Ethnic and Language Matching: Effects on Hispanics\u27 Treatment Perceptions

Cultural adaptations to mental health treatment have been recommended to improve treatment outcomes in minorities, including Hispanics (Griner & Smith, 2006). One such adaptation includes matching the therapist to the client on culturally salient variables, such as spoken language or ethnic background. Yet, most investigations about the efficacy of matching have been correlational or have not examined language and ethnic match together (Cabassa, 2007). I investigated the effects of both ethnic and language matching on Hispanics\u27 perceptions of psychological treatment. Participants were 100 Hispanic adults (36 men) randomly assigned to one of four conditions. In each condition, participants read a vignette describing a Hispanic man with depression symptoms who received services from a mental health clinician. Vignettes varied the clinician\u27s language (Spanish or English) and ethnicity (Hispanic or non-Hispanic). Questions following the vignette asked participants to indicate the extent to which they felt the clinician was qualified, would be helpful, the treatment was appropriate, and treatment would consider important cultural factors. An exploratory factor analysis revealed these questions represented two factors: clinician professional qualifications and clinician consideration of culture into treatment. These factors represented dependent variables in subsequent analyses. Analyses of variance revealed a significant main effect of ethnic match on both dependent variables, with ethnic match leading to enhanced perceptions of the qualifications and cultural sensitivity of the clinician. A significant main effect of language match was found only for perceptions of the clinician\u27s professional qualifications. Contrary to hypotheses, no significant interaction between matched ethnicity and language emerged. Results demonstrate language matched clinicians, regardless of ethnicity, were seen as more qualified than unmatched clinicians, but only clinician ethnicity was related to a sense that cultural factors would play a role in treatment decisions

Fully Automated Fact Checking Using External Sources

Given the constantly growing proliferation of false claims online in recent years, there has been also a growing research interest in automatically distinguishing false rumors from factually true claims. Here, we propose a general-purpose framework for fully-automatic fact checking using external sources, tapping the potential of the entire Web as a knowledge source to confirm or reject a claim. Our framework uses a deep neural network with LSTM text encoding to combine semantic kernels with task-specific embeddings that encode a claim together with pieces of potentially-relevant text fragments from the Web, taking the source reliability into account. The evaluation results show good performance on two different tasks and datasets: (i) rumor detection and (ii) fact checking of the answers to a question in community question answering forums.Comment: RANLP-201

Mastitis Caprina

La produccion de leche como alimento para los humanos, tiene una gran tradicion en todo el mundo y uno de los problemas de salud que se presentan comunmente en la produccion de leche de cabra es la mastitis. Se ha observado que en regiones con condiciones ecologicas desfavorables las cabras demuestran gran resistencia y adaptabilidad, que les permite sobrevivir donde otras especies han desaparecido. La anatomia y la histologia se analizan en el primer capitulo cmo un requisito para observer una ubre sana y posteriormente poder entender mejor, como enferma de mastitis la cabra. Se describen enseguida el desarrollo normal y la influencia hormonal del organismo sobre la reproduccion y la lactacion de la cabra, con referencia al funcionamiento de la ubre en sus diferentes periodos. Enseguida se analiza como la ubre de la chiva produce la secrecion de leche. Una vez analizado el funcionamiento y desarrollo de la lactancia, se describen detalladamente los agentes patogenos causantes de mastitis caprina, estos pueden ser diagnosticados mediante diferentes metodos. De especial importancia en la mastitis son las bacterias patogenas, conocidas como los principales causantes de mastitis clinica o subclinical. Se destaca la importancia de S. aureus y de los estafilococos coagulasa negativos, ademas enseguida se describen otros microorganismos causantes de mastitis y que problemas ocasionan en la glandula mamaria. Las celulas somaticas de la leche que encontramos en la cabra son polimorfonucleares, monocitos y linfocitos. Pero a diferencia de la leche de vaca, en esta un numero elevado de celulas somaticas es un indicador de inflamacion y de mastitis, en la cabra esto no es asi, debido a las variaciones fisiologicas de la cabra y a diferentes factores como la edad, el numero de partos y de lactaciones, el estado nutricional, entre otros, tiene influencia en la cantidad de celulas somaticas en la leche.y en ausencia de un agente infeccioso tambien puede haber un numero elevado de celulas somaticas en la leche. Tambien se describen los metodos utilizados para el conteo de celulas somaticas en leche. Enseguida se dan detalles de como llevar un sistema adecuado de prevencion y control de la mastitis, se analizan que factores influyen en la trasmision, en el manejo de la lactacion y como evitar que la falta de higiene sea causante de problemas de salud. Asimismo se dan detalles de los tratamientos mas adecuados para la mastitis por los diferentes agentes etiologicos.The production of milk as food for humans, has a great tradition in the world and one of the health problems that commonly occur in the production of goat´s milk is mastitis. It has been observed that in regions with unfavorable ecological conditions goats show great resistance and adaptability, allowing them to survive where other species have disappeared. Anatomy and histology are discussed in the first chapter how a requirement for having a healthy udder and later to understand better, the goat mastitis. A description is giving about normal development and the hormonal influence of the organism on reproduction and lactation of the goat, with reference to the physiology of the udder in its different periods. Then it analyses how the udder of the goat produces milk secretion. It is described the bacteria causative pathogens agents of goat mastitis, these can be diagnosed through different methods. Of special importance in the mastitis are bacterial pathogens, known as the main cause of clinical or subclinical mastitis. The importance of S. aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci, also then describes other microorganisms that cause mastitis and healthy problems in the mammary gland. Milk somatic cells found in the goat are polymorphonuclear, monocytes and lymphocytes. But unlike cow´s milk, this high number of somatic cells is an indicator of inflammation and mastitis, in the goat this is not so, because goat physiological variations and different factors such as the age, the number of births, nutritional status, among others, it has influence on the number of milk somatic cells, in the absence of an infectious agent also there may be a number high in milk somatic cell. Also describes the methods used for the somatic cell count in milk. Immediately give details of how a proper system for the prevention and control of mastitis, discusses factors influencing transmission, in lactation management and how to avoid the lack of hygiene is causing health problems. Also details of the most suitable treatments for mastitis by different etiological agents

