bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Markov Analysis of Students’ Performance and Academic Progress in Higher Education
Authors: Brezavšček Alenka , Bach Mirjana Pejić , Baggia Alenka 
Published: June 2017

Abstract

Background: The students’ progression towards completing their higher education degrees possesses stochastic characteristics, and can therefore be modelled as an absorbing Markov chain. Such application would have a high practical value and offer great opportunities for implementation in practice.

Objectives: The aim of the paper is to develop a stochastic model for estimation and continuous monitoring of various quality and effectiveness indicators of a given higher education study programme.

Method: The study programme is modelled by a finite Markov chain with five transient and two absorbing states. The probability transition matrix is constructed. The quantitative characteristics of the absorbing Markov chain, like the expected time until absorption and the probabilities of absorption, are used to determine chosen indicators of the programme.

Results: The model is applied to investigate the pattern of students’ enrolment and their academic performance in a Slovenian higher education institution. Based on the students’ intake records, the transition matrix was developed considering eight consecutive academic seasons from 2008/09 until 2016/17. The students’ progression towards the next stage of the study programme was estimated. The expected time that a student spends at a particular stage as well as the expected duration of the study is determined. The graduation and withdrawal probabilities were obtained. Besides, a prediction on the students’ enrolment for the next three academic years was made. The results were interpreted and discussed.

Conclusion: The analysis presented is applicable for all higher education stakeholders. It is especially useful for a higher education institution’s managers seeing that it provides useful information to plan improvements regarding the quality and effectiveness of their study programmes to achieve better position in the educational market.
Can Social Media Content Increase Financial Market Returns? Survey Results from Poland
Authors: Cwynar Andrzej , Cwynar Wiktor , Pater Robert 
Published: June 2017

Abstract

Background and Purpose: In recent years classic financial market theory based on decision makers’ rationality has been challenged by repeated anomalies that became a ‘new normal’. As a result, what we witness today is a considerable turn to behavioral concepts that can shed a new light on choices made by market participants. The astonishing development of social media accelerated scientific validation of such concepts, since the media opened new and capacious ‘laboratory space’ for testing behavioral hypotheses. The main purpose of the article is to examine whether financial market professionals believe that social media content can be useful in achieving additional financial market returns and to investigate the factors behind this belief.

Design/Methodology/Approach: We surveyed a sample of over 400 financial market professionals at institutions operating in Poland, and analyzed the results using logit regression models.

Results: We established that almost 60% of the surveyed finance professionals recognized the potential of social media for achieving additional returns. We also found out that the differences in respondents’ perception of this potential could be explained mainly by heterogeneity of their job experience and, to a lesser degree, by their job position. Interestingly, more experienced individuals were less likely to recognize this potential. Firm-specific factors did not have a significant effect on the dependent variable.

Conclusion: The opinions of financial market professionals regarding the link between social media and additional returns are mixed, which is consistent with the current body of evidence brought by sentiment-based research. Our findings confirm the key role of previous experience in explaining attitudes towards novelties and innovations (such as social media), a phenomenon known from other fields and everyday experience.
Psychosocial Factors in the Development of Low Back Pain Among Professional Drivers
Authors: Kresal Friderika , Bertoncel Tine , Meško Maja 
Published: June 2017

Abstract

Background and purpose: Professional drivers as a group are exposed to high risk of developing low back pain due to ergonomic factors and work conditions. The purpose of the study was to examine to what extent the low back pain occurs among Slovene professional drivers as a result of the development of various psychosocial factors.

Methodology: The study involved 275 respondents (professional bus drivers, car/van drivers, international truck/lorry drivers, and ambulance car drivers). Hypotheses were tested using multivariate statistical method (regression analysis) and analysis of variance. Data were collected by structured questionnaire comprised of three parts: socio-demographic data, basic psychosocial factors causing low back pain, and incidence, duration and severity of low back pain as a result of psychosocial risk factors, was implemented.

Results: The results of quantitative survey suggest that low back pain is mostly caused by lifting and carrying heavy loads, inadequate working conditions, poor physical fitness, regular nights out, shift work, and stress. Only the impact of gender on low back pain distress among professional drivers was confirmed, predominantly among bus drivers and lorry drivers on international routes. Low back pain occurrence was less common, albeit not statistically significant, among professional drivers of vans and passenger cars.

