Probabilistic modeling of flood characterizations with parametric and minimum information pair-copula model

This paper highlights the usefulness of the minimum information and parametric pair-copula construction (PCC) to model the joint distribution of flood event properties. Both of these models outperform other standard multivariate copula in modeling multivariate flood data that exhibiting complex patterns of dependence, particularly in the tails. In particular, the minimum information pair-copula model shows greater flexibility and produces better approximation of the joint probability density and corresponding measures have capability for effective hazard assessments. The study demonstrates that any multivariate density can be approximated to any degree of desired precision using minimum information pair-copula model and can be practically used for probabilistic flood hazard assessment

Diabetes care provision in UK primary care practices

Background: Although most people with Type 2 diabetes receive their diabetes care in primary care, only a limited amount is known about the quality of diabetes care in this setting. We investigated the provision and receipt of diabetes care delivered in UK primary care. Methods: Postal surveys with all healthcare professionals and a random sample of 100 patients with Type 2 diabetes from 99 UK primary care practices. Results: 326/361 (90.3%) doctors, 163/186 (87.6%) nurses and 3591 patients (41.8%) returned a questionnaire. Clinicians reported giving advice about lifestyle behaviours (e.g. 88% would routinely advise about calorie restriction; 99.6% about increasing exercise) more often than patients reported having received it (43% and 42%) and correlations between clinician and patient report were low. Patients’ reported levels of confidence about managing their diabetes were moderately high; a median (range) of 21% (3% to 39%) of patients reporting being not confident about various areas of diabetes selfmanagement. Conclusions: Primary care practices have organisational structures in place and are, as judged by routine quality indicators, delivering high quality care. There remain evidence-practice gaps in the care provided and in the self confidence that patients have for key aspects of self management and further research is needed to address these issues. Future research should use robust designs and appropriately designed studies to investigate how best to improve this situation

The role of human body movements in mate selection

It is common scientific knowledge, that most of what we say within a conversation is not only expressed by the words meaning alone, but also through our gestures, postures, and body movements. This non-verbal mode is possibly rooted firmly in our human evolutionary heritage, and as such, some scientists argue that it serves as a fundamental assessment and expression tool for our inner qualities. Studies of nonverbal communication have established that a universal, culture-free, non-verbal sign system exists, that is available to all individuals for negotiating social encounters. Thus, it is not only the kind of gestures and expressions humans use in social communication, but also the way these movements are performed, as this seems to convey key information about an individuals quality. Dance, for example, is a special form of movement, which can be observed in human courtship displays. Recent research suggests that people are sensitive to the variation in dance movements, and that dance performance provides information about an individuals mate quality in terms of health and strength. This article reviews the role of body movement in human non-verbal communication, and highlights its significance in human mate preferences in order to promote future work in this research area within the evolutionary psychology framework

Technology readiness and segmentation profile of mature consumers

Self-service technologies (SSTs) play a major role in enabling consumers to perform service delivery themselves. The purpose of this study was to test extensions of the original Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) aimed at predicting mature consumers’ attitude and behaviour towards using self-service banking technologies (SSBTs). A survey methodology was employed to gather data from 208 mature consumers on variables captured by the extended TAM. Path analysis indicated that self-efficacy, technology discomfort, perceived risk, and personal contact were determinants of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness and also direct and indirect determinants of attitude towards and intention to use SSBTs. These findings have theoretical implications for models of technology acceptance and practical interventions designed at increasing use of SSBTs among mature consumers

A Transgenic Rat for Investigating the Anatomy and Function of Corticotrophin Releasing Factor Circuits.

Corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) is a 41 amino acid neuropeptide that coordinates adaptive responses to stress. CRF projections from neurons in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) to the brainstem are of particular interest for their role in motivated behavior. To directly examine the anatomy and function of CRF neurons, we generated a BAC transgenic Crh-Cre rat in which bacterial Cre recombinase is expressed from the Crh promoter. Using Cre-dependent reporters, we found that Cre expressing neurons in these rats are immunoreactive for CRF and are clustered in the lateral CeA (CeL) and the oval nucleus of the BNST. We detected major projections from CeA CRF neurons to parabrachial nuclei and the locus coeruleus, dorsal and ventral BNST, and more minor projections to lateral portions of the substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area, and lateral hypothalamus. Optogenetic stimulation of CeA CRF neurons evoked GABA-ergic responses in 11% of non-CRF neurons in the medial CeA (CeM) and 44% of non-CRF neurons in the CeL. Chemogenetic stimulation of CeA CRF neurons induced Fos in a similar proportion of non-CRF CeM neurons but a smaller proportion of non-CRF CeL neurons. The CRF1 receptor antagonist R121919 reduced this Fos induction by two-thirds in these regions. These results indicate that CeL CRF neurons provide both local inhibitory GABA and excitatory CRF signals to other CeA neurons, and demonstrate the value of the Crh-Cre rat as a tool for studying circuit function and physiology of CRF neurons

On the genus Halirages (Crustacea, Amphipoda), with the description of two new species from Scandinavia and Arctic Europe

A new common deep-sea species of Halirages Boeck, 1871 closely related to H.qvadridentatus G.O. Sars, 1877, H.cainae sp. nov., is described after specimens collected in the Norwegian Sea during the MAREANO 2009-111 cruise. Examination of the syntypes of H. elegans Norman, 1882 demonstrates that Norman's species is a junior synonym of H.qvadridentatus G.O. Sars, 1877 and that the species usually named H.elegans in literature was actually undescribed. The name H.stappersi sp. nov. is proposed for that species. A key to and a checklist of Halirages species is given

The impact of teacher wages on the performance of students: evidence from PISA

Teacher profile and characteristics are not weightless because student achievements are heavily teacher dependent. In this detailed and in-depth research, the impact of teacher wages on students’ achievement was assessed in different ways by using different measuring sticks; starting salary, salary after 15 year of experience, salary per hour of net teaching time and salary ratio to GDP per capita and by using country scores, of 15 year old pupil enrolled in lower secondary school, in OECD member countries. For this propose PISA 2000, 2003 and 2006 survey data of students’ scores were used. The independent variables “wages” was regressed on the dependent variable “students total mean country score”. The results of these analyses gave an indication that there is a positive impact of teacher wages on students’ performance.characteristics, profile, qualities, impact, teacher, learning, achievements, performance, student, salary, wages, gender, PISA, OECD