Gender related differences in stress and health outcomes in college age students

Background and Purpose: Rates of obesity and metabolic disorders in young adults are becoming more prevalent in today’s society. To date, only a few investigators have compared the effect that stress may have on health and metabolic outcomes in college age adults. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between stress and cholesterol levels in male versus female college age students. Methods: Thirty-six adults ages 20 to 27 participated in this study. Total blood cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides, TC/HDL ratio, and glucose were measured one time using the Cholestech LDX® after either an overnight, or 4-hour fast. Subjects were then asked to complete two surveys, the Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory® for adults, and the Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory for Young Adults®. Independent t-test and linear regression were used to analyze differences between male and female responses. Significance was set at the 0.05 level. Results: Total Life Stress Inventory® score for adults was significantly higher in female subjects (F=166.8 ± 116.4; M=146.4 ± 123.2; p= 0.003). No significant differences were noted in cholesterol levels and reported stress between genders. However, trends were noted for BMI, body weight, and triglyceride levels. Individual relationships were evaluated between health parameters and each stress inventory question. Overall, both males and females reported higher stress related to the beginning and end of school, change in living conditions, and diet. Significant relationships between different stressors and measured health parameters are given in the table below. Stressor Yes Response No Response P-value Beginning or end of school Total cholesterol (mg•dL-1) 182 ± 36.3 164 ± 18.1 0.007 LDL cholesterol (mg•dL-1) 91.7 ± 34.7 84.6 ± 19.5 0.04 Triglycerides (mg•dL-1) 154.4 ± 111.7 102.5 ± 52.6 0.005 Change in living conditions BMI (kg•m2(-1)) 23.7 ± 4.1 23.6 ± 2.1 0.06 Change in eating habits BMI (kg•m2(-1)) 24.2 ± 4.2 23.4 ± 2.0 0.03 TC/HDL ratio 3.4 ± 1.8 3.3 ± 1.0 0.01 Vacation TC/HDL ratio 4.2 ± 1.7 3.0 ± 0.9 0.01 Conclusion: This preliminary investigation revealed that college age females report higher life stress levels than males. While there were no significant differences between genders regarding overall life stress and health parameters, several defined stressors were associated with negative health outcomes. More investigation incorporating physical activity level, dietary habits, and a larger sample size needs to be completed in the future

Fact Checking in Community Forums

Community Question Answering (cQA) forums are very popular nowadays, as they represent effective means for communities around particular topics to share information. Unfortunately, this information is not always factual. Thus, here we explore a new dimension in the context of cQA, which has been ignored so far: checking the veracity of answers to particular questions in cQA forums. As this is a new problem, we create a specialized dataset for it. We further propose a novel multi-faceted model, which captures information from the answer content (what is said and how), from the author profile (who says it), from the rest of the community forum (where it is said), and from external authoritative sources of information (external support). Evaluation results show a MAP value of 86.54, which is 21 points absolute above the baseline.Comment: AAAI-2018; Fact-Checking; Veracity; Community-Question Answering; Neural Networks; Distributed Representation

