scholarly journals Application of the D-A-(C) index as a simple tool for microbial-ecological characterization and assessment of groundwater ecosystems—a case study of the Mur River Valley, Austria

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Retter ◽  
Christian Griebler ◽  
Johannes Haas ◽  
Steffen Birk ◽  
Christine Stumpp ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Ecological Quality ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Organic Matter Quality ◽  
Cell Counts ◽  
Activity Measurements ◽  
Groundwater Ecosystems ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractThe assessment and monitoring of the ecological quality and status of groundwater is a timely issue. At present, various assessment tools have been developed that now await application and validation. One of these, the D‑A‑C index, evaluates the microbiological-ecological quality of groundwater based on of prokaryotic cell counts, microbial activity measurements, and the qualitative characterization of dissolved organic carbon (DOM). The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the different ways of application of the D‑A-(C) index making use of a recently collected data set (n = 61) from the river Mur valley, Austria. First, we present an extension of the D‑A-(C) index by including measurements of dissolved organic matter quality (DOM) derived from fluorescence spectroscopy as additional variables to supplement the analysis of microbial cell density and activity levels. Second, we illustrate how the definition of a reference status for a ‘good’ microbiological-ecological state can improve the analysis and allow for a more sensitive and accurate detection of impacts on groundwater ecosystems. Based on our results, we advocate that the analysis be performed by making use of expert knowledge for the definition of reference sites to which target sites are to be compared.

Empowering Women Entrepreneurs Through Microfinance - A Case of Rural Bangladesh

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Saida Parvin
Keyword(s):  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Donor Agencies ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Impact

Women’s empowerment has been at the centre of research focus for many decades. Extant literature examined the process, outcome and various challenges. Some claimed substantial success, while others contradicted with evidence of failure. But the success remains a matter of debate due to lack of empirical evidence of actual empowerment of women around the world. The current study aimed to address this gap by taking a case study method. The study critically evaluates 20 cases carefully sampled to include representatives from the entire country of Bangladesh. The study demonstrates popular beliefs about microfinance often misguide even the borrowers and they start living in a fabricated feeling of empowerment, facing real challenges to achieve true empowerment in their lives. The impact of this finding is twofold; firstly there is a theoretical contribution, where the definition of women’s empowerment is proposed to be revisited considering findings from these cases. And lastly, the policy makers at governmental and non-governmental organisations, and multinational donor agencies need to revise their assessment tools for funding.

scholarly journals Has the Credibility of the Social Sciences Been Credibly Destroyed? Reanalyzing the “Many Analysts, One Data Set” Project

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 237802312110244
Author(s):  
Katrin Auspurg ◽  
Josef Brüderl
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Causal Reasoning ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Skin Tone ◽  
Data Set ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Many ◽  
Definition Of

In 2018, Silberzahn, Uhlmann, Nosek, and colleagues published an article in which 29 teams analyzed the same research question with the same data: Are soccer referees more likely to give red cards to players with dark skin tone than light skin tone? The results obtained by the teams differed extensively. Many concluded from this widely noted exercise that the social sciences are not rigorous enough to provide definitive answers. In this article, we investigate why results diverged so much. We argue that the main reason was an unclear research question: Teams differed in their interpretation of the research question and therefore used diverse research designs and model specifications. We show by reanalyzing the data that with a clear research question, a precise definition of the parameter of interest, and theory-guided causal reasoning, results vary only within a narrow range. The broad conclusion of our reanalysis is that social science research needs to be more precise in its “estimands” to become credible.

