Eine Methode zur Strukturanpassung von Umfragedaten

Es wird ein Verfahren zur Anpassung von Befragungen an Sollvorgaben vorgestellt. Dabei wird jedem Befragten i ein Gewicht der Form f (Yi) derart zugeordnet, dass die Strukturen hinsichtlich vorgegebener Befragungsmerkmale mit den Sollwerten dieser Merkmale überein stimmen, wobei die Faktoren f (Yi) möglichst nahe an vorgegebenen Eingangsfaktoren ti liegen. Durch geeignete Wahl der Funktion f lassen sich Bedingungen nach Vorzeichen und Lage an die Personengewichte stellen. Ein Vergleich mit anderen Algorithmen zeigt die besondere Robustheit der Methode.The paper presents a calibration method which assigns individuals i of a survey a weight f (Yi) in order to fit the structure of known population totals. The procedure generates weights which are close to a set of given initial factors ti. An appropriate selection of the function f allows different properties of the generated weights in sign and range. A comparison with other methods reveals the stability of the algorithm

Anpassung von individuellen Mediennutzungswahrscheinlichkeiten

Es wird eine Anpassungsmethode von Nutzungswahrscheinlichkeiten bei Umfragen zur Mediennutzung untersucht. Das Verfahren ist so angelegt, dass die Reichweiten in vorgegebenen Zielgruppen an Sollwerten justiert werden. Ein Kontrollparameter sorgt dafür, dass die ursprünglichen Nutzungswahrscheinlichkeiten möglichst wenig verändert werden

Botulinum toxin antibody titres: measurement, interpretation, and practical recommendations

Botulinum toxin (BT) therapy may be blocked by antibodies (BT-AB) resulting in BT-AB induced therapy failure (ABF). BT-AB may be detected by the mouse lethality assay (MLA), the mouse diaphragm assay (MDA) and the sternocleidomastoid test (SCMT). For the first time, we wanted to compare all three BT-AB tests and correlate them to subjective complaint of complete or partial secondary therapy failure in 37 patients with cervical dystonia (25 females, 12 males, age 51.2 ± 11.4 years, disease duration 12.4 ± 6.3 years). Complaint of therapy failure was not correlated with any of the BT-AB tests. MDA and MLA are closely correlated, indicating that the MDA might replace the MLA as the current gold standard for BT-AB measurement. The SCMT is closely correlated with MDA and MLA confirming that BT-AB titres and BT's paretic effect are in a functional balance: low BT-AB titres are reducing BT's paretic effect only marginally, whereas high BT-AB titres may completely block it. When therapy failure is classified as secondary and permanent, BT-AB evaluation is recommended and any BT-AB test may be applied. For MDA > 10 mU/ml, MLA > 3 and SCMT < 25%, ABF is highly likely. MDA < 0.6 mU/ml are therapeutically irrelevant. They are neither correlated with pathologic MLA nor with pathologic SCMT. They should not be the basis for treatment decisions, such as switching dystonia therapy to deep brain stimulation. All other results are intermediate results. Their interactions with therapy efficacy is unpredictable. In these cases, BT-AB tests should be repeated or one or two additional test methods should be applied

Impact of whole-body computed tomography on mortality and surgical management of severe blunt trauma

International audienceIntroductionThe mortality benefit of whole-body computed tomography (CT) in early trauma management remains controversial and poorly understood. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of whole-body CT compared with selective CT on mortality and management of patients with severe blunt trauma.MethodsThe FIRST (French Intensive care Recorded in Severe Trauma) study is a multicenter cohort study on consecutive patients with severe blunt trauma requiring admission to intensive care units from university hospital trauma centers within the first 72 hours. Initial data were combined to construct a propensity score to receive whole-body CT and selective CT used in multivariable logistic regression models, and to calculate the probability of survival according to the Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) for 1,950 patients. The main endpoint was 30-day mortality.ResultsIn total, 1,696 patients out of 1,950 (87%) were given whole-body CT. The crude 30-day mortality rates were 16% among whole-body CT patients and 22% among selective CT patients (p = 0.02). A significant reduction in the mortality risk was observed among whole-body CT patients whatever the adjustment method (OR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.34-0.99 after adjustment for baseline characteristics and post-CT treatment). Compared to the TRISS predicted survival, survival significantly improved for whole-body CT patients but not for selective CT patients. The pattern of early surgical and medical procedures significantly differed between the two groups.ConclusionsDiagnostic whole-body CT was associated with a significant reduction in 30-day mortality among patients with severe blunt trauma. Its use may be a global indicator of better management

Solar energetic particle access to distant longitudes through turbulent field-line meandering

Context. Current solar energetic particle (SEP) propagation models describe the effects of interplanetary plasma turbulence on SEPs as diffusion, using a Fokker-Planck (FP) equation. However, FP models cannot explain the observed fast access of SEPs across the average magnetic field to regions that are widely separated in longitude within the heliosphere without using unrealistically strong cross-field diffusion. Aims. We study whether the recently suggested early non-diffusive phase of SEP propagation can explain the wide SEP events with realistic particle transport parameters. Methods. We used a novel model that accounts for the SEP propagation along field lines that meander as a result of plasma turbulence. Such a non-diffusive propagation mode has been shown to dominate the SEP cross-field propagation early in the SEP event history. We compare the new model to the traditional approach, and to SEP observations. Results. Using the new model, we reproduce the observed longitudinal extent of SEP peak fluxes that are characterised by a Gaussian profile with σ = 30 − 50◦ , while current diffusion theory can only explain extents of 11◦ with realistic diffusion coefficients. Our model also reproduces the timing of SEP arrival at distant longitudes, which cannot be explained using the diffusion model. Conclusions. The early onset of SEPs over a wide range of longitudes can be understood as a result of the effects of magnetic fieldline random walk in the interplanetary medium and requires an SEP transport model that properly describes the non-diffusive early phase of SEP cross-field propagation

Towards a Model of the Interplay of Mentalizing and Mirroring in Embodied Communication

Kahl S, Kopp S. Towards a Model of the Interplay of Mentalizing and Mirroring in Embodied Communication. In: Airenti G, Bara BG, Sandini G, eds. Proceedings of the EuroAsianPacific Joint Conference on Cognitive Science. CEUR Workshop Proceedings. Vol 1419. CEUR-WS.org; 2015: 300-305

Errors on the Trail Making Test Are Associated with Right Hemispheric Frontal Lobe Damage in Stroke Patients

Measures of performance on the Trail Making Test (TMT) are among the most popular neuropsychological assessment techniques. Completion time on TMT-A is considered to provide a measure of processing speed, whereas completion time on TMT-B is considered to constitute a behavioral measure of the ability to shift between cognitive sets (cognitive flexibility), commonly attributed to the frontal lobes. However, empirical evidence linking performance on the TMT-B to localized frontal lesions is mostly lacking. Here, we examined the association of frontal lesions following stroke with TMT-B performance measures (i.e., completion time and completion accuracy measures) using voxel-based lesion-behavior mapping, with a focus on right hemispheric frontal lobe lesions. Our results suggest that the number of errors, but not completion time on the TMT-B, is associated with right hemispheric frontal lesions. This finding contradicts common clinical practice-the use of completion time on the TMT-B to measure cognitive flexibility, and it underscores the need for additional research on the association between cognitive flexibility and the frontal lobes. Further work in a larger sample, including left frontal lobe damage and with more power to detect effects of right posterior brain injury, is necessary to determine whether our observation is specific for right frontal lesions