Conclusion: Our study suggests that psychosocial factors are also important cause for the development of low back pain among professional drivers and can limit the quality of their social and professional lives.
Dewey and White on Value, Obligation, and Practical Judgment
Authors: Sinclair Robert 
Published: June 2017

AbstractThis essay examines the largely forgotten debate from 1949 between Dewey and White over the status of value judgments. It argues that White does not criticize Dewey’s moral philosophy as a misguided attempt to derive an “ought” from “is”, rather he maintains that Dewey’s ethical naturalism cannot provide an empirical definition of moral judgments that preserves their status as moral obligations. Although White is mistaken in presenting Dewey’s view as a failed theory of moral obligation, Dewey’s reply suggests that White is correct in understanding the connections between scientific and moral inquiry in normative terms. This further reveals that value judgments concerning what we should do, what Dewey calls “practical judgments”, are not moral obligations as White suggests, but are fallible directives for addressing problems disruptive of human activity. By presenting Dewey’s view as a failed attempt to reduce moral terms to an acceptable empirical vocabulary, White assumes a logical separation between the descriptive and that normative that is untenable from the perspective of Dewey’s account of human inquiry.
Die Welt des Stephen K. Bannon. Wie revolutionär ist die Trump-Administration?
Authors: Krause Joachim 
Published: June 2017

Kurzfassung:
Der Artikel befasst sich mit dem Weltbild des strategischen Chefberaters von Donald Trump. Dabei sollen polemische Verkürzungen vermieden werden. Die zentralen Elemente der Gedankenwelt des Stephen K. Bannon sind, was die Gegenwartsanalyse betrifft, (1) die Orientierung an einem zyklischen Weltbild, (2) eine Kritik am Kapitalismus und am politischen Establishment, und (3) die Furcht vor einer neuen Welle eines Totalitarismus, die aus dem politischen Islam entstehen könnte. Seine Überlegungen zur politischen Programmatik bestehen in erster Linie aus der Forderung nach (1) Wiederherstellung demokratischer Souveränität durch die Zerschlagung einer angeblich parasitären politischen Klasse in den USA, (2) die Wiederherstellung nationaler Souveränität durch die Absage an Globalismus und Multilateralismus sowie (3) der Primat der Bekämpfung des totalitären Islamismus in der internationalen Politik.
Distribution of the Nosema ceranae (Microspora, Nosematidae) in the Apiaries in Ukraine
Authors: Odnosum H. V. 
Published: June 2017

Abstract
Investigated the distribution of microsporidia Nosema ceranae — the pathogen of so-called «Asian» Nosema disease in the apiaries of Ukraine. Investigated 784 samples of bee’s podmore in a large extent affected by Nosemosis, that have been sent by beekeepers for research from 11 regions of Ukraine (Kyiv, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, Volyn, Lviv, Khmelnytsky) in 2014–2016. Microsporidia Nosema ceranae was found in 74.5 % of the analyzed bee samples, i. e. on prevalence it dominated the microsporidia Nosema apis. Clinical signs and course of Nosema disease in bee families, where been found microsporidia Nosema ceranae, were classic, namely the weak development of families in the spring, in some families — the presence of traces of diarrhea.
Phototransduction inDrosophilaIs Compromised by Gal4 Expression but not by InsP3Receptor Knockdown or Mutation
Authors: Bollepalli Murali K. , Kuipers Marije E. , Liu Che-Hsiung , Asteriti Sabrina , Hardie Roger C. 
Published: June 2017

AbstractDrosophilaphototransduction is mediated by phospholipase C, leading to activation of transient receptor potential (TRP) and TRP-like (TRPL) channels by mechanisms that are unresolved. A role for InsP3receptors (IP3Rs) had been excluded because IP3R mutants (itpr) appeared to have normal light responses; however, this was recently challenged by Kohn et al. (“Functional cooperation between the IP3 receptor and phospholipase C secures the high sensitivity to light ofDrosophilaphotoreceptors in vivo,”Journal of Neuroscience35:2530), who reported defects in phototransduction after IP3R-RNAi knockdown. They concluded that InsP3-induced Ca2+release plays a critical role in facilitating channel activation, and that previous failure to detectIP3Rphenotypes resulted from trace Ca2+in electrodes substituting for InsP3-induced Ca2+release. In an attempt to confirm this, we performed electroretinograms, whole-cell recordings, and GCaMP6f Ca2+imaging from both IP3R-RNAi flies anditpr-null mutants. Like Kohn et al., we usedGMRGal4to drive expression ofUAS-IP3R-RNAi, but we also used controls expressingGMRGal4alone. We describe severalGMRGal4phenotypes suggestive of compromised development, including reductions in sensitivity, dark noise, potassium currents, and cell size and capacitance, as well as extreme variations in sensitivity between cells. However, we found no effect of IP3R RNAi or mutation on photoreceptor responses or Ca2+signals, indicating that the IP3R plays little or no role inDrosophilaphototransduction.
Systemic Nicotine Increases Gain and Narrows Receptive Fields in A1 via Integrated Cortical and Subcortical Actions
Authors: Askew Caitlin , Intskirveli Irakli , Metherate Raju 
Published: June 2017

