Infection levels of proteocephalidean cestodes inCichla piquiti(Osteichthyes: Cichlidae) of the Volta Grande Reservoir, Minas Gerais, Brazil, relative to host body weight and gender

2011 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 462-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.L. Martins ◽  
J. Pereira ◽  
A. de Chambrier ◽  
J.L.P. Mouriño

AbstractWe evaluated the relationship between infection by proteocephalid cestodes and the sex and weight classes of tucunaré (Cichla piquiti) captured between August 1999 and June 2001 in the Volta Grande Reservoir, Minas Gerais, Brazil. A total of 96 fish, 75.9 ± 9.3% males and 88.9 ± 6.4% females, were parasitized byProteocephalus macrophallusandP. microscopicus, with total mean intensities of 76.6 ± 23.9 and 145.2 ± 36.7, respectively, during this period. In the majority of the months analysed, males showed 71.4–100% prevalence of parasitism and females 80–100%. Although there was no significant difference, females showed a higher mean intensity of infection (145.2 ± 36.7) than males (76.6 ± 23.9). Fish weighing 300–800 g showed a higher mean abundance of parasites (P < 0.05) compared with the biggest specimens weighing 801–2750 g. Analysing both males and females together, the greatest mean intensities of infection were found in October and December (P < 0.05) independent of the year, which coincides with the months of highest rainfall. These results show that fish living in reservoirs may be more susceptible to intermediate hosts than those that live in rivers.

2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khader A. Baroun ◽  
Bader M. Al-Ansari

This study aimed at investigating the relationship between anxiety, gender and the Mueller-Lyer illusion perception among a sample of 242 undergraduate students (66 males and 176 females), of Kuwait University, Kuwait, to the Mueller-Lyer and Horizontal-Vertical illusion forms. The subjects were divided into 3 groups (high, middle and low anxiety) in accordance with their anxiety scale scores. Although the overall analysis showed no significant difference between males and females with respect to most variables, a significant difference in anxiety was observed where females scored higher than males. The results also showed that gender had no significant correlation to the Mueller-Lyer perception and Horizontal-Vertical illusion. In addition, no significant difference was found as regards the anxiety and gender relationship to degree of illusion. However, the data did show some significant difference in relationship between anxiety and the perception of illusion, with males exhibiting higher scores for anxiety tending to have higher illusion error scores than males with low anxiety scores. Females with higher anxiety scores also were found to have higher illusion error scores than females with low anxiety scores.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdi Mazinani ◽  
Mohammad Ali Tajik Mansoury ◽  
Mahsa Sabour ◽  
Majid Jadidi ◽  
Milad Peer Firozjaei ◽  
...  

Introduction: In myocardial perfusion imaging, reducing the number of photons in images of obese patients reduces image quality. To solve this problem, we need to inject the tracer activity according to the patients’ weight. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between myocardial detector counts with patients’ weight, BMI, and gender. Materials and Methods: 129 patients underwent myocardial perfusion imaging in a two-day stress-first protocol, but only rest images were included in this study. Multiplication factor (MF=0.13/AVGweight0.64 ) ×body weight(kg)+1-0.13×AVGweight0.36 ) was used to determine the amount of tracer activity to patients. The total of myocardial detector counts in the raw images was calculated from the summation of 32 projections for each patient. Multiple linear regression test was used to simultaneously examine the effects of gender, BMI, and weight on photon counts. To evaluate the effect of breast attenuation, the photon counts of 22 female patients in the Breast Up position were also assessed. Results: There was no significant relationship between photon counts and patients’ weight (p=0.129), and BMI (0.406) but gender had significant effects on photon counts and myocardial detector counts were higher in males (p=0.00). There was a statistically significant difference between the images of Breast Up and non-Breast Up position, and myocardial detector counts were higher in the breast-up imaging method(p=0.00). Conclusion: Using the formula mentioned above, the image quality is similar in obese and lean patients, but myocardial detector counts are higher in males and this formula needs to be adjusted according to the patient’s gender.


