Use of medications with anticholinergic activity and self-reported injurious falls in older community-dwelling adults

Objectives: To assess the association between the use of medications with anticholinergic activity and the subsequent risk of injurious falls in older adults. Design: Prospective, population-based study using data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing. Setting: Irish population. Participants: Community-dwelling men and women without dementia aged 65 and older (N = 2,696). Measurements: Self-reported injurious falls reported once approximately 2 years after baseline interview. Self-reported regular medication use at baseline interview. Pharmacy dispensing records from the Irish Health Service Executive Primary Care Reimbursement Service in a subset (n = 1,553). Results: Nine percent of men and 17% of women reported injurious falls. In men, the use of medications with definite anticholinergic activity was associated with greater risk of subsequent injurious falls (adjusted relative risk (aRR) = 2.55, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.33-4.88), but the risk of having any fall and the number of falls reported were not significantly greater. Greater anticholinergic burden was associated with greater injurious falls risk. No associations were observed for women. Findings were similar using pharmacy dispensing records. The aRR for medications with definite anticholinergic activity dispensed in the month before baseline and subsequent injurious falls in men was 2.53 (95% CI = 1.15-5.54). Conclusion: The regular use of medications with anticholinergic activity is associated with subsequent injurious falls in older men, although falls were self-reported after a 2-year recall and so may have been underreported. Further research is required to validate this finding in men and to consider the effect of duration and dose of anticholinergic medications.

Self-aware and self-expressive camera networks

Smart cameras perform on-board image analysis, adapt their algorithms to changes in their environment, and collaborate with other networked cameras to analyze the dynamic behavior of objects. A proposed computational framework adopts the concepts of self-awareness and self-expression to more efficiently manage the complex tradeoffs among performance, flexibility, resources, and reliability. The Web extra at http://youtu.be/NKe31-OKLz4 is a video demonstrating CamSim, a smart camera simulation tool, enables users to test self-adaptive and self-organizing smart-camera techniques without deploying a smart-camera network.

Inverse four-wave mixing and self-parametric amplification in optical fibre

An important group of nonlinear processes in optical fibre involve the mixing of four waves due to the intensity dependence of the refractive index. It is customary to distinguish between nonlinear effects that require external/pumping waves (cross-phase modulation and parametric processes such as four-wave mixing) and those arising from self-action of the propagating optical field (self-phase modulation and modulation instability). Here, we present a new nonlinear self-action effect—self-parametric amplification—which manifests itself as optical spectrum narrowing in normal dispersion fibre, leading to very stable propagation with a distinctive spectral distribution. The narrowing results from inverse four-wave mixing, resembling an effective parametric amplification of the central part of the spectrum by energy transfer from the spectral tails. Self-parametric amplification and the observed stable nonlinear spectral propagation with a random temporal waveform can find applications in optical communications and high-power fibre lasers with nonlinear intracavity dynamics.

Architectural aspects of self-aware and self-expressive computing systems:from psychology to engineering

Work on human self-Awareness is the basis for a framework to develop computational systems that can adaptively manage complex dynamic tradeoffs at runtime. An architectural case study in cloud computing illustrates the framework's potential benefits.

Páros összehasonlításon alapuló pontozási eljárások monotonitása: önkonzisztencia és önkonzisztens monotonitás. Adalékok a pontozási eljárások axiomatikus tárgyalásához = Monotonicity of paired comparison-based ranking methods: self-consistency and self-consistent monotonicity. Contributions to an axiomatic analysis of scoring methods

