Reproducibility, stability, and accuracy of microbial profiles by fecal sample collection method in three distinct populations.

The gut microbiome likely plays a role in the etiology of multiple health conditions, especially those affecting the gastrointestinal tract. Little consensus exists as to the best, standard methods to collect fecal samples for future microbiome analysis. We evaluated three distinct populations (N = 132 participants) using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing data to investigate the reproducibility, stability, and accuracy of microbial profiles in fecal samples collected and stored via fecal occult blood test (FOBT) or Flinders Technology Associates (FTA) cards, fecal immunochemical tests (FIT) tubes, 70% and 95% ethanol, RNAlater, or with no solution. For each collection method, based on relative abundance of select phyla and genera, two alpha diversity metrics, and four beta diversity metrics, we calculated intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) to estimate reproducibility and stability, and Spearman correlation coefficients (SCCs) to estimate accuracy of the fecal microbial profile. Comparing duplicate samples, reproducibility ICCs for all collection methods were excellent (ICCs ≥75%). After 4-7 days at ambient temperature, ICCs for microbial profile stability were excellent (≥75%) for most collection methods, except those collected via no-solution and 70% ethanol. SCCs comparing each collection method to immediately-frozen no-solution samples ranged from fair to excellent for most methods; however, accuracy of genus-level relative abundances differed by collection method. Our findings, taken together with previous studies and feasibility considerations, indicated that FOBT/FTA cards, FIT tubes, 95% ethanol, and RNAlater are excellent choices for fecal sample collection methods in future microbiome studies. Furthermore, establishing standard collection methods across studies is highly desirable

Pengaruh Iklim Etis dan Budaya Organisasi Terhadap Perilaku Menyimpang Dengan Komitmen Organisasional Sebagai Variabel Mediasi (Studi Pada Pegawai Sekretariat Daerah Pemerintah Kabupaten Manokwari)

Tujuan Penelitian ini adalah untuk menguji dan menganalisis: (1). Untuk menguji dan menganalisis pengaruh iklim etis pada perilaku menyimpang; (2). Untuk menguji dan menganalisis pengaruh budaya organisasi pada perilaku menyimpang; (3). Untuk menguji dan menganalisis pengaruh komitmen organisasional perilaku menyimpang (4). Untuk menguji dan menganalisis pengaruh iklim etis terhadap perilaku menyimpang melalui komitmen organisasional; (5). Untuk menguji dan menganalisis pengaruh budaya organisasi terhadap perilaku menyimpang melalui komitmen organisasional; (6). Untuk menguji dan menganalisis peran komitmen organisasional dalam memediasi pengaruh iklim etis terhadap perilaku menyimpang; (7). Untuk menguji dan menganalisis peran komitmen organisasional dalam memediasi pengaruh budaya organisasi terhadap perilaku menyimpang. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif dengan metode analisis SEM PLS. Populasi penelitian ini adalah pegawai Sekretariat Daerah Pemerintah Kabupaten Manokwari dengan sampel 120 orang. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa iklim etis berpengaruh signifikan terhadap penurunan atau pencegahan perilaku menyimpang. Budaya organisasi berpengaruh signifikan terhadap penurunan atau pencegahan perilaku menyimpang. Iklim etis berpengaruh signifikan terhadap komitmen organisasional. Budaya organisasi berpengaruh signifikan terhadap komitmen organisasional.. Komitmen organisasional berpengaruh signifikan terhadap penurunan atau pencegahan perilaku menyimpan

PENGARUH KOMUNIKASI PEMASARAN DAN PENGALAMAN PEMASARAN TERHADAP KEPUTUSAN PEMBELIAN DI TOKOPEDIA (Survey Pada Mahasiswa Program Studi Manejemen Angkatan 2015 Dan 2016 Fakultas Ekonomi Dan Bisnis Universitas Pasundan Bandung)

ABSTRAK Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui berapa besar pengaruh komunikasi pemasaran dan pengalaman pemasaran terhadap proses keputusan pembelian pelanggan di tokopedia.com baik secara parsial maupun simultan. Metode penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini yaitu metode deskriptif dan verifikatif dengan jumlah sampel 93 responden. Teknik pengumpulan data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini yaitu teknik observasi, wawancara, dan menyebarkan kuisioner. Metode analisis data yang digunakan adalah analisis regresi linier berganda, analisis korelasi berganda, dan analisis koefisien determinasi. Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa berdasarkan analisis korelasi linier berganda diketahui bahwa nilai R (Koefisien korelasi) adalah sebesar 0,721 berada diantara 0,60-0,799 yang berarti komunikasi pemasaran dan pengalaman pemasaran memiliki tingkat hubungan yang tinggi terhadap keputusan pembelian. Berdasarkan analisis koefisien determinasi menunjukan bahwa kontribusi variabel komunikasi pemasaran dan pengalaman pemasaran terhadap terhadap keputusan pembelian sebesar 52% dan sisanya 48% merupakan kontribusi variabel lain yang tidak dibahas dalam penelitian ini. Besarnya pengaruh komunikasi pemasaran terhadap keputusan pembelian adalah 27,5%, sedangkan besarnya pengaruh pengalaman pemasaran terhadap keputusan pembelian sebesar 24,5%. Kata Kunci : Komunikasi Pemasaran, Pengalaman Pemasaran, dan Keputusa

Developmental Defects of Enamel in Primary Teeth and Association with Early Life Course Events: A Study of 6--36 Month old Children in Manyara, Tanzania.

