Survey Forms for Data Collection

Data collection is done through various methods including but not limited to surveys, interviews, observations, document analysis, focus groups, and oral histories. Each of these methods employs data gathering tools in order to facilitate the collection of information or data. In this section, the survey method, particularly the survey instrument or survey form, is discussed. Specifically, this chapter will focus on the fundamental factors to consider when developing the form to ensure coming up with relevant, unbiased, and focused questions, which will yield relevant and appropriate answers. In addition, considerations to take into account for proper administration of a survey form will be covered as well as the guidelines for a better and more accurate interpretation of survey data.

Accurate interpretation of genetic variants in sudden unexpected death in infancy by trio-targeted gene-sequencing panel analysis

In sudden unexpected death in infancy cases, postmortem genetic analysis with next-generation sequencing potentially can extract candidate genes associated with sudden death. However, it is difficult to accurately interpret the clinically significant genetic variants. The study aim was to conduct trio analysis of cases of sudden unexpected death in infancy and their parents to more accurately interpret the clinically significant disease-associated gene variants associated with cause of death. From the TruSight One panel targeting 4813 genes we extracted candidate genetic variants of 66 arrhythmia-, 63 inherited metabolic disease-, 81 mitochondrial disease-, and 6 salt-losing tubulopathy-related genes in 7 cases and determined if they were de novo or parental-derived variants. Thirty-four parental-derived variants and no de novo variants were found, but none appeared to be related to the cause of death. Using trio analysis and an in silico algorithm to analyze all 4813 genes, we identified OBSCN of compound heterozygous and HCCS of hemizygous variants as new candidate genetic variants related to cause of death. Genetic analysis of these deceased infants and their living parents can provide more accurate interpretation of the clinically significant genetic variants than previously possible and help confirm the cause of death.

Clarifying the Biomechanical Concept of Coordination Through Comparison With Coordination in Motor Control

Coordination is a multidisciplinary concept in human movement science, particularly in the field of biomechanics and motor control. However, the term is not used synonymously by researchers and has substantially different meanings depending on the studies. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the meaning of coordination to avoid confusion. The meaning of coordination in motor control from computational and ecological perspectives has been clarified, and the meanings differed between them. However, in biomechanics, each study has defined the meaning of the term and the meanings are diverse, and no study has attempted to bring together the diversity of the meanings of the term. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide a summary of the different meanings of coordination across the theoretical landscape and clarify the meaning of coordination in biomechanics. We showed that in biomechanics, coordination generally means the relation between elements that act toward the achievement of a motor task, which we call biomechanical coordination. We also showed that the term coordination used in computational and ecological perspectives has two different meanings, respectively. Each one had some similarities with biomechanical coordination. The findings of this study lead to an accurate understanding of the concept of coordination, which would help researchers formulate their empirical arguments for coordination in a more transparent manner. It would allow for accurate interpretation of data and theory development. By comprehensively providing multiple perspectives on coordination, this study intends to promote coordination studies in biomechanics.

Brief Synopsis: “Instruction Manual for Juvenile Clinical Pathology”

This symposium synopsis summarizes key points discussed related to clinical pathology data interpretation for reproduction and juvenile toxicology studies. In pregnant and growing animals, several changes in clinical pathology parameters linked to growth/maturation of organ and physiological functions can occur, and understanding these changes is important to enable accurate interpretation of clinical pathology data. A brief overview of the general approach to clinical pathology data analysis according to contemporary practices is provided, followed by a discussion focused specifically on reproductive and juvenile clinical pathology. In this context, the approach to recognize and differentiate changes that may be related to pregnancy and growth as opposed to those that may be related to test article effects is highlighted.

The Menstrual Cycle Alters Resting-State Cortical Activity: A Magnetoencephalography Study

Resting-state neural oscillations are used as biomarkers for functional diseases such as dementia, epilepsy, and stroke. However, accurate interpretation of clinical outcomes requires the identification and minimisation of potential confounding factors. While several studies have indicated that the menstrual cycle also alters brain activity, most of these studies were based on visual inspection rather than objective quantitative measures. In the present study, we aimed to clarify the effect of the menstrual cycle on spontaneous neural oscillations based on quantitative magnetoencephalography (MEG) parameters. Resting-state MEG activity was recorded from 25 healthy women with normal menstrual cycles. For each woman, resting-state brain activity was acquired twice using MEG: once during their menstrual period (MP) and once outside of this period (OP). Our results indicated that the median frequency and peak alpha frequency of the power spectrum were low, whereas Shannon spectral entropy was high, during the MP. Theta intensity within the right temporal cortex and right limbic system was significantly lower during the MP than during the OP. High gamma intensity in the left parietal cortex was also significantly lower during the MP than during the OP. Similar differences were also observed in the parietal and occipital regions between the proliferative (the late part of the follicular phase) and secretory phases (luteal phase). Our findings suggest that the menstrual cycle should be considered to ensure accurate interpretation of functional neuroimaging in clinical practice.

Exact propagation of the isolated waves model described by the three coupled nonlinear Maccari’s system with complex structure

In this paper, the three nonlinear Maccari’s-system (TNLMS) which describes how isolated waves are propagated in a finite region of space is studied. New accurate wave solutions of this model are obtained for the first time using the Riccati–Bernoulli Sub-ODE method (RBSOM) that treats the problem for which the balance rule fails. The efficiency of this method for constructing these exact solutions has been demonstrated. The obtained results give an accurate interpretation of the propagation of these isolated waves. With an appropriate values for the physical parameters, some representative wave structures are graphically presented.

Italy Is Fragile: Soil Consumption and Climate Change Combined Effects on Territorial Heritage Maintenance

The article looks for relations between growth of expanding cities, number of catastrophes and reduction of inhabitants in inland regions. The study explores these aspects through cartographic readings aimed at highlighting the relationship between soil consumption, the abandonment of peripheral areas, and environmental risks due to floods, landslides and earthquakes. The research analyzes the whole of Italy as a case study between 1990 and 2019 to get an accurate interpretation of the relations between these phenomena. The conclusions alert us to the need to redirect Italy’s development and its resilience projects. The study outlines the need of a re-living plan for Italian inner areas. It would be the only security process really capable of taking care of the territory.

Rational Interpretation of Numerical Quantity in Argumentative Contexts

Numerical descriptions furnish us with an apparently precise and objective way of summarising complex datasets. In practice, the issue is less clear-cut, partly because the use of numerical expressions in natural language invites inferences that go beyond their mathematical meaning, and consequently quantitative descriptions can be true but misleading. This raises important practical questions for the hearer: how should they interpret a quantitative description that is being used to further a particular argumentative agenda, and to what extent should they treat it as a good argument for a particular conclusion? In this paper, we discuss this issue with reference to notions of argumentative strength, and consider the strategy that a rational hearer should adopt in interpreting quantitative information that is being used argumentatively by the speaker. We exemplify this with reference to United Kingdom universities’ reporting of their REF 2014 evaluations. We argue that this reporting is typical of argumentative discourse involving quantitative information in two important respects. Firstly, a hearer must take into account the speaker’s agenda in order not to be misled by the information provided; but secondly, the speaker’s choice of utterance is typically suboptimal in its argumentative strength, and this creates a considerable challenge for accurate interpretation.