Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders of Odisha Farmers in Selected Agricultural Tasks

In the chapter, there are dual main contributions. In the first phase, based on the extensive review of literature on the application of cuckoo search (CS) methodology, its application for the optimization of agricultural pesticide sprayers for maximum efficiency was suggested. In the second phase of study, 75 farmers of Odisha in India were considered to assess their musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) during seeding, fertilizing, and weeding of crops using a Standardized Nordic Questionnaire with a five point rating scale (i.e., 1 = Very less, 2 =Less, 3 = Nil, 4 = Strong, 5 = Very Strong). Factor analysis was performed for “seeding, fertilizing, and weeding characteristics,” “economical characteristics,” and “tools and equipment characteristics of farmers.” Then Pearson correlation coefficient matrix was generated for the seeding, fertilizing, and weeding characteristics of farmers, followed by regression analysis for the economic characteristics of farmers.

Effect of maternal anemia on cord blood haemoglobin of newborn

Background: Anemia during pregnancy is linked to major maternal and fetal problems. The aim of the study was to find any correlation between maternal anemia and neonatal cord blood haemoglobin (Hb) levels.Methods: This cross-sectional study was done in the department of pediatrics and department of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Hind Institute of Medical Sciences, Barabanki over 9 months from January 2021 to September 2021. A total of 308 pregnant females more than 34 weeks of gestation who delivered participated in the study and cord blood hemoglobin of their new-born was collected. The mean maternal hemoglobin and mean cord blood hemoglobin were compared using the Pearson correlation coefficient in different groups i.e., non-anemic, anemic, mild, moderate, and severe anemic groups. Results: Out of 308 pregnant women, 198 (64.3%) were anemic, and 110 (35.7%) were nonanemic. The mean maternal hemoglobin among non-anemic mothers and anemic mothers was 11.91 (0.70) and 9.14 (1.56) respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient of non-anemic, anemic, mild, moderate, and severe anemic groups were 0.6985, 0.8453, 0.7772, 0.6321, and 0.7226 respectively with a statistically significant p value<0.05 showing a positive correlation between maternal hemoglobin and cord hemoglobin.Conclusions: From this study, we concluded that maternal anemia affects neonatal cord blood hemoglobin. According to the findings, anemic women deliver new-born with lower hemoglobin levels than non-anemic mothers. The findings revealed a linear correlation between maternal hemoglobin and cord blood hemoglobin of their new-born.

The Relationship between Energy Production and GDP: Evidence from Selected European Economies

The aim of this article was to investigate the possible relationship between energy production and GDP growth. This problem is of a crucial importance because as a numerous studies show, it is difficult to give an unambiguous answer to the question of whether there is a relationship between GDP and energy production and what direction it takes if it exists, i.e., whether energy production drives GDP growth or GDP growth drives energy production. The research conducted by the authors used data on hourly power production in MWh/h averaged over a whole day, which were converted into total quarterly production. The data were divided in terms of the type of energy into conventional, renewable, other and total. Next, the correlation coefficient was calculated for proper data sets in order to determine whether there was a correlation between the variables. The main conclusion from the study is the fact that a correlation measured with the Pearson correlation coefficient is not reflected in the data. Changes in power production independent of the source of power do not influence the GDP directly. Naturally, in some countries, the connection between power production and GDP was stronger; however, comparing this to the rest of the researched countries, where correlation was low or even extremely low, it can be seen that the relationship is random. This study should be seen as an introductory one with a perspective of broadening research in terms of causality between variables, which, nowadays, has great application in terms of climate change and sustainable development.

