Reconsidering Chinese modesty: Hong Kong and mainland Chinese evaluative judgements of compliment responses

Compliments are usually intended to have a positive effect on interpersonal relations, yet for the outcome actually to be positive, both the compliment and the compliment response need to be handled appropriately. This paper focuses on different types of compliment responses, and explores Chinese people’s evaluative judgements of these different types. Gao and Ting-Toomey (1998) argue that modesty is an important component of Chinese politeness, and that to blatantly accept a compliment is considered impolite. Several studies (e.g. Chen 1993, Yuan 1996 and Loh 1993) have indeed found that compliments are rejected more frequently in Chinese than in English, yet other evidence suggests that acceptance responses are also relatively common in Chinese. This paper explores a number of hypotheses associated with these issues. It reports a study carried out in Mainland China and Hong Kong, and discusses the notion of Chinese modesty in relation to the findings

Can MRI T1 be used to detect early changes in 5xFAD Alzheimer’s mouse brain?

In the present study, we have tested whether MRI T1 relaxation time is a sensitive marker to detect early stages of amyloidosis and gliosis in the young 5xFAD transgenic mouse, a well-established animal model for Alzheimer's disease.5xFAD and wild-type mice were imaged in a 4.7 T Varian horizontal bore MRI system to generate T1 quantitative maps using the spin-echo multi-slice sequence. Following immunostaining for glial fibrillary acidic protein, Iba-1, and amyloid-β, T1 and area fraction of staining were quantified in the posterior parietal and primary somatosensory cortex and corpus callosum.In comparison with age-matched wild-type mice, we observed first signs of amyloidosis in 2.5-month-old 5xFAD mice, and development of gliosis in 5-month-old 5xFAD mice. In contrast, MRI T1 relaxation times of young, i.e., 2.5- and 5-month-old, 5xFAD mice were not significantly different to those of age-matched wild-type controls. Furthermore, although disease progression was detectable by increased amyloid-β load in the brain of 5-month-old 5xFAD mice compared with 2.5-month-old 5xFAD mice, MRI T1 relaxation time did not change.In summary, our data suggest that MRI T1 relaxation time is neither a sensitive measure of disease onset nor progression at early stages in the 5xFAD mouse transgenic mouse model

L-Step Majority Logic Decoding

Coordinated Science Laboratory was formerly known as Control Systems LaboratoryJoint Services Electronics Program / DAAB 07-67-C-0199Rome Air Development Center / F30602-70-C-0014 (EMKC

Used engine oil as alternate binder for buildings – a comparative study

At present, global warming and climate change are the major challenges of foremost significance that substantially influence the earth's environment. The construction sector, especially buildings, is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Conventional building materials such as clay bricks and cement are considered as environmentally unfriendly due to enormous emissions during their production. This paper investigates the utilisation of used engine oil (UEO) as an alternative to the usual cementitious binders. Prototypes were produced from UEO to optimise the compositions and conditions of the process and tested for compressive and flexural strength, permeability and water absorption, respectively, following the ASTM standards. Furthermore, environmental and weathering aspects were also demonstrated to ensure the feasibility of the product. Samples constituting 5% by weight UEO have shown significant results for flexural stress, compressive strength and water absorption and also passed the permeability test. Moreover, 5% of UEO samples have negligible effect in strength for accelerated weathering conditions as demonstrated by the ultraviolet test. Conclusively, UEO can be used as a replacement to conventional binding materials such as a clay bricks and cement. Sustainable development and waste management are the hallmarks of this research. </jats:p

Rapid Evaluation of the Special Measures for Quality and Challenged Provider Regimes: A Mixed-Methods Study

