Multivariate Contrasts For Repeated Measures Designs Under Assumption Violations

Conventional and approximate degrees of freedom procedures for testing multivariate interaction contrasts in groups by trials repeated measures designs were compared under assumption violation conditions. Procedures were based on either least-squares or robust estimators. Power generally favored test procedures based on robust estimators for non-normal distributions, but was influenced by the degree of departure from non-normality, definition of power, and magnitude of the multivariate effect size

A Comparison of Procedures for the Analysis of Multivariate Repeated Measurements

Three procedures for analyzing within-subjects effects in multivariate repeated measures designs are compared when group covariances are heterogeneous: the multiple regression model (MRM) with a structured covariance, Johansen’s (1980) procedure, and the multivariate Brown and Forsythe (1974) procedure. A preliminary likelihood ratio test of a Kronecker product covariance structure is sensitive to sample size and derivational assumption violations. Error rates of the procedures are generally well-controlled except when the distribution is skewed. The MRM procedure displayed few power advantages over the other procedures

El-Nino and its impacts on coral reef ecosystem in 289 the eastern Indian Ocean

The coral reef bleaching associated with the elevated Ocean temperature has been widely reported in the last three decades from different regions of the world. The rising temperature and acidification of Oceans makes a big challenge for the survival of reefs in the world. The other important stresses for the reefs include increased UV radiation, sea level variations, suspended sediments and increased turbidity of water. There are different studies which relate bleaching events with global warming and climate change. However, the increased frequency of mass bleaching events could not be sufficiently explained with current warming rates of the Ocean. Stone et al., (1999) put forward a new theory that recent increases in mass bleaching events were in response to the relative increase in El Niño experienced over the last two decades

Longer Duration of Diabetes Strongly Impacts Fracture Risk Assessment: The Manitoba BMD Cohort

Context: Type 2 diabetes is associated with a higher risk for major osteoporotic fracture (MOF) and hip fracture than predicted by the World Health Organization fracture risk assessment (FRAX) tool. Objective: The objective of the study was to examine the impact of diabetes duration on fracture risk. Methods: Using a clinical dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry registry linked with the Manitoba administrative databases, we identified all women age 40 years or older with 10 or more years of prior health care coverage undergoing hip dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry measurements (1996 –2013). Incident MOF and incident hip fractures were each studied over 7 years. Cox proportional hazards models were adjusted for FRAX (FRAX adjusted) and then FRAX plus comorbidity, falls, osteoporosis therapy, or insulin (fully adjusted). FRAX calibration was assessed comparing observed vs predicted probabilities. Results: There were 49 098 women without and 8840 women with diabetes (31.4%10 y duration; 20.1% 5–10 y; 23.7%5 y; 24.8% new onset). In FRAX-adjusted analyses, only duration longer than 10 years was associated with a higher risk for MOF (hazard ratio [HR] 1.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.30 –1.66), and this was similar in the fully adjusted models (HR 1.34, 95% CI 1.17–1.54). In contrast, a higher risk for hip fracture was seen for all durations in a dose-dependent fashion (eg, FRAX adjusted HR 2.10, 95% CI 1.71–2.59 for duration 10 y vs HR 1.32, 95% CI 1.03–1.69 for new onset). FRAX significantly underestimated the MOF risk (calibration ratio 1.24, 95% CI 1.08 –1.39) and hip fracture risk (1.93, 95% CI 1.50 –2.35) in those with a diabetes duration longer than 10 years. Conclusion: Diabetes is a FRAX-independent risk factor for MOF only in women with a long duration of diabetes, but diabetes increases hip fracture risk, regardless of duration. Those with diabetes longer than 10 years are at particularly high risk of fracture, and this elevated risk is currently underestimated by FRAX

Agreement between administrative data and the Resident Assessment Instrument Minimum Dataset (RAI-MDS) for medication use in long-term care facilities: a population-based study

Background: Prescription medication use, which is common among long-term care facility (LTCF) residents, is routinely used to describe quality of care and predict health outcomes. Data sources that capture medication information, which include surveys, medical charts, administrative health databases, and clinical assessment records, may not collect concordant information, which can result in comparable prevalence and effect size estimates. The purpose of this research was to estimate agreement between two population-based electronic data sources for measuring use of several medication classes among LTCF residents: outpatient prescription drug administrative data and the Resident Assessment Instrument Minimum Data Set (RAI-MDS) Version 2.0. Methods: Prescription drug and RAI-MDS data from the province of Saskatchewan, Canada (population 1.1 million) were linked for 2010/11 in this cross-sectional study. Agreement for anti-psychotic, anti-depressant, and anti-anxiety/hypnotic medication classes was examined using prevalence estimates, Cohen’s κ, and positive and negative agreement. Mixed-effects logistic regression models tested resident and facility characteristics associated with disagreement. Results: The cohort was comprised of 8,866 LTCF residents. In the RAI-MDS data, prevalence of anti-psychotics was 35.7%, while for anti-depressants it was 37.9% and for hypnotics it was 27.1%. Prevalence was similar in prescription drug data for anti-psychotics and anti-depressants, but lower for hypnotics (18.0%). Cohen’s κ ranged from 0.39 to 0.85 and was highest for the first two medication classes. Diagnosis of a mood disorder and facility affiliation was associated with disagreement for hypnotics. Conclusions: Agreement between prescription drug administrative data and RAI-MDS assessment data was influenced by the type of medication class, as well as selected patient and facility characteristics. Researchers should carefully consider the purpose of their study, whether it is to capture medication that are dispensed or medications that are currently used by residents, when selecting a data source for research on LTCF populations