Is there really a proportional relationship between VO2max and body weight? A review article

Maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) is a “gold standard” in aerobic capacity assessment, playing a vital role in various fields. However, ratio scaling (VO2maxbw), the present method used to express relative VO2max, should be suspected due to its theoretical deficiencies. Therefore, the aim of the study was to revise the quantitative relationship between VO2max and body weight (bw). Dimensional analysis was utilized to deduce their theoretical relationship, while linear or nonlinear regression analysis based on four mathematical models (ratio scaling, linear function, simple allometric model and full allometric model) were utilized in statistics analysis to verify the theoretical relationship. Besides, to investigate the effect of ratio scaling on removing body weight, Pearson correlation coefficient was used to analyze the correlation between VO2maxbw and bw. All the relevant data were collected from published references. Dimensional analysis suggested VO2max be proportional to bw23. Statistics analysis displayed that four mathematical expressions were VO2max = 0.047bw (p<0.01, R2 = 0.68), VO2max = 0.036bw+0.71 (p<0.01, R2 = 0.76), VO2max = 0.10bw0.82 (p<0.01, R2 = 0.93) and VO2max = 0.23bw0.66–0.48 (p<0.01, R2 = 0.81) respectively. Pearson correlation coefficient showed a significant moderately negative relation between VO2maxbw and bw (r = -0.42, p<0.01), while there was no correlation between VO2maxbw0.82 and bw (r = 0.066, p = 0.41). Although statistics analysis did not fully verify the theoretical result, both dimensional and statistics analysis suggested ratio scaling distort the relationship and power function be more appropriate to describe the relationship. Additionally, we hypothesized that lean mass, rather than body weight, plays a more essential role in eliminating the gap between theoretical and experimental b values, and is more appropriate to standardize VO2max, future studies can focus more on it.

Methods of Estimating Correlation Coefficients in the Presence of Influential Outlier(s)

Correlation methods are indispensable in the study of the linear relationship between two variables. However, many researchers often adopt inappropriate correlation methods in the study of linear relationships which usually leads to unreliable results. Recurrently, most researchers ignorantly employ the Pearson method in a dataset that contained outliers, instead of more appropriate correlation methods such as Spearman, Kendall Tau, Median and Quadrant which might be suitable in the calculation of correlation coefficient in the presence of influential outliers. It is noted that the accuracy of estimation of correlation coefficients under outliers has been a long-standing problem for methodological researchers. This is due to low knowledge of correlation methods and their assumptions which have led to inappropriate application of correlation methods in research analysis. Five different methods of estimating correlation coefficients in the presence of influential outlier (contaminated data) were considered: Pearson Correlation Coefficient, Spearman Correlation Coefficient, Kendall Tau Correlation Coefficient, Median Correlation Coefficient and Quadrant Correlation Coefficient.

UBC Mediated by SEPT6 Inhibited the Progression of Prostate Cancer

Background. Prostate cancer is one of the most common malignancies in men. Protein ubiquitination is an important mechanism for regulating protein activity and level in vivo. We aimed to study the mechanism of SEPT6 and UBC action in prostate cancer to identify new targets. Methods. The ubiquitin-protein and the ubiquitin coding gene UBA52, UBA80, UBB, and UBC expressions were detected in clinical tissues and cells. Overexpression and knockdown of UBC were performed in prostate cancer DU145 cells. Cell Counting Kit 8 (CCK-8) assay was performed to detect cell proliferation. Cell cycle at 24 h was detected by flow cytometry. Clonal formation assay was used to measure cell clone number. Immunofluorescence (IF) was performed to detect the colocalization of SEPT6 and UBC in prostate cancer cells. Next, we overexpressed or knocked down SEPT6 expression in DU145 cells. Pearson correlation coefficient was applied to analyze the relationship between SEPT6 and UBC in prostate cancer tissue. oe-SEPT6+oe-UBC coexpressing cells were constructed to detect the upstream and downstream relationship between SEPT6 and UBC on prostate cancer cells. The tumor formation experiment was performed to explore SEPT6/UBC effect on prostate cancer. Results. UBC was upregulated in prostate cancer tissues and cells. Overexpression of UBC promoted cell survival and proliferation. IF revealed the colocalization of SEPT6 and UBC in prostate cancer cells. UBC expression decreased after oe-SEPT6, while increased after sh-SEPT6, indicating that UBC was downstream of SEPT6. Pearson correlation coefficient analysis showed that SEPT6 was negatively correlated with UBC in prostate cancer tissues. SEPT6 as an upstream gene of UBC regulated prostate cancer cell behavior through UBC. The tumor formation experiment showed that SEPT6 could inhibit tumor growth. Conclusion. In general, SEPT6 inhibited UBC expression, thereby reducing the overall ubiquitination level, affecting the expression level of downstream cell proliferation-related genes, and then affecting the progression of prostate cancer.