AbstractNicotine enhances sensory and cognitive processing via actions at nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), yet the precise circuit- and systems-level mechanisms remain unclear. In sensory cortex, nicotinic modulation of receptive fields (RFs) provides a model to probe mechanisms by which nAChRs regulate cortical circuits. Here, we examine RF modulation in mouse primary auditory cortex (A1) using a novel electrophysiological approach: current-source density (CSD) analysis of responses to tone-in-notched-noise (TINN) acoustic stimuli. TINN stimuli consist of a tone at the characteristic frequency (CF) of the recording site embedded within a white noise stimulus filtered to create a spectral “notch” of variable width centered on CF. Systemic nicotine (2.1 mg/kg) enhanced responses to the CF tone and to narrow-notch stimuli, yet reduced the response to wider-notch stimuli, indicating increased response gain within a narrowed RF. Subsequent manipulations showed that modulation of cortical RFs by systemic nicotine reflected effects at several levels in the auditory pathway: nicotine suppressed responses in the auditory midbrain and thalamus, with suppression increasing with spectral distance from CF so that RFs became narrower, and facilitated responses in the thalamocortical pathway, while nicotinic actions within A1 further contributed to both suppression and facilitation. Thus, multiple effects of systemic nicotine integrate along the ascending auditory pathway. These actions at nAChRs in cortical and subcortical circuits, which mimic effects of auditory attention, likely contribute to nicotinic enhancement of sensory and cognitive processing.
Calcineurin–NFAT signalling in myeloid leucocytes: new prospects and pitfalls in immunosuppressive therapy
Authors: Bendickova Kamila , Tidu Federico , Fric Jan 
Published: June 2017

AbstractMyeloid leucocytes mediate host protection against infection and critically regulate inflammatory responses in body tissues. Pattern recognition receptor signalling is crucial for myeloid cell responses to pathogens, but growing evidence suggests an equally potent role for Calcineurin–NFAT signalling in control of myeloid cell function. All major subsets of myeloid leucocytes employ Calcineurin–NFAT signalling during immune responses to pathogens and/or tissue damage, but the influence this pathway exerts on pathogen clearance and host susceptibility to infection is not fully understood. Recent data from experimental models indicate that Calcineurin‐NFAT signalling is essential for infection control, and calcineurin inhibitors used in transplantation medicine (including cyclosporine A and tacrolimus) are now being tested for efficacy in a diverse range of inflammatory conditions and autoimmune pathologies. Efforts to repurpose calcineurin inhibitor drugs for new therapeutic applications may yield rapid improvements in clinical outcomes, but the potential impact of these compounds on myeloid cell function in treated patients is largely unknown. Here we discuss Calcineurin–NFAT control of myeloid leucocyte function in the context of recent therapeutic developments and ongoing clinical studies.
Epigenetic Transcriptional Memory of GAL Genes Depends on Growth in Glucose and the Tup1 Transcription Factor in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Authors: Sood Varun , Cajigas Ivelisse , D’Urso Agustina , Light William H , Brickner Jason H 
Published: June 2017

Abstract
Previously expressed inducible genes can remain poised for faster reactivation for multiple cell divisions, a conserved phenomenon called epigenetic transcriptional memory. The GAL genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae show faster reactivation for up to seven generations after being repressed. During memory, previously produced Gal1 protein enhances the rate of reactivation of GAL1, GAL10, GAL2, and GAL7. These genes also interact with the nuclear pore complex (NPC) and localize to the nuclear periphery both when active and during memory. Peripheral localization of GAL1 during memory requires the Gal1 protein, a memory-specific cis-acting element in the promoter, and the NPC protein Nup100. However, unlike other examples of transcriptional memory, the interaction with NPC is not required for faster GAL gene reactivation. Rather, downstream of Gal1, the Tup1 transcription factor and growth in glucose promote GAL transcriptional memory. Cells only show signs of memory and only benefit from memory when growing in glucose. Tup1 promotes memory-specific chromatin changes at the GAL1 promoter: incorporation of histone variant H2A.Z and dimethylation of histone H3, lysine 4. Tup1 and H2A.Z function downstream of Gal1 to promote binding of a preinitiation form of RNA Polymerase II at the GAL1 promoter, poising the gene for faster reactivation. This mechanism allows cells to integrate a previous experience (growth in galactose, reflected by Gal1 levels) with current conditions (growth in glucose, potentially through Tup1 function) to overcome repression and to poise critical GAL genes for future reactivation.
Conducta suicida en pueblos indígenas: una revisión del estado del arte
Authors: Vargas-Espíndola Alejandra , Villamizar-Guerrero Juliet Catherine , Puerto-López Jhon Sebastián , Rojas-Villamizar Manuel Ricardo , Ramírez-Montes Omar Santiago , Urrego-Mendoza Zulma Consuelo 
Published: June 2017

