scholarly journals Forecasting COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in Epidemic-Mitigating European Countries by Richards Function-Based Regression Analyses

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 048-051
Author(s):  
Zhifu FU ◽  
Xinmiao FU ◽  
Cheng LONG
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
XINMIAO FU

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit many countries, and in some European countries it has been mitigated since April. Here we applied Richards function to simulate and forecast the course of COVID-19 epidemics in Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Turkey, Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland. Potential total COVID-19 confirmed cases in these countries were estimated to be 240400±1300, 294100±4000, 178500±800, 176900±700, 155400±1000, 57900±400, 24000±200, 46200±300, 30000±300 and 30700±100 respectively. Most of these countries are predicted to approach ending stage between late May and early June such that daily new cases will become minimal, which may guide societal and economic restorations. In addition, total COVID-19 deaths were estimated to be 33500±300, 28200±200, 27800±200, 8740±80, 4500±30, 9250±70, 1530±20, 6240±50, 1380±10 and 1960±8, respectively. To our best knowledge, this is the first study forecasting the COVID-19 epidemic by applying the Richard function-based regression analysis.


Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 370
Author(s):  
Diego Gómez-Baya ◽  
Francisco José García-Moro ◽  
Alicia Muñoz-Silva ◽  
Nuria Martín-Romero

School satisfaction is conceptualized as a crucial factor influencing children´s happiness and consequent healthy functioning in multiple developmental areas. Research to date has mainly evaluated how contextual factors related to the interactions between the student, teachers and classmates influence children’s happiness, not considering other important factors more related to their own student experiences. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of school satisfaction on happiness in 10-year-old children from Europe. Children’s global school satisfaction levels, as well as different separate indicators of school satisfaction (i.e., satisfaction with other children in class; school marks; school life experience as a student; things they have learned; and relationships with teachers) were considered. The study comprised a sample of 7.445 10-year-old children from seven European countries. First, correlation analysis showed that the overall school satisfaction measure, as well as its different indicators, had positive associations with happiness levels. Second, regression analyses confirmed the effect by indicators of global school satisfaction on happiness. The indicators with the strongest effects were the satisfaction with their life as a student and the satisfaction with other children in the class, while the smallest effects were found regarding the satisfaction with the relationships with teachers and the things learned. These results point out the need to consider personal and contextual indicators of school satisfaction in a program design to foster happiness in 10-year-old children.


2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaspar Brändle ◽  
Miguel Angel M. Cardaba ◽  
Reynaldo G. Rivera

AbstractNumerous studies have linked the consumption of violent audiovisual content to the increase of aggressive cognitions and behaviors. This research aims to clarify whether the possible harmful consequences of violent videogames might vary depending on an individual variable such as trait aggressiveness. A correlational study was carried out among 6,130 teenagers (average age of 13.8 years) from two European countries, in which it became evident, by means of multiple regression analyses, that there was a positive correlation between the use of violent videogames and aggressive behavioral intentions. More relevantly, these correlations were greater amongst those subjects with higher scores on the Aggression Scale. Finally, when analyzing the subjective experiences of users of violent videogames, the more aggressive individuals manifested a greater desire to imitate the characters of the interactive content, admitting that they ended up more agitated even when their initial objective was to relieve tension or relax. Practical and theoretical implications (e.g., Catharsis theory) of those results are discussed.


Author(s):  
Charis Girvalaki ◽  
Filippos Filippidis ◽  
Christina Kyriakos ◽  
Pete Driezen ◽  
Aleksandra Herbeć ◽  
...  

The European Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) was introduced in 2016 in an effort to decrease prevalence of smoking and increase cessation in the European Union (EU). This study aimed to explore quitting behaviours, motivation, reasons and perceptions about quitting, as well as predictors (reported before the TPD implementation) associated with post-TPD quit status. A cohort study was conducted involving adult smokers from six EU countries (n = 3195). Data collection occurred pre-(Wave 1; 2016) and post-(Wave 2; 2018) TPD implementation. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses of weighted data were conducted. Within this cohort sample, 415 (13.0%) respondents reported quitting at Wave 2. Predictors of quitting were moderate or high education, fewer cigarettes smoked per day at baseline, a past quit attempt, lower level of perceived addiction, plans for quitting and the presence of a smoking-related comorbidity. Health concerns, price of cigarettes and being a good example for children were among the most important reasons that predicted being a quitter at Wave 2. Our findings show that the factors influencing decisions about quitting may be shared among European countries. European policy and the revised version of TPD could emphasise these factors through health warnings and/or campaigns and other policies.


