The dark side of control assessing control in relationships from a dyadic and longitudinal perspective

Psychological research suggests that, other things being equal, the desire for or exercise of control over consequences is advantageous to the individual. However, in the context of relationships the preference and enactment of control may be more problematic. The primary purpose of the present research was to advance the study of control in relationships through the validation of a self-report instrument specifically designed to measure it. Specifically the goals of this research project included: (a) to further validate the Control in Relationships Scale (CIR) using a dyadic and longitudinal approaches, (b) to further differentiate the control and power construct, and (c) to explore the role and the importance of the construct in romantic relationships. Study 1 assessed the association between control and relationship satisfaction from a dyadic perspective. The results indicated that CIR was inversely associated with relationship satisfaction for both partners.Specifically, partner control was strongly correlated with own relationship satisfaction for women but not for men. Furthermore, men tended to perceive the relationship as more egalitarian than women did. Furthermore, in Study 1, CIR was compared with extant power measure and the results suggested that CIR was significantly associated with most power measures, but it was not a redundant construct and it was a better predictor of relationship satisfaction than any of the power measures. Study 2 assessed the relationship between control and satisfaction from a longitudinal point of view and the results suggested that individual\u27s self-perceived control ratings at Time 1 was inversely associated with their relationship satisfaction at Time 2, for high control women and average control men. Next, non-test validity analyses were undertaken by comparing CIR scores to rated narrative accounts of betrayal by students.As expected, CIR was significantly associated with ratings of own control at both Time 1 and Time 2. Taken together, results support that utility of the CIR as a valid measure of control in relationships, indicate the differences between the power and control constructs, and support the notion that control in relationships is associated with negative relationships functioning

Trackless online two-server problems and red-black games

The online 2-server problem presents a number of challenges in the search for simple competitive algorithms for solving it. Finding the optimal off-line solution involves costly dynamic programming. Looking for more efficient algorithms, researchers have studied how restriction on the input information given to the algorithm affects its competitiveness. One such restriction is tracklessness. Trackless algorithms for the 2-server problem include many known server algorithms including BALANCE_SLACK and some paging algorithms. It is demonstrated that the trackless 2-server optimization problem has a deterministic lower bound of 2311\u3e2 for competitiveness, thus proving that tracklessness is a significant restriction. The optimally competitive online non-trackless algorithm for the 2-server problem is 2-competitive. Other current research on the topic is also discussed

Сross-analysis of big data in accreditation of health specialists

Objective: The relevance of this study is due to the mass accreditation of health professionals that is developing in Russia, which requires innovative measurement tools and opens new opportunities for a well-founded cross-analysis of specialists’ professional readiness quality. Purpose of the study: The purpose of this article is to present approved methodical approaches to the transformation of accreditation data into a format suitable for secondary analysis of medical schools graduates quality based on the requirements of Professional Standards. Method: The leading methods of secondary data analysis are: a) codification of indicators in the primary data accumulation array; b) statistical processing of study results (evaluation of the relationships between the arrays of primary data accumulation and instrumental data, the correlation of test scores obtained by accreditation results with the labor functions of Professional Standards); c) the creation of representative samples for data analysis. The implementation of methods is carried out in the mode of working with arrays of big data, which also uses the method of cross-analysis to identify additional factors that affect to specialists’ professional readiness quality. Results: As a results of the research, there were: 1) approaches to the codification of data in the array and their secondary analysis were developed; 2) three samples were constructed with an estimation of representativeness for different strata, including subjects, assignments and corresponding labor functions; 3) the matrix of primary data in the specialty “Pediatrics” was verified using the example of the results of students from 50 medical universities in Russia. Conclusion: Approbation of methods of secondary data analysis conducted on representative samples of the subjects showed the effectiveness of the developed approaches that should be used when analyzing large data sets in the procedures of certification or accreditation. The materials of the article can be useful for specialists in the field of assessing the quality of education or assessing the professional readiness of health professionals, managers, professors and pedagogical staff of medical schools, specialists of centers for independent assessment of qualifications. © 2018, Modestum Ltd.. All rights reserved

