1,596 research outputs found
An analog computer study of the effectiveness of interceptor commands derived from a prediction equation of second order
Analog computer study of effectiveness of interceptor commands derived from prediction equation of second orde
AN EXPLORATION OF THE ROLE OF CULTURE IN SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING AND CONSUMER PURCHASE DECISION IN THE SAUDI ARABIA FASHION MARKET: A QUALITATIVE STUDY
Social media advertising is a significant feature of digital marketing; it is an important
marketing tool in the fashion industry since it can influence promoting mentalities, brand
perspectives, and buying expectations. In Saudi Arabia, social media advertising has a
significant influence upon consumers‟ purchase decisions. However, Saudi social life is based
on Islamic foundations which shape the national culture; this creates an obstacle for many
Saudi consumers when it comes to fashion advertisements on social media. Hence, this study
aims to investigate the cultural factors influencing Saudi consumers‟ purchase decisions in the
context of fashion YouTube adverts. This study adopts a qualitative approach based on semistructured interviews with Saudi consumers. The results reveal that Saudi consumers‟ purchase
decision towards fashion advertisements on YouTube is highly influenced by the following: 1)
Islamic foundations, 2) Celebrities, 3) Language, 4) Online word of mouth, and 5) Consistency
and repetition
Sex distribution of offspring-parents obesity: Angel's hypothesis revisited
This study, which is based on two cross sectional surveys' data, aims to establish any effect of parental obesity sex distribution of offspring and to replicate the results that led to the hypothesis that obesity may be associated with sex-linked recessive lethal gene. A representative sample of 4,064 couples living in Renfrew/Paisley, Scotland was surveyed 1972-1976. A total of 2,338 offspring from 1,477 of the couples screened in 1972-1976, living in Paisley, were surveyed in 1996. In this study, males represented 47.7% among the total offspring of the couples screened in 1972-1976. In the first survey there was a higher male proportion of offspring (53%, p < 0.05) from parents who were both obese, yet this was not significant after adjustment for age of parents. Also, there were no other significant differences in sex distribution of offspring according to body mass index, age, or social class of parents. The conditions of the original 1949 study of Angel (1949) (which proposed a sex-linked lethal recessive gene) were simulated by selecting couples with at least one obese daughter. In this subset, (n = 409), obesity in fathers and mothers was associated with 26% of offspring being male compared with 19% of offspring from a non-obese father and obese mother. Finally we conclude that families with an obese father have a higher proportion of male offspring. These results do not support the long-established hypotheses of a sex-linked recessive lethal gene in the etiology of obesity
Quantum statistical effects in nano-oscillator arrays
We have theoretically predicted the density of states(DOS), the low
temperature specific heat, and Brillouin scattering spectra of a large, free
standing array of coupled nano-oscillators. We have found significant gaps in
the DOS of 2D elastic systems, and predict the average DOS to be nearly
independent of frequency over a broad band f < 50GHz. At low temperatures, the
measurements probe the quantum statistics obeyed by rigid body modes of the
array and, thus, could be used to verify the quantization of the associated
energy levels. These states, in turn, involve center-of mass motion of large
numbers of atoms, N > 1.e14, and therefore such observations would extend the
domain in which quantum mechanics has been experimentally tested. We have found
the required measurement capability to carry out this investigation to be
within reach of current technology.Comment: 1 tex file, 3 figures, 1 bbl fil
MR diffusion changes in the perimeter of the lateral ventricles demonstrate periventricular injury in post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus of prematurity
OBJECTIVES: Injury to the preterm lateral ventricular perimeter (LVP), which contains the neural stem cells responsible for brain development, may contribute to the neurological sequelae of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus of prematurity (PHH). This study utilizes diffusion MRI (dMRI) to characterize the microstructural effects of IVH/PHH on the LVP and segmented frontal-occipital horn perimeters (FOHP).
STUDY DESIGN: Prospective study of 56 full-term infants, 72 very preterm infants without brain injury (VPT), 17 VPT infants with high-grade IVH without hydrocephalus (HG-IVH), and 13 VPT infants with PHH who underwent dMRI at term equivalent. LVP and FOHP dMRI measures and ventricular size-dMRI correlations were assessed.
