Revised Sources of Guidance Measures: Six Events and Demographic Controls

In this paper, we update the country-level scores of sources of guidance reported in Peterson and Smith (2008) across 61 countries and based on 7,982 respondents. These scores represent aggregate tendencies of the use of specific sources of guidance in a country and provide an alternative to value-based cultural measures. Based on role and cognition theories, sources include how roles, rules and norms influence decision making in six frequent organizational events that managers encounter. Scores are controlled for demographic effects of respondents’ age and gender, as well as for organizational characteristics, namely ownership, department and organizational types. We also provide correlations between the sources of guidance scores and Hofstede’s, GLOBE’s, and Schwartz’s dimension scores

Extended Reconstructed Sea Surface Temperature Version 4 (ERSST.v4): Part II. Parametric and Structural Uncertainty Estimations

Described herein is the parametric and structural uncertainty quantification for the monthly Extended Reconstructed Sea Surface Temperature (ERSST) version 4 (v4). A Monte Carlo ensemble approach was adopted to characterize parametric uncertainty, because initial experiments indicate the existence of significant nonlinear interactions. Globally, the resulting ensemble exhibits a wider uncertainty range before 1900, as well as an uncertainty maximum around World War II. Changes at smaller spatial scales in many regions, or for important features such as Niño-3.4 variability, are found to be dominated by particular parameter choices. Substantial differences in parametric uncertainty estimates are found between ERSST.v4 and the independently derived Hadley Centre SST version 3 (HadSST3) product. The largest uncertainties are over the mid and high latitudes in ERSST.v4 but in the tropics in HadSST3. Overall, in comparison with HadSST3, ERSST.v4 has larger parametric uncertainties at smaller spatial and shorter time scales and smaller parametric uncertainties at longer time scales, which likely reflects the different sources of uncertainty quantified in the respective parametric analyses. ERSST.v4 exhibits a stronger globally averaged warming trend than HadSST3 during the period of 1910–2012, but with a smaller parametric uncertainty. These global-mean trend estimates and their uncertainties marginally overlap. Several additional SST datasets are used to infer the structural uncertainty inherent in SST estimates. For the global mean, the structural uncertainty, estimated as the spread between available SST products, is more often than not larger than the parametric uncertainty in ERSST.v4. Neither parametric nor structural uncertainties call into question that on the global-mean level and centennial time scale, SSTs have warmed notably

Language Disorder in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and Corticobasal Syndrome: Neural Correlates and Detection by the MLSE Screening Tool.

Background: Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal syndrome (CBS) affect speech and language as well as motor functions. Clinical and neuropathological data indicate a close relationship between these two disorders and the non-fluent variant of primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA). We use the recently developed Mini Linguistic State Examination tool (MLSE) to study speech and language disorders in patients with PSP, CBS, and nfvPPA, in combination with structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods: Fifty-one patients (PSP N = 13, CBS N = 19, nfvPPA N = 19) and 30 age-matched controls completed the MLSE, the short form of the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE), and the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III. Thirty-eight patients and all controls underwent structural MRI at 3 Tesla, with T1 and T2-weighted images processed by surface-based and subcortical segmentation within FreeSurfer 6.0.0 to extract cortical thickness and subcortical volumes. Morphometric differences were compared between groups and correlated with the severity of speech and language impairment. Results: CBS and PSP patients showed impaired MLSE performance, compared to controls, with a similar language profile to nfvPPA, albeit less severe. All patient groups showed reduced cortical thickness in bilateral frontal regions and striatal volume. PSP and nfvPPA patients also showed reduced superior temporal cortical thickness, with additional thalamic and amygdalo-hippocampal volume reductions in nfvPPA. Multivariate analysis of brain-wide cortical thickness and subcortical volumes with MLSE domain scores revealed associations between performance on multiple speech and language domains with atrophy of left-lateralised fronto-temporal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, putamen, and caudate. Conclusions: The effect of PSP and CBS on speech and language overlaps with nfvPPA. These three disorders cause a common anatomical pattern of atrophy in the left frontotemporal language network and striatum. The MLSE is a short clinical screening tool that can identify the language disorder of PSP and CBS, facilitating clinical management and patient access to future clinical trials

HTLV-1 in rural Guinea-Bissau: prevalence, incidence and a continued association with HIV between 1990 and 2007