Epidural anaesthesia and analgesia in hepatic resections

Eпидуралната анестезия и аналгезия намират все по-широко приложение в съвременната чернодробна онкохирургия. Изследването обхваща 29 болни на средна възраст от 58,410,7 г., подложени на чернодробни резекции през 2013-2015 г. При болните с нормален коагулационен статус и съхранена хемодинамика са използвани висок епидурален блок с повърхностна обща инхалаторна или венозна анестезия и малки дози релаксант с ендотрахеална интубация. Анализирани са няколко показателя на коагулационния статус: INR/PТ, тромбоцити, аПТТ, фибриноген и Д-димер. Установяват се скъсяване на PТ, намаляване на броя на тромбоцитите, леко намаляване на фибриногена и повишаване на Д-димера. Тези изменения са изразени предимно при болните с трисегментектомия и хемихепатектомия до 5-ия следоперативен ден. Постига се намаляване на болката при всички оперирани болни. Необходимо е индивидуализирано приложение на епидуралната анестезия и аналгезия и непрекъснатото мониториране на статуса на кръвосъсирването на болните, избрани за чернодробни резекции.Epidural anaesthesia and analgesia are more widely applied in contemporary oncological liver surgery. The study covered 29 patients at a mean age of 58,410,7 years who underwent hepatic resections in 2013-2015. In the patients with a normal coagulation status and preserved haemodynamics, a high epidural block with superficial general inhalation or venous anaesthesia and small dosages of relaxant with endotracheal intubation were applied. Several parameters of the coagulation status such as INR/PТ, platelet count, aPTT, fibrinogen and D-dimer were analyzed. PT shortening, platelet count reduction, a slight fibtinogen diminution and D-dimer elevation were established. These changes were predominantly outlined among the patients with trisegmentectomy and hemihepatectomy until the fifth postoperative day. Pain reduction was achieved in all the patients operated. An individualized application of the epidural anaesthesia and analgesia as well as continuous monitoring of the coagulation status of the patients selected for liver resections

Synthesis and structural characterisation of solid titanium(IV) phosphate materials by means of X-ray absorption and NMR spectroscopy

Solid titanium phosphate, TiP, materials hold great promise for wastewater treatment for removal of metal ions and complexes. A series of TiP materials, synthesised at mild conditions and short reaction times, have been structurally characterised using solid-state X-ray absorption spectroscopy, phosphorus and titanium K edge XANES and EXAFS, and P-31 and Ti-47/49 NMR spectroscopy. The titanium K edge EXAFS data of alpha-Ti(HPO4)(2)center dot H2O (alpha-TiP) revealed octahedral coordination of oxygens around titanium. Repeated washing of primary beta-/gamma-TiP with hydrochloric acid results in formation of a weakly ordered solid, TiO(OH)(H2PO4)center dot H2O, TiP1-H. The structure of TiP1-H is shown by Ti EXAFS to be a titanyl compound, containing a short Ti=O bond. The analogous data for linked titanium phosphate compounds (LTP) disclosed that inter-linkage occurs between alpha-TiP and titanyl phosphate units, supported by P-31-P-31 NOESY NMR data. Ti-47/49 NMR and Ti pre-edge XANES show evidence of two different titanium environments in LTP, one very similar to that observed in TiP1-H and a second more symmetric octahedral environment. Data are discussed in terms of induced acidic hydrolyses of titanium(IV) and phosphate counterpart during washings with hydrochloric acid and water. A straightforward relation between synthesis parameters/post synthetic treatment and structural re-arrangement in the materials is established

Development of score models for severe course risk assessment of febrile form of tick-borne encephalitis

Background. There is no current generally accepted classification and clinical approaches to assess the clinical course severity of tick-borne encephalitis.   The aim is to develop models for the quantitative severity scores of the febrile form of tick-borne encephalitis using the most informative predictors.   Materials and methods. In accordance with clinical criteria of the height and duration of fever, two groups of 9 and 30 patients (52.2 ± 4.3 and 49.5 ± 3.9 years old) with severe and non-severe febrile form of tick-borne encephalitis were formed. The study design was a retrospective case-control study. Statistical significance assessment of variables was carried out using the chi-square test. The odds ratios were also calculated. The development of logistic regression models was carried out using Statistica 12.0 modules.   Results. A questionnaire of febrile form of tick-borne encephalitis severity score was developed using the height of fever and 11 most informative clinical predictors including arthralgia, chills, sleep disturbance, dizziness, orbital pain, nausea, photophobia, myalgia, severe headache, vomiting and meningism. To predict the severe clinical course of febrile form of tick-borne encephalitis, two logistic regression models were developed with or without severity score assessment of fever syndrome (coefficients α and β were –12.13 and 0.94 and –5.78 and 0.75 for models 1 and 2, respectively). Models 1 and 2 demonstrated a high predicted probability for cut-off values equal to 14 and 9 points and excellent quality of prediction test (AUC are equal to 0.99 and 0.98, respectively).   Conclusions. The models of severity score demonstrated high predicted probabilities to predict severe clinical course of febrile form of tick-borne encephalitis, which can be used in clinical practice and for scientific purposes

Synthesis and structural characterisation of solid titanium(iv) phosphate materials by means of X-ray absorption and NMR spectroscopy