A cikk a páros összehasonlításokon alapuló pontozási eljárásokat tárgyalja axiomatikus megközelítésben. A szakirodalomban számos értékelő függvényt javasoltak erre a célra, néhány karakterizációs eredmény is ismert. Ennek ellenére a megfelelő módszer kiválasztása nem egy-szerű feladat, a különböző tulajdonságok bevezetése elsősorban ebben nyújthat segítséget. Itt az összehasonlított objektumok teljesítményén érvényesülő monotonitást tárgyaljuk az önkonzisztencia és önkonzisztens monotonitás axiómákból kiindulva. Bemutatásra kerülnek lehetséges gyengítéseik és kiterjesztéseik, illetve egy, az irreleváns összehasonlításoktól való függetlenséggel kapcsolatos lehetetlenségi tétel is. A tulajdonságok teljesülését három eljárásra, a klasszikus pontszám eljárásra, az ezt továbbfejlesztő általánosított sorösszegre és a legkisebb négyzetek módszerére vizsgáljuk meg, melyek mindegyike egy lineáris egyenletrendszer megoldásaként számítható. A kapott eredmények új szempontokkal gazdagítják a pontozási eljárás megválasztásának kérdését. _____ The paper provides an axiomatic analysis of some scoring procedures based on paired comparisons. Several methods have been proposed for these generalized tournaments, some of them have been also characterized by a set of properties. The choice of an appropriate method is supported by a discussion of their theoretical properties. In the paper we focus on the connections of self-consistency and self-consistent-monotonicity, two axioms based on the comparisons of object's performance. The contradiction of self-consistency and independence of irrel-evant matches is revealed, as well as some possible reductions and extensions of these properties. Their satisfiability is examined through three scoring procedures, the score, generalised row sum and least squares methods, each of them is calculated as a solution of a system of linear equations. Our results contribute to the problem of finding a proper paired comparison based scoring method.

LCME Planning and Self-Study Materials

Cope of the LCME's planning and self-study materials. Includes information on the LCME accreditation process and policies, as well as an overview of the LCME as an an organization.

Perceptions of family environment, body image and self-esteem of eating disordered and non-eating disordered women

This study explored the perceptions of family environment, body image and self esteem of women who suffer from anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and depression. Using a nonequivalent control group design, one hundred and fifty women with anorexia nervosa (n = 50), bulimia nervosa (n = 50), and depression (n = 50) were given the Family Environment Scale (FES) and the Eating Disorders Inventory-2 (EDI-2). The objectives of this study were to: (1) study how women with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa perceive their family environment as measured by the FES; (2) compare and contrast perceptions of family environment of women with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa with the control group; (3) compare and contrast perceived levels of self esteem and body image as measured by the EDI-2 of women with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa with the control group; and (4) examine the perceived family environments of eating disordered and non-eating disordered women with regard to body image and self esteem. Results suggested, women who suffered from anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa scored significantly lower (p $<$.021) on the Expressiveness, Intellectual-Cultural Orientation, and Active-Recreational subscales of the FES. The results also indicated that women who suffered from bulimia nervosa scored significantly higher (p $<$.015) than women who suffered from anorexia nervosa on the Conflict and Independence subscales of the FES. The results of studying these three populations reflected that women who suffered from anorexia nervosa scored significantly different (p $<$.000) than women who suffered from bulimia nervosa on many of the subscales of the EDI-2. The findings of the study confirmed that women who suffered from anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa scored significantly different (p $<$.000) on the subscales of the EDI-2 compared to women who suffered from depression. It was also confirmed that a relationship does exist between perceptions of body image and self esteem and perceptions of family environment amongst women with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa as compared to depressed women. The findings of the study indicated that women who suffered from anorexia nervosa tended to: be less expressive and independent; handle conflict less openly; have a greater drive for thinness; have greater body dissatisfaction; be more perfectionistic; and struggle more intensely with fears around maturity and social insecurity than did women who suffered from bulimia nervosa or depression. In addition, the findings of the study also suggested that women who suffered from bulimia nervosa tended to: be raised in homes where openly expressed anger is permitted amongst family members; have a lesser drive for thinness; have less body dissatisfaction; be less perfectionistic; and not struggle as intensely with fears around maturity and social insecurity as do women who suffered from anorexia nervosa, but more than women who suffer from depression. Treatment implications that may assist community college professors and counselors in meeting the special needs of this special group of women were also discussed. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) ^

The relationship of attitudes toward science, cognitive style, and self-concept to achievement in chemistry at the secondary school level