2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anton Vorina ◽  
Miro Simonič ◽  
Maria Vlasova

AbstractThis paper examines the relationship between employee engagement and job satisfaction. People spend most of their time at work, and their motivation is considered to be an important factor for job performance. Enthusiastic employees, who focus their efforts on achieving their companies′ goals are a key competitive advantage in the modern world. The effect of employee engagement on business performance has been studied by various experts. They found out the similar conclusion: “the more enthusiastic the workers are, the better operating results they achieve for the company”. An occasional sample of 594 respondents who are employed in the public and non-public sector in Slovenia was used for the purpose of this study. The main goal of the research is to determine whether (and how) the employee engagement influences job satisfaction. A written survey was conducted from 4 January 2016 to 14 March 2016. IBM SPSS 20 was used for the statistical analysis. The results confirm that the relationship between employee engagement and job satisfaction is positive and statistically significant (5 % significance level), based on the linear regression F (1, 583) =296.14, p-value = 0.000, R-square = 0.337. The results also show that there is no statistically significant difference between employee engagement and gender and there is no statistically significant difference between job satisfaction and gender.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 02003
Author(s):  
Raemah Abdullah Hashim ◽  
Mohamad Azlan Mohamad Nor

The paper discussed on the relationship between employer branding and employee engagement among employees in selected furniture retailers in Malaysia. This study also looks into the state of employees’ engagement and gender differences in their engagement towards their organization. Furniture retailing falls under the retail trade industry that contributed about RM35.7 billion to Malaysia GDP in 2017 with expected growth of 8.7 percent. However, the industry suffers an average yearly employee turnover rate of 13 percent. Amid this high turnover, the raising question is can popularity of employers’ branding can result in employee engagement leading to their retention in the organisation. 350 respondents were chosen randomly and 120 (30%) respondents had given feedback on the personally administered questionnaires. The result revealed that there is significant relationship between employer branding and employee engagement. The study also indicated that work challenging is the most important variable which led to drive the employee engagement. Consequently, there is significant difference between male and female in terms of engagement. Organisation, hence may consider leveraging employee engagement which may lead to retaining their employees. Future research may consider researchers to pursue a longitudinal method of research design across a variety of firm-sizes and industries that would be more significant in making generalizations.


Author(s):  
Erdal Kurnaz ◽  
Yaşar Şen ◽  
Süleyman Aydın

AbstractBackground:The aim of this study was to determine the serum levels of kisspeptin and ghrelin (GAH), as well as the relationship of these two peptides with each other in premature thelarche (PT) and premature adrenarche (PA) cases and to investigate the possibility of using these peptides as markers in the differentiation of puberty disorders.Methods:A PT group aged 1–8 years (n = 40), a PA group aged 1–9 years (n = 23, female/male = 20/3) and control groups consistent with each of the previous groups in terms of age and gender were created for the study. Kisspeptin and ghrelin levels were measured with ELISA methods from blood samples drawn while fasting in the morning.Results:When the PT group was compared with the controls, the plasma kisspeptin levels of the cases were significantly higher than the control group (165.47 ± 15.45 pmol/L, 96.82 ± 12.33 pmol/L, p = 0.005, respectively). Kisspeptin levels in the PA group did not show a difference with the control group (121.36 ± 17.99 pmol/L, 95.52 ± 11.54 pmol/L, p = 0.249, respectively). No significant difference could be found when GAH levels in the PT and PA groups were compared with controls. No significant correlation was found between kisspeptin and GAH levels in the PT and PA groups.Conclusions:Our results indicate that kisspeptin plays an important role in the PT, but GAH is not associated with puberty disorders.


2020 ◽  
pp. 003329412096107
Author(s):  
Gordon Schmidt ◽  
Shaun Pichler

Overweight and obesity have become a prominent concern for policymakers, the Surgeon General, scholars, and for work organizations. The estimated annual cost of obesity in terms of lost productivity is in the tens of billions of dollars, and the estimated annual medical cost of obesity is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Psychologists have become increasingly interested in issues related to body weight, such as ways to help people reduce body weight. The aims of our study are twofold. First, based on social cognitive theory, we offer the first study of the relationship between general self-efficacy (GSE) and body weight based on a large, representative sample. Second, we also offer an understanding of the role of race and gender as potential boundary conditions of this relationship. Findings indicate that race moderates the relationship between GSE and body weight (both BMI and perceived weight) such that this relationship is positive for Blacks but negative for Whites. Gender did not moderate the relationship between GSE and body weight. These results suggest that body weight is unrelated to general self-efficacy in the population writ large and that body weight is differentially related to self-efficacy based on race but not gender.


Medicina ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (8) ◽  
pp. 487
Author(s):  
Joanna Baran ◽  
Aneta Weres ◽  
Ewelina Czenczek-Lewandowska ◽  
Justyna Leszczak ◽  
Katarzyna Kalandyk-Osinko ◽  
...  