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HTLV-1 is endemic in Guinea-Bissau, and the highest prevalence in the adult population (5.2%) was observed in a rural area, Caió, in 1990. HIV-1 and HIV-2 are both prevalent in this area as well. Cross-sectional associations have been reported for HTLV-1 with HIV infection, but the trends in prevalence of HTLV-1 and HIV associations are largely unknown, especially in Sub Saharan Africa. In the current study, data from three cross-sectional community surveys performed in 1990, 1997 and 2007, were used to assess changes in HTLV-1 prevalence, incidence and its associations with HIV-1 and HIV-2 and potential risk factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>HTLV-1 prevalence was 5.2% in 1990, 5.9% in 1997 and 4.6% in 2007. Prevalence was higher among women than men in all 3 surveys and increased with age. The Odds Ratio (OR) of being infected with HTLV-1 was significantly higher for HIV positive subjects in all surveys after adjustment for potential confounding factors. The risk of HTLV-1 infection was higher in subjects with an HTLV-1 positive mother versus an uninfected mother (OR 4.6, CI 2.6-8.0). The HTLV-1 incidence was stable between 1990-1997 (Incidence Rate (IR) 1.8/1,000 pyo) and 1997-2007 (IR 1.6/1,000 pyo) (Incidence Rate Ratio (IRR) 0.9, CI 0.4-1.7). The incidence of HTLV-1 among HIV-positive individuals was higher compared to HIV negative individuals (IRR 2.5, CI 1.0-6.2), while the HIV incidence did not differ by HTLV-1 status (IRR 1.2, CI 0.5-2.7).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>To our knowledge, this is the largest community based study that has reported on HTLV-1 prevalence and associations with HIV. HTLV-1 is endemic in this rural community in West Africa with a stable incidence and a high prevalence. The prevalence increases with age and is higher in women than men. HTLV-1 infection is associated with HIV infection, and longitudinal data indicate HIV infection may be a risk factor for acquiring HTLV-1, but not vice versa. Mother to child transmission is likely to contribute to the epidemic.</p

Experimental Results for Communications Blackout Amelioration Using Crossed Electric and Magnetic Fields

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/77188/1/AIAA-45490-250.pd

Intensity of lipid lowering with statin therapy in patients with cerebrovascular disease versus coronary artery disease: Insights from the PALM Registry

Background Current treatment guidelines strongly recommend statin therapy for secondary prevention. However, it remains unclear whether patients\u27 perceptions of cardiovascular risk, beliefs on cholesterol, or the intensity of prescribed statin therapy differs for patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) versus cerebrovascular disease (CeVD) versus both CAD and CeVD (CAD&CeVD). Methods and Results The PALM (Patient and Provider Assessment of Lipid Management) registry collected data on statin use, intensity, and core laboratory low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels for 3232 secondary prevention patients treated at 133 US clinics. Among individuals with CeVD only (n=403), CAD only (n=2202), and CeVD&CAD (n=627), no significant differences were observed in patient-perceived cardiovascular disease risk, beliefs on cholesterol lowering, or perceived effectiveness and safety of statin therapy. However, patients with CeVD only were less likely to receive any statin therapy (76.2% versus 86.2%; adjusted odds ratio 0.64, 95% CI 0.45-0.91), or guideline-recommended statin intensity (34.6% versus 50.4%; adjusted odds ratio 0.60, 95% CI 0.45-0.81) than those with CAD only. Individuals with CeVD only were also less likely to achieve low-density lipoprotein cholesterol \u3c100 mg/dL (59.2% versus 69.7%; adjusted odds ratio 0.79, 95% CI 0.64-0.99) than individuals with CAD alone. There were no significant differences in the use of any statin therapy or guideline-recommended statin intensity between individuals with CAD&CeVD and those with CAD only. Conclusions Despite lack of significant differences in patient-perceived cardiovascular risk or statin beliefs, patients with CeVD were significantly less likely to receive higher intensity statin or achieve low-density lipoprotein cholesterol \u3c100 mg/dL than those with CAD only

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Contains research objectives and reports on seven research projects.Lincoln Laboratory, Purchase Order DDL-B222Air Force under Air Force Contract AF19(604)-5200Office of Naval Research under Contract Nonr-1841(57