Background: Healthcare organisations in England rated as inadequate for leadership and one other domain enter Special Measures for Quality (SMQ) to receive support and oversight. A ‘watch list’ of challenged providers (CPs) at risk of entering SMQ also receive support. Knowledge is limited about whether the support interventions drive improvements in quality, their costs, and whether they strike the right balance between support and scrutiny. Objective: Analyse trust responses to the implementation of a) interventions for SMQ trusts and b) interventions for CP trusts to determine their impact on these organisations' capacity to achieve and sustain quality improvements. Design: Rapid research comprising five inter-related workstreams: 1. Literature review using systematic methods. 2. Analysis of policy documents and interviews at national level. 3. Eight multi-site, mixed method trust case studies. 4. Analysis of national performance and workforce indicators. 5. Economic analysis. Results: SMQ/CP were intended to be “support” programmes. SMQ/CP had an emotional impact on staff. Perceptions of NHSI interventions were mixed overall. Senior leadership teams were a key driver of change, with strong clinical input vital. Local systems have a role in improvement. Trusts focus efforts to improve across multiple domains. Internal and external factors contribute to positive performance trajectories. Nationally, only 15.8% of SMQ trusts exited within 24 months. Relative to national trends, entry into SMQ/CP corresponded to positive changes in 4-hour waits in Emergency Departments, mortality and delayed transfers of care. Trends in staff sickness and absence improved after trusts left SMQ/CP. There was some evidence that staff survey results improve. No association was found between SMQ/CP and referral to treatment times or cancer waiting times. The largest components of NHSI spending in case studies were interventions directed at 'training on cultural change' (33.6%), 'workforce quality and safety' (21.7%) and 'governance and assurance' (18.4%). Impact of SMQ on financial stability was equivocal; most trusts exiting SMQ experienced the same financial stability before and after exiting. Limitations: The rapid research design and one-year timeframe precludes longitudinal observations of trusts and local systems. The small number of indicators limited the quantitative analysis of impact. Measuring workforce effects was limited by data availability. Conclusions: Empirical evidence of positive impacts from SMQ/CP were identified, however, perceptions were mixed. Key lessons: • Time is needed to implement and embed changes. • Ways to mitigate emotional costs and stigma are needed. • Support strategies should be more trust specific. • Poor organisational performance needs to be addressed within local systems. • Senior leadership teams with stability, strong clinical input and previous SMQ experience helped enact change. • Organisation-wide quality improvement strategies and capabilities are needed. • Staff engagement and an open listening culture promote continuous learning and a quality improvement ‘mindset’, critical for sustainable improvement. • Need to consider level of sustainable funds required to improve patients’ outcomes. Future work: Evaluating recent changes to the regimes; role of local systems; longitudinal approaches. Study registration: Review protocol registered with PROSPERO (CRD: 42019131024). Funding: The National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme (16/138/17 – Rapid Service Evaluation Research Team)

Associations between hippocampal morphometry and neuropathologic markers of Alzheimer's disease using 7 T MRI

Hippocampal atrophy, amyloid plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles are established pathologic markers of Alzheimer's disease. We analyzed the temporal lobes of 9 Alzheimer's dementia (AD) and 7 cognitively normal (NC) subjects. Brains were scanned post-mortem at 7 Tesla. We extracted hippocampal volumes and radial distances using automated segmentation techniques. Hippocampal slices were stained for amyloid beta (Aβ), tau, and cresyl violet to evaluate neuronal counts. The hippocampal subfields, CA1, CA2, CA3, CA4, and subiculum were manually traced so that the neuronal counts, Aβ, and tau burden could be obtained for each region. We used linear regression to detect associations between hippocampal atrophy in 3D, clinical diagnosis and total as well as subfield pathology burden measures. As expected, we found significant correlations between hippocampal radial distance and mean neuronal count, as well as diagnosis. There were subfield specific associations between hippocampal radial distance and tau in CA2, and cresyl violet neuronal counts in CA1 and subiculum. These results provide further validation for the European Alzheimer's Disease Consortium Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative Center Harmonized Hippocampal Segmentation Protocol (HarP)

