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Systematic Exploration (systematic + exploration)
Selected AbstractsThe Algorithmically Structured Systematic Exploration of Subject's State of Mind.INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDIES, Issue 4 2007Abstract Objective: To develop an interview method that combined the qualities of unstructured interviews, such as openness to unexpected information, and the qualities of structured interviews, such as adequate psychometric properties. Method: The innovative principle of the Algorithmically Structured Systematic Exploration of Subject's State of Mind (Assess_Mind) is to investigate, not the contents of mental phenomenology, but five mental functions , or "registers" , that mediate the experience of patients. The functioning of these registers , affects, fears, desires, memories, and associations of ideas , is explored using a rigorously defined algorithm for interviewing. Scales have been developed to rate 390 interviews on psychopathological dimensions of interest in a study of patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. Results: As shown by vignettes from the various registers, the Assess_Mind provides detailed, comprehensive, and deep information on the five registers it investigates. Conclusion: Although the Assess_Mind uses a structured algorithm for data collection, its usefulness as a clinical research tool is based on the width and depth of its coverage of patients' current mental experience. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The Algorithmically Structured Systematic Exploration of Subject's State of Mind: II Reliability and Construct ValidityINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDIES, Issue 4 2007Marie-Noëlle Le Mer Abstract Objective: To investigate the reliability and validity of a newly developed semistructured interview, the Algorithmically Structured Systematic Exploration of Subject's State of Mind (Assess_Mind). Method: Twelve scales have been developed and used to rate 86 Assess_Mind interviews conducted with patients undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment. For each rating scale, we assessed interrater reliability, interviewer effect, and construct validity. In addition, a factor analysis of scales was performed. To study the validity of scales and of the factors yielded by factor analysis, patients were assessed with a psychopathological battery including the Child Project Questionnaire, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Ways of Coping Checklist. Results: For 11 of the 12 scales, interrater reliability was fair to excellent. There was no significant interviewer effect affecting any of the scales. In addition, the validity of nine of these 11 scales was demonstrated by their correlations with questionnaires measuring similar constructs. Conclusion: Nine of the Assess_Mind scales appear to have adequate psychometric properties. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Systematic Exploration of the Equine Tarsus by UltrasonographyANATOMIA, HISTOLOGIA, EMBRYOLOGIA, Issue 5 2008J. M. Vilar Summary The authors propose a standard protocol of ultrasonographic exploration of the tarsal region in transversal and longitudinal planes, with the aim to spread with an accurate location of the anatomical structures. For this study, 10 adult horses of different races and ages (ranged 5,10 years) were used, with the characteristic of not having suffered any kind of tarsic pathology. The equipment was a real time ultrasound machine with a 7.5 mHz lineal transducer. Some different anatomical structures in this region of the hind-limb such as the tendons, ligaments, muscles and articular components were identified and labelled as regards their echoic characteristics. [source] Relevance of gastrointestinal symptoms in endometriosisAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Paulette MAROUN Background: Endometriosis commonly presents with a range of symptoms none of which are particularly specific for the condition, often resulting in misdiagnosis or delay in diagnosis. Aim: To investigate gastrointestinal symptoms in women with endometriosis and compare their frequency with that of the classical gynaecological symptoms. Methods: Systematic exploration of symptoms in a consecutive series of 355 women undergoing operative laparoscopy for suspected endometriosis. Results: Endometriosis was confirmed by histology in 290 women (84.5%). Bowel lesions were present in only 7.6%. Ninety per cent of women had gastrointestinal symptoms, of which bloating was the most common (82.8%), but 71.3% also had other bowel symptoms. All gastrointestinal symptoms were similarly predictive of histologically confirmed endometriosis. Seventy-six women (21.4%) had previously been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome and 79% of them had endometriosis confirmed. Conclusion: Gastrointestinal symptoms are nearly as common as gynaecological symptoms in women with endometriosis and do not necessarily reflect bowel involvement. [source] Differences in spatial predictions among species distribution modeling methods vary with species traits and environmental predictorsECOGRAPHY, Issue 6 2009Alexandra D. Syphard Prediction maps produced by species distribution models (SDMs) influence decision-making in resource management or designation of land in conservation planning. Many studies have compared the prediction accuracy of different SDM modeling methods, but few have quantified the similarity among prediction maps. There has also been little systematic exploration of how the relative importance of different predictor variables varies among model types and affects map similarity. Our objective was to expand the evaluation of SDM performance for 45 plant species in southern California to better understand how map predictions vary among model types, and to explain what factors may affect spatial correspondence, including the selection and relative importance of different environmental variables. Four types of models were tested. Correlation among maps was highest between generalized linear models (GLMs) and generalized additive models (GAMs) and lowest between classification trees and GAMs or GLMs. Correlation between Random Forests (RFs) and GAMs was the same as between RFs and classification trees. Spatial correspondence among maps was influenced the most by model prediction accuracy (AUC) and species prevalence; map correspondence was highest when accuracy was high and prevalence was intermediate (average prevalence for all species was 0.124). Species functional type and the selection of climate variables also influenced map correspondence. For most (but not all) species, climate variables were more important than terrain or soil in predicting their distributions. Environmental variable selection varied according to modeling method, but the largest differences were between RFs and GLMs or GAMs. Although prediction accuracy was equal for GLMs, GAMs, and RFs, the differences in spatial predictions suggest that it may be important to evaluate the results of more than one model to estimate the range of spatial uncertainty before making planning decisions based on map outputs. This may be particularly important if models have low accuracy or if species prevalence is not intermediate. [source] Developmental insights into experience-based decision makingJOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DECISION MAKING, Issue 1 2010Tim Rakow Abstract In three experiments involving children and adults (N,=,324), option payoffs for sure versus risky choices were either described or experienced via observation of 20 outcomes. Choices revealed a description-experience gap for payoffs with rare events, implying greater impact of small probabilities (,.2) for described than for experienced choices. The size of this effect was independent of participant age. Therefore, the role of cognitive limitations in the description-experience distinction remains unclear, as the age groups would have differed in cognitive capacity. Age-related differences in ,sampling style' in decisions from experience were observed. Pre-choice data acquisition changed markedly with age: From frequent alternation between options towards separate systematic exploration of options with increasing age. A fourth experiment, that manipulated sampling style, failed to demonstrate its link to other age-related features of choice (e.g. risk preferences). Our studies illustrate the value of developmental research for testing theoretical claims and revealing novel phenomena in decision research. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Prospects for de novo phasing with de novo protein modelsACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 2 2009Rhiju Das The prospect of phasing diffraction data sets `de novo' for proteins with previously unseen folds is appealing but largely untested. In a first systematic exploration of phasing with Rosetta de novo models, it is shown that all-atom refinement of coarse-grained models significantly improves both the model quality and performance in molecular replacement with the Phaser software. 15 new cases of diffraction data sets that are unambiguously phased with de novo models are presented. These diffraction data sets represent nine space groups and span a large range of solvent contents (33,79%) and asymmetric unit copy numbers (1,4). No correlation is observed between the ease of phasing and the solvent content or asymmetric unit copy number. Instead, a weak correlation is found with the length of the modeled protein: larger proteins required somewhat less accurate models to give successful molecular replacement. Overall, the results of this survey suggest that de novo models can phase diffraction data for approximately one sixth of proteins with sizes of 100 residues or less. However, for many of these cases, `de novo phasing with de novo models' requires significant investment of computational power, much greater than 103 CPU days per target. Improvements in conformational search methods will be necessary if molecular replacement with de novo models is to become a practical tool for targets without homology to previously solved protein structures. [source] | ||||||||||