Children with low birth weight show an increased prevalence of developmental defects of enamel in the primary dentition that subsequently may predispose to early childhood caries (ECC).Focusing 6--36 months old, the purpose of this study was to assess the frequency of enamel defects in the primary dentition and identify influences of early life course factors; socio-demographics, birth weight, child's early illness episodes and mothers' perceived size of the child at birth, whilst controlling for more recent life course events in terms of current breastfeeding and oral hygiene. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the high fluoride area of Manyara, northern Tanzania including 1221 child-mother pairs who attended Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) clinics for immunization and/or growth monitoring. After the primary caregivers had completed face to face interviews at the health care facility, children underwent oral clinical examination whereby ECC and developmental defects of enamel were recorded using field criteria. All erupted teeth were examined and the enamel defects were assessed on buccal surfaces according to the modified DDE Index. The prevalence of enamel defects was 33.3%. Diffuse opacities were the most common defects identified (23.1%), followed by hypoplasia (7.6%) and demarcated opacities (5.0%). The most frequently affected teeth were the upper central incisors (29.0% - 30.5%), whereas lower central incisors (4.3% to 4.5%) were least frequently affected. Multiple logistic regression analysis, adjusting for confounding the factors revealed that having normal birth weight (equal or more than 2500 g) associated with lower odds of having enamel hypoplasia [OR 0.22 (95% CI 0.1-0.7)]. No statistically significant association occurred between birth weight and diffuse opacities, demarcated opacities or combined DDE. Children with the history of low birth weight were more likely than their normal birth weight counterparts to present with enamel hypoplasia. In view of the frequent occurrence of enamel defects and the fact that hypoplasia may constitute a risk factor for future ECC, enamel defects should be included as a dental health indicator in epidemiological studies of children in northern Tanzania

Deficits in plasma oestradiol measurement in studies and management of breast cancer

The determination of plasma oestradiol has numerous applications in epidemiology, reproductive medicine and breast cancer management. Commercially available analytical methods, which measure the hormone levels without prior purification, have been successfully developed for measuring oestradiol in premenopausal women. The application of these methodologies to the quantification of the very low levels of oestradiol in postmenopausal women is more problematic in terms of accuracy and interpretation. The importance of using appropriate methodology is discussed and illustrated with data demonstrating the disparity in the results obtained when low levels of oestradiol were quantified using direct and indirect methods

Towards simulated morality systems: Role-playing games as artificial societies

Computer role-playing games (RPGs) often include a simulated morality system as a core design element. Games' morality systems can include both god's eye view aspects, in which certain actions are inherently judged by the simulated world to be good or evil, as well as social simulations, in which non-player characters (NPCs) react to judgments of the player's and each others' activities. Games with a larger amount of social simulation have clear affinities to multi-agent systems (MAS) research on artificial societies. They differ in a number of key respects, however, due to a mixture of pragmatic game-design considerations and their typically strong embeddedness in narrative arcs, resulting in many important aspects of moral systems being represented using explicitly scripted scenarios rather than through agent-based simulations. In this position paper, we argue that these similarities and differences make RPGs a promising challenge domain for MAS research, highlighting features such as moral dilemmas situated in more organic settings than seen in game-theoretic models of social dilemmas, and heterogeneous representations of morality that use both moral calculus systems and social simulation. We illustrate some possible approaches using a case study of the morality systems in the game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Language and social/emotional problems identified at a universal developmental assessment at 30 months

Non peer reviewedPublisher PD

Empowerment or Engagement? Digital Health Technologies for Mental Healthcare

We argue that while digital health technologies (e.g. artificial intelligence, smartphones, and virtual reality) present significant opportunities for improving the delivery of healthcare, key concepts that are used to evaluate and understand their impact can obscure significant ethical issues related to patient engagement and experience. Specifically, we focus on the concept of empowerment and ask whether it is adequate for addressing some significant ethical concerns that relate to digital health technologies for mental healthcare. We frame these concerns using five key ethical principles for AI ethics (i.e. autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and explicability), which have their roots in the bioethical literature, in order to critically evaluate the role that digital health technologies will have in the future of digital healthcare