A STOCHASTIC DOMINANCE ANALYSIS OF CONTRACT GRAZING FEEDER CATTLE

Contract grazing feeder cattle is an arrangement where cattle owned by one party graze forage produced on land owned by another party. The forage producer is paid a fixed price per pound gained. Stochastic dominance analysis is used to compare contract grazing and the more traditional system in which the same individual owns both the cattle and land.Livestock Production/Industries,

Frequency of neurolopsychological deficits after traumatic brain injury

El traumatismo craneoencefálico (TCE) puede conllevar impactantes cambios en la vida cotidiana, que incluyen alteraciones a nivel social, profesional, comunicativo y cognitivo (dificultades atencionales, mnemónicas y ejecutivas). Este estudio tuvo por objeto caracterizar la ocurrencia de déficits neuropsicológicos post-TCE y constatar el impacto ocasionado por el nivel de severidad del trauma en el desempeño cognitivo de los pacientes. Participaron 96 adultos en la muestra total, que fue dividida en dos grupos para evaluar el nivel de severidad del trauma: TCE leve (n=39) y TCE grave (n=77). La gravedad de la lesión se clasificó por medio de la Escala de Coma de Glasgow, por la duración de la pérdida de consciencia, o por la amnesia post-traumática. No había diferencias entre la edad y la escolaridad de los participantes. Para la comparación entre los grupos en cuanto a la distribución de ocurrencia de déficits neuropsicológicos, se utilizó el Chi-cuadrado. Se utilizó una batería de evaluación neuropsicológica flexible conformada por tareas verbales y visoespaciales de habilidades lingüísticas, mnemónicas y ejecutivas. Los grupos no se diferenciaron en cuanto a las variables sociodemográficas. Los pacientes con TCE leve tuvieron mejores puntajes comparados con los de TCE grave (número de errores y categorías completadas del Test de clasificación de tarjetas de Wisconsin- [WCST, por sus siglas en inglés]; errores en la parte B del Test de Hayling; y en la interferencia retro y proactiva del Test de aprendizaje auditivo verbal de Rey [RAVLT, por sus siglas en inglés]. El nivel de severidad del trauma parece mostrar diferencias en los individuos en cuanto al desempeño en memoria episódica de información nueva y en el control de interferencia entre los recuerdos; lo mismo se aplica a las funciones de flexibilidad e inhibición. Estos resultados sugieren que es necesaria una mayor inversión en acciones de políticas públicas, priorizando intervenciones neurocognitivas reeducativas y métodos de prevención de accidentes relacionados con lesiones traumáticas que tengan alta incidencia de secuelas.El traumatismo craneoencefálico (TCE) puede conllevar impactantes cambios en la vida cotidiana, que incluyen alteraciones a nivel social, profesional, comunicativo y cognitivo (dificultades atencionales, mnemónicas y ejecutivas). Este estudio tuvo por objeto caracterizar la ocurrencia de déficits neuropsicológicos post-TCE y constatar el impacto ocasionado por el nivel de severidad del trauma en el desempeño cognitivo de los pacientes. Participaron 96 adultos en la muestra total, que fue dividida en dos grupos para evaluar el nivel de severidad del trauma: TCE leve (n=39) y TCE grave (n=77). La gravedad de la lesión se clasificó por medio de la Escala de Coma de Glasgow, por la duración de la pérdida de consciencia, o por la amnesia post-traumática. No había diferencias entre la edad y la escolaridad de los participantes. Para la comparación entre los grupos en cuanto a la distribución de ocurrencia de déficits neuropsicológicos, se utilizó el Chi-cuadrado. Se utilizó una batería de evaluación neuropsicológica flexible conformada por tareas verbales y visoespaciales de habilidades lingüísticas, mnemónicas y ejecutivas. Los grupos no se diferenciaron en cuanto a las variables sociodemográficas. Los pacientes con TCE leve tuvieron mejores puntajes comparados con los de TCE grave (número de errores y categorías completadas del Test de clasificación de tarjetas de Wisconsin- [WCST, por sus siglas en inglés]; errores en la parte B del Test de Hayling; y en la interferencia retro y proactiva del Test de aprendizaje auditivo verbal de Rey [RAVLT, por sus siglas en inglés]. El nivel de severidad del trauma parece mostrar diferencias en los individuos en cuanto al desempeño en memoria episódica de información nueva y en el control de interferencia entre los recuerdos; lo mismo se aplica a las funciones de flexibilidad e inhibición. Estos resultados sugieren que es necesaria una mayor inversión en acciones de políticas públicas, priorizando intervenciones neurocognitivas reeducativas y métodos de prevención de accidentes relacionados con lesiones traumáticas que tengan alta incidencia de secuelas.Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can lead to significant changes in daily life, as well as in social, labor, communicative, and cognitive domains (attention, memory and executive functions). This study aimed to characterize the occurrence of post-TBI neuropsychological deficits as well as to determine whether there is an impact related to the level of severity of the trauma on the patient's performance. Ninety-six adults participated in the study, who were divided in two groups to assess the trauma's level of severity: mild TBI (n=39) and severe TBI (n=57). This severity was classified by the Glasgow Coma Scale, by the duration of consciousness loss, or by post-traumatic amnesia. There were no differences between the groups regarding variables of age and years of schooling. A Chi- square test was used to do a comparison between the two groups in terms of occurrence of neuropsychological deficits. Verbal, visuospatial, mnemonic, linguistic and executive tests composed a flexible neuropsychological battery. Patients with mild TBI had better scores compared to those with severe TBI (number of errors and in completed categories of the Modified Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (MWCST); errors in Part B of The Hayling Test; and proactive and retroactive interference in the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). The severity of the trauma seems to differentiate individual's performance on episodic memory of new information and in the control of interference between memories; the same is applied to flexibility and inhibition functions. These results suggest the need for more investments in public health policy actions, prioritizing neurocognitive remedial intervention and prevention methods for such condition with high incidence of sequelae

