Only reasoned action? An interorganizational study of energy-saving behaviors in office buildings

Substantial energy savings can be achieved by reducing energy use in office buildings. The reported study used a Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model extended with perceived habit to explain office energy-saving behaviors. One aim was to examine if organizational contextual variability independently predicted office energy-saving behaviors over and above TPB variables and self-reported habit. Another aim was to examine the relative predictive value of TPB variables and habit for energy-saving behaviors between organizational contexts. Survey data on energy-saving behaviors, TPB variables, and habit and number of office mates were collected from office workers of four organizations in the Netherlands. The results indicate that intention was the strongest direct predictor of the behaviors printing smaller and not printing e-mails, whereas habit was the strongest predictor of the behaviors switching off lights and switching off monitors. Of the social-cognitive factors, attitude was the strongest predictor of intentions overall. The effect of perceived norm varied widely between behaviors and subgroups. Number of office mates had a direct, unmediated effect on the behavior switching off lights and a mediated effect via attitude and perceived control. The effect of organizational contextual variability on behavior was entirely mediated through the psychosocial factors for the two ‘printing behaviors’, but only partially for the two ‘switching behaviors’. The relative predictive value of habit and intention differed between organizations. The findings suggest that organizational contextual variability has unconscious influences on some office energy-saving behaviors. Interventions should take variation in the relative importance of cognitive factors and habit between behaviors, and to a lesser extent between organizational contexts, into account

A simple scheme for allocating capital in a foreign exchange proprietary trading firm

We present a model of capital allocation in a foreign exchange proprietary trading firm. The owner allocates capital to individual traders, who operate within strict risk limits. Traders specialize in individual currencies, but are given discretion over their choice of trading rule. The owner provides the simple formula that determines position sizes – a formula that does not require estimation of the firm-level covariance matrix. We provide supporting empirical evidence of excess risk-adjusted returns to the firm-level portfolio, and we discuss a modification of the model in which the owner dictates the choice of trading rule

The clinical genetics of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 in Chinese

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Changing energy-related behavior: An Intervention Mapping approach

This paper's objective is to apply Intervention Mapping, a planning process for the systematic development of theory- and evidence-based health promotion interventions, to the development of interventions to promote energy conservation behavior. Intervention Mapping (IM) consists of six steps: needs assessment, program objectives, methods and applications, program development, planning for program implementation, and planning for program evaluation. Examples from the energy conservation field are provided to illustrate the activities associated with these steps. It is concluded that applying IM in the energy conservation field may help the development of effective behavior change interventions, and thus develop a domain specific knowledge-base for effective intervention design

A ferroelectric memristor

Memristors are continuously tunable resistors that emulate synapses. Conceptualized in the 1970s, they traditionally operate by voltage-induced displacements of matter, but the mechanism remains controversial. Purely electronic memristors have recently emerged based on well-established physical phenomena with albeit modest resistance changes. Here we demonstrate that voltage-controlled domain configurations in ferroelectric tunnel barriers yield memristive behaviour with resistance variations exceeding two orders of magnitude and a 10 ns operation speed. Using models of ferroelectric-domain nucleation and growth we explain the quasi-continuous resistance variations and derive a simple analytical expression for the memristive effect. Our results suggest new opportunities for ferroelectrics as the hardware basis of future neuromorphic computational architectures

Plasma Bmil mRNA as a potential prognostic biomarker for distant metastasis in colorectal cancer patients

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Validation of the disease-specific components of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life-36 (KDQOL-36) in Chinese patients undergoing maintenance dialysis

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity, reliability and sensitivity of the disease-specific items of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life-36 (KDQOL-36) in Chinese patients undergoing maintenance dialysis. METHODS: The content validity was assessed by content validity index (CVI) in ten subjects. 356 subjects were recruited for pilot psychometric testing. The internal construct validity was assessed by corrected item-subscale total correlation. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to confirm the factor structure. The convergent validity was assessed by Pearson's correlation test between the disease specific subscale scores and SF-12 version 2 Health Survey (SF-12 v2) scores. The reliability was assessed by the internal consistency (Cronbach's Alpha coefficient) and 2-week test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)). The sensitivity was determined by performing known group comparisons by independent t-test. RESULTS: The CVI on clarity and relevance was â ¥ 0.9 for all items. Corrected item- total correlation scores were â ¥0.4 for all, except an item related to problems with access site. CFA confirmed the 3-factor structure of the disease-specific component of the KDQOL-36. The correlation coefficients between the disease-specific domain scores and the SF-12 v2 physical and mental component summary scores ranged from 0.328 to 0.492. The reliability was good (Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from 0.810 to 0.931, ICC ranged from 0.792 to 0.924). Only the effect subscale was sensitive in detecting differences in HRQOL between haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients, with effect size = 0.68. CONCLUSION: The disease-specific items of the KDQOL-36 are a valid, reliable and sensitive measure to assess the health-related quality of life of Chinese patients on maintenance dialysis.published_or_final_versio

