Relationship between Crude Oil Prices and Stock Prices of Alternative Energy Companies with Recent Evidence

This paper examines the recent interactive relationships between crude oil prices and stock performances of alternative energy companies. Oil prices and stock index of alternative energy sector are found independent from each other before late 2006. Contrary to existing studies, however, we find significant interdependence between oil prices and stock index of alternative energy industry in the recent years. Since late 2006, oil prices become significantly responsible for the stock performances of alternative energy companies. This finding suggests that the stock market investors of alternative energy sector incorporate oil price shocks into their trading decisions only recently.Crude oil price; Alternative energy; Oil stock index

The influences of spiritual well-being, parental rearing attitude, and coping strategies on USA college students\u27 anxiety and depression

Session presented on Friday, July 24, 2015: Purpose: The purpose of this study was to exam the relationships between college student\u27s spiritual well-being, parental rearing attitude, and coping strategies with their anxiety and depression. Methods: There were 330 college students recruited from a state university in the central USA including 79 male (23.9%) and 251 female (76.1%). The mean age was 25.20 (SD = 6.83). The data were collected by structured questionnaires. The SPSS 20 was used to do the data analysis. Results: The statistical significant factors related to Anxiety include Spiritual well-being (r = -0.262, p ? 0.001), Positive Parental Rearing Attitude including Inductive Reasoning (r =-0.16 , p ? 0.01), Communication (r = -0.154, p ? 0.01), and Involvement (r = -0.132, p ? 0.05) as well as Negative Parental Rearing Attitude (r = 0.22, p ? 0.001) including Inconsistent Discipline (r = 0.18, p ? 0.001) and Harsh Discipline (r = 0.163, p ? 0.01). Coping strategies including Problem Focused Disengagement (r = -0.316, p ? 0.001), Emotion Focused Engagement (r = 0.29, p ? 0.001), and Emotion Focused Disengagement (r = 0.304, p ? 0.001) had significant relationships with college students\u27 anxiety. Same as Anxiety, Depression had significant relationships with those variables. Depression also had a significant relationship with Positive Parental Rearing Attitude (r = -0.164, p ? 0.01). Conclusion: Increasing the scores of Spiritual well-being, Positive Parental Rearing Attitude, and using Problem Focused Disengagement coping strategies decreased college students\u27 Anxiety and Depression. Decreasing scores of Negative Parental Rearing Attitude and emotional coping strategies also decreased college students\u27 Anxiety and Depression

Comparisons of Using Alcohol, Coping Strategies, Anxiety, and Depression between USA and Taiwanese College Students

Purpose: In this study, we compared United States (US) and Taiwanese college students’ using alcohol, coping strategies, anxiety, and depression. Research Questions: 1. What were the differences in demographic characteristics, using alcohol, coping strategies, anxiety, and depression between US and Taiwanese college students? 2. What were the relationships between US and Taiwanese college students’ using alcohol, coping strategies, anxiety, and depression? 3. How much of US and Taiwanese college students’ anxiety and depression were predicted by their use of alcohol, coping strategies? Methods: Four hundred and one US and 180 Taiwanese college students were recruited in this study. This was a cross-sectional comparative research design. SPSS 28.0 was used to do the data analysis. The Descriptive data analysis, Chi-square tests, independent t-tests, Pearson Correlations, and Stepwise Multiple Regressions were used to examine the research questions. Results: More US college students were married, believed in Jesus Christ, had higher incomes, and were older than Taiwanese college students. Compared with Taiwanese college students, US college students had higher scores in using Problem-Focused Disengagement, but lower scores in Emotional-Focused coping strategies, depression, and using alcohol with negative emotions. The significant predictors for the US and Taiwanese college students’ anxiety and depression were using alcohol with negative emotion, using Problem-Focused Disengagement, using Emotion-Focused Engagement, and using Emotional-Focused Disengagement. Taiwanese college students had another significant predictor for depression which was Problem-Focused Engagement. Conclusions/Implications for Practice: The significant factors associated with anxiety and depression were found in this study

Adding Chinese Herbal Medicine to Routine Care is Associated With a Lower Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis Among Patients With Asthma: A Population-Based Retrospective Cohort Study

