103 research outputs found
Moment-based Estimation of Mixtures of Regression Models
Finite mixtures of regression models provide a flexible modeling framework
for many phenomena. Using moment-based estimation of the regression parameters,
we develop unbiased estimators with a minimum of assumptions on the mixture
components. In particular, only the average regression model for one of the
components in the mixture model is needed and no requirements on the
distributions. The consistency and asymptotic distribution of the estimators is
derived and the proposed method is validated through a series of simulation
studies and is shown to be highly accurate. We illustrate the use of the
moment-based mixture of regression models with an application to wine quality
data.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figure
The Relationship Between Individual Differences In Imaginal Ability, Christian Imaginal Frequency, And Christian Spirituality
The relationship between the constructs of imaginal ability (vividness and control), Christian imaginal frequency, and Christian spirituality (well-being, maturity, and experience) was investigated. Eighty randomly sampled students from a private Bible college participated in the study. The measures used were the Sheehan (1967) shortened version of the Betts (1909) Questionnaire of Mental Imagery, the Gordon (1949) Test of Visual Imagery Control, updated by Richardson (1969), Ellison and Paloutzian\u27s (Ellison, 1983) Spiritual Well-being Scale, Ellison\u27s (Ellison, Rashid, Patla, Calica & Haberman, 1984) Spiritual Maturity Index, Hood\u27s (1975) Mysticism Scale, and the Christian Use of Imagery Inventory that was specially designed for use in this study. The results indicated there is a significant positive canonical correlation between the constructs of Christian imaginal frequency and Christian spirituality, and Christian imaginal frequency and imaginal ability, but no significant relationship was found between imaginal ability and Christian spirituality. It was found the instruments comprising the construct of Christian spirituality (Spiritual Well-being Scale, Spiritual Maturity Index, and Hood\u27s Mysticism Scale) did not relate together well. Christian imaginal frequency (as measured by the Christian Use of Imagery Inventory) only significantly related to Hood\u27s Mysticism Scale, and not to the Spiritual Well-being Scale and the Spiritual Maturity Index. Further, it was found Christian imaginal frequency related to a particular type of imaginal vividness ability - emotive imagery. The findings support previous research in emotional control with Christian subjects. Also, the Christian Use of Imagery Inventory produced two potentially important variables not previously investigated: imaginal frequency and time orientation. The results contribute to our understanding of the role of imagery in religious experience
Heat pain detection threshold is associated with the area of secondary hyperalgesia following brief thermal sensitization:a study of healthy male volunteers
INTRODUCTION: The area of secondary hyperalgesia following brief thermal sensitization (BTS) of the skin and heat pain detection thresholds (HPDT) may both have predictive abilities in regards to pain sensitivity and clinical pain states. The association between HPDT and secondary hyperalgesia, however, remains unsettled, and the dissimilarities in physiologic properties suggest that they may represent 2 distinctively different pain entities. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between HPDT and BTS-induced secondary hyperalgesia. METHODS: A sample of 121 healthy male participants was included and tested on 2 separate study days with BTS (45°C, 3 minutes), HPDT, and pain during thermal stimulation (45°C, 1 minute). Areas of secondary hyperalgesia were quantified after monofilament pinprick stimulation. The pain catastrophizing scale (PCS) and hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) were also applied. RESULTS: A significant association between HPDT and the size of the area of secondary hyperalgesia (p<0.0001) was found. The expected change in area of secondary hyperalgesia due to a 1-degree increase in HPDT was estimated to be −27.38 cm(2), 95% confidence interval (CI) of −37.77 to −16.98 cm(2), with an R(2) of 0.19. Likewise, a significant association between HADS-depression subscore and area of secondary hyperalgesia (p=0.046) was found, with an estimated expected change in secondary hyperalgesia to a 1-point increase in HADS-depression subscore of 11 cm(2), 95% CI (0.19–21.82), and with R(2) of 0.03. We found no significant associations between secondary hyperalgesia area and PCS score or pain during thermal stimulation. CONCLUSION: HPDT and the area of secondary hyperalgesia after BTS are significantly associated; however, with an R(2) of only 19%, HPDT only offers a modest explanation of the inter-participant variation in the size of the secondary hyperalgesia area elicited by BTS
Health of riding school horses in Denmark:Clinical examination and evaluation of work intensity
