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Better Differentiation (good + differentiation)
Selected AbstractsThe Persistence and Forecast Accuracy of Earnings Components in the USA and JapanJOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT & ACCOUNTING, Issue 1 2000Don Herrmann Not all components of earnings are expected to provide similar information regarding future earnings. For example, basic financial statement analysis indicates that the persistence of ordinary income should be greater than the persistence of special, extraordinary, or discontinued operations. Because the market assigns higher multiples to earnings components that are more persistent, differentiating earnings components on the basis of relative persistence would appear to be useful. A focus on relative predictive value is consistent with research findings and user recommendations on separating earnings components that are persistent or permanent from those that are transitory or temporary. This paper examines the persistence and forecast accuracy of earnings components for retail and manufacturing companies listed in the world's two largest equity markets; the USA and Japan. We find the forecast accuracy of earnings in both the USA and Japan increases with greater disaggregation of earnings components. The results further indicate that the improvements in forecast accuracy due to earnings disaggregation are greater in the USA than in Japan. The greater emphasis and more detailed guidelines for reporting earnings components in the USA produce a better differentiation in the persistence of earnings components resulting in greater forecast improvements from earnings disaggregation. [source] Magnetic resonance brain perfusion imaging with voxel-specific arterial input functionsJOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING, Issue 3 2006Renate Grüner MSc Abstract Purpose To propose an automatic method for estimating voxel-specific arterial input functions (AIFs) in dynamic contrast brain perfusion imaging. Materials and Methods Voxel-specific AIFs were estimated blindly using the theory of homomorphic transformations and complex cepstrum analysis. Wiener filtering was used in the subsequent deconvolution. The method was verified using simulated data and evaluated in 10 healthy adults. Results Computer simulations accurately estimated differently shaped, normalized AIFs. Simple Wiener filtering resulted in underestimation of flow values. Preliminary in vivo results showed comparable cerebral flow value ratios between gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) when using blindly estimated voxel-specific AIFs or a single manually selected AIF. Significant differences (P , 0.0125) in mean transit time (MTT) and time-to-peak (TTP) in GM compared to WM was seen with the new method. Conclusion Initial results suggest that the proposed method can replace the tedious and difficult task of manually selecting an AIF, while simultaneously providing better differentiation between time-dependent hemodynamic parameters. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Dimensions of Normal and Abnormal Personality: Elucidating DSM-IV Personality Disorder Symptoms in AdolescentsJOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 3 2010Noor B. Tromp ABSTRACT The present study aimed to elucidate dimensions of normal and abnormal personality underlying DSM-IV personality disorder (PD) symptoms in 168 adolescents referred to mental health services. Dimensions derived from the Big Five of normal personality and from Livesley's (2006) conceptualization of personality pathology were regressed on interview-based DSM-IV PD symptom counts. When examined independently, both models demonstrated significant levels of predictive power at the higher order level. However, when added to the higher order Big Five dimensions, Livesley's higher and lower order dimensions afforded a supplementary contribution to the understanding of dysfunctional characteristics of adolescent PDs. In addition, they contributed to a better differentiation between adolescent PDs. The present findings suggest that adolescent PDs are more than extreme, maladaptive variants of higher order normal personality traits. Adolescent PDs seem to encompass characteristics that may be more completely covered by dimensions of abnormal personality. Developmental issues and implications of the findings are discussed. [source] Call Structure Variability and Field Survival among Bushcrickets Exposed to Phonotactic ParasitoidsETHOLOGY, Issue 5 2000Geoff R. Allen Calling adult males of the univoltine bushcricket Sciarasaga quadrata are subject to significant mortality from the phonotactic parasitoid fly Homotrixa alleni. These flies kill their host within 14d and act as a constant ,filter' on the survival of male bushcrickets. In this study, I investigate both short-term and lifetime variability in male call structure