Objective: Due to the shared pathogenesis of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), patients with asthma were found to have a higher risk of RA. While the benefits and safety of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for asthma have been reported, the scientific evidence regarding its effect on RA is limited. This longitudinal cohort study aimed to determine the relation between CHM use and RA risk in patients with asthma. Methods: Using the nationwide claims data, we enrolled 33,963 patients 20–80 years of age who were newly diagnosed with asthma and simultaneously free of RA between 2000 and 2007. From this sample, we utilized propensity score matching to create sets of participants as treatment and control groups, which comprised 13,440 CHM users and 13,440 non-CHM users. The incidence rate and hazard ratio (HR) for RA between the two groups were estimated at the end of 2013. A Cox proportional hazards model was constructed to examine the impact of the CHM use on the risk of RA. Results: The cumulative incidence of RA was substantially lower in the CHM user group. In the follow-up period, 214 patients in the CHM user group (1.92 per 1,000 person-years) and 359 patients in the non-CHM user group (2.92 per 1,000 person-years) developed RA (adjusted HR = 0.63, 95% confidence interval: 0.54–0.75). Of the commonly-prescribed formulae, nine CHM products were associated with a lower RA risk: Xiao-Qing-Long-Tang, Ma-Xing-Gan-Shi-Tang, Ding-Chuan-Tang, Xin-Yi-Qing-Fei-Tang, Bei Mu, Jie Geng, Xing Ren, Da Huang, and San Chi. Conclusion: This study found that patients with asthma who received CHM treatment, in addition to the conventional therapy, had a lower risk of RA. Use of CHM treatment may be integrated into conventional therapy to reduce subsequent RA risk among asthma patients

Expert-Novice Differences in SMR Activity during Dart Throwing

Cheng M-Y, Hung C-L, Huang C-J, et al. Expert-Novice Differences in SMR Activity during Dart Throwing. Biological Psychology. 2015;110:212-218.Previous evidence suggests that augmented sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) activity is related to the superior regulation of processing cognitive-motor information in motor performance. However, no published studies have examined the relationship between SMR and performance in precision sports; thus, this study examined the relationship between SMR activity and the level of skilled performance in tasks requiring high levels of attention (e.g., dart throwing). We hypothesized that skilled performance would be associated with higher SMR activity. Fourteen dart-throwing experts and eleven novices were recruited. Participants were requested to perform 60 dart throws while EEG was recorded. The 2 (Group: Expert, Novice) x 2 (Time window: –2000 ms to –1000 ms, –1000 ms to 0 ms) ANOVA showed that the dart-throwing experts maintained a relatively higher SMR power than the novices before dart release. These results suggest that SMR might reflect the adaptive regulation of cognitive-motor processing during the preparatory period

Automatic Contrast Enhancement of Brain MR Images Using Hierarchical Correlation Histogram Analysis

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that has a higher probability of occurrence in middle-aged and older adults than in the young. With the use of a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system, abnormal cell regions can be identified, and this identification can help medical personnel to evaluate the chance of disease. This study proposes a hierarchical correlation histogram analysis based on the grayscale distribution degree of pixel intensity by constructing a correlation histogram, that can improves the adaptive contrast enhancement for specific objects. The proposed method produces significant results during contrast enhancement preprocessing and facilitates subsequent CAD processes, thereby reducing recognition time and improving accuracy. The experimental results show that the proposed method is superior to existing methods by using two estimation image quantitative methods of PSNR and average gradient values. Furthermore, the edge information pertaining to specific cells can effectively increase the accuracy of the results

Higher power of sensorimotor rhythm is associated with better performance in skilled air-pistol shooters

Cheng M-Y, Wang K-P, Hung C-L, et al. Higher power of sensorimotor rhythm is associated with better performance in skilled air-pistol shooters. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. 2017;32:47-53.Objectives Psychomotor efficiency has been linked with processing efficiency during sport performance. Reduced cortical activity in the sensorimotor area has been related to less variability in the movement preparation that is conducive to skilled motor performance. This study proposes sensorimotor rhythm (SMR), 12–15 Hz of the electroencephalography (EEG) in the sensorimotor area, may be used to investigate psychomotor efficiency in sports performance. Method Twenty-four skilled air pistol shooters were recruited to fire 40 shots while EEG and shooting accuracy were recorded. Results The data show that improved performance of skilled shooters is associated with higher SMR power during the last second and lower coherence on high alpha power at Fz-T3 before action initiation. A negative relationship is also exhibited between the SMR power and the shooting performance during the aiming. Conclusions This finding suggests that reduced interference from sensorimotor processing, as reflected by elevated SMR power, may be related to improved processing efficiency during the aiming period. We conclude that SMR may be used to understand psychomotor efficiency underlying air-pistol shooting performance

