Visual persuasion with physically attractive models in ads: An examination of how the ad model influences product evaluations

This paper examines the prevalent advertising practice of visually juxtaposing an anonymous, physically attractive ad model and a product in terms of its effects on the attitude toward the product. In this appeal, in which there are no explicit verbal claims about how the two objects are connected, we argue that the physically attractive model sets in motion a process in which emotions and the attitude toward the ad model serve as mediating variables, and that this process ultimately results in an impact on the attitude toward the product. Three empirical studies were made, with stimulus images from the fashion industry, and the findings indicate that emotions and the attitude toward the ad model indeed contributed to the product attitudes. The findings also indicate that images comprising physically attractive ad models produced higher product attitudes compared to a visual display of only the product.Attitude toward the ad model; attitude toward the product; physical attractiveness; emotions; appraisals

Response formats in questionnaires: Itemized rating scales versus continuous rating scales

This paper presents the results of an experimental study comparing itemized rating scales and continuous rating scales. Three dimensions, and one particular construct (brand attitude) served as the basis of the comparisons of multi-item applications of the two response formats: reliability levels in terms of Cronbach's alpha, variable means, and correlations with an external variable (intentions). The findings indicate that the two repsonse formats did not have any substantial effects; it does not seem to matter if the researcher selcets an itemized response format or a continuous response format.itemized rating scale; continuous rating scale; Likert scale; semantic differential scale; response format; item leaf; response format effects; brand attitude

Green roofs : a new design proposal for the real estate "Greenhouse"

Syftet med detta arbete är att göra ett nytt gestaltningsförslag för en planterad takterrass i Malmö som ligger på fastigheten Greenhouse för att öka platsens kvaliteter som bostadsgård och samtidigt anpassa förslaget efter terrassen tekniska begränsningar. En litteratursammanställning har gjorts för att förstå gröna taks tekniska uppbyggnad, användning och funktion. Greenhouse takterrass fungerar som bostadsgård för boende i 44 lägenheter. I arbetet studeras faktorer som ökar kvaliteten på bostadsgårdar, dessa appliceras sedan i gestaltningsförslaget. Dessa faktorer har tillsammans med de tekniska förutsättningarna för gröna tak i allmänhet och Greenhouse takterrass i synnerhet styrt utformningen av förslaget. Arbetet resulterade i ett gestaltningsförslag med tillhörande växtlista. Gestaltningen är indelat i tre rumsligheter som programmerats för olika funktioner. Vegetationen är anpassad efter rådande ståndort och är vald för att förstärka den föreslagna gestaltningen. Avslutningsvis diskuteras resultatet och om vi lyckades uppnå syftet med att göra anläggningen till en bättre bostadsgård samt hur mycket de tekniska förutsättningarna begränsar gestaltningen.The purpose of this thesis is to make a new design proposal for a planted roof terrace in Malmö located on the property Greenhouse to increase the qualities as a residential yard while adapting the proposal to the terrace technical constraints. A literature study has been made to learn about green roofs technical construction, use and function. Greenhouse roof terrace serves as a residential yards for people in 44 apartments. Factors that increase the quality of residential yard is applied in the proposal. These factors, together with the technical conditions for green roofs in general and Greenhouse roof terrace in particular, have governed the design of the proposal. The work resulted in a design proposal with accompanying plant list. The design is divided into three spatial spaces programmed for different functions. Vegetation is adapted to the prevailing status and is chosen to strengthen the proposed design. In the conclusion the results are discussed and if we managed to achieve the purpose of making the facility a better residents yard. How much the technical conditions limited the design on the terrace is also discussed

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) types Western blot (WB) band profiles as potential surrogate markers of HIV disease progression and predictors of vertical transmission in a cohort of infected but antiretroviral therapy naïve pregnant women in Harare, Zimbabwe

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Expensive CD4 count and viral load tests have failed the intended objective of enabling access to HIV therapy in poor resource settings. It is imperative to develop simple, affordable and non-subjective disease monitoring tools to complement clinical staging efforts of inexperienced health personnel currently manning most healthcare centres because of brain drain. Besides accurately predicting HIV infection, sequential appearance of specific bands of WB test offers a window of opportunity to develop a less subjective tool for monitoring disease progression.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>HIV type characterization was done in a cohort of infected pregnant women at 36 gestational weeks using WB test. Student-t test was used to determine maternal differences in mean full blood counts and viral load of mothers with and those without HIV <it>gag </it>antigen bands. Pearson Chi-square test was used to assess differences in lack of bands appearance with vertical transmission and lymphadenopathy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among the 64 HIV infected pregnant women, 98.4% had pure HIV-1 infection and one woman (1.7%) had dual HIV-1/HIV-2 infections. Absence of HIV pol antigen bands was associated with acute infection, p = 0.002. All women with chronic HIV-1 infection had antibody reactivity to both the HIV-1 envelope and polymerase antigens. However, antibody reactivity to gag antigens varied among the women, being 100%, 90%, 70% and 63% for p24, p17, p39 and p55, respectively. Lack of antibody reactivity to gag p39 antigen was associated with disease progression as confirmed by the presence of lymphadenopathy, anemia, higher viral load, p = 0.010, 0.025 and 0.016, respectively. Although not statistically significant, women with p39 band missing were 1.4 times more likely to transmit HIV-1 to their infants.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Absence of antibody reactivity to pol and gag p39 antigens was associated with acute infection and disease progression, respectively. Apart from its use in HIV disease diagnosis, WB test could also be used in conjunction with simpler tests like full blood counts and patient clinical assessment as a relatively cheaper disease monitoring tool required prior to accessing antiretroviral therapy for poor resource settings. However, there is also need to factor in the role of host-parasite genetics and interactions in disease progression.</p

