kairės blauzdos apimtis – 38,3 cm, dešinės – 38,2 cm. Statinė pusiausvyra buvo vertinama naudojant programinį pusiausvyros aparatą “Sigma Balance PAD”. Tačiau šiuo aparatu pusiausvyra buvo vertinama ne visiems, o tik tiems, kurie savarankiškai sugebėjo išstovėti ant nestabilios platformos. Vaizdinio ilgis siekė 12,6 cm, o vaizdinio plotas 0,46 cm2. Nustatytas vidutinis, o kai kuriais atvejais ir stiprus statistinis ryšys tarp dešinės ir kairės rankos jėgos, kuri buvo matuojama dinamometru ir statinės bei dinaminės pusiausvyros, blauzdų apimties ir net protinių funkcijų, tirtų MMSE. Vertinant statinę pusiausvyrą gauti statistiškai reikšmingi skirtumai, rodantys, kad pusiausvyos vertinimo metu pieštas vaizdnio ilgis yra susijęs su vaizdinio plotu (stiprus koreliacinis ryšys). Taip pat vaizdinio ilgis statistiškai reikšmingai susijęs su tiriamųjų blauzdų apimtimi (silpnas statistinis ryšys). Nustatyta, kad asmenys, kurie šiuo metu fiziškai aktyviai gyvena, pasižymi geresniais dinaminės pusiausvyros rodikliais ir gerenėmis protinėmis savybėmis Nepakankamos mitybos asmenys, kurių kūno masės indeksas (KMI) yra žemesnis nei norma, praščiau atliko MMSE. Šios išvados statistiškai reikšmingos (p≤0,05). Tyrime dalyvavę asmenys, kurie per pastarąjį pusmetį nepatyrė griuvimų, pasižymi stipresne kairės bei dešinės rankos jėga (p≤0,05). Užduotį „Atsistoti ir eiti“ greičiau atliko griuvimų nepatyrusių asmenų grupė (p≤0,05). Griuvimų nepatyrusių asmenų grupė pasižymi geresniais statinės pusiausvyros rodikliais (p≤0,05). Asmenys, kurie fiziškai yra aktyvesni (praktikuoja pasivaikščiojimą, darbą sode, darže ir pan.) rečiau patiria griuvimus (p≤0,05). Fiziniai ir kognityvinių funkcijų rodikliai statistiškai reikšmingai skiriasi pagal amžių. Visi rodikliai yra prastesni 75 ir daugiau metų turinčių asmenų grupėje. Šios amžiaus grupės asmenys prasčiau atliko pusiausvyrą ir kognityvines funkcijas vertinančius testus. Tarp šių asmenų nustatytas mažesnis fizinio aktyvumo lygmuo, taip pat jie pasižymėjo prastesnėmis protinėmis savybėmis, vertintomis taikant MMSE (p≤0,05). Asmenys, kurie jaunystėje ir gyvenime buvo fiziškai aktyvūs, pasižymi geresniais fiziniais ir kognityviniais rodikliais (p≤0,05).

Predicting the Specific Energy Consumption of Reverse Osmosis Desalination

Desalination is often considered an approach for mitigating water stress. Despite the abundance of saline water worldwide, additional energy consumption and increased costs present barriers to widespread deployment of desalination as a municipal water supply. Specific energy consumption (SEC) is a common measure of the energy use in desalination processes, and depends on many operational and water quality factors. We completed multiple linear regression and relative importance statistical analyses of factors affecting SEC using both small-scale meta-data and municipal-scale empirical data to predict the energy consumption of desalination. Statistically significant results show water quality and initial year of operations to be significant and important factors in estimating SEC, explaining over 80% of the variation in SEC. More recent initial year of operations, lower salinity raw water, and higher salinity product water accurately predict lower values of SEC. Economic analysis revealed a weak statistical relationship between SEC and cost of water production. Analysis of associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions revealed important considerations of both electricity source and SEC in estimating the GHG-related sustainability of desalination. Results of our statistical analyses can aid decision-makers by predicting the SEC of desalination to a reasonable degree of accuracy with limited data.