Solid titanium phosphate, TiP, materials hold great promise for wastewater treatment for removal of metal ions and complexes. A series of TiP materials, synthesised at mild conditions and short reaction times, have been structurally characterised using solid-state X-ray absorption spectroscopy, phosphorus and titanium K edge XANES and EXAFS, and 31P and 47/49Ti NMR spectroscopy. The titanium K edge EXAFS data of α-Ti(HPO4)2·H2O (α-TiP) revealed octahedral coordination of oxygens around titanium. Repeated washing of primary β-/γ-TiP with hydrochloric acid results in formation of a weakly ordered solid, TiO(OH)(H2PO4)·H2O, TiP1-H. The structure of TiP1-H is shown by Ti EXAFS to be a titanyl compound, containing a short Ti[double bond, length as m-dash]O bond. The analogous data for linked titanium phosphate compounds (LTP) disclosed that inter-linkage occurs between α-TiP and titanyl phosphate units, supported by 31P–31P NOESY NMR data. 47/49Ti NMR and Ti pre-edge XANES show evidence of two different titanium environments in LTP, one very similar to that observed in TiP1-H and a second more symmetric octahedral environment. Data are discussed in terms of induced acidic hydrolyses of titanium(IV) and phosphate counterpart during washings with hydrochloric acid and water. A straightforward relation between synthesis parameters/post synthetic treatment and structural re-arrangement in the materials is established

Sharing of carbapenemase-encoding plasmids between Enterobacteriaceae in UK sewage uncovered by MinION sequencing

Dissemination of carbapenem resistance among pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria is a looming medical emergency. Efficient spread of resistance within and between bacterial species is facilitated by mobile genetic elements. We hypothesized that wastewater contributes to the dissemination of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE), and studied this through a cross-sectional observational study of wastewater in the East of England. We isolated clinically relevant species of CPE in untreated and treated wastewater, confirming that waste treatment does not prevent release of CPE into the environment. We observed that CPE-positive plants were restricted to those in direct receipt of hospital waste, suggesting that hospital effluent may play a role in disseminating carbapenem resistance. We postulated that plasmids carrying carbapenemase genes were exchanged between bacterial hosts in sewage, and used short-read (Illumina) and long-read (MinION) technologies to characterize plasmids encoding resistance to antimicrobials and heavy metals. We demonstrated that different CPE species ($\textit{Enterobacter kobei}$ and $\textit{Raoultella ornithinolytica}$) isolated from wastewater from the same treatment plant shared two plasmids of 63 and 280 kb. The former plasmid conferred resistance to carbapenems ($bla_\text{OXA-48}$), and the latter to numerous drug classes and heavy metals. We also report the complete genome sequence for $\textit{Enterobacter kobei}$. Small, portable sequencing instruments such as the MinION have the potential to improve the quality of information gathered on antimicrobial resistance in the environment.This publication presents independent research supported by the Health Innovation Challenge Fund (WT098600, HICF-T5-342), a parallel funding partnership between the Department of Health, UK, and the Wellcome Trust. C. L. is a Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Postdoctoral Fellow (110243/Z/15/Z). T. G. is a Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellow (103387/Z/13/Z)

Studies of West Nile Virus Circulation in the Territory of the Saratov Region in 2010

Presented are the results of ecological and epizootiological surveillance of the territory of the Saratov region, which was carried out in autumn of 2010. The surveillance was aimed at detection of West Nile (WN) virus circulation and premises for WN Fever natural focus formation. It is demonstrated that in 2010 WN virus circulation took place in damp biotopes of the Saratov region territory, and that common species of small mammals were involved in it. Presented are the results of analysis of the WN virus role in the infectious pathology in the territory of the Saratov region

2.4-Å structure of the double-ring Gemmatimonas phototrophica photosystem.

Phototrophic Gemmatimonadetes evolved the ability to use solar energy following horizontal transfer of photosynthesis-related genes from an ancient phototrophic proteobacterium. The electron cryo-microscopy structure of the Gemmatimonas phototrophica photosystem at 2.4 Å reveals a unique, double-ring complex. Two unique membrane-extrinsic polypeptides, RC-S and RC-U, hold the central type 2 reaction center (RC) within an inner 16-subunit light-harvesting 1 (LH1) ring, which is encircled by an outer 24-subunit antenna ring (LHh) that adds light-gathering capacity. Femtosecond kinetics reveal the flow of energy within the RC-dLH complex, from the outer LHh ring to LH1 and then to the RC. This structural and functional study shows that G. phototrophica has independently evolved its own compact, robust, and highly effective architecture for harvesting and trapping solar energy