5,879 research outputs found
Sociodemographic, nutritional and health status factors associated with adherence to Mediterranean diet in an agricultural Moroccan adult's population
Background. Numerous studies have demonstrated beneficial effects of adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) on many chronic diseases, including chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Objective. The aim of this study was to assess the adherence of a rural population to the Mediterranean diet, to identify the sociodemographic and lifestyle determinants and to analyze the association between adherence to MD and CKD.
Material and Methods. In a cross-sectional study, data on sociodemographic, lifestyle factors, clinical, biochemical parameters and diet were collected on a sample of 154 subjects. Adherence to MD was assessed according to a simplified MD score based on the daily frequency of intake of eight food groups (vegetables, legumes, fruits, cereal or potatoes, fish, red meat, dairy products and MUFA/SFA), using the sex specific sample medians as cut-offs. A value of 0 or 1 was assigned to consumption of each component according to its presumed detrimental or beneficial effect on health.
Results. According to the simplified MD score, the study data show that high adherence (44.2%) to MD was characterized by intakes high in vegetables, fruits, fish, cereals, olive oil, and low in meat and moderate in dairy. Furthermore, several factors such as age, marital status, education level, and hypertension status were associated with the adherence to MD in the study population. The majority of subjects with CKD have poor adherence to the MD compared to non-CKD with a statistically insignificant difference.
Conclusions. In Morocco, maintaining the traditional MD pattern play crucial role for public health. More research is needed in this area to precisely measure this association
Beam scanning by liquid-crystal biasing in a modified SIW structure
A fixed-frequency beam-scanning 1D antenna based on Liquid Crystals (LCs) is designed for application in 2D scanning with lateral alignment. The 2D array environment imposes full decoupling of adjacent 1D antennas, which often conflicts with the LC requirement of DC biasing: the proposed design accommodates both. The LC medium is placed inside a Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) modified to work as a Groove Gap Waveguide, with radiating slots etched on the upper broad wall, that radiates as a Leaky-Wave Antenna (LWA). This allows effective application of the DC bias voltage needed for tuning the LCs. At the same time, the RF field remains laterally confined, enabling the possibility to lay several antennas in parallel and achieve 2D beam scanning. The design is validated by simulation employing the actual properties of a commercial LC medium
An empirical investigation of the relationship between integration, dynamic capabilities and performance in supply chains
This research aimed to develop an empirical understanding of the relationships between integration,
dynamic capabilities and performance in the supply chain domain, based on which, two conceptual
frameworks were constructed to advance the field. The core motivation for the research was that, at
the stage of writing the thesis, the combined relationship between the three concepts had not yet
been examined, although their interrelationships have been studied individually.
To achieve this aim, deductive and inductive reasoning logics were utilised to guide the qualitative
study, which was undertaken via multiple case studies to investigate lines of enquiry that would
address the research questions formulated. This is consistent with the author’s philosophical
adoption of the ontology of relativism and the epistemology of constructionism, which was considered
appropriate to address the research questions. Empirical data and evidence were collected, and
various triangulation techniques were employed to ensure their credibility. Some key features of
grounded theory coding techniques were drawn upon for data coding and analysis, generating two
levels of findings. These revealed that whilst integration and dynamic capabilities were crucial in
improving performance, the performance also informed the former. This reflects a cyclical and
iterative approach rather than one purely based on linearity. Adopting a holistic approach towards
the relationship was key in producing complementary strategies that can deliver sustainable supply
chain performance.
The research makes theoretical, methodological and practical contributions to the field of supply
chain management. The theoretical contribution includes the development of two emerging
conceptual frameworks at the micro and macro levels. The former provides greater specificity, as it
allows meta-analytic evaluation of the three concepts and their dimensions, providing a detailed
insight into their correlations. The latter gives a holistic view of their relationships and how they are
connected, reflecting a middle-range theory that bridges theory and practice. The methodological
contribution lies in presenting models that address gaps associated with the inconsistent use of
terminologies in philosophical assumptions, and lack of rigor in deploying case study research
methods. In terms of its practical contribution, this research offers insights that practitioners could
adopt to enhance their performance. They can do so without necessarily having to forgo certain
desired outcomes using targeted integrative strategies and drawing on their dynamic capabilities
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Assessing Potential Cognitive Precursors to Math Anxiety: Non-Symbolic Operations and Symbolic Ordinality in Adults
Math anxiety, or a sense of dread related to performing mathematics, affects a wide population of students and adults, but we do not fully understand how math anxiety comes into being. One possibility is the Reduced Capacities Theory, which suggests that natural variations in numeric/spatial capacities are a causal factor in math anxiety. To understand how these numeric capacities relate to math anxiety in adults, this work focuses on three areas that remain underexplored.
Chapter 2 focuses on performing operations on nonsymbolic quantities, which has not yet been tested in relation to math anxiety. We tested the hypothesis that performing addition and subtraction with dots using the Approximate Number System would relate to math anxiety. We asked participants to complete a math anxiety survey, two measures of working memory, a timed symbolic arithmetic test, and a non-symbolic “approximate arithmetic” task, in which participants performed addition and subtraction on dot arrays. Using Bayesian analysis and multiple regression, we found evidence for there being no relation between approximate arithmetic performance and math anxiety, suggesting that difficulties performing operations does not constitute a basic number ability linked to math anxiety.