Introducción. Se realizó una revisión documental en bases de datos sobre conducta suicida en pueblos indígenas, tipo estado del arte, que la identificara como un problema de salud pública.Objetivo. Sistematizar el estado del conocimiento que se construye sobre la conducta suicida en pueblos indígenas, a partir de artículos e informes de investigación publicados hasta 2014.Materiales y métodos. Revisión documental de 149 documentos publicados sobre conducta suicida en pueblos indígenas, que fueron analizados según aspectos cronológicos, topográficos, de enfoque y contenido.Resultados. La literatura revisada indica que la tasa de suicidios en los pueblos originarios es mayor que el de la población general en el mundo (sobre todo en jóvenes). El enfoque prevalente de los estudios revisados es cualitativo o epidemiológico desde factores de riesgo. Por lo general, la conducta suicida en pueblos indígenas se observa epidemiológicamente desde un enfoque clásico que ignora su cosmovisión. Por lo tanto, este fenómeno se debe comprender más como un hecho social que individual, en el cual existe un desequilibrio entre procesos destructivos y protectores de salud y vida.Conclusiones. La conducta suicida en pueblos indígenas es un problema de salud pública, cuyo estudio integral se debe fomentar desde un enfoque intercultural para facilitar el trazado de estrategias de intervención, apropiadas a las necesidades de los pueblos afectados.
Estilo de vida en trabajadores de Bucaramanga y su área metropolitana y su asociación con el exceso de peso
Authors: Rangel-Caballero Luis Gabriel , Gamboa-Delgado Edna Magaly , Rojas-Sánchez Lyda Zoraya 
Published: June 2017

Introducción. Los factores de riesgo comportamentales como la inactividad física, el tabaquismo y una dieta inadecuada favorecen la aparición del exceso de peso y aumentan el riesgo de padecer enfermedades no transmisibles.Objetivo. Evaluar factores de riesgo comportamentales y su asociación con el exceso de peso en trabajadores de Bucaramanga y su área metropolitana.Materiales y métodos. Estudio de corte transversal analítico, en trabajadores de diferentes sectores productivos. Se aplicó una encuesta sobre aspectos sociodemográficos, alimentarios, tabaquismo y actividad física. Se consideró exceso de peso a un índice de masa corporal ≥25 kg/m2.Resultados. Se analizó un total de 258 trabajadores. El 56.98% eran mujeres y la mediana de edad fue de 34 años. La prevalencia de exceso de peso fue del 48.06% y se encontró asociación con los siguientes factores: hombres (Razón de prevalencia RP 1.38; p=0.006); edad ≥35 años (RP 1.41; p=0.012) e ingresos mensuales ≥$1.600.000 pesos colombianos (RP 1.37; p=0.010).Conclusiones. En personas económicamente activas, el exceso de peso fue más frecuente en los hombres, de edad ≥35 años y personas con mayores ingresos salariales mensuales. Sin embargo, se requieren de más estudios que confirmen estos hallazgos.
Estudio de factores asociados y prevalencia de consumo de sustancias psicoactivas ilegales en estudiantes de una universidad colombiana
Authors: Castaño-Castrillón José Jaime , García Stefanía , Luna Javier , Morán Milena , Ocampo Daniel , Ortiz Laura 
Published: June 2017