There is currently a crisis in science education in the United States. This statement is based on the National Science Foundation's report stating that the nation's students, on average, still rank near the bottom in science and math achievement internationally. ^ This crisis is the background of the problem for this study. This investigation studied learner variables that were thought to play a role in teaching chemistry at the secondary school level, and related them to achievement in the chemistry classroom. Among these, cognitive style (field dependence/independence), attitudes toward science, and self-concept had been given considerable attention by researchers in recent years. These variables were related to different competencies that could be used to measure the various types of achievement in the chemistry classroom at the secondary school level. These different competencies were called academic, laboratory, and problem solving achievement. Each of these chemistry achievement components may be related to a different set of learner variables, and the main purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of these relationships. ^ Three instruments to determine attitudes toward science, cognitive style, and self-concept were used for data collection. Teacher grades were used to determine chemistry achievement for each student. ^ Research questions were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficients and t-tests. Results indicated that field independence was significantly correlated with problem solving, academic, and laboratory achievement. Educational researchers should therefore investigate how to teach students to be more field independent so they can achieve at higher levels in chemistry. ^ It was also true that better attitudes toward the social benefits and problems that accompany scientific progress were significantly correlated with higher achievement on all three academic measures in chemistry. This suggests that educational researchers should investigate how students might be guided to manifest more favorable attitudes toward science so they will achieve at higher levels in chemistry. ^ An overall theme that emerged from this study was that findings refuted the idea that female students believed that science was for males only and was an inappropriate and unfeminine activity. This was true because when the means of males and females were compared on the three measures of chemistry achievement, there was no statistically significant difference between them on problem solving or academic achievement. However, females were significantly better in laboratory achievement. ^

Secondary Teachers’ Knowledge, Beliefs, and Self-Efficacy to Teach Reading in the Content Areas: Voices Following Professional Development

This study explored 24 content area teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and self-efficacy about teaching reading in the content areas at the end of a state-wide professional development experience. The findings suggest that the participating teachers held positive beliefs, gained valuable knowledge, and were confident about teaching reading in their content areas.

Racioethnic differences in job satisfaction: A test of orthogonal cultural identification theory and self -categorization theory

The theories of orthogonal cultural identification and self-categorization are offered as links in examining the possible racioethnic differences in job satisfaction. It is posited that racioethnicity (Cox & Blake, 1991) is multidimensional with at least three conceptually distinct dimensions. Since there is a need for consistent terminology with respect to these distinct dimensions, the following new terms are offered to differentiate among them: "physioethnicity" refers to the physiological dimension of racioethnicity; "socioethnicity" refers to the sociocultural dimension; and "psychoethnicity" refers to the psychological dimension.^ Results showed that for the dominant group (Hispanics in this case) (1) bicultural and multicultural individuals were more satisfied with coworkers than acultural and monocultural individuals and (2) individuals with higher strength of psychoethnicity were more satisfied with coworkers, the work itself, and supervision than those with lower strength of psychoethnicity. The findings suggest racioethnic differences within the dominant group and between groups beyond race. ^

Differential effects of single -sex versus coed education on the mathematical reasoning ability, verbal reasoning ability, and self-concept of high school girls

This study explored the differential effects of single-sex versus coed education on the cognitive and affective development of young women in senior year of high school. The basic research question was: What are the differential effects of single-sex versus coed education on the development of mathematical reasoning ability, verbal reasoning ability, or self-concept of high school girls?^ This study was composed of two parts. In the first part, the SAT verbal and mathematical ability scores were recorded for those subjects in the two schools from which the sample populations were drawn. The second part of the study required the application of the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale to subjects in each of the two sample populations. The sample schools were deliberately selected to minimize between group differences in the populations. One was an all girls school, the other coeducational.^ The research design employed in this study was the causal-comparative method, used to explore causal relationships between variables that already exist. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the data produced by this research, no significant difference was found to exist between the mean scores of the senior girls in the single-sex school and the coed school on the SAT 1 verbal reasoning section. Nor was any significant difference found to exist between the mean scores of the senior girls in the single-sex school and the coed school on the SAT 1 mathematical reasoning section. Finally, no significant difference between the mean total scores of the senior girls in the single-sex school and the coed school on the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale was found to exist.^ Contrary to what many other studies have found in the past about single-sex schools and their advantages for girls, this study found no support for such advantages in the cognitive areas of verbal and mathematical reasoning as measured by the SAT or in the affective area of self-concept as measured by the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. ^

The effects of cross -age peer tutoring on writing and reading comprehension skills and attitudes and self -perceptions as writers of third and fourth grade students