Health of riding school horses in Denmark:Questionnaire survey of management and incidence of clinical disease
Indicators of dietary patterns in Danish infants at 9 months of age
Background: It is important to increase the awareness of indicators associated with adverse infant dietary patterns to be able to prevent or to improve dietary patterns early on. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between a wide range of possible family and child indicators and adherence to dietary patterns for infants aged 9 months. Design: The two dietary patterns ‘Family Food’ and ‘Health-Conscious Food’ were displayed by principal component analysis, and associations with possible indicators were analysed by multiple linear regressions in a pooled sample (n=374) of two comparable observational cohorts, SKOT I and SKOT II. These cohorts comprised infants with mainly non-obese mothers versus infants with obese mothers, respectively. Results: A lower Family Food score indicates a higher intake of liquid baby food, as this pattern shows transition from baby food towards the family's food. Infants, who were younger at diet registration and had higher body mass index (BMI) z-scores at 9 months, had lower Family Food pattern scores. A lower Family Food pattern score was also observed for infants with immigrant/descendant parents, parents who shared cooking responsibilities and fathers in the labour market compared to being a student, A lower Health-Conscious Food pattern score indicates a less healthy diet. A lower infant Health-Conscious Food pattern score was associated with a higher maternal BMI, a greater number of children in the household, a higher BMI z-score at 9 months, and a higher infant age at diet registration. Conclusions: Associations between infant dietary patterns and maternal, paternal, household, and child characteristics were identified. This may improve the possibility of identifying infants with an increased risk of developing unfavourable dietary patterns and potentially enable an early targeted preventive support
Perinatal Whole Blood Zinc Status and Cytokines, Adipokines, and Other Immune Response Proteins
(1) Background: Zinc is an essential micronutrient and zinc deficiency is associated with immune dysfunction. The neonatal immune system is immature, and therefore an optimal neonatal zinc status may be important. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible association between neonatal whole blood (WB)-Zinc content and several immune markers. (2) Methods: In total, 398 healthy newborns (199 who later developed type 1 diabetes and 199 controls) from the Danish Newborn Screening Biobank had neonatal dried blood spots (NDBS) analyzed for WB-Zinc content and (i) cytokines: Interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12 (p70), interferon gamma, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and transforming growth factor beta; (ii) adipokines: leptin and adiponectin; (iii) other immune response proteins: C-reactive protein (CRP), and mannose-binding lectin (MBL), and soluble triggering receptors expressed on myeloid cells1 (sTREM-1). WB-Zinc content was determined using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. For each analyte, the relative change in mean level was modelled by a robust log-normal model regression. (3) Results: No association was found between WB-Zinc content and all the immune response markers in either the unadjusted or adjusted models overall or when stratifying by case status. (4) Conclusions: In healthy Danish neonates, WB-Zinc content was not associated with cytokines, adipokines, CRP, MBL or sTREM, which does not indicate a strong immunological function of neonatal zinc status
High neonatal blood iron content is associated with the risk of childhood type 1 diabetes mellitus
(1) Background: Iron requirement increases during pregnancy and iron supplementation is therefore recommended in many countries. However, excessive iron intake may lead to destruction of pancreatic β-cells. Therefore, we aim to test if higher neonatal iron content in blood is associated with the risk of developing type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) in childhood; (2) Methods: A case-control study was conducted, including 199 children diagnosed with T1D before the age of 16 years from 1991 to 2005 and 199 controls matched on date of birth. Information on confounders was available in 181 cases and 154 controls. Iron was measured on a neonatal single dried blood spot sample and was analyzed by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate if iron content in whole blood was associated with the risk of T1D; (3) Results: A doubling of iron content increased the odds of developing T1D more than two-fold (odds ratio (95% CI), 2.55 (1.04; 6.24)). Iron content increased with maternal age (p = 0.04) and girls had higher content than boys (p = 0.01); (4) Conclusions: Higher neonatal iron content associates to an increased risk of developing T1D before the age of 16 years. Iron supplementation during early childhood needs further investigation, including the causes of high iron in neonates
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