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Variety Of Measures (variety + of_measure)
Selected AbstractsAtypical antipsychotics and weightgain , a systematic reviewACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 6 2000D. M. Taylor Objective: To review systematically data relating to weight changes with atypical antipsychotics. Method: We conducted a Medline search on October 29 1999 and covered the period 1980,99. All recovered papers were examined for further relevant reports. In addition, we wrote to pharmaceutical manufacturers and 10 practising clinicians to ask them to provide other relevant reports known to them. Results: Eighty reports mentioning change in body weight were retrieved. Data relating to weight changes were of variable quality. Weight changes were indicated by a variety of measures. The majority of reports related to short-term changes. Conclusion: All atypical drugs, with the exception of ziprasidone, have been associated with weight increases. Clozapine seems to have the highest risk of weight gain, followed by olanzapine and quetiapine. There is probably a lower risk with risperidone, sertindole and zotepine and a still lower risk with amisulpride. Ziprasidone appears not to be associated with weight gain. In the absence of more compelling data, these rankings must be considered approximate and preliminary. Longer, more robust trials are needed. [source] SHOULD OIL PRICES RECEIVE SO MUCH ATTENTION?ECONOMIC INQUIRY, Issue 4 2008AN EVALUATION OF THE PREDICTIVE POWER OF OIL PRICES FOR THE U.S. ECONOMY This paper evaluates the potential gains from using oil prices to forecast a variety of measures of inflation, economic activity, and monetary policy,related variables. With a few exceptions, oil prices do not have any predictive content for these variables. This finding is robust to the use of rolling forecast windows, the use of industry-level data, changes in the forecast horizon, and allowing for nonlinearities. (JEL Q43, E37, C32) [source] Availability of Safety Net Providers and Access to Care of Uninsured PersonsHEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, Issue 5 2004Jack Hadley Objective. To understand how proximity to safety net clinics and hospitals affects a variety of measures of access to care and service use by uninsured persons. Data Sources. The 1998,1999 Community Tracking Study household survey, administered primarily by telephone survey to households in 60 randomly selected communities, linked to data on community health centers, other free clinics, and safety net hospitals. Study Design. Instrumental variable estimation of multivariate regression models of several measures of access to care (having a usual source of care, unmet or delayed medical care needs, ambulatory service use, and overnight hospital stays) against endogenous measures of distances to the nearest community health center and safety net hospital, controlling for characteristics of uninsured persons and other area characteristics that are related to access to care. The models are estimated with data from a nationally representative sample of uninsured people. Principal Findings. Shorter distances to the nearest safety net providers increase access to care for uninsured persons. Failure to account for the endogeneity of distance to safety net providers on access to care generally leads to finding little or no safety net effects on access. Conclusions. Closer proximity to the safety net increases access to care for uninsured persons. However, the improvements in access to care are relatively small compared with similar measures of access to care for insured persons. Modest expansion of the safety net is unlikely to provide a full substitute for insurance coverage expansions. [source] Consumer sensitivity to changes in tax policy on consumption of alcoholINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 3 2006David E. Smith Abstract Marketers and economists have followed the consumption patterns of alcoholic beverages for many years. Public officials have studied the negative effects of consuming alcohol and have advocated a variety of measures to curtail consumption. Previous studies have also measured the price elasticity. This comparative study is based on a 40-year analysis, and compares the consumption patterns for beer, spirits and wine in three Nordic countries. Although the cultural context of Denmark, Norway and Sweden are similar, nevertheless significant differences in the patterns of consumption and prices for alcoholic beverages have been evidenced overtime. A comparison of the per capita drinking patterns and the taxation effectiveness are presented. Even though the elasticities varied, the data indicate relative sensitivity to price changes and a decline in spirits consumption as well as switching effects to lower alcohol-content beverages. [source] Involvement with peers: comparisons between young children with and without Down's syndromeJOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 5 2002M. J. Guralnick Abstract Background It has been well established that heterogeneous groups of young children with mild intellectual disability are at considerable risk of becoming socially isolated from their peers in school, home and community settings. Method Matched groups of young children with and without Down's syndrome (DS) were compared in terms of the children's involvement with peers, maternal arranging and monitoring of peer play, and maternal beliefs about inclusion. Results Despite aetiology-specific expectations for children with DS, no differences were found for a variety of measures of peer involvement focusing on the frequency of contacts and the characteristics of children's peer social networks. Maternal arranging of activities with peers was similarly related to peer involvement for both groups of children. Higher ratings of the benefits of inclusion were obtained from mothers of children with DS, but these maternal beliefs were unrelated to maternal arranging or peer involvement. Conclusions Parental adaptations to the aetiology-specific behavioural patterns of children and the general influence of children's experiences within a developmental framework are discussed in the context