Die informations- und kommunikationstechnische Infrastruktur und ihre mittelfristige Entwicklung an den Hochschulen des Landes NRW

Dieser Bericht des Arbeitskreises der Leiter wissenschaftlicher Rechenzentren in NRW (ARNW) richtet sich an die Hochschulleitungen und die Verantwortlichen für Grundstrukturen in Information und Kommunikation (IuK). Er informiert über aktuelle wichtige Fragen, besonders über den Stand und Einsatz von IuK-Technologien. In Anbetracht der anhaltend schnellen Weiterentwicklung dieses Technologiefeldes, die sich auf alle Bereiche der Hochschulen auswirkt, halten wir das für wichtig, damit vermieden wird, dass wichtige Themen am Rande bleiben. Das neue Hochschulgesetz und der Qualitätspakt machen darüber hinaus eine Positionierung der Hochschulen in NRW zur IuK-Infrastruktur unabdingbar

What is Youth Voice and Youth Participation?

Jóvenes SANOS is a youth program, under United Way of Santa Cruz County, located in Watsonville, California. Under Jóvenes SANOS (JS), a guidebook was created to address what youth voice and youth participation are. In JS, youth participation is minimal. The contributing factors include the development stage of the program, the partnership between adults and youth, and the misconception that youth are not interested in social change. To tackle this issue, it is important to recruit adults who will listen to youth because it can lead to an increase in youth productivity, instead of having them participate in a passive way. In addition, the program can not grow as a whole if youth are not being involved within the program. The guidebook will be a tool used for future interns or adult allies when wanting to create meaningful youth participation within JS. Lastly, it can be a reminder to include JS youth in the process of choosing upcoming projects or events to participate in

Double-tailed lipid modification as a promising candidate for oligonucleotide delivery in mammalian cells

Background The potential use of nucleic acids as therapeutic drugs has triggered the quest for oligonucleotide conjugates with enhanced cellular permeability. To this end, the biophysical aspects of previously reported potential lipid oligodeoxyribonucleotide conjugates were studied including its membrane-binding properties and cellular uptake. Methods These conjugates were fully characterized by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and HPLC chromatography. Their ability to insert into lipid model membrane systems was evaluated by Langmuir balance and confocal microscopy followed by the study of the internalization of a lipid oligodeoxyribonucleotide conjugate bearing a double-tail lipid modification (C28) into different cell lines by confocal microscopy and flow cytometry. This compound was also compared with other lipid containing conjugates and with the classical lipoplex formulation using Transfectin as transfection reagent. Results This double-tail lipid modification showed better incorporation into both lipid model membranes and cell systems. Indeed, this lipid conjugation was capable of inserting the oligodeoxyribonucleotide into both liquid-disordered and liquid-ordered domains of model lipid bilayer systems and produced an enhancement of oligodeoxyribonucleotide uptake in cells, even better than the effect caused by lipoplexes. In addition, in β2 integrin (CR3) expressing cells this receptor was directly involved in the enhanced internalization of this compound. Conclusions All these features confirm that the dual lipid modification (C28) is an excellent modification for enhancing nucleic acid delivery without altering their binding properties. General significance Compared to the commercial lipoplex approach, oligodeoxyribonucleotide conjugation with C28 dual lipid modification seems to be promising to improve oligonucleotide delivery in mammalian cells.This work was supported with funds from the Spanish Ministry of Economy [Grant BFU2007-62062], the Basque Government [GIV06-42], the Spanish Ministry of Education [Grant CTQ2010-20541], the Generalitat de Catalunya [2009/SGR/208], the Instituto de Salud Carlos III [CB06_01_0019] and Fundación Biofísica Bizkaia. CIBER-BBN is an iniciative funded by the VI National R&D&I Plan 2008-2011, Iniciativa Ingenio 2010, Consolider Program, CIBER Actions and financed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III with assistance from the European Regional Development. B.U-U. was supported by Universidad de País Vasco-UPV/EHU pre-doctoral fellowship and Fundación Biofísica Bizkaia. J.V.B. was a postdoctoral scientist supported by Universidad de País Vasco-UPV/EHU postdoctoral fellowship. The authors acknowledge the Servicio General de Microscopía Analítica y de Alta Resolución en Biomedicina at the University of Basque Country for assistance with confocal microscopy, Prof. A. Gómez-Muñoz for flow cytometry facilities and Eneritz Bilbao for excellent technical assistance.Peer reviewe