Risk of intracerebral haemorrhage from hypertension is greatest at an early age

Introduction The risk of intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) associated with hypertension (HTN) is well documented. While the prevalence of HTN increases with age, the greatest odds ratio (OR) for HTN as a risk for ischemic stroke is at an early age. We sought to evaluate if the risk for ICH from HTN was higher in the youngest patients of each race. Patients and methods The Ethnic/Racial Variations of ICH (ERICH) study is a prospective multicenter case-control study of ICH among whites, blacks, and Hispanics. Participants were divided into age groups based on race-specific quartiles. Cases in each race/age group were compared to controls using logistic regression (i.e., cases and controls unmatched). The probability of ICH among cases and controls for each race were compared against independent variables of HTN, quartile of age and interaction of quartile and age also using logistic regression. Results Overall, 2033 non-lobar ICH cases and 2060 controls, and 913 lobar ICH cases with 927 controls were included. ORs were highest in the youngest age quartile for non-lobar haemorrhage for blacks and Hispanics and highest in the youngest quartile for lobar haemorrhage for all races. The formal test of interaction between age and HTN was significant in all races for all locations with the exception of lobar ICH in whites (p = 0.2935). Discussion Hypertension is a strong independent risk factor for ICH irrespective of location among persons of younger age, consistent with the hypothesis that first exposure to HTN is a particularly sensitive time for all locations of ICH.

Peeking Into the Black Box of School Turnaround: A Formal Test of Mediators and Suppressors

A growing body of research evaluates the effects of turnaround on chronically low-performing schools. We extend this literature by formally testing factors that may either mediate or suppress the effects of two turnaround initiatives in Tennessee: the Achievement School District (ASD) and local Innovation Zones (iZones). Using difference-in-differences models within a mediational framework, we find that hiring effective teachers and principals partially explains positive iZone effects. In the ASD, high levels of teacher turnover suppress potential positive effects. Also, in iZone schools, increased levels of student mobility and chronic absenteeism suppress potentially larger positive effects. Policies that increase capacity within turnaround schools, such as financial incentives for effective staff, appear to be important ingredients for realizing positive effects from turnaround reforms.

Reassessing Downs: Testing the Influence of Voters’ Characteristics in a Chilean Presidential Election

This article puts Down’s instrumental voter model (IVM) to a formal test using data of the 2017 Chilean national elections. It aims at two novel exercises in the research in the calculus of voting. Using a brand-new questionnaire with indicators on instrumental and consumption motivations for voting, we reassess the voting equation in Santiago de Chile. Furthermore, we analyse whether instrumental and consumption motivations have distinctive effects for individuals with different socio-demographic characteristics. Our results show that they do: women, younger, lower educated, and unmarried citizens are more responsive to both instrumental and consumption motivations. Moreover, the factors of the IVM travel better to Santiago de Chile than those of the consumption model.

Improving the Memory through Singing Method of Children Ages 5 - 6 Years in Kindergarten Insan Pandhega

The problem in this study was that 48% of children had difficulty remembering their parents 'full names, 72% of children did not remember the full address of their residence, and 100% of children did not remember their parents' telephone numbers. This study aims to develop children's memory of their important personal identity through singing methods. This type of research is classroom action research by model Kemmis and Mc. Taggart. This research was carried out in the Kindergarten Insan Pandhega with a total subject of 25 children, consisting of 11 girls and 14 boys. The object of this research is the singing method. The technique of collecting children's memory data is done by non-formal test techniques, namely writing important information that describes the child's memory. Furthermore, the data is processed to obtain a memory percentage value of children categorized into: undeveloped, developing, developing well, developing very well. This study was successful if the memory of children who reached the criteria of developing well and developing very well reached more than 75%. The study was conducted in two cycles. Overall, the average memory of children in the first cycle which is in the well-developed and developing category is 36%. Whereas in the second cycle the average memory of children in the well-developed and very well-developed category was 80%.DOI: http://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v1i2.44

Improving the Memory through Singing Method of Children Ages 5 - 6 Years in Kindergarten Insan Pandhega

The problem in this study was that 48% of children had difficulty remembering their parents 'full names, 72% of children did not remember the full address of their residence, and 100% of children did not remember their parents' telephone numbers. This study aims to develop children's memory of their important personal identity through singing methods. This type of research is classroom action research by model Kemmis and Mc. Taggart. This research was carried out in the Kindergarten Insan Pandhega with a total subject of 25 children, consisting of 11 girls and 14 boys. The object of this research is the singing method. The technique of collecting children's memory data is done by non-formal test techniques, namely writing important information that describes the child's memory. Furthermore, the data is processed to obtain a memory percentage value of children categorized into: undeveloped, developing, developing well, developing very well. This study was successful if the memory of children who reached the criteria of developing well and developing very well reached more than 75%. The study was conducted in two cycles. Overall, the average memory of children in the first cycle which is in the well-developed and developing category is 36%. Whereas in the second cycle the average memory of children in the well-developed and very well-developed category was 80%.

Allopatric speciation is more prevalent than parapatric ecological divergence in tropical montane systems (Asteraceae: Piofontia)

ABSTRACTElucidating how species accumulate in diversity hotspots is an ongoing debate in evolutionary biology. The páramo, in the Northern Andes, has remarkable high indices of plant diversity, endemicity, and diversification rates. A hypothesis for explaining such indices is that allopatric speciation is high in the páramo given its island-like distribution; an alternative hypothesis is that the altitudinal gradients of the Andean topography provides a variety of niches that drive vertical parapatric ecological speciation. A formal test for evaluating the relative roles of allopatric speciation and parapatric ecological divergence has not been carried out. The main aim of our study is to test which kind of speciation is more common in the páramo. We developed a framework incorporating phylogenetics, species’ distributions, and a morpho-ecological trait (leaf area) to compare sister species and infer whether allopatry or parapatric ecological divergence caused their speciation. We applied our framework to the species-rich genus Piofontia (63 spp.) and found that the majority of speciation events in Piofontia, (80%) have been driven by allopatric speciation events, while a smaller fraction (13%) are attributed to parapatric ecological divergence; one event produced inconclusive results (7%). We conclude that páramo autochthonous diversification is primarily driven by allopatric speciation.

A Bayesian framework for identifying consistent patterns of microbial abundance between body sites

Recent studies have found that the microbiome in both gut and mouth are associated with diseases of the gut, including cancer. If resident microbes could be found to exhibit consistent patterns between the mouth and gut, disease status could potentially be assessed non-invasively through profiling of oral samples. Currently, there exists no generally applicable method to test for such associations. Here we present a Bayesian framework to identify microbes that exhibit consistent patterns between body sites, with respect to a phenotypic variable. For a given operational taxonomic unit (OTU), a Bayesian regression model is used to obtain Markov-Chain Monte Carlo estimates of abundance among strata, calculate a correlation statistic, and conduct a formal test based on its posterior distribution. Extensive simulation studies demonstrate overall viability of the approach, and provide information on what factors affect its performance. Applying our method to a dataset containing oral and gut microbiome samples from 77 pancreatic cancer patients revealed several OTUs exhibiting consistent patterns between gut and mouth with respect to disease subtype. Our method is well powered for modest sample sizes and moderate strength of association and can be flexibly extended to other research settings using any currently established Bayesian analysis programs.