Therapeutic Lung Lavage with Diluted Surfactant in Neonates with Severe Meconium Aspiration Syndrome

Meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) may result in considerable morbidity and mortality in newborn infants. The current standard treatment is still in need of improvement for the most severe patients. We report 3 cases with devastating MAS that was successfully treated with therapeutic lung lavage. These cases were all delivered in local obstetrics clinics or hospitals with meconium-stained amniotic fluid and non-vigorous appearance at birth. However, no endotracheal suction was performed when they were born. All of them suffered from severe hypoxia and unstable vital signs despite there being high ventilatory settings when they were transferred to the tertiary medical center. Therapeutic lung lavage with diluted surfactant (Survanta, 5 mg/mL, 30 mL/kg in 2 aliquots) was performed within 24 hours of age. Bloody fluid (about 40–50% of total lavage amount) was recovered in all 3 cases. Although brief desaturation and bradycardia were observed during the procedures, 2 of them tolerated the procedures well and improved soon after lavage. The other patient received lung lavage in a relatively unstable condition and needed chest tapping to relieve bilateral pleural effusion. Their respiratory condition improved after the procedures, and they were all discharged within 1 month without major respiratory complications. These successful experiences are compatible with previous animal studies and other case reports with different lavage protocols. We conclude that therapeutic lung lavage may improve the outcome in newborn infants with severe MAS, and there were no significant adverse side effects observed. Before performing lung lavage, stabilization and optimal support may prevent unexpected results during and after lavage

A novel psittacine adenovirus identified during an outbreak of avian chlamydiosis and human psittacosis: zoonosis associated with virus-bacterium coinfection in birds

Chlamydophila psittaci is found worldwide, but is particularly common among psittacine birds in tropical and subtropical regions. While investigating a human psittacosis outbreak that was associated with avian chlamydiosis in Hong Kong, we identified a novel adenovirus in epidemiologically linked Mealy Parrots, which was not present in healthy birds unrelated to the outbreak or in other animals. The novel adenovirus (tentatively named Psittacine adenovirus HKU1) was most closely related to Duck adenovirus A in the Atadenovirus genus. Sequencing showed that the Psittacine adenovirus HKU1 genome consists of 31,735 nucleotides. Comparative genome analysis showed that the Psittacine adenovirus HKU1 genome contains 23 open reading frames (ORFs) with sequence similarity to known adenoviral genes, and six additional ORFs at the 3′ end of the genome. Similar to Duck adenovirus A, the novel adenovirus lacks LH1, LH2 and LH3, which distinguishes it from other viruses in the Atadenovirus genus. Notably, fiber-2 protein, which is present in Aviadenovirus but not Atadenovirus, is also present in Psittacine adenovirus HKU1. Psittacine adenovirus HKU1 had pairwise amino acid sequence identities of 50.3–54.0% for the DNA polymerase, 64.6–70.7% for the penton protein, and 66.1–74.0% for the hexon protein with other Atadenovirus. The C. psittaci bacterial load was positively correlated with adenovirus viral load in the lung. Immunostaining for fiber protein expression was positive in lung and liver tissue cells of affected parrots, confirming active viral replication. No other viruses were found. This is the first documentation of an adenovirus-C. psittaci co-infection in an avian species that was associated with a human outbreak of psittacosis. Viral-bacterial co-infection often increases disease severity in both humans and animals. The role of viral-bacterial co-infection in animal-to-human transmission of infectious agents has not received sufficient attention and should be emphasized in the investigation of disease outbreaks in human and animals. © 2014 To et al.published_or_final_versio