Structure of The Sibling Inventory of Differential Experience-Chinese Version (SIDE-C): a bifactor model approach

The Sibling Inventory of Differential Experience (SIDE; Daniels & Plomin, 1985) is a self-report to assess children’s perception of parental differential treatment (PDT). Specifically, SIDE measures two specific constructs of PDT: control and affection. The present study applied both the traditional (two-correlated-factor model) and novel (bifactor) modeling approaches to derive the most optimal measure-ment structure of the Chinese version of SIDE (SIDE-C). Respondents were 225 primary school stu-dents who have only one sibling in the family. Results showed that, while the two-correlated-factor model was acceptable, the bifactor model had a better fit. The bifactor model is preferable in terms of fit indices and the principle of parsimony. Additionally, Omega hierarchical coefficient supported the strength of the general factor over the specific factors of parental differential treatment. The findings not only shed light on the factorial validity of the SIDE-C but also suggest future studies to consider the roles of the general and specific factors of PDT

Which factors affect willingness-to-pay for automated vehicle services? Evidence from public road deployment in Stockholm, Sweden

"jats:title"Introduction"/jats:title" "jats:p"Travel demand and travel satisfaction of a transport service are affected by user perceptions of the service quality attributes, and such perceptions should be included in studying user willingness-to-pay (WTP) for automated vehicle (AV) services. This study applied structural equation modelling with service quality attribute perceptions as latent variables affecting WTP."/jats:p" "/jats:sec""jats:sec" "jats:title"Objectives"/jats:title" "jats:p"We investigated how WTP AV services are affected by socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge and experiences with AV, existing travel modes and particularly, perceptions of the associated service quality attributes. The AV services are: 1) "jats:italic"on-demand personalised AV (PAV) service"/jats:italic", 2) "jats:italic"demand responsive shared AV (SAV) service"/jats:italic", and 3) "jats:italic"first−/last-mile automated bus (AB) service"/jats:italic"."/jats:p" "/jats:sec""jats:sec" "jats:title"Methods"/jats:title" "jats:p"The data were collected from 584 potential users of a first−/last-mile AB service trial operated in Kista, Stockholm."/jats:p" "/jats:sec""jats:sec" "jats:title"Results"/jats:title" "jats:p"Results show people hold different expectations towards each type of AV service. These expectations act as the minimum requirements for people to pay for the AV services. Respondents are found to be willing to pay more for PAV service if it is safe, provides good ride comfort, and is competitively priced relative to the price travelling by metro and train over a same distance. Other than service quality attribute perceptions, income level, existing travel modes for daily trips, familiarity with automated driving technology and AB ride experience are important factors affecting WTP for the AV services."/jats:p" "/jats:sec""jats:sec" "jats:title"Conclusion"/jats:title" "jats:p"The developed model can be applied to understand expectations of potential users towards a new AV service, and to identify user groups who are willing to pay the service. New AV services can thus be designed sensibly according to users’ actual needs."/jats:p" "/jats:sec Document type: Articl

A Deep Learning Approach for Automatic Detection of Qualitative Features of Lecturing

Artificial Intelligence in higher education opens new possibilities for improving the lecturing process, such as enriching didactic materials, helping in assessing students' works or even providing directions to the teachers on how to enhance the lectures. We follow this research path, and in this work, we explore how an academic lecture can be assessed automatically by quantitative features. First, we prepare a set of qualitative features based on teaching practices and then annotate the dataset of academic lecture videos collected for this purpose. We then show how these features could be detected automatically using machine learning and computer vision techniques. Our results show the potential usefulness of our work.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

Assessing the effectiveness of a mental health literacy programme for refugee teachers in Malaysia

Background: Children and young refugees often experience negative events that affect their mental health. Their caregivers may also be in the same predicament, implying that the teachers in schools are a potential source of help and support. However, most teachers have little understanding of mental health and are, thus, clueless in helping their students. To address this need, a newly developed one-day mental health literacy programme was conducted among 68 refugee teachers in Malaysia. Methods: Participants learned the symptoms of mental health issues among children and adolescents in the context of post-trauma, provision of early intervention, and channel for professional supports. They also answered a packet of measurements of mental health literacy before and after the programme. Results: The paired sample t-test showed that participants reported higher willingness to contact with people having mental health problems (t = 2.787, P = 0.008, Cohen's d = 0.394), less stereotypes toward mental illness (t = 4.603, P < 0.001, d = 0.651) and a better understanding of self-help strategies (t = 2.16, P = .036, d = 0.322) than baseline. Conclusion: The results of this study offered preliminary empirical evidence on the effectiveness of the programme as a promising channel for alleviating mental health issues among refugees

Exploiting dietary fibre and the gut microbiota in pelvic radiotherapy patients

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank Mrs Pat Bain for her assistance in creating Fig. 1. Funding Information: AEK’s salary is funded by Friends of ANCHOR and the University of Aberdeen Development Trust. CKT’s DPhil was funded by the Clarendon Fund, Balliol College, Oxford and Cancer Research UK. JK’s summer research project was funded by a Royal College of Radiologists’ Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. The authors received no specific funding for this work.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Relative contribution of intramyocellular lipid to whole-body fat oxidation is reduced with age but subsarcolemmal lipid accumulation and insulin resistance are only associated with overweight individuals