Validation of a Novel Boxing Monitoring System to Detect and Analyse the Centre of Pressure Movement on the Boxer’s Fist

The examination of force distribution and centre of pressure (CoP) displacement is a common method to analyse motion, load, and load distribution in biomechanical research. In contrast to gait analysis, the force progression in boxing punches is a new field of investigation. The centre of pressure displacement and distribution of forces on the surface of the fist during a boxing punch is of great interest and crucial to understanding the effect of the punch on the biological structures of the hand as well as the technical biomechanical aspects of the punching action. This paper presents a new method to display the CoP progression on the boxer’s fist Therefore, this study presents the validation of the developed novel boxing monitoring system in terms of CoP displacement. In addition, the CoP progression of different punching techniques in boxing is analysed on the athlete’s fist. The accuracy of the examination method of the CoP course was validated against the gold standard of a Kistler force plate. High correlations were detected between the developed sensor system and the force plate CoP with a Pearson correlation coefficient ranging from 0.93 to 0.97. The information obtained throughout the experimental study is of great importance in order to gain further knowledge into the technical execution of boxing punches as well as to provide a novel measuring method for determining CoP on the surface of the fist, to improve the understanding of the etiology of boxing-related hand injuries.

The Spatial Autocorrelation between Precipitation and Vegetation Indices in the Bandar Abbas Basin

This study aimed to investigate the spatial autocorrelation between precipitation and vegetation indices in the Bandar Abbas basin. For this purpose, the vegetation indices of DVI, EVI, IPVI, NDVI, NDWI, RVI, SAVI, TCI, VCI, and VHI were derived from Landsat satellite images over 20 years were studied. Precipitation data corresponding to rain gauge stations was extracted. The Pearson correlation coefficient and the GI * and I indices were used to investigate the relationship between precipitation and spatial autocorrelation. Moreover, the Pearson correlation coefficient was used to investigate the relationship between precipitation and vegetation indices, and the GI * and I indices was used to correlate spatial autocorrelation patterns. The results showed that SAVI, VHI, VCI, and NDWI were most correlated with precipitation among the Bandar Abbas basin's vegetation indices, with the SAVI index being more closely correlated than the others. However, precipitation had the least impact on the TCI index. The spatial autocorrelation of rainfall with the vegetation indices, except for the IPVI index, had a scattered pattern in the study area’s southern and eastern parts. Of the indices studied in terms of spatial pattern, the IPVI and NDWI indices formed a positive spatial correlation pattern with precipitation over a greater spatial range.

SELF-PERCEIVED COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE AND DEMOTIVATION

Scholars in language learning have recently taken an interest in self-perceived communicative competence (SPCC) and demotivation, albeit the relationship between these notions is rarely investigated. In Malaysia, many educators have encountered students who are unwilling to use their second language for communication and the reasons behind it could be determined by different demotivating factors. Thus, the association between the students' SPCC and demotivation was explored in this present study, specifically in the English language classes. A total of 250 diploma students of Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kelantan (UiTMCK) participated in the study in which the data were collected via SPCC and a demotivation questionnaire. Notably, SPCC was negatively associated with demotivation based on the Pearson Correlation Coefficient. The study’s outcomes showed that as part of the effort to minimise the English as a Second Language (ESL) students' demotivation, educators are encouraged to develop the students' competency in communicating.