Gender and Stress Related Effects on Cardiovascular Health Outcomes

Title[j1] : Gender and stress related effects on cardiovascular health outcomes Authors: Michael Cedeño – Master’s, (Tarleton State University), Jennifer Blevins-McNaughton (Tarleton State University) Background and Purpose: To date, only a few investigators have compared the effect that stress may have on health and metabolic outcomes in college age adults. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which gender may play a role in self-reported stress and cardiovascular and metabolic outcomes in college age students. Methods: Thirty-eight (N = 38) adults ages 18 to 28 participated in this study. Height, weight, supine resting heart rate and supine blood pressure were measured. Subjects completed the Institute of HeartMath® Stress and Well-Being Survey™ to measure psychological stressors, total stress score, total well-being, and emotional vitality. Total blood cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides, TC/HDL ratio, and glucose were measured in a randomly selected subset of 13 subjects (N = 13; 7 females and 6 males) using the Cholestech LDX®. Independent t-test and Pearson correlations were used to analyze differences between male and female responses. Results: Males reported significantly higher systolic (P \u3c 0.05) and diastolic (P \u3c 0.05) blood pressures than females as well as glucose levels (P \u3c 0.01). Males also reported higher amounts of work related stress (P \u3c 0.01). Conclusion: This preliminary investigation revealed that college age males reported significantly higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures as well as glucose levels than their female counterparts. Females had significantly higher HDL than males, but this is common in college age adults. There were no significant differences regarding stress components, cardiovascular or metabolic health outcomes and gender. Stress components such as work and finances were shown to correlate with systolic and diastolic blood pressure in both genders, but a larger sample size is needed to find a relationship. [j1

The development of a model to describe the influence of temperature and relative humidity on respiration rate of prickly pear cactus stems in reduced O2 conditions

Respiration rate (RO2) of prickly pear cactus stems (Opuntia spp.) was measured as a function of 4 temperature (T) and 6 relative humidity (RH) combinations for O2 partial pressures between 15 and 0.8 kPa, which were considered to support aerobic respiration. The rate of respiration (RO2) was determined based on O2 depletion of the atmosphere in sealed containers containing 1 kg of stems. The O2 partial pressure declined linearly over time and the slopes of the fitted lines were used to calculate the rate of O2 uptake. The rate of O2 uptake increased with increasing temperature and decreased with increasing RH. The respiratory rate at 25°C was approximately 30 to 40 times higher than at 5°C. The respiratory rate at 65% RH was between 30 and 90% greater than at 90% RH, depending on the temperature. Data for ln(RO2) for each RH level were regressed against the inverse of the T (K-1) to determine Arrhenius constants and calculate the apparent Ea of respiration for the six RH conditions. The Ea was similar for each RH level, varying between a low of 113 to a high of 131 kJ•mol-1. An equation having an R2 of 0.95 was developed describing respiration as a function of RH and T (°C) using only four constant

Protein delivery into plant cells: Toward in vivo structural biology

Understanding the biologically relevant structural and functional behavior of proteins inside living plant cells is only possible through the combination of structural biology and cell biology. The state-of-the-art structural biology techniques are typically applied to molecules that are isolated from their native context. Although most experimental conditions can be easily controlled while dealing with an isolated, purified protein, a serious shortcoming of such in vitro work is that we cannot mimic the extremely complex intracellular environment in which the protein exists and functions. Therefore, it is highly desirable to investigate proteins in their natural habitat, i.e., within live cells. This is the major ambition of in-cell NMR, which aims to approach structure-function relationship under true in vivo conditions following delivery of labeled proteins into cells under physiological conditions. With a multidisciplinary approach that includes recombinant protein production, confocal fluorescence microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and different intracellular protein delivery strategies, we explore the possibility to develop in-cell NMR studies in living plant cells. While we provide a comprehensive framework to set-up in-cell NMR, we identified the efficient intracellular introduction of isotope-labeled proteins as the major bottleneck. Based on experiments with the paradigmatic intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) Early Response to Dehydration protein 10 and 14, we also established the subcellular localization of ERD14 under abiotic stress. © 2017 Cedeño, Pauwels and Tompa

The Legal Structure of Ring-Fenced Bodies in the United Kingdom - A Response to Consultation Paper CP19/14 on the Implementation of Ring-fencing: on Legal Structure, Governance and the continuity of Services and Facilities

__Abstract__ This paper is submitted by Prof. Dr. Klaus Heine1 and Enmanuel Cedeño-Brea2, in response to the Prudential Regulatory Authority’s (PRA) Consultation Paper CP19/14 on “The Implementation of Ring-fencing: consultation on legal structure, governance and the continuity of services and facilities”, published on October 2014 (hereinafter, the “Consultation Paper” or “CP19/14”)