Insulin resistance is closely related to intramyocellular lipid (IMCL) accumulation, and both are associated with increasing age. It remains to be determined to what extent perturbations in IMCL metabolism are related to the aging process per se. On two separate occasions, whole-body and muscle insulin sensitivity (euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp with 2-deoxyglucose) and fat utilization during 1 h of exercise at 50% VO2max ([U-13C]palmitate infusion combined with electron microscopy of IMCL) were determined in young lean (YL), old lean (OL), and old overweight (OO) males. OL displayed IMCL content and insulin sensitivity comparable with those in YL, whereas OO were markedly insulin resistant and had more than twofold greater IMCL in the subsarcolemmal (SSL) region. Indeed, whereas the plasma free fatty acid Ra and Rd were twice those of YL in both OL and OO, SSL area only increased during exercise in OO. Thus, skeletal muscle insulin resistance and lipid accumulation often observed in older individuals are likely due to lifestyle factors rather than inherent aging of skeletal muscle as usually reported. However, age per se appears to cause exacerbated adipose tissue lipolysis, suggesting that strategies to reduce muscle lipid delivery and improve adipose tissue function may be warranted in older overweight individuals

Functional implications of Epstein-Barr virus lytic genes in carcinogenesis

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with a diverse range of tumors of both lymphoid and epithelial origin. Similar to other herpesviruses, EBV displays a bipartite life cycle consisting of latent and lytic phases. Current dogma indicates that the latent genes are key drivers in the pathogenesis of EBV-associated cancers, while the lytic genes are primarily responsible for viral transmission. In recent years, evidence has emerged to show that the EBV lytic phase also plays an important role in EBV tumorigenesis, and the expression of EBV lytic genes is frequently detected in tumor tissues and cell lines. The advent of next generation sequencing has allowed the comprehensive profiling of EBV gene expression, and this has revealed the consistent expression of several lytic genes across various types of EBV-associated cancers. In this review, we provide an overview of the functional implications of EBV lytic gene expression to the oncogenic process and discuss possible avenues for future investigations

Investigation of the siliceous hydrogel phase formation in glass-ionomer cement paste

The microstructure evolution of a complex glass-ionomer cement (GIC) paste over the first 72 h of the cement setting reaction was investigated by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and infrared spectroscopy. GIC is a biocompatible material which is clinically used for dental fillings. In this study, GIC pastes were prepared, following the ISO9917-1:2007 cement preparation method, from medical grade poly(acrylic acid), SiO₂–Al₂O₃–P₂O₅–CaO–CaF₂ -based fluoroaluminosilicate glass and H₂O/D₂O solvent. During the setting reaction, polyacrylic acid attacks the fluoroaluminosilicate glass particles to form a siliceous hydrogel phase, glass core and hydrated polyacrylate matrix. The formation of the siliceous hydrogel structure and cross-linking of polyacrylate chains play important roles to harden the GIC. Infrared spectroscopy was used to identify the formation of the hydrogel phase and cross-linkage in GIC paste. In addition this paper reports SANS measurements for GIC pastes at different contrast conditions (H₂O:D₂O ratio) from the Bilby instrument at the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, ANSTO, Australia. The SANS data provide microstructure information for the hydrogel phase in GIC paste over the length scale of 10–5000 Å

Increased bioavailability of hesperetin-7-glucoside compared with hesperidin results in more efficient prevention of bone loss in adult ovariectomised rats

Hesperidin (Hp), a citrus flavonoid predominantly found in oranges, shows bone-sparing effects in ovariectomised (OVX) animals. In human subjects, the bioavailability of Hp can be improved by the removal of the rhamnose group to yield hesperetin-7-glucoside (H-7-glc). The aim of the present work was to test whether H-7-glc was more bioavailable and therefore more effective than Hp in the prevention of bone loss in the OVX rat. Adult 6-month-old female Wistar rats were sham operated or OVX, then pair fed for 90d a casein-based diet supplemented or not with freeze-dried orange juice enriched with Hp or H-7-glc at two dose equivalents of the hesperetin aglycone (0·25 and 0·5%). In the rats fed 0·5%, a reduction in OVX-induced bone loss was observed regarding total bone mineral density (BMD):+7·0% in OVX rats treated with Hp (HpOVX) and +6·6% in OVX rats treated with H-7-glc (H-7-glcOVX) v. OVX controls (P<0·05). In the rats fed 0·25% hesperetin equivalents, the H-7-glcOVX group showed a 6·6% improvement in total femoral BMD v. the OVX controls (P<0·05), whereas the Hp diet had no effect at this dose. The BMD of rats fed 0·25% H-7-glc was equal to that of those given 0·5% Hp, but was not further increased at 0·5% H-7-glc. Plasma hesperetin levels and relative urinary excretion were significantly enhanced in the H-7-glc v. Hp groups, and the metabolite profile showed the absence of eriodictyol metabolites and increased levels of hesperetin sulphates. Taken together, improved bioavailability of H-7-glc may explain the more efficient bone protection of this compoun