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Very Different Patterns (very + different_pattern)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Social Inequality: Utilisation of general practitioner services by socio-economic disadvantage and geographic remoteness

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 2 2004
Gavin Turrell
Objective: To examine the association between socio-economic status (SES) and GP utilisation across Statistical Local Areas (SLAs) that differed in their geographic remoteness, and to assess whether Indigenous status and GP availability modified the association. Design: Retrospective analysis of Medicare data for all unreferred GP consultations (1996/97) for 952 SLAs comprising the six Australian States. Geographic remoteness was ascertained using the Area Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA), and SES was measured by grouping SLAs into tertiles based on their Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage score. Main outcome measure: Age/sex standardised rates of GP utilisation for each SLA. Main results: In SLAs classified as ,highly accessible', rates of GP use were 10.8% higher (95% CI 5.7,16.0) in the most socio-economically disadvantaged tertile after adjustment for Indigenous status and GP availability. A very different pattern of GP utilsation was found in ,remote/very remote' SLAs. After adjustment, rates of GP use in the most socio-economically disadvantaged tertile were 25.3% lower (95% CI 5.9,40.7) than in the most advantaged tertile. Conclusions: People in socio-economically disadvantaged metropolitan SLAs have higher rates of GP utilisation, as would be expected due to their poorer health. This is not true for people living in disadvantaged remote/very remote SLAs: in these areas, those most in need of GP services are least likely to receive them. Australia may lay claim to having a primary health care system that provides universal coverage, but we are still some way from having a system that is economically and geographically accessible to all. [source]

Awakening dynamics via passive coupling and synchronization mechanism in oscillatory cellular neural/nonlinear networks

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CIRCUIT THEORY AND APPLICATIONS, Issue 5-6 2008
István Szatmári
Abstract We have studied synchronization mechanism in locally coupled nonlinear oscillators. Here, synchronization takes place by passive coupling based on a reaction,diffusion process. We will compare this mechanism with basic synchronization techniques, showing their similarities and specific properties. In addition to synchronization, passive and local coupling can also ,awaken' non-oscillating cell circuits and trigger oscillation, provided that cells are locally active. This result resembles Turing's and Smale's works showing that locally communicating simple elements can produce very different patterns even if separate elements do not show any activity. This property will be demonstrated for two second-order cells and also for a large ensemble of oscillatory cells. In latter case, the network of oscillatory cells exhibits very sophisticated spatio-temporal waves, e.g. spiral waves. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Neuropsychological components of intellectual disability: the contributions of immediate, working, and associative memory

JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 5 2010
Jamie O. Edgin
Abstract Background Efficient memory functions are important to the development of cognitive and functional skills, allowing individuals to manipulate and store information. Theories of memory have suggested the presence of domain-specific (i.e. verbal and spatial) and general processing mechanisms across memory domains, including memory functions dependent on the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the hippocampus. Comparison of individuals who have syndromes associated with striking contrasts in skills on verbal and spatial tasks [e.g. Down syndrome (DS) and Williams syndrome (WS)] allows us to test whether or not these dissociations may extend across cognitive domains, including PFC and hippocampal memory processes. Methods The profile of memory function, including immediate memory (IM), working memory (WM) and associative memory (AM), was examined in a sample of adolescents and young adults with DS (n = 27) or WS (n = 28), from which closely CA- and IQ-matched samples of individuals with DS (n = 18) or WS (n = 18) were generated. Relations between memory functions and IQ and adaptive behaviour were also assessed in the larger sample. Results Comparisons of the two matched groups indicated significant differences in verbal IM (DS < WS), spatial IM (DS > WS) and spatial and verbal AM (DS > WS), but no between-syndrome differences in WM. For individuals with DS, verbal IM was the most related to variation in IQ, and spatial AM related to adaptive behaviour. The pattern was clearly different for individuals with WS. Verbal and spatial AM were the most related to variation in IQ, and verbal WM related to adaptive behaviour. Conclusions These results suggest that individuals with these two syndromes have very different patterns of relative strengths and weaknesses on memory measures, which do not fully mirror verbal and spatial dissociations. Furthermore, different patterns of memory dysfunction relate to outcome in individuals with each syndrome. [source]

Fear-pattern analysis supports the fear-drive model for antispeeding road-safety TV ads

PSYCHOLOGY & MARKETING, Issue 11 2004
John R. Rossiter
Previous studies of fear appeals in advertising have relied on a procedure that measures only the overall level of fear produced by the ad. That procedure cannot validly test the effect of drive reduction, which is the central causal mechanism in Hovland, Janis, and Kelley's (1953) original fear-drive model. To overcome this limitation, the present research identifies the fear pattern of the ad, based on moment-to-moment ratings of fear-to-relief taken for its duration. In Study 1, which examines ratings of seven antispeeding TV commercials, it is shown that a postexposure overall rating of fear is in fact measuring the maximum level of fear experienced, not the average level, and that this static rating of fear cannot distinguish very different patterns, such as the pattern of rising fear with no relief, the "shock" pattern of sudden fear with no relief (both representing positive punishment), and the classic fear-relief pattern (the drivereduction pattern). In Study 2, which is a laboratory experiment using antispeeding road-safety TV commercials and a dependent variable of speed choice on a realistic simulated driving test, it is demonstrated that the fear-relief pattern reduces young drivers' speed choice not only initially but after heavy repetition of the ad, whereas fear without relief increases speed choice initially, then, after heavy repetition, it decreases speed choice, although not down to the driving speed produced by fear-relief. The reason why a shock ad starts to work following heavy repetition is that viewers begin to anticipate the shock and the ad becomes, in effect, a fear-relief ad. The overall results strongly support the fear-drive model. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]