Urine tests for Down's syndrome screening

Background Down's syndrome occurs when a person has three copies of chromosome 21, or the specific area of chromosome 21 implicated in causing Down's syndrome, rather than two. It is the commonest congenital cause of mental disability and also leads to numerous metabolic and structural problems. It can be life-threatening, or lead to considerable ill health, although some individuals have only mild problems and can lead relatively normal lives. Having a baby with Down's syndrome is likely to have a significant impact on family life. The risk of a Down's syndrome affected pregnancy increases with advancing maternal age. Noninvasive screening based on biochemical analysis of maternal serum or urine, or fetal ultrasound measurements, allows estimates of the risk of a pregnancy being affected and provides information to guide decisions about definitive testing. Before agreeing to screening tests, parents need to be fully informed about the risks, benefits and possible consequences of such a test. This includes subsequent choices for further tests they may face, and the implications of both false positive and false negative screening tests (i.e. invasive diagnostic testing, and the possibility that a miscarried fetus may be chromosomally normal). The decisions that may be faced by expectant parents inevitably engender a high level of anxiety at all stages of the screening process, and the outcomes of screening can be associated with considerable physical and psychological morbidity. No screening test can predict the severity of problems a person with Down's syndrome will have. Objectives To estimate and compare the accuracy of first and second trimester urine markers for the detection of Down's syndrome. Search methods We carried out a sensitive and comprehensive literature search of MEDLINE (1980 to 25 August 2011), EMBASE (1980 to 25 August 2011), BIOSIS via EDINA (1985 to 25 August 2011), CINAHL via OVID (1982 to 25 August 2011), The Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (The Cochrane Library 2011, Issue 7), MEDION (25 August 2011), The Database of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses in Laboratory Medicine (25 August 2011), The National Research Register (archived 2007), Health Services Research Projects in Progress database (25 August 2011). We studied reference lists and published review articles. Selection criteria Studies evaluating tests of maternal urine in women up to 24 weeks of gestation for Down's syndrome, compared with a reference standard, either chromosomal verification or macroscopic postnatal inspection. Data collection and analysis We extracted data as test positive or test negative results for Down's and non-Down's pregnancies allowing estimation of detection rates (sensitivity) and false positive rates (1-specificity). We performed quality assessment according to QUADAS (Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies) criteria. We used hierarchical summary ROC (receiver operating characteristic) meta-analytical methods to analyse test performance and compare test accuracy. We performed analysis of studies allowing direct comparison between tests. We investigated the impact of maternal age on test performance in subgroup analyses. Main results We included 19 studies involving 18,013 pregnancies (including 527 with Down's syndrome). Studies were generally of high quality, although differential verification was common with invasive testing of only high-risk pregnancies. Twenty-four test combinations were evaluated formed from combinations of the following seven different markers with and without maternal age: AFP (alpha-fetoprotein), ITA (invasive trophoblast antigen), ß-core fragment, free ßhCG (beta human chorionic gonadotrophin), total hCG, oestriol, gonadotropin peptide and various marker ratios. The strategies evaluated included three double tests and seven single tests in combination with maternal age, and one triple test, two double tests and 11 single tests without maternal age. Twelve of the 19 studies only evaluated the performance of a single test strategy while the remaining seven evaluated at least two test strategies. Two marker combinations were evaluated in more than four studies; second trimester ß-core fragment (six studies), and second trimester ß-core fragment with maternal age (five studies). In direct test comparisons, for a 5% false positive rate (FPR), the diagnostic accuracy of the double marker second trimester ß-core fragment and oestriol with maternal age test combination was significantly better (ratio of diagnostic odds ratio (RDOR): 2.2 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1 to 4.5), P = 0.02) (summary sensitivity of 73% (CI 57 to 85) at a cut-point of 5% FPR) than that of the single marker test strategy of second trimester ß-core fragment and maternal age (summary sensitivity of 56% (CI 45 to 66) at a cut-point of 5% FPR), but was not significantly better (RDOR: 1.5 (0.8 to 2.8), P = 0.21) than that of the second trimester ß-core fragment to oestriol ratio and maternal age test strategy (summary sensitivity of 71% (CI 51 to 86) at a cut-point of 5% FPR). Authors' conclusions Tests involving second trimester ß-core fragment and oestriol with maternal age are significantly more sensitive than the single marker second trimester ß-core fragment and maternal age, however, there were few studies. There is a paucity of evidence available to support the use of urine testing for Down's syndrome screening in clinical practice where alternatives are available