RESULTS: In the LVP, PHH had consistently lower FA and higher MD and RD than FT and VPT (p\u3c.050). However, while PHH FA was lower, and PHH RD was higher than their respective HG-IVH measures (p\u3c.050), the MD and AD values did not differ. In the FOHP, PHH infants had lower FA and higher RD than FT and VPT (p\u3c.010), and a lower FA than the HG-IVH group (p\u3c.001). While the magnitude of AD in both the LVP and FOHP were consistently less in the PHH group on pairwise comparisons to the other groups, the differences were not significant (p\u3e.050). Ventricular size correlated negatively with FA, and positively with MD and RD (p\u3c.001) in both the LVP and FOHP. In the PHH group, FA was lower in the FOHP than in the LVP, which was contrary to the observed findings in the healthy infants (p\u3c.001). Nevertheless, there were no regional differences in AD, MD, and RD in the PHH group.
CONCLUSION: HG-IVH and PHH results in aberrant LVP/FOHP microstructure, with prominent abnormalities among the PHH group, most notably in the FOHP. Larger ventricular size was associated with greater magnitude of abnormality. LVP/FOHP dMRI measures may provide valuable biomarkers for future studies directed at improving the management and neurological outcomes of IVH/PHH
Randomised controlled feasibility trial of a web-based weight management intervention with nurse support for obese patients in primary care
<b>Background</b><p></p>
There is a need for cost-effective weight management interventions that primary care can deliver to reduce the morbidity caused by obesity. Automated web-based interventions might provide a solution, but evidence suggests that they may be ineffective without additional human support. The main aim of this study was to carry out a feasibility trial of a web-based weight management intervention in primary care, comparing different levels of nurse support, to determine the optimal combination of web-based and personal support to be tested in a full trial.<p></p>
<b>Methods</b><p></p>
This was an individually randomised four arm parallel non-blinded trial, recruiting obese patients in primary care. Following online registration, patients were randomly allocated by the automated intervention to either usual care, the web-based intervention only, or the web-based intervention with either basic nurse support (3 sessions in 3 months) or regular nurse support (7 sessions in 6 months). The main outcome measure (intended as the primary outcome for the main trial) was weight loss in kg at 12 months. As this was a feasibility trial no statistical analyses were carried out, but we present means, confidence intervals and effect sizes for weight loss in each group, uptake and retention, and completion of intervention components and outcome measures.<p></p>
<b>Results</b><p></p>
All randomised patients were included in the weight loss analyses (using Last Observation Carried Forward). At 12 months mean weight loss was: usual care group (n = 43) 2.44 kg; web-based only group (n = 45) 2.30 kg; basic nurse support group (n = 44) 4.31 kg; regular nurse support group (n = 47) 2.50 kg. Intervention effect sizes compared with usual care were: d = 0.01 web-based; d = 0.34 basic nurse support; d = 0.02 regular nurse support. Two practices deviated from protocol by providing considerable weight management support to their usual care patients.<p></p>
<b>Conclusions</b><p></p>
This study demonstrated the feasibility of delivering a web-based weight management intervention supported by practice nurses in primary care, and suggests that the combination of the web-based intervention with basic nurse support could provide an effective solution to weight management support in a primary care context
Monte Carlo simulation of the transmission of measles: Beyond the mass action principle
We present a Monte Carlo simulation of the transmission of measles within a
population sample during its growing and equilibrium states by introducing two
different vaccination schedules of one and two doses. We study the effects of
the contact rate per unit time as well as the initial conditions on the
persistence of the disease. We found a weak effect of the initial conditions
while the disease persists when lies in the range 1/L-10/L ( being
the latent period). Further comparison with existing data, prediction of future
epidemics and other estimations of the vaccination efficiency are provided.
Finally, we compare our approach to the models using the mass action
principle in the first and another epidemic region and found the incidence
independent of the number of susceptibles after the epidemic peak while it
strongly fluctuates in its growing region. This method can be easily applied to
other human, animals and vegetable diseases and includes more complicated
parameters.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, Submitted to Phys.Rev.