2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy-Erik Isaksson

AbstractThis study focuses on the principal rules of government formation as well as on the deviant cases. On a party level, over 1,000 cases and approximately 250 government formations in 17 West European countries during the second half of the twentieth-century are analysed. By means of regression analyses, the study explores the effects of the size of the parties, other party characteristics, as well as characteristics in the party system on the choice of premier party and coalition party respectively. The results show that the choice of premier party to a great extent is decided by the size of the party and the position as median party. The choice of coalition party, however, is a far more complex process. Favourable and unfavourable conditions are defined, and the deviant cases are identified, compared and analysed with respect to the choice of PM party and the choice of coalition party respectively. The study shows that the deviant cases are not disparate. On the contrary, the deviant cases form a set of rules of their own.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 723-729
Author(s):  
Roslyn Gleadow ◽  
Jim Hanan ◽  
Alan Dorin

Food security and the sustainability of native ecosystems depends on plant-insect interactions in countless ways. Recently reported rapid and immense declines in insect numbers due to climate change, the use of pesticides and herbicides, the introduction of agricultural monocultures, and the destruction of insect native habitat, are all potential contributors to this grave situation. Some researchers are working towards a future where natural insect pollinators might be replaced with free-flying robotic bees, an ecologically problematic proposal. We argue instead that creating environments that are friendly to bees and exploring the use of other species for pollination and bio-control, particularly in non-European countries, are more ecologically sound approaches. The computer simulation of insect-plant interactions is a far more measured application of technology that may assist in managing, or averting, ‘Insect Armageddon' from both practical and ethical viewpoints.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 807-820
Author(s):  
Lena G. Caesar ◽  
Marie Kerins

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between oral language, literacy skills, age, and dialect density (DD) of African American children residing in two different geographical regions of the United States (East Coast and Midwest). Method Data were obtained from 64 African American school-age children between the ages of 7 and 12 years from two geographic regions. Children were assessed using a combination of standardized tests and narrative samples elicited from wordless picture books. Bivariate correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to determine relationships to and relative contributions of oral language, literacy, age, and geographic region to DD. Results Results of correlation analyses demonstrated a negative relationship between DD measures and children's literacy skills. Age-related findings between geographic regions indicated that the younger sample from the Midwest outscored the East Coast sample in reading comprehension and sentence complexity. Multiple regression analyses identified five variables (i.e., geographic region, age, mean length of utterance in morphemes, reading fluency, and phonological awareness) that accounted for 31% of the variance of children's DD—with geographic region emerging as the strongest predictor. Conclusions As in previous studies, the current study found an inverse relationship between DD and several literacy measures. Importantly, geographic region emerged as a strong predictor of DD. This finding highlights the need for a further study that goes beyond the mere description of relationships to comparing geographic regions and specifically focusing on racial composition, poverty, and school success measures through direct data collection.


2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (7) ◽  
pp. 2281-2292
Author(s):  
Ying Zhao ◽  
Xinchun Wu ◽  
Hongjun Chen ◽  
Peng Sun ◽  
Ruibo Xie ◽  
...  

Purpose This exploratory study aimed to investigate the potential impact of sentence-level comprehension and sentence-level fluency on passage comprehension of deaf students in elementary school. Method A total of 159 deaf students, 65 students ( M age = 13.46 years) in Grades 3 and 4 and 94 students ( M age = 14.95 years) in Grades 5 and 6, were assessed for nonverbal intelligence, vocabulary knowledge, sentence-level comprehension, sentence-level fluency, and passage comprehension. Group differences were examined using t tests, whereas the predictive and mediating mechanisms were examined using regression modeling. Results The regression analyses showed that the effect of sentence-level comprehension on passage comprehension was not significant, whereas sentence-level fluency was an independent predictor in Grades 3–4. Sentence-level comprehension and fluency contributed significant variance to passage comprehension in Grades 5–6. Sentence-level fluency fully mediated the influence of sentence-level comprehension on passage comprehension in Grades 3–4, playing a partial mediating role in Grades 5–6. Conclusions The relative contributions of sentence-level comprehension and fluency to deaf students' passage comprehension varied, and sentence-level fluency mediated the relationship between sentence-level comprehension and passage comprehension.


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