AUTHORIZED CAPITAL AS A RISK MANAGEMENT TOOL IN EMERGING ECONOMIES. THE CASE OF POLAND

Abstract: This paper addresses the strength of the incentives from both supervisors and market players to use authorized capital application as a risk management tool. The study contrasts the motivational factors for the financial market in transition and market supervisor. It analyses the interaction between motivation and the application of authorized capital as a risk management tool. We challenge the hypothesis that there is a weak statistical relationship between goodwill rates and the existence of authorized capital instruments for quoted companies and a weak statistical relationship between bank allowance and authorized capital instruments. Through the application of logit procedures to companies quoted on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, we conclude findings based on 386 listed and domiciled entities in Poland, as quoted on the of 30 December 2011. We conclude a semi-effective market suffers from efficiency in adoption of authorized capital as a risk management tool. We indicate that market forces are overridden by supervisory requirements; thus, the promotion of effective risk management tools is positively associated with regulator and supervisory activities.

Relationship Between Productivity and Burnout in Nurses of Military Hospitals in Tehran

Background: Due to nurses’ important role in patients’ quality of care and health promotion, it is vitally important that nurses remain productive. Undoubtedly, burnout is one of the factors that has the greatest effect on productivity. If the strong relationship between burnout and productivity is proven, then managers can be encouraged to provide better conditions for nurses to be more productive. Objectives: The current study was conducted to investigate the relationship between productivity and burnout in nurses of the Aja Hospitals in Tehran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 322 clinical nurses working in Aja Hospitals in Tehran. The subjects were recruited by multi-stage sampling methods in 2012-2013. Data was collected using the Persian version of the productivity questionnaire which was prepared by Nayeri et al. and the Maslach Burnout Inventory, which was then analyzed by SPSS software Version: 19, IBM Company. Results: The findings showed that many nurses (35.1%) obtained a high productivity score. From the viewpoint of burnout intensity, the majority of nurses (85.4%) were at medium to high levels in the dimension of emotional exhaustion. Moreover, most (79.8%) obtained high scores in the dimension of depersonalization. In the dimension of personal accomplishment, 61.5% of nurses felt little success. Pearson’s correlation coefficient indicated a weak statistical reverse relationship between total productivity score and burnout dimensions (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Based on the high levels of burnout found in this study, greater awareness and knowledge of the contributing factors are essential in order to increase nurses’ productivity. Formulating policies in order to remove these contextual factors, prophylaxis, treatment and training methods, and adaptive coping strategies, are also required.

TRAINING ON IMPROVING THE COMPETENCY LEVEL OF SELFADMINISTRATION OF INSULIN AMONG TYPE 2 DIABETES PATIENTS

AbstractThe study was conducted with the objectives to assess the effectiveness of training on self-administration of insulin among type 2 diabetes patients and to determine the relationship between knowledge and skill in self administration of insulin. An evaluative approach with quasi experimental research (one group pre-test post-test) design was adopted for the study. A study was carried out with 30 patients from Kasturba Hospital Manipal. Demographic proforma, knowledge questionnaire and observational checklist on self administration of insulin were used to collect the data. Patients were trained after the pre-test by lecture cum demonstration method and post test was implemented after eight days of training. The study observed that the majority of the sample was having a high school education (40%) males (66.67%) with mean age of 52.87+7.66 years. Most of them received information related to health from TV (63.33%). The duration of Diabetes was 5-10 years (30%) and astonishingly half of them have a family history of Diabetes (50%). The computed paired t was statistically significant in improving the knowledge (t = 27.97, p &lt; 0.001) and skill (t = 16.7, p &lt; 0.001) in self administration of insulin among type 2 diabetes patients. There was a weak positive statistical relationship (r = 0.4, p&lt; 0.05) between knowledge and skill. Therefore, it is concluded that training was effective in enhancing both knowledge and skill in self administration of insulin. The nursing personnel need to take initiative in directing, teaching and educating patients about self administration practices which can be better understood by the patients, family members and the community at large.