In chapter 3, we measured the relation between number and letter ordinal processing and math anxiety. In separate blocks, we asked participants to determine if triads of numbers and letters were in order (e.g., 4 5 6) or out of order (e.g., C E A) to measure response time and accuracy. Participants also completed a timed arithmetic test to understand the relation between ordinality, arithmetic, and math anxiety. Several hypotheses were assessed including the specificity of math anxiety to numbers (comparing number ordinal trials to letter trials. We found that there was no relation between math anxiety on any measure except that high math anxiety related to slower responses to number ordinal judgement, and that math anxiety mediated the relation between ordinal judgement performance and arithmetic. Together, these data suggest that ordinal processes are unlikely to be a causal factor for math anxiety, despite being critical for early mathematics learning.
In chapter 4, we assessed responses to counting sequences and inhibitory control in relation to math anxiety. We developed a modified Go/No-Go task in which we manipulated trial length, whether they responded to completed vs “violated” (e.g., 21 22 23 vs 21 22 24, respectively) sequences, and distance (violated being +1 or +4, between subjects). Participants also completed a math anxiety survey. We assessed response time, and accuracy to understand counting sequence representation’s relation to MA, and false alarm rates to understand inhibition’s relation to MA. We found that the high MA group was significantly slower to respond when number to respond to was not consecutive. There were no relations between MA and any other measure.
When viewed together, these data suggest that the Reduced Capacities theory may not be a viable framework for understanding the origin of math anxiety, as all results can be more easily explained by the effects of anxiety on performance. However, because these data were all collected with adults, it remains plausible that children who go on to develop MA may struggle with these capacities during early schooling and see equal gains as their low MA peers. We end by suggesting several potential avenues of research related to MA, focusing on students’ and adults’ emotional interpretation of their math experiences
Reconciling the Personalization-Privacy Paradox: Exploring Privacy Boundaries in Online Personalized Advertising
To reconcile the personalization-privacy paradox, we adopt the privacy as a state view and define privacy as a state of information boundary rule-following. We further identify five types of boundaries underlying some of the important implicit rules of maintaining privacy: communication channel, platform, device, temporal, and purpose boundaries. Using an online vignette survey, we investigated how each of these boundary types affected users’ privacy perceptions when they were subjected to personalized advertisements. Using fixed- and random-effects models, we investigated how violating different boundary rules leads to changes in perceived privacy. Our results show that all five boundary types are significant predictors of perceived privacy within individuals. The communication channel, device, and business versus private purpose are significant predictors of perceived privacy across the whole sample. Temporal boundaries and platform boundaries failed to achieve statistical significance when evaluated simultaneously with the other factors across the whole sample. This means that for each individual, observing the rules of these five boundary types leads to higher perceived privacy than not observing these conditions. Taken as a whole, observing communication channel, device, and business versus private purpose boundaries also leads to higher averages of perceived privacy across the whole sample. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed based on the result
Modelling, Monitoring, Control and Optimization for Complex Industrial Processes
This reprint includes 22 research papers and an editorial, collected from the Special Issue "Modelling, Monitoring, Control and Optimization for Complex Industrial Processes", highlighting recent research advances and emerging research directions in complex industrial processes. This reprint aims to promote the research field and benefit the readers from both academic communities and industrial sectors
The sugars content of parental and new perspective descendant strawberry genotypes potential approach for the future selection process
Besides being one of the most commercially grown berry fruits, strawberries (Fragaria x annanassa Duch.) are known for their nutritional value, richness in polyphenols, and antioxidant capacity. New directions of strawberry breeding and selection are set towards premium fruit quality, high sugars content, and desirable sugars/total acids ratio (sweet index, SI), which represent some of the main prerequisites for selecting new breeding materials [1]. With this intention, a set of 24 strawberry genotypes was cultivated, including 12 parental varieties and 12 of their descendants - perspective candidates obtained by crossing the parental varieties mentioned above. A total of eleven sugars were quantified using High-Performance Anion-Exchange Chromatography with Pulsed Amperometric Detection (HPAEC-PAD). Results implied that glucose, sorbitol, sucrose, and melibiose content were the most important sugars in separating the fruits of parental varieties and their progeny [2]. Results showed that old, parental varieties had a significantly higher content of glucose and sucrose, while new perspective genotypes had higher sorbitol and melibiose content (Fig.2). PCA analysis confirmed that parental (samples 1-12) and descendant genotypes (samples 13-24), could be discriminated according to sugars profile i.e. that these four sugars have an effect on their differentiation (Fig.1). This was in accordance with Mann-Whitney U test results (Fig.2).
Fig.1. Principal Component Analysis - The difference between parental and descendant genotypes; score plot (A) – parental samples (PS) 1-12, descendant (DS) samples 13-24, and loading plot (B) – sugar components.
Acknowledgments: This work has been supported by the Ministry of Education, Science, Technological Development and Innovation of Republic of Serbia, Contract number: 451-03-47/2023-01/200168 and 451-03-47/2023-01/200288., as well as company “Zeleni hit d.o.o.” from Belgrade, Serbia and “BerryLab” breeding consortium from Italy.
References:
[1] L. Mazzoni, L. di Vittori, F. Balducci, T.Y. Forbes-Hernandez, F. Giamperi, M. Battino, B. Mezzeti, F. Capocasa, Scientia Horticulturae, 261: 108945 (2019).
[2] M. Fotirić Akšić, T. Tosti, M. Sredojević, J. Milivojević, M. Meland, M. Natić, Plants, 8: 205 (2019).Poster: [https://cherry.chem.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/5975
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