372 research outputs found
Task-irrelevant spider associations affect categorization performance
No full textContains fulltext :
99752.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)In two studies, the Single Target Implicit Association Test (STIAT) was used to investigate automatic associations toward spiders. In both experiments, we measured the strength of associations between pictures of spiders and either threat-related words or pleasant words. Unlike previous studies, we administered a STIAT version in which stimulus contents was task-irrelevant: The target spider pictures were categorized according to the label picture, irrespective of what they showed. In Study 1, spider-fearful individuals versus non-fearful controls were tested, Study 2 compared spider enthusiasts to non-fearful controls. Results revealed that the novel STIAT version was sensitive to group differences in automatic associations toward spiders. In Study 1, it successfully distinguished between spider-fearful individuals and non-fearful controls. Moreover, STIAT scores predicted automatic fear responses best, whereas controlled avoidance behavior was best predicted by the FAS (German translation of the Fear of Spiders Questionnaire). The results of Study 2 demonstrated that the novel STIAT version was also able to differentiate between spider enthusiasts and non-fearful controls
Men's Basketball Team, 1993-1994
No full textChristian Brothers University Men's Basketball team for 1993-1994 were (L-R): Sitting - Jay Cauley, Oliver Peyton, Chris Richardson, Aaron Sever; on Chairs - Derrick Ware, Eric Spencer, Brent Addison, Corey Champion, Mike Duncan, Len McKratt, Chris Avery, Chris Behan; Standing - Shane McGaughy, Terry Bowles, Chad Becker, Tim Hatcher, Chris Copass, Mike Rezek, Brett Bryans, Randy Engel, Arnel Holmes
En memoria de Mike Oliver: un legado sociológico vivo para los estudios críticos latinoamericanos en discapacidad
No full textCurrently, there is a consensus that there is a paradigm shift in disability, associated with the consecration of a citizenship perspective, based on a social model. However, in Latin America, the extension of this agreement is often not accompanied by a deep understanding of what this model implies or what its foundations are. This article, paying tribute to the recently deceased English sociologist and activist Mike Oliver, who coined the concept of the social model of disability in 1983, pursues a double objective: 1) to detail the principles and scope of the sociological view proposed by this author to through the social model of disability and 2) show how it constitutes a living legacy to think of disability critically today from Latin America. To do this, first, it explains what it implies to affirm that disability constitutes a social problem from the perspective proposed by Oliver, recovering his distinction between the social and individual models of disability. Next, he analyzes how these models are translated into politics, starting from the book The Politics of Disablement and details the specificity of his proposal to build a sociology of disability. Then, rescuing his latest work, The New Politics of Disablement, written with Colin Barnes, he reflects on the clues that this legacy enables to understand today the processes of disability and the relevance they acquire for Latin America. Finally, he concludes that the sociological view proposed by Oliver is a toolkit for critical studies on disability in Latin America.Actualmente existe un consenso respecto a que se registra un cambio de paradigma en la discapacidad, asociado a la consagración de una perspectiva de ciudadanía, basada en un modelo social. Sin embargo, en América Latina, la extensión de este acuerdo muchas veces no va acompañada de un conocimiento profundo sobre qué implica dicho modelo ni cuáles son sus fundamentos. Este artículo, realizando un tributo al recientemente fallecido sociólogo y activista inglés Mike Oliver, quien acuñó el concepto de “modelo social de la discapacidad” en 1983, persigue un doble objetivo: 1) pormenorizar los principios y alcances de la mirada sociológica propuesta por este autor a través del modelo social de la discapacidad y 2) mostrar cómo la misma constituye un legado vivo para pensar a la discapacidad críticamente hoy desde Latinoamérica. Para ello, primero, explica qué implica afirmar que la discapacidad constituye un problema social desde la perspectiva propuesta por Oliver, recuperando su distinción entre los modelos social e individual de la discapacidad. Seguidamente, analiza cómo estos modelos se traducen en las políticas, partiendo del libro The Politics of Disablement y la especificidad de su propuesta por construir una sociología de la discapacidad. A continuación, rescatando su última obra, The New Politics of Disablement, escrita junto a Colin Barnes, reflexiona sobre las pistas que habilita este legado para comprender hoy los procesos de discapacitación y la pertinencia que adquieren para América Latina. Finalmente, concluye que la mirada sociológica propuesta por Oliver es una caja de herramientas para los estudios críticos en discapacidad latinoamericanos
In Memory of Mike Oliver: a Living Sociological Legacy for Critical Disability Studies
