Self-Construal Influence on Individual Choice Does Culture Shape our Choices?

Previous research has shown that cultural values and individual preferences for uniqueness and conformity influence one another, and that a theme of uniqueness is prevalent within North American culture and a theme of conformity is prevalent within East Asian culture. The goal of the present research was to examine the causal role of self-construal by investigating whether priming participants with either independent or interdependent self-construal could lead to differences in choice patterns that mirror themes of uniqueness and conformity that is traditionally found between East Asian and North American cultures. It was hypothesized that participants primed with independent self-construal will show a preference for uniqueness and make an uncommon choice. In contrast, participants primed with the interdependent self-construal will show a preference for conformity and make a common choice. To test this hypothesis, 60 participants of varying cultural backgrounds were randomly assigned to either an independent self-construal prime condition or an interdependent self-construal prime condition. The choice of pens by participants was examined as a function of whether the pen appeared unique. The results are that there is no significant interaction between the prime conditions and choice. These results suggest that self-construals do not play a significant role in predicting participates’ choice patterns towards uniqueness and conformity

Physical and mental health comorbidity is common in people with multiple sclerosis: nationally representative cross-sectional population database analysis

<b>Background</b> Comorbidity in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is associated with worse health and higher mortality. This study aims to describe clinician recorded comorbidities in people with MS. <p></p> <b>Methods</b> 39 comorbidities in 3826 people with MS aged ≥25 years were compared against 1,268,859 controls. Results were analysed by age, gender, and socioeconomic status, with unadjusted and adjusted Odds Ratios (ORs) calculated using logistic regression. <p></p> <b>Results</b> People with MS were more likely to have one (OR 2.44; 95% CI 2.26-2.64), two (OR 1.49; 95% CI 1.38-1.62), three (OR 1.86; 95% CI 1.69-2.04), four or more (OR 1.61; 95% CI 1.47-1.77) non-MS chronic conditions than controls, and greater mental health comorbidity (OR 2.94; 95% CI 2.75-3.14), which increased as the number of physical comorbidities rose. Cardiovascular conditions, including atrial fibrillation (OR 0.49; 95% CI 0.36-0.67), chronic kidney disease (OR 0.51; 95% CI 0.40-0.65), heart failure (OR 0.62; 95% CI 0.45-0.85), coronary heart disease (OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.52-0.71), and hypertension (OR 0.65; 95% CI 0.59-0.72) were significantly less common in people with MS. <p></p> <b>Conclusion</b> People with MS have excess multiple chronic conditions, with associated increased mental health comorbidity. The low recorded cardiovascular comorbidity warrants further investigation

A Study of How Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Project-Based Learning (PBL) Can Improve Student Engagement

Schools and teachers are facing a difficult challenge of how to keep students engaged in mathematics and students’ lack of engagement is common nationally. The research conducted for this study focused on the effects of STEM PBL on student engagement. The drive for the present study was to understand the effects STEM PBL instruction has on student engagement compared to non-STEM PBL instruction. There has been growing evidence that STEM PBL instruction increases student engagement and enhances the academic learning across demographic demarcations. In order to cognize how engagement is influenced by instructional methods an experimental design was used where three conditions were established and students were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions. Confidence intervals were used to compare means across 8 engagement structures within the three conditions. These results suggest that student engagement as measured by engagement structures can be separated across teachers and that lesson type may influence student engagement as measured by the same instrument. Those 8 structures were then subjected to an exploratory factor analysis that produced two-second order factors allowing for a separation between academic and behavioral engagement. These results showed more specifically the influence of STEM PBL on students’ academic engagement. Overall it is suggested that student engagement was greater with the STEM PBL instructional strategy than the other two

Tuberculosis interventions to prevent transmission of infection in health care workers: a systematic review

Background: Tuberculosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality as an estimated 8.6 million people developed TB and 1.3 million died from the disease in 2012. The number of deaths is high given that TB can be prevented. Health care workers are an at - risk group, since they are frequently in contact with infectious patients and/or work with infectious products. The World Health Organisation has declared the importance of finding innovative tools and strategies to prevent TB and implementing them successfully, especially for those with a high risk of TB transmission. Methods: This systematic review aims to undertake a quantitative review of tuberculosis interventions for health care workers in health care settings, so as to assess whether these interventions are effective in reducing the transmission of tuberculosis infection and disease. We will preferably include experimental studies, such as, randomised - controlled trials, but observational studies, such as controlled before and after studies and cohort studies will also be included in the absence of randomised - controlled studies. We will search databases, such as Medline, Scopus, Trip, LILACS and various trial registries. A hand search of reference lists of identified articles, abstracts, conference proceedings and campaign materials will be performed. Grey literature sites will also be used for the search. Data will be extracted using a single form. The quality of each study will be assessed in terms of selection bias, performance bias, attrition bias and detection bias. Thereafter a meta - analysis will be produced and subgroups will be analysed according to the three intervention types. Clinical and statistical significance will be determined for the included studies, and descriptive narratives of heterogeneous studies will be written. Discussion: Our results will be useful to policy - makers and public health officials for the prioritisation of those interventions identified as effective and critical

Ancient plant DNA in archaeobotany

Plant diaspores, tissues and wood are preserved in natural and anthropogenic sediments. Also, over the past centuries, plants have been collected in herbaria. These plant remains carry macroscopic and molecular information, making them a rich source for reconstructing past plant use, agriculture, diet or vegetation—they are thus proxies for past economies, ecology, migrations or trade. This article focuses on the application of ancient DNA analyses from plants excavated at Holocene archaeological sites. A short methodological section is added to illustrate possibilities and limitations of ancient DNA research in plant

Mimivirus in Pneumonia Patients

Mimivirus, the largest virus known to date, is an amebal pathogen like Legionella spp. When mimivirus was used as an antigen in a migration inhibition factor assay, seroconversion was found in patients with both community- and hospital-acquired pneumonia. Mimivirus DNA was found in respiratory samples of patients with hospital-acquired pneumonia