Korean Red Ginseng Improves Blood Pressure Stability in Patients with Intradialytic Hypotension

Introduction. Intradialytic hypotension (IDH) is a common complication during hemodialysis which may increase mortality risks. Low dose of Korean red ginseng (KRG) has been reported to increase blood pressure. Whether KRG can improve hemodynamic stability during hemodialysis has not been examined. Methods. The 8-week study consisted of two phases: observation phase and active treatment phase. According to prehemodialysis blood pressure (BP), 38 patients with IDH were divided into group A (BP ≥ 140/90 mmHg, n = 18) and group B (BP < 140/90 mmHg, n = 20). Patients were instructed to chew 3.5 gm KRG slices at each hemodialysis session during the 4-week treatment phase. Blood pressure changes, number of sessions disturbed by symptomatic IDH, plasma levels of vasoconstrictors, blood biochemistry, and adverse effects were recorded. Results. KRG significantly reduced the degree of blood pressure drop during hemodialysis (P < 0.05) and the frequency of symptomatic IDH (P < 0.05). More activation of vasoconstrictors (endothelin-1 and angiotensin II) during hemodialysis was found. The postdialytic levels of endothelin-1 and angiotensin II increased significantly (P < 0.01). Conclusion. Chewing KRG renders IDH patients better resistance to acute BP reduction during hemodialysis via activation of vasoconstrictors. Our results suggest that KRG could be an adjuvant treatment for IDH

Cancer and mTOR inhibitors in kidney transplantation recipients

Background Previous studies show that mTOR inhibitors decrease the risk of cancer development after kidney transplantation. However, the effect of cumulative doses of mTOR inhibitors on cancer after kidney transplantation is not well known. Methods In the current study, patients were registered into a national database in Taiwan. Between year 2000 and 2013, 4,563 patients received kidney transplantation. They were divided into two groups, according to mTOR inhibitors usage. The cumulative dose of mTOR inhibitors was recorded. Patients were followed-up until de novo cancer development, death, or the end of 2014. Results Patients were divided into two groups: mTOR inhibitors users (study group, n = 828) and mTOR inhibitors non-users (control group, n = 3,735). The median follow-up duration was 7.8 years. The risk of de novo cancer (hazards ratio (HR) 0.80, 95% CI [0.60–1.09], p = 0.16) and risk of death (HR 1.14, 95% CI [0.82–1.60], p = 0.43) was not different between mTOR inhibitor user and non-user groups. Neither high- nor low-dose exposure to mTOR inhibitors was associated with increased risk of cancer or mortality. Analysis of cancer subtypes showed no influence by mTOR inhibitors. In addition, the cause of mortality was not significantly different between the two groups. Discussion We could not find the association of mTOR inhibitors use and risk of de novo cancer development or mortality in patients with kidney transplantation in Chinese patients. Cumulative exposure to mTOR inhibitors did not change the results

Perforated acute appendicitis resulting from appendiceal villous adenoma presenting with small bowel obstruction: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A villous adenoma is an extremely rare benign tumour in the appendix, in contrast to other benign appendiceal lesions. The clinical features are usually asymptomatic. Acute appendicitis is the most common complication with the lesion obstructing the orifice of the appendiceal lumen. Thus, a villous adenoma is usually found during surgical intervention for acute appendicitis. Mechanical obstruction induced by acute perforated appendicitis has been previously reported. Acute appendicitis caused by a villous adenoma presenting with acute intestinal obstruction has not been previously reported.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 78-year-old woman presented to our Emergency Department with diffuse abdominal pain and tenderness. The abdominal plain film and computed tomography revealed an intestinal obstruction. After surgical intervention, the ruptured appendix was shown to be associated with intestinal obstruction. The post-operative pathologic diagnosis was an appendiceal villous adenoma.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This is the first report describing an appendiceal villous adenoma, which is an occasional cause of perforated acute appendicitis, presenting as a complete intestinal obstruction. We emphasize that in elderly patients without a surgical history, the occult cause of complete intestinal obstruction must be determined. If an appendiceal tumour is diagnosed, an intra-operative frozen section is suggested prior to selecting a suitable method of surgical intervention.</p