of interpreting aetiology-specific findings. [source] Age-Related Changes in Drinking Patterns From Mid- to Older Age: Results From the Wisconsin Longitudinal StudyALCOHOLISM, Issue 7 2010Rachel C. Molander Background:, Drinking has generally been shown to decline with age in older adults. However, results vary depending on the measure of alcohol consumption used and the study population. The goals of this study were to (i) describe changes in drinking in a current cohort of older adults using a variety of measures of drinking and (ii) examine a number of different possible predictors of change. Methods:, This is a longitudinal study of a community-based sample surveyed at 2 time points, ages 53 and 64 years. We estimated a series of logistic regressions to predict change and stability in drinking categories of nondrinking, moderate drinking, and heavy drinking. Linear regressions were used to predict change in past-month drinking days, past-month average drinks per drinking day, and past-month total drinks. Results:, From age 53 to 64, average drinks per drinking day and heavy drinking decreased. Frequency of drinking increased for men and women, and total drinks per month increased for men. The most consistent predictors of drinking changes were gender, health, and education. Other factors predicted drinking change but were not consistent across drinking measures including: adolescent IQ, income, lifetime history of alcohol-related problems, religious service attendance, depression, debt, and changes in employment. Conclusions:, Heavy drinking decreases with age, but we may see more frequent moderate drinking with current and upcoming cohorts of older adults. Components of quantity and frequency of drinking change differently. Composite measures of total alcohol consumption may not be adequate for describing relevant changes in drinking over time. A number of factors predicted patterns of change in drinking and warrant further exploration. [source] DOES DIVING LIMIT BRAIN SIZE IN CETACEANS?MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2006Lori Marino Abstract We test the longstanding hypothesis, known as the dive constraint hypothesis, that the oxygenation demands of diving pose a constraint on aquatic mammal brain size.Using a sample of 23 cetacean species we examine the relationship among six different measures of relative brain size, body size, and maximum diving duration. Unlike previous tests we include body size as a covariate and perform independent contrast analyses to control for phylogeny. We show that diving does not limit brain size in cetaceans and therefore provide no support for the dive constraint hypothesis. Instead, body size is the main predictor of maximum diving duration in cetaceans. Furthermore, our findings show that it is important to conduct robust tests of evolutionary hypotheses by employing a variety of measures of the dependent variable, in this case, relative brain size. [source] Current methodological approaches to the study of sleep disturbances and quality of life in adults with cancer: a systematic reviewPSYCHO-ONCOLOGY, Issue 5 2007Ann M. Berger Abstract In recent years, sleep disturbances and the health-related quality of life (QOL) experienced by adults with cancer, during and after cancer treatment, have received increasing attention in the scientific literature. The purpose of this paper was to systematically review current methodological approaches to the study of sleep disturbances and QOL in adults with cancer. Databases were searched to identify longitudinal studies of adults with cancer that measured sleep disturbances and QOL in the past 10 years. The review was focused in five primary areas: trends in publication, measurement of sleep and QOL, study design, changes in sleep disturbances and QOL, and the level of this evidence. Of the 40 studies that met the authors' criteria for inclusion, 75% were descriptive in design and 25% were intervention studies. Studies on sleep and QOL among cancer patients have become more common since 2000, include a range of sample sizes and settings, use a variety of measures of sleep and QOL, and examine patients undergoing many types of cancer therapies. No programs of research have been developed in sleep disturbances and QOL in adults with cancer. The ,evidence' that can be drawn from such studies is obviously weak. Current approaches usually describe changes over time, but have not described whether a relationship exists between sleep disturbances and QOL in adults with cancer. Directions for future research are suggested. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Evolutionary origin of Venturia canescens virus-like particles ,ARCHIVES OF INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY (ELECTRONIC), Issue 3 2006Annette Reineke Abstract Insect host-parasitoid interactions provide fascinating examples of evolutionary adaptations in which the parasitoid employs a variety of measures and countermeasures to overcome the immune responses of its host. Maternal factors introduced by the female wasps during egg deposition play an important role in interfering with cellular and humoral components of the host's immune defence. Some of these components actively suppress host immune components and some are believed to confer protection for the developing endoparasitoid by rather passive means. The Venturia canescens/Ephestia kuehniella parasitoid-host system is unique among other systems in that the cellular defence capacity of the host remains virtually intact after parasitization. This system raises some important questions that are discussed in this mini-review: If immune protection of the egg and the emerging larva is achieved by surface properties comprising glycoproteins and virus-like particles (VLPs) produced by the female wasp, why is the prophenoloxidase activating cascade blocked in parasitized caterpillars? Another question is the evolutionary origin of these particles, given that the functional role and structural features of V. canescens VLP proteins are more related to cellular proteins than to viruses. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 61:123,133, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | |||||||||||||