1,260 research outputs found
Objectively measured physical capability levels and mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis
Objective: To do a quantitative systematic review, including published and unpublished data, examining the associations between individual objective measures of physical capability (grip strength, walking speed, chair rising, and standing balance times) and mortality in community dwelling populations.
Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Data sources: Relevant studies published by May 2009 identified through literature searches using Embase (from 1980) and Medline (from 1950) and manual searching of reference lists; unpublished results were obtained from study investigators.
Study selection: Eligible observational studies were those done in community dwelling people of any age that examined the association of at least one of the specified measures of physical capability (grip strength, walking speed, chair rises, or standing balance) with mortality.
Data synthesis: Effect estimates obtained were pooled by using random effects meta-analysis models with heterogeneity between studies investigated.
Results: Although heterogeneity was detected, consistent evidence was found of associations between all four measures of physical capability and mortality; those people who performed less well in these tests were found to be at higher risk of all cause mortality. For example, the summary hazard ratio for mortality comparing the weakest with the strongest quarter of grip strength (14 studies, 53â476 participants) was 1.67 (95% confidence interval 1.45 to 1.93) after adjustment for age, sex, and body size (I2=84.0%, 95% confidence interval 74% to 90%; P from Q statistic <0.001). The summary hazard ratio for mortality comparing the slowest with the fastest quarter of walking speed (five studies, 14â692 participants) was 2.87 (2.22 to 3.72) (I2=25.2%, 0% to 70%; P=0.25) after similar adjustments. Whereas studies of the associations of walking speed, chair rising, and standing balance with mortality have only been done in older populations (average age over 70 years), the association of grip strength with mortality was also found in younger populations (five studies had an average age under 60 years).
Conclusions: Objective measures of physical capability are predictors of all cause mortality in older community dwelling populations. Such measures may therefore provide useful tools for identifying older people at higher risk of death.
With Contributions from Dr P.A. Bath, University of Sheffiel
Motivation as a predictor of outcomes in school-based humanistic counselling
Recent years have seen a growth in the provision of counselling within UK secondary schools, and research indicates that it is associated with significant reductions in psychological distress. However, little is known about the moderators and mediators of positive therapeutic benefit. In the field of adult mental health, motivation has been found to be one of the strongest predictors of therapeutic outcomes, and it was hypothesised that this may also be a predictor of outcomes for young people in school-based counselling services. To assess the relationship between young peopleâs motivation for counselling and its effectiveness within a secondary school setting. Eighty-one young people (12 - 17 years old) who attended school-based humanistic counselling services in Scotland. Clients completed a measure of motivation for counselling at the commencement of their therapeutic work and a measure of psychological wellbeing at the commencement and termination of counselling. Motivation for counselling was not found to be significantly related to outcomes. The results indicate that the association between motivation and outcomes may be weaker in young people as compared with adults. However, a number of design factors may also account for the non-significant findings: insufficient participants, marginal reliability of the motivation measure and social desirability effects
Characterizing Scales of Genetic Recombination and Antibiotic Resistance in Pathogenic Bacteria Using Topological Data Analysis
Pathogenic bacteria present a large disease burden on human health. Control
of these pathogens is hampered by rampant lateral gene transfer, whereby
pathogenic strains may acquire genes conferring resistance to common
antibiotics. Here we introduce tools from topological data analysis to
characterize the frequency and scale of lateral gene transfer in bacteria,
focusing on a set of pathogens of significant public health relevance. As a
case study, we examine the spread of antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus
aureus. Finally, we consider the possible role of the human microbiome as a
reservoir for antibiotic resistance genes.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures. To appear in AMT 2014 Special Session on
Advanced Methods of Interactive Data Mining for Personalized Medicin
A possible Mesoarchaean impact structure at Setlagole, North West Province, South Africa : aeromagnetic and field evidence
A 25 to 30 km wide magnetic anomaly within the >2.79 Ga granite-greenstone rocks of the northwestern Kaapvaal Craton is
spatially associated with megabreccia outcrops near the village of Setlagole in the North West Province, South Africa. The breccia
comprises angular to rounded ciasts of TTG gneisses, granites and granodiorites, with les.ser amounts of amphilxjlite, calc-silicate
rock and banded iron-formation as well as unusual dark grey to black, irregular, centimetre- to decimetre-sized clasts that show
evidence of fluidal behaviour and plastic deformation during incorporation into the breccia. The largest cla.sts reach up to several
metres in size. Evidence of fluvial transport is found in rare thin sandy to gritty layers that show crude bedding and upward-fining
with layers dipping gently to the northeast. The breccia matrix is highly variable but is dominated by angular mineral clasls (mainly
quartz and feldspar, with subsidiary biotite, amphibole and epidote) with interstitial chlorite. The clasts show variable amounts of
alteration (saussuritization, sericitization, chloritization of biotite and amphibole). The dark clasts contain angular quartz and
feldspar and small biotite fragments in a cryptocrystalline chlorite-dominant matrix. Textures indicate a lower greenschist faciĂšs
metamorphic overprint. The absence of lava, dolomite or quartzite cla.sts suggests that the breccia formed prior to the deposition
of the Neoarchaean Ventersdorp and Eoproterozoic Transvaal Supergroups, whereas the metamorphic grade indicates that it
postdates the ca. 2.79 Ga amphibolite-facies metamorphic peak in the region. This suggests a late Mesoarchaean or early
Neoarchaean (ca. 2.79 to 2.71 Ga) age for the breccia. A similar age is inferred for the magnetic anomaly based on postulated crosscutting
dyke ages. Despite a comprehensive search, unequivocal shock-diagnostic microdeformation features have not yet IxĂŻen
found in either the breccia or the highly-weathered granitic gneiss outcrops in the central parts of the anomaly. The unusual
plastically-deformed dark clasts may represent chloritized mud clasts or impact melt clasts. Geochemical data on these clasts and
other components of the megabreccia provide no conclusive support for a meteoritic origin, but the unparalleled comptjsition of
the clasts and their high trace element abundances of Ni, Cr, V, Zn and Co relative to rocks of the Kraaipan granite-greenstone
basement, sugge.sts an unusual origin for this matrix material. Given the distinctive nature of the breccia and its proximity to a
large circular magnetic anomaly, it is postulated that the megabreccia could represent a mass or debris flow in a marine .setting
triggered by an impact tsunami or resurge. Subsequent faulting may have led to the preferential preservation of these deposits.