Background and Objectives. The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between children’s birth weight/length and a risk of overweight and obesity. Materials and Methods. The study involved 747 children from kindergartens, as well as primary and middle schools from southeastern Poland. All the subjects were examined on fasting status. Each child was examined for body mass and height, in order to calculate their body mass index (BMI), and BMI centile. The parents completed a questionnaire related to basic information about the child and the family. Results. In the study group, the male infants presented greater birth body weight and birth body length. A comparison of the distribution of birth weights and lengths between the children with normal BMI and with high BMI showed statistically significant differences only in the case of birth length of 12–15-year-old children and in the group of boys aged 12–15 years. In the case of the female children and the group of 7–11-year-olds a statistically significant difference was found in the BMI centile at a later age—a higher centile was found in the girls and in the children aged 7–11 years classified as adequate for gestational age (AGA). Conclusions. Birth body weight is positively related to BMI centile; however, no significant differences were found in birth weight between children with overweight/obesity and children with normal body weight. Birth length is associated with a lower BMI centile only in boys aged 12–15 years, and lower birth length is found in boys with overweight and obesity.


2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany Ziegler ◽  
Lisa Montplaisir

Students who lack metacognitive skills can struggle with the learning process. To be effective learners, students should recognize what they know and what they do not know. This study examines the relationship between students’ perception of their knowledge and determined knowledge in an upper-level biology course utilizing a pre/posttest approach. Significant differences in students’ perception of their knowledge and their determined knowledge exist at the beginning (pretest) and end (posttest) of the course. Alignment between student perception and determined knowledge was significantly more accurate on the posttest compared with the pretest. Students whose determined knowledge was in the upper quartile had significantly better alignment between their perception and determined knowledge on the pre- and posttest than students in the lower quartile. No difference exists between how students perceived their knowledge between upper- and lower-quartile students. There was a significant difference in alignment of perception and determined knowledge between males and females on the posttest, with females being more accurate in their perception of knowledge. This study provides evidence of discrepancies that exist between what students perceive they know and what they actually know.


Parasitology ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 129 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. STEAR ◽  
K. BAIRDEN ◽  
G. T. INNOCENT ◽  
S. MITCHELL ◽  
S. STRAIN ◽  
...  

The number ofTeladorsagia circumcincta4th-stage larvae in naturally infected lambs from a single farm varied among lambs and among different years. Within each year the distribution of 4th-stage larvae among lambs was similar to that expected from a negative binomial distribution. The ratio of 4th-stage larvae to adultT. circumcinctawas low in two years with a low mean intensity of infection but high in two years with a higher mean intensity of infection. The negative binomial distribution is defined by the mean and byk, a parameter that measures dispersion;kwas low when mean infection intensity was low but higher when mean infection intensity was high. Askis an inverse index of overdispersion this indicated that the distribution of 4th-stage larvae was more overdispersed at low levels of infection. In a combined analysis, the number of adultT. circumcinctaand the plasma IgA activity against 4th-stage larvae were both associated with increased numbers of 4th-stage larvae. There was a statistical interaction between the number of adults and IgA activity that moderated their combined effect.


1993 ◽  
Vol 75 (5) ◽  
pp. 2288-2292 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Toth ◽  
M. I. Goran ◽  
P. A. Ades ◽  
D. B. Howard ◽  
E. T. Poehlman

Peak O2 uptake (VO2) has traditionally been compared among individuals differing in body composition by dividing measured values (1/min) by fat-free mass (FFM) (i.e., ratio method). However, the ability of the ratio method to mathematically remove the confounding influence of FFM from peak VO2 has recently been questioned. Therefore, we compared the effectiveness of the ratio method vs. regression modeling to normalize peak VO2 in a large cohort of males and females for differences in FFM. Regression modeling adjusts peak VO2 according to the relationship derived from the regression of peak VO2 on FFM. Results showed that peak VO2 was 60% higher in males (3.53 +/- 1.01/min) than in females (2.22 +/- 0.6 l/min; P < 0.01). With the ratio method (i.e., peak VO2/FFM), peak VO2 was 15% higher in males (54.6 +/- 12 ml.kg FFM-1.min-1) than in females (47.4 +/- 11 ml.kg FFM-1.min-1; P < 0.01). In contrast, when a regression-based approach was employed to normalize values, no significant difference in adjusted peak VO2 was observed between males and females (3.04 +/- 0.9 vs. 3.01 +/- 1.0 l/min). In conclusion, dividing peak VO2 by FFM can produce spurious results, because this approach does not take into account the nonzero intercept. Therefore, a regression-based approach should be used to normalize peak VO2.


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