Going to great lengths in the pursuit of luxury:how longer brand names can enhance the luxury perception of a brand

Brand names are a crucial part of the brand equity and marketing strategy of any company. Research suggests that companies spend considerable time and money to create suitable names for their brands and products. This paper uses the Zipf's law (or Principle of Least Effort) to analyze the perceived luxuriousness of brand names. One of the most robust laws in linguistics, Zipf's law describes the inverse relationship between a word's length and its frequency i.e., the more frequently a word is used in language, the shorter it tends to be. Zipf's law has been applied to many fields of science and in this paper, we provide evidence for the idea that because polysyllabic words (and brand names) are rare in everyday conversation, they are considered as more complex, distant, and abstract and that the use of longer brand names can enhance the perception of how luxurious a brand is (compared with shorter brand names, which are considered to be close, frequent, and concrete to consumers). Our results suggest that shorter names (mono‐syllabic) are better suited to basic brands whereas longer names (tri‐syllabic or more) are more appropriate for luxury brands

On Linear Information Systems

Scott's information systems provide a categorically equivalent, intensional description of Scott domains and continuous functions. Following a well established pattern in denotational semantics, we define a linear version of information systems, providing a model of intuitionistic linear logic (a new-Seely category), with a "set-theoretic" interpretation of exponentials that recovers Scott continuous functions via the co-Kleisli construction. From a domain theoretic point of view, linear information systems are equivalent to prime algebraic Scott domains, which in turn generalize prime algebraic lattices, already known to provide a model of classical linear logic

Factors Influencing the Participation of Older People in Clinical Trials : Data Analysis from the MAVIS Trial

Peer reviewedPostprin

The relationship between habitual physical activity status and executive function in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease: a longitudinal, cross-lagged panel analysis

To determine whether habitual physical activity status specifically influences executive function change in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) over 1 year. In this longitudinal cohort study, 45 participants with AD were recruited and provided follow-up data approximately 1 year later. Executive function measures (map search task, digit symbol substitution task, controlled oral word association task, verbal fluency task) and habitual physical activity measures (Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) and handgrip strength) were taken at baseline and follow-up. Individual composites were subsequently created. Additional demographic, lifestyle, and neuropsychiatric measures were also taken. In a structural equation model (χ2(26) = 9.84, p = .998, comparative fit index = 1.00, root mean square error of approximation = .00), a significant association was found between habitual physical activity and executive function change (β = .27, p = .04). In a cross-lagged panel analysis, a significant path was found between the PASE score and executive change (β = .22, p = .01). As higher habitual physical activity levels were associated with reduced executive function change, the promotion of low-intensity habitual physical activities in individuals with a diagnosis of AD may be warranted. Further research is needed, however, to explore the impact of habitual physical activity on the trajectory of change across cognitive domains, and how this relates to the progression of the underlying pathology associated with this disease

Age-related Differences in Prestimulus Subsequent Memory Effects Assessed with Event-related Potentials

Prestimulus subsequent memory effects (preSMEs)—differences in neural activity elicited by a task cue at encoding that are predictive of later memory performance—are thought to reflect differential engagement of preparatory processes that benefit episodic memory encoding. We investigated age differences in preSMEs indexed by differences in ERP amplitude just before the onset of a study item. Young and older adults incidentally encoded words for a subsequent memory test. Each study word was preceded by a task cue that signaled a judgment to perform on the word. Words were presented for either a short (300 msec) or long (1000 msec) duration with the aim of placing differential benefits on engaging preparatory processes initiated by the task cue. ERPs associated with subsequent successful and unsuccessful recollection, operationalized here by source memory accuracy, were estimated time-locked to the onset of the task cue. In a late time window (1000–2000 msec after onset of the cue), young adults demonstrated frontally distributed preSMEs for both the short and long study durations, albeit with opposite polarities in the two conditions. This finding suggests that preSMEs in young adults are sensitive to perceived task demands. Although older adults showed no evidence of preSMEs in the same late time window, significant preSMEs were observed in an earlier time window (500–1000 msec) that was invariant with study duration. These results are broadly consistent with the proposal that older adults differ from their younger counterparts in how they engage preparatory processes during memory encoding

The structure of social influence in recommender networks

People’s ability to influence others’ opinion on matters of taste varies greatly—both offline and in recommender systems. What are the mechanisms underlying these striking differences? Using the weighted k-nearest neighbors algorithm (k-nn) to represent an array of social learning strategies, we show—leveraging methods from network science—how the k-nn algorithm gives rise to networks of social influence in six real-world domains of taste. We show three novel results that apply both to offline advice taking and online recommender settings. First, influential individuals have mainstream tastes and high dispersion in their taste similarity with others. Second, the fewer people an individual or algorithm consults (i.e., the lower k is) or the larger the weight placed on the opinions of more similar others, the smaller the group of people with substantial influence. Third, the influence networks emerging from deploying the k-nn algorithm are hierarchically organized. Our results shed new light on classic empirical findings in communication and network science and can help improve the understanding of social influence offline and online