This interpretation of the Setlagole megabreccia and geophysical anomaly is evaluated in terms of other possible modes of origin
and it is concluded that a meteoritic source best fits the available data
Inclusive electron scattering in a relativistic Green function approach
A relativistic Green function approach to the inclusive quasielastic (e,e')
scattering is presented. The single particle Green function is expanded in
terms of the eigenfunctions of the nonhermitian optical potential. This allows
one to treat final state interactions consistently in the inclusive and in the
exclusive reactions. Numerical results for the response functions and the cross
sections for different target nuclei and in a wide range of kinematics are
presented and discussed in comparison with experimental data.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, REVTeX
Potential Added Value of Psychological Capital in Predicting Work Attitudes
Meeting the challenge of effectively managing human resources requires new thinking and approaches. To extend the traditional perspective of economic capital, increasing recognition is being given to human capital and more recently social capital, this article proposes and empirically tests the potential added value that psychological capital may have for employee attitudes of satisfaction and commitment. After first providing the background and theory of PsyCap, this article reports a study of manufacturing employees (N = 74) that found a significant relationship between PsyCap and job satisfaction (r=.373) and organization commitment (r=.313). Importantly, the employeesâ PsyCap had a significant added impact over human and social capital on these work attitudes. Future research and practical implications conclude the article
Anomalous Pseudoscalar-Photon Vertex In and Out of Equilibrium
The anomalous pseudoscalar-photon vertex is studied in real time in and out
of equilibrium in a constituent quark model. The goal is to understand the
in-medium modifications of this vertex, exploring the possibility of enhanced
isospin breaking by electromagnetic effects as well as the formation of neutral
pion condensates in a rapid chiral phase transition in peripheral,
ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. In equilibrium the effective vertex is
afflicted by infrared and collinear singularities that require hard thermal
loop (HTL) and width corrections of the quark propagator. The resummed
effective equilibrium vertex vanishes near the chiral transition in the chiral
limit. In a strongly out of equilibrium chiral phase transition we find that
the chiral condensate drastically modifies the quark propagators and the
effective vertex. The ensuing dynamics for the neutral pion results in a
potential enhancement of isospin breaking and the formation of
condensates. While the anomaly equation and the axial Ward identity are not
modified by the medium in or out of equilibrium, the effective real-time
pseudoscalar-photon vertex is sensitive to low energy physics.Comment: Revised version to appear in Phys. Rev. D. 42 pages, 4 figures, uses
Revte
Supersymmetric solutions of PT-/non-PT-symmetric and non-Hermitian Screened Coulomb potential via Hamiltonian hierarchy inspired variational method
The supersymmetric solutions of PT-symmetric and Hermitian/non-Hermitian
forms of quantum systems are obtained by solving the Schrodinger equation for
the Exponential-Cosine Screened Coulomb potential. The Hamiltonian hierarchy
inspired variational method is used to obtain the approximate energy
eigenvalues and corresponding wave functions.Comment: 13 page
Innovation and elaboration on the avian tree of life
Widely documented, megaevolutionary jumps in phenotypic diversity continue to perplex researchers because it remains unclear whether these marked changes can emerge from microevolutionary processes. Here, we tackle this question using new approaches for modeling multivariate traits to evaluate the magnitude and distribution of elaboration and innovation in the evolution of bird beaks. We find that elaboration, evolution along the major axis of phenotypic change, is common at both macro- and megaevolutionary scales, whereas innovation, evolution away from the major axis of phenotypic change, is more prominent at megaevolutionary scales. The major axis of phenotypic change among species beak shapes at megaevolutionary scales is an emergent property of innovation across clades. Our analyses suggest that the reorientation of phenotypes via innovation is a ubiquitous route for divergence that can arise through gradual change alone, opening up further avenues for evolution to explore
Relativistic versus Nonrelativistic Optical Potentials in A(e,e'p)B Reactions
We investigate the role of relativistic and nonrelativistic optical
potentials used in the analysis of () data. We find that the
relativistic calculations produce smaller () cross sections even in the
case in which both relativistic and nonrelativistic optical potentials fit
equally well the elastic proton--nucleus scattering data. Compared to the
nonrelativistic impulse approximation, this effect is due to a depletion in the
nuclear interior of the relativistic nucleon current, which should be taken
into account in the nonrelativistic treatment by a proper redefinition of the
effective current operator.Comment: Added one new figure, the formalism section has been enlarged and the
list of references updated. Added one appendix. This version will appear in
Phys. Rev. C. Revtex 3.0, 6 figures (not included). Full postscript version
of the file and figures available at
http://www.nikhefk.nikhef.nl/projects/Theory/preprints
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