The likelihood ratio and its applications in sequential analysis

AbstractThe likelihood ratio is treated as a generalized Radon-Nikodym derivative for measures which need not be absolutely continuous. It is shown that a wide variety of identities and inequalities in sequential analysis follow directly from simple properties of likelihood ratios

Spectral properties of processes derived from stationary Gaussian sequences

AbstractMany qualitative properties of the spectral measure of a stationary Gaussian sequence are spectral properties of the underlying shift transformation. This has implications in time series analysis

Developing Health Information Literacy in Disadvantaged and Dependent Circumstances: The Everyday Role of Family Nurses

This paper examines the challenges of developing health information literacy (HIL) amongst disadvantaged and dependent populations from the perspective of non-information professionals occupying everyday support roles. Our participants were a team of UK Family Nurses providing outreach support to vulnerable young mothers from areas of multiple deprivations. Our data collection methods were observation, interviews, and focus groups. Our participants all believe that they have an important role in developing HIL in clients but are unfamiliar with fundamental overarching information literacy (IL) concepts and models. Consequently, their confidence in their own ability to develop HIL skills in clients is limited. We discuss that to extend primary healthcare practices beyond HIL support to HIL education requires not only IL training, but also an appropriate pedagogical approach adaptable to semi-structured problematic situations. We raise important questions regarding approaches to developing HIL in disadvantaged population

Specific requirements of MRFs for the expression of muscle specific microRNAs, miR-1, miR-206 and miR-133

The expression of three microRNAs, miR-1, miR-206 and miR-133 is restricted to skeletal myoblasts and cardiac tissue during embryo development and muscle cell differentiation, which suggests a regulation by muscle regulatory factors (MRFs). Here we show that inhibition of C2C12 muscle cell differentiation by FGFs, which interferes with the activity of MRFs, suppressed the expression of miR-1, miR-206 and miR-133. To further investigate the role of myogenic regulators (MRFs), Myf5, MyoD, Myogenin and MRF4 in the regulation of muscle specific microRNAs we performed gain and loss-of-function experiments in vivo, in chicken and mouse embryos. We found that directed expression of MRFs in the neural tube of chicken embryos induced ectopic expression of miR-1 and miR-206. Conversely, the lack of Myf5 but not of MyoD resulted in a loss of miR-1 and miR-206 expression. Taken together our results demonstrate differential requirements of distinct MRFs for the induction of microRNA gene expression during skeletal myogenesis

Perceiving Pain in Others: Automatic and Controlled Mechanisms

A

Centre-level variation in outcomes and treatment for otitis media with effusion and hearing loss and the association of hearing loss with developmental outcomes at ages 5 and 7 years in children with non-syndromic unilateral cleft lip and palate:the Cleft Care UK study. Part 2

Objectives: To explore centre-level variation in otitis media with effusion (OME), hearing loss and treatments in children in Cleft Care UK (CCUK) and to examine the association between OME, hearing loss and developmental outcomes at 5 and 7 years. Setting and Sample Population: Two hundred and sixty-eight 5-year-old British children with non-syndromic unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) recruited to CCUK. Materials and Methods: Children had air and bone conduction audiometry at age 5. Information on grommet and hearing aid treatment was obtained from parental questionnaire and medical notes. Hearing loss at age 5 was defined as >20 dB in the better ear and history of OME and hearing loss was determined from past treatment. Children with sensorineural hearing loss were excluded. Associations were examined with speech, behaviour and self-confidence at age 5 and educational attainment at age 7. Centre variation was examined using hierarchical models and associations between hearing variables and developmental outcomes were examined using logistic regression. Results: There was centre-level variation in early grommet placement (variance partition coefficient (VPC) 18%, P=.001) and fitting of hearing aids (VPC 8%, P=.03). A history of OME and hearing loss was associated with poor intelligibility of speech (adjusted odds ratio=2.87, 95% CI 1.42-5.77) and aspects of educational attainment. Conclusions: Hearing loss is an important determinant of poor speech and treatment variation across centres suggest management of OME and hearing loss could be improved

Beyond aggression: Androgen-receptor blockade modulates social interaction in wild meerkats

In male vertebrates, androgens are inextricably linked to reproduction, social dominance, and aggression, often at the cost of paternal investment or prosociality. Testosterone is invoked to explain rank-related reproductive differences, but its role within a status class, particularly among subordinates, is underappreciated. Recent evidence, especially for monogamous and cooperatively breeding species, suggests broader androgenic mediation of adult social interaction. We explored the actions of androgens in subordinate, male members of a cooperatively breeding species, the meerkat (Suricata suricatta). Although male meerkats show no rank-related testosterone differences, subordinate helpers rarely reproduce. We blocked androgen receptors, in the field, by treating subordinate males with the antiandrogen, flutamide. We monitored androgen concentrations (via baseline serum and time-sequential fecal sampling) and recorded behavior within their groups (via focal observation). Relative to controls, flutamide-treated animals initiated less and received more high-intensity aggression (biting, threatening, feeding competition), engaged in more prosocial behavior (social sniffing, grooming, huddling), and less frequently initiated play or assumed a ‘dominant’ role during play, revealing significant androgenic effects across a broad range of social behavior. By contrast, guarding or vigilance and measures of olfactory and vocal communication in subordinate males appeared unaffected by flutamide treatment. Thus, androgens in male meerkat helpers are aligned with the traditional trade-off between promoting reproductive and aggressive behavior at a cost to affiliation. Our findings, based on rare endocrine manipulation in wild mammals, show a more pervasive role for androgens in adult social behavior than is often recognized, with possible relevance for understanding tradeoffs in cooperative systems

Bob Dylan's Phonographic Imagination

In this article I emphasize the deliberate and reflexive way that Bob Dylan has approached studio recording, sketching features of a phonographic aesthetic, to highlight a neglected aspect of Dylan’s creative practice and to counter the view of Dylan as primarily a ‘performing artist’, one who approaches the studio in a casual manner as a place to cut relatively spontaneous drafts of songs that are later developed on stage. Drawing on Evan Eisenberg’s discussion of the ‘art of phonography’, and the way recording radically separates a performance from its contexts of ‘origin’ (allowing recordings to be taken into a private space and subjected to intense, repeated listening), I argue that studio practice, a recording aesthetic and the art of phonography are integral to Dylan’s songwriting. The process and practice of songwriting is realised through the act of recording and informed by listening to songs and performances from recordings, regardless of how much time is actually spent in the studio. Exploring how Dylan’s phonographic imagination has been shaped by folk, blues and pop sonorities, along with film music, I argue that recording should be integrated into discussions of Dylan’s art, alongside the attention devoted to lyrics, performance and biography

Gender differences in behavioral regulation in four societies: The United States, Taiwan, South Korea, and China

The current study investigates gender differences in behavioral regulation in four societies: the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, and China. Directly assessed individual behavioral regulation (Head–Toes–Knees–Shoulders, HTKS), teacher-rated classroom behavioral regulation (Child Behavior Rating Scale, CBRS) and a battery of school readiness assessments (mathematics, vocabulary, and early literacy) were used with 814 young children (ages 3–6 years). Results showed that girls in the United States had significantly higher individual behavioral regulation than boys, but there were no significant gender differences in any Asian societies. In contrast, teachers in Taiwan, South Korea, as well as the United States rated girls as significantly higher than boys on classroom behavioral regulation. In addition, for both genders, individual and classroom behavioral regulation were related to many aspects of school readiness in all societies for girls and boys. Universal and culturally specific findings and their implications are discussed