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Single Dimension (single + dimension)
Selected AbstractsDrinking patterns in mid-adolescence and psychosocial outcomes in late adolescence and early adulthoodADDICTION, Issue 12 2004J. Elisabeth Wells ABSTRACT Aims To describe the pattern of drinking at age 16 and to relate this to outcomes at 16,21 years and 21,25 years across a number of psychosocial domains. Design A prospective birth cohort study with annual follow-up until age 16 then at 18, 21 and 25 years. Setting Christchurch, New Zealand. Participants Of 1265 subjects, 953 were interviewed at age 16. Measurements Multiple measures of family background were collected from birth to 16 years. Alcohol consumption was measured in terms of frequency, usual or last quantity drunk and most drunk per occasion. Problems were also recorded. Questions about psychiatric symptoms enabled Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) criteria to be applied. Detailed reports on educational outcomes, employment, sexual behaviours and offending were collected. Findings Four latent classes were required to describe drinking at age 16, but these appeared to lie along a single dimension which strongly predicted outcomes at ages 16,21 and 21,25 across all domains (alcohol-related, substance dependence, mental health, education, sexual relationships and offending). After controlling for background and correlates only a small number of outcomes were still related consistently to drinking at age 16 over both periods: most alcohol-related outcomes, the number of sexual partners and the extent of violent offending. Conclusions Drinking at age 16 is a clear indicator of future life-course over most domains in late adolescence and early adulthood. Many of these associations are due to other covariates. Outcomes specific to drinking at age 16 are alcohol outcomes, number of sexual partners and violence. [source] Differences in Labor versus Value Chain Industry Clusters: An Empirical InvestigationGROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2007HENRY RENSKI ABSTRACT Regional analysts often identify industry clusters according to a single dimension of industrial interdependence, typically by trading patterns as revealed in national or regionalized input,output data. This is despite the fact that the theory underpinning regional industry cluster applications draws heavily on Marshall's theory of external economies, including the important role of labor pooling economies and knowledge spillovers in addition to spatially co-located suppliers. This article investigates whether industry clusters identified based on trading relationships (value chain clusters) are meaningfully different in industrial composition and geography than those derived from an analysis of occupational employment requirements (labor-based clusters). The results suggest that value chain linkages are a weak proxy for shared labor requirements, and vice versa. [source] Democracy and Human Rights in the Mexican States: Elections or Social Capital?INTERNATIONAL STUDIES QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2004Caroline Beer Why does the relationship between a government and its citizens deteriorate to violence? Large-N cross-national quantitative analyses of human rights violations have found an inverse relationship between democracy and violations. These analyses, however, have not been able to address the central finding of an influential subnational analysis of democracy that stresses the importance of a single dimension of democracy, social capital. In this article we combine these two streams of research with fresh data from the Mexican states to investigate how and why democracy inhibits violations. Theoretically, we connect a policy interest in protecting human rights to politicians' office-seeking goals and to the level of social capital. Empirically, our data allow us to disentangle two principal components of democracy, elections and social capital, and include important control variables, notably ethnic diversity, which have been largely left out of the cross-national analyses. Our central finding is that the electoral components rather than social capital produce important consequences for the protection of citizens' human rights. [source] Mathematical modeling of water uptake through diffusion in 3D inhomogeneous swelling substratesAICHE JOURNAL, Issue 7 2009L. R. van den Doel Abstract Diffusion-driven water uptake in a substrate (imbibition) is a subject of great interest in the field of food technology. This is a particular challenge for rice grains that are preprocessed to accelerate the water uptake, i.e., to reduce the cooking time. Rice preprocessing disrupts the mesostructural order of starch and induces a microporous structure in the grains. The meso- and microstructural length scales have not been considered in joint approach until now. The (re)hydration of rice grains can be modeled by free (concentration-driven) diffusion or by water demand-driven diffusion. The latter is driven by the ceiling moisture content related to the extent of gelatinization of the rice substrate network. This network can be regarded as a fractal structure. As the spatial resolution of our models is limited, we choose to model the apparent water transport by a set of coupled partial differential equations (PDEs). Current models of water uptake are often limited to a single dimension, and the swelling of the substrate is not taken into account. In this article, we derive a set of PDEs to model water uptake in a three-dimensional (3D) inhomogeneous substrate for different types of water diffusion as well as the swelling of the substrate during water uptake. We will present simulation results for different 3D (macroscopic) structures and diffusion models and compare these results, qualitatively, with the experimental results acquired from magnetic resonance imaging. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009 [source] Mixed incontinence: Comparing definitions in women having stress incontinence surgery,,§¶NEUROUROLOGY AND URODYNAMICS, Issue 4 2009Linda Brubaker Abstract Objective To develop an empirically derived definition of mixed urinary incontinence (MUI) for use in incontinence outcomes research. Methods Participants in a randomized trial comparing the fascial sling and. Burch colposuspension were assessed using standardized measures including the Medical, Epidemiologic and Social Aspects of Aging (MESA), UI questionnaire, the Urogenital Distress Inventory (UDI), 3-day urinary diary and urodynamic studies (UDS). Participants were required to have stress incontinence with a MESA stress subscale score,>,MESA urge subscale score. Several definitions of MUI were considered. Logistic and linear regression analysis methods were used to predict clinical outcomes based on the different MUI definitions. Analyses were carried out using SAS (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC, Version 9.1). Statistical significance was defined at P -value <0.05. Results In 655 participants, the proportion of women with MUI varied from 8.3% to 93.3% depending on the MUI definition All definitions were associated with severity as measured by the frequency of incontinence episodes at baseline; however little of the variability was explained by any single definition. No strict cut-off value for these baseline measures was identified to predict clinical outcomes. Conclusions These MUI definitions do not adequately categorize clinically relevant UI subgroups. For research reporting, MUI subcomponents of stress and urge UI should be described separately rather than as a single dimension. Neurourol. Urodynam. 28:268,273, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Personality and the predisposition(s) to bipolar disorder: heuristic benefits of a two-dimensional modelBIPOLAR DISORDERS, Issue 5 2007Greg Murray Objectives:, The aim of this study was to model normal personality correlates of the predisposition(s) to bipolar disorder (BD), and in so doing explore the proposition that the tendency to bipolar depression [trait depression (T-Depression)] and the tendency to mania [trait mania (T-Mania)] can usefully be viewed as separable but correlated dimensions of BD predisposition. Methods:, A well student sample (n = 176, modal age 18,25 years, 71% female) completed the NEO Personality Inventory,Revised and the General Behavior Inventory. Results:, A good-fitting model (normed ,2 = 0.60, significance of ,2 = 0.73) was identified in which T-Depression was determined solely by neuroticism, while T-Mania was determined by extraversion and (negative) agreeableness. The pathway from T-Depression to T-Mania was also significant (standardized regression weight = 0.80), with a weaker significant reciprocal path (coefficient = 0.27). A model in which bipolar vulnerability was represented as a single dimension (T-Bipolarity) also provided a good fit to the data, but provided less heuristic power. Conclusions:, Predisposition to BD can be usefully understood in terms of two reciprocally related dimensions of vulnerability (T-Depression and T-Mania), which can be separated on the basis of their personality correlates. [source] Goal Attainment Scaling in paediatric rehabilitation: a report on the clinical training of an interdisciplinary teamCHILD: CARE, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2008D. Steenbeek Abstract Background Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) is a responsive method for individual goal setting and treatment evaluation. However, current knowledge about its reliability when used in paediatric rehabilitation treatment is insufficient and depends highly on standardization of the GAS method. A training programme was developed to introduce GAS to a team of 27 professionals from five disciplines. The purpose of the paper is to share the experiences of professionals and parents during this training. Methods The training consisted of three 2-h general discussion sessions and intensive individual feedback from the study leader (i.e. the first author). Feedback was given until the GAS scales met predetermined criteria of ordinality, described specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic abilities and activities in a single dimension, used the ,can-do' principle and could be scored within 10 min. Therapists and parents were asked to give their opinion by completing a questionnaire. Results One hundred and fifteen GAS scales were developed and scored by professionals. The development of a GAS scale remained a time-consuming procedure, despite the training: 45 (SD = 27) minutes per scale. The content criteria of GAS were found to be useful by all participants. Common issues requiring revision of the initial scales were equal scale intervals, specificity, measurability and selection of a single variable. After the training, 70% of the therapists and 60% of the parents regarded GAS as a suitable tool to improve the quality of rehabilitation treatment. Examples of GAS scales developed by the various disciplines are presented and discussed. Conclusions The experiences reported in this paper support the further development of training procedures for GAS before it can be used as an outcome measure in effect studies. The findings may be helpful in introducing GAS in the field of childhood disability. [source] | |||||||||||||