Get PDFActualmente existe un consenso respecto a que se registra un cambio de paradigma en la discapacidad, asociado a la consagración de una perspectiva de ciudadanía, basada en un modelo social. Sin embargo, en América Latina, la extensión de este acuerdo muchas veces no va acompañada de un conocimiento profundo sobre qué implica dicho modelo ni cuáles son sus fundamentos. Este artículo, realizando un tributo al recientemente fallecido sociólogo y activista inglés Mike Oliver, quien acuñó el concepto de "modelo social de la discapacidad" en 1983, persigue un doble objetivo: 1) pormenorizar los principios y alcances de la mirada sociológica propuesta y 2) mostrar cómo la misma constituye un legado vivo para pensar a la discapacidad críticamente hoy desde Latinoamérica. Para ello, primero, explica qué implica afirmar que la discapacidad constituye un problema social desde la perspectiva propuesta por Oliver, recuperando su distinción entre los modelos social e individual de la discapacidad. Seguidamente,analiza cómo estos modelos se traducen en las políticas, partiendo del libro The Politics of Disablement y la especificidad de su propuesta por construir una sociología de la discapacidad. A continuación, rescatando su última obra, The New Politics of Disablement, escrita junto a Colin Barnes, reflexiona sobre las pistas que habilita este legado para comprender hoy los procesos de discapacitación y la pertinencia que adquieren para América Latina. Finalmente, concluye que la mirada sociológica propuesta por Oliver es una caja de herramientas para los estudios críticos en discapacidad latinoamericanos.Currently, there is a consensus that there is a paradigm shi in disability, associated with the consecration of a citizenship perspective, based on a social model. However, in Latin America, the extension of this agreement is o en not accompanied by a deep understanding of what this model implies or what its foundations are. This article, paying tribute to the recently deceased English sociologist and activist Mike Oliver, who coined the concept of the social model of disability in 1983, pursues a double objective: 1) to detail the principles and scope of the sociological view proposed by this author to through the social model of disability and 2) show how it constitutes a living legacy to think of disability critically today from Latin America. To do this, first, it explains what it implies to a irm that disability constitutes a social problem from the perspective proposed by Oliver, recovering his distinction between the social and individual models of disability. Next, he analyzes how these models are translated into politics, starting from the book The Politics of Disablement and details the specificity of his proposal to build a sociology of disability. Then, rescuing his latest work, The New Politics of Disablement, written with Colin Barnes, he reflects on the clues that this legacy enables to understand today the processes of disability and the relevance they acquire for Latin America. Finally, he concludes that the sociological view proposed by Oliver is a toolkit for critical studies on disability in Latin America.Fil: Ferrante, Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencias Sociales; Argentin
Use of platelet inhibitors for digital ulcers related to systemic sclerosis: EUSTAR study on derivation and validation of the DU-VASC model
Get PDFObjective To develop and validate the prognostic prediction model DU-VASC to assist the clinicians in decision-making regarding the use of platelet inhibitors (PIs) for the management of digital ulcers in patients with systemic sclerosis. Secondly, to assess the incremental value of PIs as predictor. Methods We analysed patient data from the European Scleroderma Trials and Research group registry (one time point assessed). Three sets of derivation/validation cohorts were obtained from the original cohort. Using logistic regression, we developed a model for prediction of digital ulcers (DUs). C-Statistics and calibration plots were calculated to evaluate the prediction performance. Variable importance plots and the decrease in C-statistics were used to address the importance of the predictors. Results Of 3710 patients in the original cohort, 487 had DUs and 90 were exposed to PIs. For the DU-VASC model, which includes 27 predictors, we observed good calibration and discrimination in all cohorts (C-statistic = 81.1% [95% CI: 78.9%, 83.4%] for the derivation and 82.3% [95% CI: 779.3%, 85.3%] for the independent temporal validation cohort). Exposure to PIs was associated with absence of DUs and was the most important therapeutic predictor. Further important factors associated with absence of DUs were lower modified Rodnan skin score, anti-Scl-70 negativity and normal CRP. Conversely, the exposure to phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor, prostacyclin analogues or endothelin receptor antagonists seemed to be associated with the occurrence of DUs. Nonetheless, previous DUs remains the most impactful predictor of DUs. Conclusion The DU-VASC model, with good calibration and discrimination ability, revealed that PI treatment was the most important therapy-related predictor associated with reduced DU occurrence
Vision transformer assisting rheumatologists in screening for capillaroscopy changes in systemic sclerosis: an artificial intelligence model.