and compare the call properties of collections of males made over a 3-mo calling season to establish whether there are any significant differences in the call properties of males surviving the length of the calling season. Call frequency, chirp length, interchirp length, chirp rate, file teeth used to make a chirp and duty cycle all showed good differentiation among males and significant repeatability: (1) within a calling bout (0.57,0.88), (2) between successive nights (0.27,0.83), and (3) over a male's lifetime (0.15,0.43). Frequency and to a lesser extent chirp length showed low variability within and among males whereas interchirp length was the most flexible and dynamic call property. As males aged, chirp length, which is produced by one wing closure, and its correlate, teeth per chirp, significantly increased and chirp rate significantly decreased. Over the calling season chirp length and teeth per chirp showed strong directional shifts. Shorter chirp males were lost from the calling population, indicating that flies may use chirp length as a cue in host location. The implications of this result are discussed in relation to the reproductive fitness of male S. quadrata and within the context of host location and sensory bias in phontotactic parasitoids. [source] A further investigation on a MALDI-based method for evaluation of markers of renal damageJOURNAL OF MASS SPECTROMETRY (INCORP BIOLOGICAL MASS SPECTROMETRY), Issue 12 2009Annunziata Lapolla Abstract The validity of the urinary protein profile to characterize the pathological states of diabetic, nephropathic and diabetic,nephropathic patients was considered on the basis of previously obtained results by MALDI/MS, showing a different abundance ratio of the collagen ,1 and ,5 chain precursor fragments at m/z 1219 and 2049 and of the uromodulin precursor fragment at m/z 1912 observed in healthy subjects and patients; a larger number of subjects was examined and the obtained results were statistically evaluated. The p values related to the observed differences indicate that they are statistically significant when comparing all patients versus healthy controls, diabetic with normo or microalbuminuria versus nephropathic with advanced renal disease patients and diabetic with normo or microalbuminuria versus diabetic with advanced nephropathy patients. The scatter plot matrix gives evidence of the strict inverse relationship between the abundances of ions at m/z 1912 and 1219, the correlation coefficient being particularly high (r = 0.921, p < 0.001). The relationship between the true positive rate (sensitivity) and false positive rate (1,specificity) for every possible cutoff value in abundance of the considered ionic species was investigated through the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The obtained data indicate that a good differentiation of nephropathic patients with advanced renal disease and diabetic patients with advanced nephropathy versus healthy subjects can be easily obtained by this approach. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The validation of self-reported smoking status by analysing cotinine levels in stimulated and unstimulated saliva, serum and urineORAL DISEASES, Issue 5 2004V Binnie Objectives:, Cotinine, a nicotine metabolite, can be used to measure exposure to tobacco smoke. The aim of this study was to compare cotinine levels in different biological fluids collected from both smokers and non-smokers and to relate the findings to self-reported smoking status. Data were also collected concerning the acceptability of the differing methods of sample collection. Material and method:, Patients recruited to the study were asked to provide samples of urine, blood and saliva (both stimulated and unstimulated). Data collected from patients by questionnaire included information on smoking behaviour such as daily number of cigarettes and environmental exposure to smoke. After the sample collection, patients were asked to rate the acceptability of each sampling method. Samples were analysed using enzyme immunoassay (EIA) kits. Results:, In total, 80 patients participated, with 49 being smokers and 31 being non-smokers. There was clear differentiation between smokers and non-smokers (P < 0.001) for all the different samples in terms of cotinine. A significant relationship was seen between cotinine and daily number of cigarettes for both salivas and urine (all P < 0.001) but not for serum. Participants found serum and urine collection methodologies ,very acceptable' (67 and 66%, respectively) whereas 9% found collection of stimulated saliva ,not at all acceptable'. Conclusion:, Cotinine, whatever the collection method and analysed by EIA kits, shows good differentiation between smokers and non-smokers. Salivary samples have the advantage of being non-invasive, although collection methodology is important, as cotinine levels may vary. [source] | ||||||||||