Five mucosal transcripts of interest in ulcerative colitis identified by quantitative real-time PCR: a prospective study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The cause and pathophysiology of ulcerative colitis are both mainly unknown. We have previously used whole-genome microarray technique on biopsies obtained from patients with ulcerative colitis to identifiy 5 changed mucosal transcripts. The aim of this study was to compare mucosal expressions of these five transcripts in ulcerative colitis patients vs. controls, along with the transcript expression in relation to the clinical ulcerative colitis status.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Colonic mucosal specimens from rectum and caecum were taken at ambulatory colonoscopy from ulcerative colitis patients (<it>n </it>= 49) with defined inflammatory activity and disease extension, and from controls (<it>n </it>= 67) without inflammatory bowel disease. The five mucosal transcripts aldolase B, elafin, MST-1, simNIPhom and SLC6A14 were analyzed using quantitative real-time PCR.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Significant transcript differences in the rectal mucosa for all five transcripts were demonstrated in ulcerative colitis patients compared to controls. The grade of transcript expression was related to the clinical disease activity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The five gene transcripts were changed in patients with ulcerative colitis, and were related to the disease activity. The known biological function of some of the transcripts may contribute to the inflammatory features and indicate a possible role of microbes in ulcerative colitis. The findings may also contribute to our pathophysiological understanding of ulcerative colitis.</p

An electrostatic potassium channel opener targeting the final voltage sensor transition

Free polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) modulate the voltage dependence of voltage-gated ion channels. As an important consequence thereof, PUFAs can suppress epileptic seizures and cardiac arrhythmia. However, molecular details for the interaction between PUFA and ion channels are not well understood. In this study, we have localized the site of action for PUFAs on the voltage-gated Shaker K channel by introducing positive charges on the channel surface, which potentiated the PUFA effect. Furthermore, we found that PUFA mainly affects the final voltage sensor movement, which is closely linked to channel opening, and that specific charges at the extracellular end of the voltage sensor are critical for the PUFA effect. Because different voltage-gated K channels have different charge profiles, this implies channel-specific PUFA effects. The identified site and the pharmacological mechanism will potentially be very useful in future drug design of small-molecule compounds specifically targeting neuronal and cardiac excitability

A genetic risk score is associated with statin-induced low-density lipoprotein cholesterol lowering

To find new genetic loci associated with statin response, and to investigate the association of a genetic risk score (GRS) with this outcome. In a discovery meta-analysis (five studies, 1991 individuals), we investigated the effects of approximately 50000 single nucleotide polymorphisms on statin response, following up associations with p < 1 × 10(-4) (three independent studies, 5314 individuals). We further assessed the effect of a GRS based on SNPs in ABCG2, LPA and APOE. No new SNPs were found associated with statin response. The GRS was associated with reduced statin response: 0.0394 mmol/l per allele (95% CI: 0.0171-0.0617, p = 5.37 × 10(-4)). The GRS was associated with statin response, but the small effect size (˜2% of the average low-density lipoprotein cholesterol reduction) limits applicabilit

Post hoc Analysis for Detecting Individual Rare Variant Risk Associations Using Probit Regression Bayesian Variable Selection Methods in Case-Control Sequencing Studies

Rare variants (RVs) have been shown to be significant contributors to complex disease risk. By definition, these variants have very low minor allele frequencies and traditional single-marker methods for statistical analysis are underpowered for typical sequencing study sample sizes. Multimarker burden-type approaches attempt to identify aggregation of RVs across case-control status by analyzing relatively small partitions of the genome, such as genes. However, it is generally the case that the aggregative measure would be a mixture of causal and neutral variants, and these omnibus tests do not directly provide any indication of which RVs may be driving a given association. Recently, Bayesian variable selection approaches have been proposed to identify RV associations from a large set of RVs under consideration. Although these approaches have been shown to be powerful at detecting associations at the RV level, there are often computational limitations on the total quantity of RVs under consideration and compromises are necessary for large-scale application. Here, we propose a computationally efficient alternative formulation of this method using a probit regression approach specifically capable of simultaneously analyzing hundreds to thousands of RVs. We evaluate our approach to detect causal variation on simulated data and examine sensitivity and specificity in instances of high RV dimensionality as well as apply it to pathway-level RV analysis results from a prostate cancer (PC) risk case-control sequencing study. Finally, we discuss potential extensions and future directions of this work