Religious Activity Participation and Self-Rated Health Among Older Population in Indonesia

A number of studies have documented a positive and robust relationship between religious activity and health outcomes. The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between religious activity participation and self-rated health (SRH) among older population in Indonesia. Data were obtained from 2,915 respondents 60 years and older from the Indonesian Family Life Survey 4 (2007). SRH was assessed by a single-item health measure with four options: “very healthy,” “somewhat healthy,” “somewhat unhealthy,” and “unhealthy”. Logistic regression were used to examine the relationship of the religious activity participation and SRH. Bivariate analysis revealed that religious activity participation was significantly associated with SRH. Multivariate analysis shows that among participants who participated in religious activity, the likehood of a better SRH is increased (OR = 1.422; 95% CI = 1.203 to 1.682) after controlling for sociodemographic variables, socio-economic status (SES), health behaviour and number of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs). This findings suggest that religious activity participation has an important effect on self-rated health status. Longitudinal studies are needed to help elucidate mechanisms and the order and direction of effects

The cognitive roots of gender in Russian

Traditional accounts of gender as a grammatical category fail to grasp the essence of its meaning. A cognitive approach to the analysis of Russian nominal gender classification provides deeper insights into the relationship between grammar and man’s cognitive activity, making explanation of grammatical facts more comprehensible

Structure and permeability of ion-channels by integrated AFM and waveguide TIRF microscopy.

Membrane ion channels regulate key cellular functions and their activity is dependent on their 3D structure. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images 3D structure of membrane channels placed on a solid substrate. Solid substrate prevents molecular transport through ion channels thus hindering any direct structure-function relationship analysis. Here we designed a ~70 nm nanopore to suspend a membrane, allowing fluidic access to both sides. We used these nanopores with AFM and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM) for high resolution imaging and molecular transport measurement. Significantly, membranes over the nanopore were stable for repeated AFM imaging. We studied structure-activity relationship of gap junction hemichannels reconstituted in lipid bilayers. Individual hemichannels in the membrane overlying the nanopore were resolved and transport of hemichannel-permeant LY dye was visualized when the hemichannel was opened by lowering calcium in the medium. This integrated technique will allow direct structure-permeability relationship of many ion channels and receptors

Resource and cost management

Educational lecture notes contains the fundamentals of a general theory of resource and cost management, classification of costs for decision-making, methods of constructing cost functions of the enterprise, analysis of the relationship between costs, volume and profits, the methods and systems of cost calculation, principles of cost management system. Designed for students directions 073 «Management» and 076 «Entrepreneurship, trade and exchange activity»

CO2 emissions and economic activity: heterogeneity across countries and non stationary series

This paper explores the homogeneity of the functional form, the parameters, and the turning point, when appropriate, of the relationship between CO2 emissions and economic activity for 31 countries (28 OECD, Brazil, China, and India) during the period 1950 to 2006 using cointegration analysis. With a sample highly overlapped over time between countries, the result reveals that the homogeneity across countries is rejected, both in functional form and in the parameters of long term relationship. This confirms the relevance of considering the heterogeneity in exploring the relationship between air pollution and economic activity to avoid spurious parameter estimates and infer a wrong behavior of the functional form, which could lead to induce that the relationship is reversed when in fact it is direct.Bound testing, cointegration, CO2 emissions, environmental Kuznets curve, heterogeneity

An Analysis of Watermove Water Markets

This paper conducts an analysis of the water markets in Victoria covered by Watermove. The analysis in this paper examines the weekly trading activity across trading zones. For the majority of trading zones there is little trading activity that occurs. There are three trading zones in which the markets for temporary water rights are reasonably active and liquid on a weekly basis, and for these zones an analysis is conducted of their demand and supply elasticities and consumer and producer surplus. The results of this analysis suggest a stronger relationship on the supply side between prices, volumes, elasticity and producer surplus.Water, Water markets, Elasticities, Consumer and Producer Surplus

VIOLA - A multi-purpose and web-based visualization tool for neuronal-network simulation output

Neuronal network models and corresponding computer simulations are invaluable tools to aid the interpretation of the relationship between neuron properties, connectivity and measured activity in cortical tissue. Spatiotemporal patterns of activity propagating across the cortical surface as observed experimentally can for example be described by neuronal network models with layered geometry and distance-dependent connectivity. The interpretation of the resulting stream of multi-modal and multi-dimensional simulation data calls for integrating interactive visualization steps into existing simulation-analysis workflows. Here, we present a set of interactive visualization concepts called views for the visual analysis of activity data in topological network models, and a corresponding reference implementation VIOLA (VIsualization Of Layer Activity). The software is a lightweight, open-source, web-based and platform-independent application combining and adapting modern interactive visualization paradigms, such as coordinated multiple views, for massively parallel neurophysiological data. For a use-case demonstration we consider spiking activity data of a two-population, layered point-neuron network model subject to a spatially confined excitation originating from an external population. With the multiple coordinated views, an explorative and qualitative assessment of the spatiotemporal features of neuronal activity can be performed upfront of a detailed quantitative data analysis of specific aspects of the data. Furthermore, ongoing efforts including the European Human Brain Project aim at providing online user portals for integrated model development, simulation, analysis and provenance tracking, wherein interactive visual analysis tools are one component. Browser-compatible, web-technology based solutions are therefore required. Within this scope, with VIOLA we provide a first prototype.Comment: 38 pages, 10 figures, 3 table

The Stock Market and the Economy in Pakistan

This paper re-examines the causal relationship between stock prices and macro variables like consumption expenditure, investment spending, and economic activity (measured by GDP) in Pakistan. Using annual data from 1959-60 to 1998-99 and applying cointegration and error correction analysis, the paper indicates the presence of long-run relationship between stock prices and macro variables. Regarding the cause and effect relationship, the analysis indicates a one-way causation from macro variables to stock prices, implying that in Pakistan fluctuations in macro variables cause changes in stock prices. The findings suggest that the stock market in Pakistan is not that developed to play its due role in influencing aggregate demand. A disturbing feature of the stock market in Pakistan is that it cannot be characterised as the leading indicator of economic activity. In the absence of other strong indicators, shooting up of stock prices may indicate a speculative bubble.