4,102 research outputs found
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Assessing the fear of COVID-19 among different populations: a response to Ransing et al. (2020)
Assessing a hierarchical sustainable solid waste management structure with qualitative information:policy and regulations drive social impacts and stakeholder participation
This study contributes to building a valid hierarchical sustainable solid waste management (SSWM) attribute set with qualitative information, which is a complicated and ambiguous problem with uncertainties. Few studies have provided qualitative information and have addressed the interrelationships and interdependencies among the hierarchical SSWM attributes. SSWM has recently become a difficult problem to solve due to urbanization, inequality, and economic growth. This study aims to propose an SSWM attribute set and identify a causal model through linguistic preferences by using a fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory approach to simultaneously handle the uncertainty and the interrelationships. The analytic network process is used to develop the hierarchical structure to weigh the aspects and criteria. Qualitative information is transformed into crisp and comparable values to examine the causal relationships between attributes and confirm the consistency between the theoretical structure and industry phenomena. The results indicate that policy and regulations, stakeholder participation, and social impacts play essential roles in these causal interrelationships. Political leadership in SSWM is required to drive stakeholder participation and achieve social impacts. Population growth and migration, institutional settings, waste recycling and energy recovery, households, and private contractors are the main aspects involved in improving SSWM in Vietnam
Relationship between trade enhancement, firm characteristics and CSR: key mediating role of green investment
Organisations are increasingly implementing socially responsible
strategies in response to increased rivalry in trade and commercial
activities. Organisations are expected to increase their profitability
through corporate social responsibility (CSR). Hence, this study
investigates the relationship between trade enhancement, firm
characteristics, and CSR. Further, this study also explored the critical mediating role of green investment (GI). The data were collected from 456 respondents from manufacturing organisations in
China through a questionnaire and analysed by partial least
square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). PLS-SEM results
revealed that trade enhancement has a significant positive effect
on CSR and GI. GI also has a significant effect on CSR. In comparison, firm characteristics do not have a substantial impact on CSR
and GI. However, GI significantly mediates the relationship
between trade enhancement, firm characteristics, and CSR. This
study provides insights to managers and stakeholders regarding
GI and CSR in the Chinese manufacturing industry. Lastly, this
study proposes theoretical and practical implications andoffers
valuable information for practitioners and policymakers
Neo-Anal Sphincter Fabrication in the Rat
Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP)http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116119/1/Neo_Anal_SphincterFabrication_Rats.pd
A study of the relationships between KLF2 polymorphisms and body weight control in a French population
BACKGROUND: Factors governing adipose tissue differentiation play a major role in obesity development in humans. The Krüppel-like zinc finger transcription factor KLF2/Lung KLF (LKLF) is a negative regulator of adipocyte differentiation. In this study, we sequenced the human KLF2 gene and several common polymorphisms were found, among them the Pro104Leu and 3'UTR 1239C>A polymorphisms. METHODS: To evaluate the impact of these polymorphisms on anthropometric variables in humans, we genotyped a general population composed of 1155 French individuals (including 232 obese subjects) for these polymorphisms and looked for potential statistical associations with obesity-related variables. RESULTS: The frequency of the Leu104 and 1239A alleles were 0.22 and 0.18 respectively. Genotype and allele frequencies of the two polymorphisms were comparable in obese, overweight and normal weight subjects. No association between the rare alleles of the polymorphisms and anthropometric variables (BMI, weight, waist and hip circumferences, waist-to-hip ratio and plasma leptin levels) could be detected. Haplotype analyses did not reveal further significant associations. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that the Pro104Leu and 3'UTR 1239C>A polymorphisms in KLF2 are not associated with obesity and obesity-related traits in humans
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Gender differences in the factors associated with the fear of COVID-19 among Taiwanese older people
Objectives: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, older people are threatened, and there may be different psychological responses toward COVID-19 between women and men. The present study explored the factors and gender differences related to the fear of COVID-19 among older women and men in Taiwan.