scholarly journals Prevalence and risk factors of delirium and subsyndromal delirium in older adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maha Hosam El-Din Ibrahim ◽  
Manal Elmasry ◽  
Fady Nagy ◽  
Ahmed Abdelghani
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Functional Ability ◽  
Cognitive Assessment ◽  
Length Of Hospital Stay ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Subsyndromal Delirium ◽  
Confusion Assessment ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract Background Delirium is a common geriatric problem associated with poor outcomes. Subsyndromal delirium (SSD) is characterized by the presence of certain symptoms of delirium yet, not satisfying the definition of full-blown delirium, defined by categorical elements, and is usually referred to as the presence of one or more symptoms in the confusion assessment method (CAM). This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of delirium and SSD in older adults admitted to the hospital. Five hundred eighty-eight elderly (above 65 years) Egyptian patients were recruited from January 2019 to February 2020. After explaining the purpose of the study and assuring the confidentiality of all participants, an informed consent was obtained from the participant or a responsible care giver for those who were not able to give consent. All patients were subjected ‘on admission’ to thorough history taking, clinical examination, and comprehensive geriatric assessment including confusion assessment tools, mini-mental state examination, and functional assessment using Barthel index score. Results The current study showed that 19.6% of patients had delirium and 14.1% of patients had SSD with combined prevalence of 33.7%. Most common causes included metabolic, infection, organic brain syndrome, and dehydration. The current study reported significant proportionate relation between cognitive assessment and functional ability, so patients with a score of 23 MMSE had good functional ability, while cognitive assessment using mini-mental score shows inversed relation to delirium and SSD using CAM score. Conclusion Delirium is independently associated with adverse short-term and long-term outcomes, including an increase in mortality, length of hospital stay, discharge to an institution, and functional decline on discharge. Subsyndromal delirium (SSD) is characterized by the presence of certain symptoms of delirium, not yet satisfying the definition of full-blown delirium but it can identify patients with early cognitive and functional disabilities, and because of high prevalence of delirium and SSD. Efforts to prevent or early detection may identify patients who warrant clinical attention.

The SWORFISH Project Approach for Modeling Wood Material Modifications in Timber Structures

2013 ◽  
Vol 778 ◽  
pp. 418-423
Author(s):  
Jakub Sandak ◽  
Anna Sandak ◽  
Mariapaola Riggio ◽  
Ilaria Santoni ◽  
Dusan Pauliny
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Surface Finishing ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Original Material ◽  
Timber Structures ◽  
Wood Material ◽  
Project Approach ◽  
Special Software ◽  
Definition Of

A special software simulating changes to wood due to various processes (either treatment or degradation) has been developed within the SWORFISH (Superb Wood Surface Finishing) project. The definition of the material modifications due to processes is based on the expert knowledge and/or experimental data. The dedicated algorithm simulates material modifications (with a special focus on surface) taking into account original material characteristics (evaluated by means of NDT techniques) and setting of process parameters. In this way, it is possible to analyze the sequence of processes (i.e. material modifications) and to estimate properties of the resulting product. Two case studies are presented for illustration of the potential uses of the SWORFISH approach in the field of timber structures.

scholarly journals Objective measurement of physical activity in Macaca fascicularis

1982 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 240-243
Author(s):  
Wayne T. Corbett ◽  
Harry M. Schey ◽  
A. W. Green
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Macaca Fascicularis ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Activity Measurements ◽  
Active Intermediate ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Relationship

The mean and standard deviation over 24 h for 3 groups of animals - active, intermediate and inactive - in physical activity units were 10948 ± 3360, 2611 ± 1973 and 484 ± 316 respectively. The differences were significant ( P = 0·004), demonstrating the ability of the method to distinguish between groups that can be visibly differentiated. The small within-animal physical activity standard deviation (18·85 PAU) obtained in another group, suggests that it also yields reliable physical activity measurements for non-human primates. The monitoring device used can discriminate between individual nonhuman primate physical activity levels in a free-living environment and does not alter daily behaviour. This makes possible the study of the relationship between physical activity and atherosclerosis in nonhuman primates.

Assessing the Psychosocial Elements of Crowds at Mass Gatherings

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 414-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Hutton ◽  
Kathryn Zeitz ◽  
Steve Brown ◽  
Paul Arbon
Keyword(s):  
Health And Safety ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Mass Gathering ◽  
Crowd Behavior ◽  
Descriptive Data ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Mass Gatherings ◽  
Psychosocial Domain

AbstractIntroduction: The environmental aspects of mass gatherings that can affect the health and safety of the crowd have been well described. Although it has been recognized that the nature of the crowd will directly impact the health and safety of the crowd, the majority of research focuses on crowd behavior in a negative context such as violence or conflict. Within the mass gathering literature, there is no agreement on what crowd behavior, crowd mood and crowd type actually mean. At the same time, these elements have a number of applications, including event management and mass gathering medicine. These questions are worthy of exploration.Methods: This paper will report on a pilot project undertaken to evaluate how effective current crowd assessment tools are in understanding the psychosocial domain of a mass gathering event.Results: The pilot project highlighted the need for a more consistent descriptive data set that focuses on crowd behavior.Conclusions: The descriptive data collected in this study provide a beginning insight into the science of understanding crowds at a mass gathering event. This pilot has commenced a process of quantifying the psychosocial nature of an event. To maximize the value of this work, future research is required to understand the interplay among the three domains of mass gatherings (physical, environmental and psychological), along with the effects of each element within the domains on safety and health outcomes for participants at mass gatherings.