A "superstorm": When moral panic and new risk discourses converge in the media
This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Health, Risk and Society, 15(6), 681-698, 2013, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13698575.2013.851180.There has been a proliferation of risk discourses in recent decades but studies of these have been polarised, drawing either on moral panic or new risk frameworks to analyse journalistic discourses. This article opens the theoretical possibility that the two may co-exist and converge in the same scare. I do this by bringing together more recent developments in moral panic thesis, with new risk theory and the concept of media logic. I then apply this theoretical approach to an empirical analysis of how and with what consequences moral panic and new risk type discourses converged in the editorials of four newspaper campaigns against GM food policy in Britain in the late 1990s. The article analyses 112 editorials published between January 1998 and December 2000, supplemented with news stories where these were needed for contextual clarity. This analysis shows that not only did this novel food generate intense media and public reactions; these developed in the absence of the type of concrete details journalists usually look for in risk stories. Media logic is important in understanding how journalists were able to engage and hence how a major scare could be constructed around convergent moral panic and new risk type discourses. The result was a media ‘superstorm’ of sustained coverage in which both types of discourse converged in highly emotive mutually reinforcing ways that resonated in a highly sensitised context. The consequence was acute anxiety, social volatility and the potential for the disruption of policy and social change
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Statistics of convective cloud turbulence from a comprehensive turbulence retrieval method for radar observations
Turbulent mixing processes are important in determining the evolution of convective clouds,and the production of convective precipitation. However, the exact nature of these impacts remains uncertain due to limited observations. Model simulations show that assumptions made in parametrizing turbulence can have a marked effect on the characteristics of simulated clouds. This leads to significant uncertainty in forecasts from convection‐permitting numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. This contribution presents a comprehensive method to retrieve turbulence using Doppler weather radar to investigate turbulence in observed clouds. This method involves isolating the turbulent component of the Doppler velocity spectrum width, expressing turbulence intensity as an eddy dissipation rate, ϵ. By applying this method throughout large datasets of observations collected over the southern United Kingdom using the (0.28° beam‐width) Chilbolton Advanced Meteorological Radar (CAMRa), statistics of convective cloud turbulence are presented. Two contrasting case days are examined: a shallow “shower” case, and a “deep convection” case, exhibiting stronger and deeper updraughts. In our observations, ϵ generally ranges from 10−3 to 10−1 m2/s3, with the largest values found within, around and above convective updraughts. Vertical profiles of ϵ suggest that turbulence is much stronger in deep convection; 95th percentile values increase with height from 0.03 to 0.1 m2/s3, compared to approximately constant values of 0.02–0.03 m2/s3 throughout the depth of shower cloud. In updraught regions on both days, the 95th percentile of ϵ has significant (p < 10−3) positive correlations with the updraught velocity, and the horizontal shear in the updraught velocity, with weaker positive correlations with updraught dimensions. The ϵ‐retrieval method presented considers a very broad range of conditions, providing a reliable framework for turbulence retrieval using high‐resolution Doppler weather radar. In applying this method across many observations, the derived turbulence statistics will form the basis for evaluating the parametrization of turbulence in NWP models
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Ensemble prediction for nowcasting with a convection-permitting model—I: description of the system and the impact of radar-derived surface precipitation rates
A key strategy to improve the skill of quantitative predictions of precipitation, as well as hazardous weather such as severe thunderstorms and flash floods is to exploit the use of observations of convective activity (e.g. from radar). In this paper, a convection-permitting ensemble prediction system (EPS) aimed at addressing the problems of forecasting localized weather events with relatively short predictability time scale and based on a 1.5 km grid-length version of the Met Office Unified Model is presented. Particular attention is given to the impact of using predicted observations of radar-derived precipitation intensity in the ensemble transform Kalman filter (ETKF) used within the EPS. Our initial results based on the use of a 24-member ensemble of forecasts for two summer case studies show that the convective-scale EPS produces fairly reliable forecasts of temperature, horizontal winds and relative humidity at 1 h lead time, as evident from the inspection of rank histograms. On the other hand, the rank histograms seem also to show that the EPS generates too much spread for forecasts of (i) surface pressure and (ii) surface precipitation intensity. These may indicate that for (i) the value of surface pressure observation error standard deviation used to generate surface pressure rank histograms is too large and for (ii) may be the result of non-Gaussian precipitation observation errors. However, further investigations are needed to better understand these findings. Finally, the inclusion of predicted observations of precipitation from radar in the 24-member EPS considered in this paper does not seem to improve the 1-h lead time forecast skill
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