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cross-age peer writing response groups on the writing and reading achievement of third and fourth grade students. Students' attitudes about writing and their perceptions of themselves as writers were also measured at the end of the study. ^ One hundred and twenty-two third and fourth grade students enrolled in a public school in a middle-class, multi-cultural neighborhood participated in the study. Four existing classes of students were randomly assigned to either the experimental condition (EC) or the control condition (CC). Both groups were pretested and posttested for writing and reading achievement. The intervention, cross-age peer writing groups, met for eleven weeks. ^ Three hypotheses were examined in this study: (a) writing improvement score, (b) reading comprehension improvement score, and (c) students' attitudes toward writing and their perception of themselves as writers based on the five scales measured on the Writer Self-Perception Scale. ^ ANOVAs were done on the pretests and posttests for writing and the Stanford Achievement Test reading comprehension subtest scores for the year of the study and the previous year. ANOVAs were also done for the five areas of the Writer Self-Perception Scale. Cross-tabulations were also used to compare improvement level verses treatment group, and grade level. ^ Analysis of the data revealed that there was no evidence that the tutoring (EC) groups made more progress than the non-tutoring (CC) groups in writing and reading. There was evidence of growth in writing, especially by the fourth graders. Most importantly, the fourth grade tutors, the experimental group, had the most positive feelings about writing and themselves as writers. ^

Empowerment, social support, and self -esteem of parents involved in an elementary school program

Parent involvement (PI) in schooling has consistently been correlated with improved academic achievement in children. However, despite the apparent benefits of parent involvement, many schools serving low-income communities report consistent difficulty in facilitating the involvement of parents in their children's schooling. ^ The purpose of this exploratory pilot study was to examine key variables associated with a PI program at a school that served a low-income community. The program was selected because it sustained the involvement of parents for a prolonged period of time. It was also selected because the program was facilitated by social workers. ^ Derived from the literature, four lines of inquiry were examined: (a) the relationship between PI and parent strengths and development; (b) the relationship between PI and children's academic achievement; (c) facilitators for PI; and (d) barriers to PI. These lines of inquiry yielded the study's four primary research questions. The study employed a cross-sectional research design to address them. ^ Thirty-three parents, representing 16 school-involved (SI) parents and 17 non-school involved (NSI) parents, served as study participants. All 33 parents resided in a high poverty community. ^ Quantitative methods were selected to examine differences between study participants and PI. Measures of parental empowerment, social support, self-esteem, and direct and indirect measures of their children's academic achievement were utilized. Qualitative methods were developed to identify and describe SI and NSI parents' perceptions of facilitators for and barriers to PI. ^ This study's findings suggest that PI may yield important benefits for SI parents. These benefits include parents' perceptions of their empowerment, social support, and self-esteem. This study's findings also suggest a relationship between PI and reduced rates of children's school suspensions. This study did not, however, support relationships between PI and children's standardized test scores. This study concludes that despite the apparent benefits of PI for SI parents, PI may nonetheless be a proxy for several unspecified interventions that effect parents, children, schools and communities alike. More precise specifications and robust measures of PI are needed. ^

Examining moderators of the hindsight bias in the context of civil legal decision -making: Counterfactuals, causal proximity, and self -referencing

The current research sought to clarify the diverging relationships between counterfactual thinking and hindsight bias observed in the literature thus far. In a non-legal context, Roese and Olson (1996) found a positive relationship between counterfactuals and hindsight bias, such that counterfactual mutations that undid the outcome also increased participants’ ratings of the outcome’s a priori likelihood. Further, they determined that this relationship is mediated by causal attributions about the counterfactually mutated antecedent event. Conversely, in the context of a civil lawsuit, Robbennolt and Sobus (1997) found that the relationship between counterfactual thinking and hindsight bias is negative. The current research sought to resolve the conflicting findings in the literature within a legal context. ^ In Experiment One, the manipulation of the normality of the defendant’s target behavior, designed to manipulate participants’ counterfactual thoughts about said behavior, did moderate the hindsight effect of outcome knowledge on mock jurors’ judgments of the foreseeability of that outcome as well as their negligence verdicts. Although I predicted that counterfactual thinking would increase, or exacerbate, the hindsight bias, as found by Roese and Olson (1996), my results provided some support for Robbenolt and Sobus’s (1997) finding that counterfactual thinking decreases the hindsight bias. Behavior normality did not moderate the hindsight effect of outcome knowledge in Experiment Two, nor did causal proximity in Experiment Three. ^ Additionally, my hypothesis that self-referencing may be an effective hindsight debiasing technique received little support across the three experiments. Although both the self-referencing instructions and self-report measure consistently decreased mock jurors’ likelihood of finding the defendant negligent, and self-referencing instructions decreased their foreseeability ratings in studies two and three, the self-referencing manipulation did not interact with outcome knowledge to moderate a hindsight bias effect on either foreseeability or negligence judgments. The consistent pattern of results across the three experiments, however, suggests that self-referencing may be an effective technique in reducing the likelihood of negligence verdicts.^