Methods: Geriatric patients (n = 139; 42 men; mean age = 71.73 years) who visited outpatient departments were recruited. They self-reported demographic data and completed questions asking about (i) their fear of COVID-19, (ii) whether they paid attention to COVID-19 news, (iii) whether searched for COVID-19 news, (iv) whether they believed in COVID-19 news, and (v) their preventive COVID-19 behaviors.
Results: Both women and men reported a low fear of COVID-19, paid close attention to COVID-19 news, and practiced good preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors. The perceived chance of COVID-19 infection was a significant factor contributing to the fear of COVID-19 among both women and men. Preventive behaviors had a positive effect in lowering the fear of COVID-19. News about COVID-19 had a negative effect in lowering the fear of the disease among women but not men.
Conclusions: As the performing of preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors was associated with a lower fear of COVID-19, healthcare providers should consider strategies for improving preventive behaviors among older people to help ease their worries and fears concerning COVID-19
Pair-breaking quantum phase transition in superconducting nanowires
A quantum phase transition (QPT) between distinct ground states of matter is
a wide-spread phenomenon in nature, yet there are only a few experimentally
accessible systems where the microscopic mechanism of the transition can be
tested and understood. These cases are unique and form the experimentally
established foundation for our understanding of quantum critical phenomena.
Here we report the discovery that a magnetic-field-driven QPT in
superconducting nanowires - a prototypical 1d-system - can be fully explained
by the critical theory of pair-breaking transitions characterized by a
correlation length exponent and dynamic critical exponent . We find that in the quantum critical regime, the electrical
conductivity is in agreement with a theoretically predicted scaling function
and, moreover, that the theory quantitatively describes the dependence of
conductivity on the critical temperature, field magnitude and orientation,
nanowire cross sectional area, and microscopic parameters of the nanowire
material. At the critical field, the conductivity follows a
dependence predicted by phenomenological scaling theories and more recently
obtained within a holographic framework. Our work uncovers the microscopic
processes governing the transition: The pair-breaking effect of the magnetic
field on interacting Cooper pairs overdamped by their coupling to electronic
degrees of freedom. It also reveals the universal character of continuous
quantum phase transitions.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figure
Urban community gardeners' knowledge and perceptions of soil contaminant risks
Although urban community gardening can offer health, social, environmental, and economic benefits, these benefits must be weighed against the potential health risks stemming from exposure to contaminants such as heavy metals and organic chemicals that may be present in urban soils. Individuals who garden at or eat food grown in contaminated urban garden sites may be at risk of exposure to such contaminants. Gardeners may be unaware of these risks and how to manage them. We used a mixed quantitative/qualitative research approach to characterize urban community gardeners' knowledge and perceptions of risks related to soil contaminant exposure. We conducted surveys with 70 gardeners from 15 community gardens in Baltimore, Maryland, and semi-structured interviews with 18 key informants knowledgeable about community gardening and soil contamination in Baltimore. We identified a range of factors, challenges, and needs related to Baltimore community gardeners' perceptions of risk related to soil contamination, including low levels of concern and inconsistent levels of knowledge about heavy metal and organic chemical contaminants, barriers to investigating a garden site's history and conducting soil tests, limited knowledge of best practices for reducing exposure, and a need for clear and concise information on how best to prevent and manage soil contamination. Key informants discussed various strategies for developing and disseminating educational materials to gardeners. For some challenges, such as barriers to conducting site history and soil tests, some informants recommended city-wide interventions that bypass the need for gardener knowledge altogether
Abscess formation of a spherical-shape duplication in the splenic flexure of the colon: case report and review of the literature
Gastrointestinal tract duplications are rare congenital malformations that may occur anywhere in the alimentary tract from the mouth to the anus, and vary greatly in presentation, size, location, and especially in symptoms. We present a case of an infected spherical colonic duplication, in a 20-day-old baby, located at the splenic flexure of the colon. The prominent symptom was acute abdomen, accompanied by bilious vomiting, intestinal obstruction, and high fever. We present this case, due to atypical clinical presentation and the inability of the imaging modality to establish the diagnosis preoperatively
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