Introducción. El consumo de sustancias psicoactivas e ilegales es un problema que muestra frecuencias crecientes de hasta 30% en estudiantes universitarios.Objetivo. Determinar la frecuencia y los factores asociados al consumo de sustancias psicoactivas e ilegales en los estudiantes de una universidad colombiana.Materiales y métodos. Se realizó un estudio de corte transversal. La población fue una muestra representativa de 343 estudiantes. Se utilizó una encuesta anónima sobre el consumo de sustancias psicoactivas en población universitaria y sus factores asociados.Resultados. El 31.5% de los encuestdaos manifestaron haber consumido alguna sustancia psicoactiva ilegal en algún momento de los últimos 12 meses. El promedio de edad del primer consumo fue 17±2.1 años, teniendo en cuenta que 61.1% correspondió a marihuana. Todos los factores asociados que se consideraron mostraron una relación significativa con el consumo en los últimos 30 días, un año y alguna vez en la vida. Asimismo, los problemas familiares fueron el factor asociado con mayor razón de prevalencia (RP=15.467, consumo último año), seguido de presión de amigos (RP=7.847).Conclusiones. El consumo de sustancias psicoactivas ilegales en la población estudiantil de la universidad analizada parece ser considerable, lo que sugiere una intervención con énfasis en los programas más involucrados.
Asociación entre conocimiento de hipertensión arterial y adherencia al tratamiento en pacientes hipertensos del Hospital Nacional Edgardo Rebagliati Martins de Lima, Perú. 2015
Authors: Rodríguez-Abt Jose Carlos , Solís-Visscher Rodrigo José , Rogic-Valencia Sime Joso , Román Yuani , Reyes-Rocha Miguel 
Published: June 2017

Introducción. Conocer sobre hipertensión arterial podría favorecer la adherencia al tratamiento para un mejor control de la presión arterial.Objetivo. Evaluar si existe asociación entre conocimientos sobre hipertensión y adherencia al tratamiento en pacientes hipertensos del Hospital Nacional Edgardo Rebagliati Martins de Lima, Perú.Materiales y métodos. Se realizó un estudio transversal analítico. El muestreo por conveniencia incluyó 340 pacientes hipertensos de consultorios de cardiología en el periodo mayo-agosto de 2015. La variable principal de exposición fue grado de conocimiento sobre hipertensión medida con el cuestionario de conocimientos sobre la hipertensión (CSH) y la variable respuesta fue grado de adherencia al tratamiento medida con el cuestionario Martin-Bayarre-Grau (MBG). Se utilizó regresión de Poisson para calcular razones de prevalencias (RP) con intervalos de confianza del 95% y valor de p<0.05 para establecer significancia estadística.Resultados. Se encontró asociación entre bajo conocimiento de hipertensión y adherencia parcial al tratamiento (RP=1.4; IC95%: 1.2-1.8), tener más de 10 años de hipertensión (RP=0.7; IC95%: 0.6-0.9), no haber recibido información sobre hipertensión (RP=1.4; IC95%: 1.2-1.7) y tiempo de consulta mayor a 15 minutos (RP=0.5; IC95%: 0.3-0.7).Conclusión. Los pacientes con bajo conocimiento de hipertensión tienen más probabilidad de tener adherencia parcial al tratamiento.
Rehabilitación cardiaca en pediatría: ¿qué dice la evidencia?
Authors: Vargas-Pinilla Olga Cecilia , Alfonso-Mantilla Jose Iván 
Published: June 2017

Introducción. En las últimas cuatro décadas, las organizaciones de la salud han reconocido que la rehabilitación cardíaca es un elemento esencial para la recuperación de pacientes con enfermedades cardiovasculares.Objetivo. Realizar un análisis de la evidencia sobre la implementación de un programa de rehabilitación cardiaca, basado en ejercicio físico, en una población pediátrica con alteraciones congénitas cardiacas.Materiales y métodos. Se buscó y analizó la evidencia disponible de programas de rehabilitación cardiaca, basada en ejercicio físico, en pacientes pediátricos con alteraciones congénitas. Para la búsqueda se emplearon los términos MeSH: “Rehabilitation”, “Exercise”, “Resistance Training” y “Pediatrics” y se hizo revisión en las bases de datos Ebsco, Pedro, Hinari, Elsevier, Science Direct, Springer y Medline.Resultados. Se encontró que la implementación de un programa de rehabilitación cardiaca en población pediátrica tiene resultados significativos en la calidad de vida de estos pacientes, pero necesita de parámetros como evaluación, protocolo de rehabilitación, prescripción del ejercicio físico y evaluación de la calidad de vida.Conclusiones. Es necesario crear un protocolo estandarizado y validado de rehabilitación cardiaca, basada en ejercicio físico, para la población pediátrica con enfermedades cardiacas congénitas.