scholarly journals Analyze COVID-19 CT images based on evolutionary algorithm with dynamic searching space

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunhong Gong ◽  
Yanan Sun ◽  
Dezhong Peng ◽  
Peng Chen ◽  
Zhongtai Yan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Common Sense ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Data Set ◽  
The Past ◽  
Computed Tomography Images ◽  
Intensive Use ◽  
Hospital Resources ◽  
The Common ◽  
Ct Data

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global alarm. With the advances in artificial intelligence, the COVID-19 testing capabilities have been greatly expanded, and hospital resources are significantly alleviated. Over the past years, computer vision researches have focused on convolutional neural networks (CNNs), which can significantly improve image analysis ability. However, CNN architectures are usually manually designed with rich expertise that is scarce in practice. Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) can automatically search for the proper CNN architectures and voluntarily optimize the related hyperparameters. The networks searched by EAs can be used to effectively process COVID-19 computed tomography images without expert knowledge and manual setup. In this paper, we propose a novel EA-based algorithm with a dynamic searching space to design the optimal CNN architectures for diagnosing COVID-19 before the pathogenic test. The experiments are performed on the COVID-CT data set against a series of state-of-the-art CNN models. The experiments demonstrate that the architecture searched by the proposed EA-based algorithm achieves the best performance yet without any preprocessing operations. Furthermore, we found through experimentation that the intensive use of batch normalization may deteriorate the performance. This contrasts with the common sense approach of manually designing CNN architectures and will help the related experts in handcrafting CNN models to achieve the best performance without any preprocessing operations

scholarly journals The use of sexual activity measurements to assess ejaculatory performance of boars

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 1052-1059 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kondracki ◽  
M. Iwanina ◽  
A. Wysokińska ◽  
K. Górski
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Activity ◽  
Linear Correlation ◽  
Sexual Development ◽  
Sperm Count ◽  
Advanced Age ◽  
Phenotypic Correlation ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Activity Measurements

Abstract. The study involved 50 insemination boars at the age of 8–9 months at the beginning of the study. Each boar was assessed four times for its sexual activity: at the beginning of breeding service and after three, six and nine months into the insemination service. Ejaculates were collected for the purpose of the sexual activity parameters’ assessment. Physical parameters of the ejaculates were subsequently analysed. Pearson’s linear correlation was used to calculate the coefficients of a phenotypic correlation between sexual activity levels and physical parameters of the ejaculates. According to this an appropriate analysis was conducted concerning the changes in boars’ sexual activity throughout their dynamic, sexual development. It was proved, that ejaculate volume depends on the total time of copulation. The highest correlation between ejaculate volume and sexual urge levels was observed in the youngest boars at the beginning of insemination service. The correlation between the ejaculatory efficiency and a boar’s libido changes with age and sexual development. Changes in ejaculatory efficiency are the most dynamic at the age of approx. 1.5 years. At this age ejaculate volume and ejaculate sperm count dynamically increase. The insemination fitness forecasting in case of boars should include libido measurements taken at the beginning of an insemination service – within the first three months. Measurements taken at a more advanced age are of little use for the purpose of ejaculatory efficiency forecasting in case of boars.

scholarly journals Resource justification of the financial security of Russian industrial organizations

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 21-25
Author(s):  
Oksana Ivanova
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Production ◽  
Financial Stability ◽  
Financial Risk ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Financial Security ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Current Time ◽  
Industrial Organizations ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Integral Assessment

One of the components of the positions of strengthening the competitiveness and financial independence of Russian industrial organizations is the definition of interrelated compositions in the context of the national and economic security of the country. Verification of the information flow of a data set is to a large extent a tool base for determining key facts in the event of challenges and threats. Therefore, the main goal of the work is to build an information base and mathematically determine the relationship between individual indicators to establish the level of financial security of Russian industrial production. Dialectical research methods determine the fundamental foundations of the issue being disclosed. The proposed methodology for the integral assessment of financial security reflects individual positions in the system of assessing financial risk and combines both positive and negative features of the development of industrial production. As a result of the multi-criteria assessment and the calculated integral indicator, the article singles out groups for assessing the financial risk of industrial organizations, which is the basis for assessing the competitiveness and financial stability both at the current time and in the forecast future.

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