Get PDFOBJECTIVES
The first objective of this study was to implement and assess the performance and reliability of a vision transformer (ViT)-based deep-learning model, an 'off-the-shelf' artificial intelligence solution, for identifying distinct signs of microangiopathy in nailfold capilloroscopy (NFC) images of patients with SSc. The second objective was to compare the ViT's analysis performance with that of practising rheumatologists.
METHODS
NFC images of patients prospectively enrolled in our European Scleroderma Trials and Research group (EUSTAR) and Very Early Diagnosis of Systemic Sclerosis (VEDOSS) local registries were used. The primary outcome investigated was the ViT's classification performance for identifying disease-associated changes (enlarged capillaries, giant capillaries, capillary loss, microhaemorrhages) and the presence of the scleroderma pattern in these images using a cross-fold validation setting. The secondary outcome involved a comparison of the ViT's performance vs that of rheumatologists on a reliability set, consisting of a subset of 464 NFC images with majority vote-derived ground-truth labels.
RESULTS
We analysed 17 126 NFC images derived from 234 EUSTAR and 55 VEDOSS patients. The ViT had good performance in identifying the various microangiopathic changes in capillaries by NFC [area under the curve (AUC) from 81.8% to 84.5%]. In the reliability set, the rheumatologists reached a higher average accuracy, as well as a better trade-off between sensitivity and specificity compared with the ViT. However, the annotators' performance was variable, and one out of four rheumatologists showed equal or lower classification measures compared with the ViT.
CONCLUSIONS
The ViT is a modern, well-performing and readily available tool for assessing patterns of microangiopathy on NFC images, and it may assist rheumatologists in generating consistent and high-quality NFC reports; however, the final diagnosis of a scleroderma pattern in any individual case needs the judgement of an experienced observer
Hirschman meets Williamson: Relationship-specific investment and loyalty
No full textIn Albert Hirschman’s theory, loyalty plays a key role in the equilibrium between exit and voice. This article extends economic (rational choice) analysis to the emergence of loyalty, which Hirschman considers an exogenous factor. This is accomplished by linking Williamson’s theory of specific investment to Hirschman’s model. Three cases are distinguished: (1) loyalty is due to specific investment; (2) loyalty is due to (intermediate) factors influenced by specific investment; and, (3) loyalty is independent of specific investment. A simple model formalizes the first case. A paradoxical dynamic of loyalty is identified: a lower degree of specificity may lead to a weakening of loyalty in the short run but astrengthening of loyalty in the long run. An application to the process of European integration is sketched
Returning culture to peacebuilding : contesting the liberal peace in Sierra Leone
No full textThis thesis investigates the advantages and limitations of applying culture to the analysis of violent conflict and peacebuilding, with a particular focus on liberal peacebuilding in Sierra Leone. While fully aware of the critique of the concept of culture in terms of its uses for the production of difference and ‘otherness,’ it also seeks to respond to the critique of liberal peacebuilding on the account of its low sensitivity towards local culture, which allegedly undermines the peace effort. After a careful examination of the terms of discussion about culture enabled by theoretical approaches to conflict in Chapter 2, the thesis presents a theoretical framework for the analysis of cultural aspects of conflict and peace based on the processes and effects of meaning-generation (Chapter 3), developing the conceptual apparatus and vocabulary for the subsequent empirical study. Instead of bracketing out the recursive nature of cultural theorising, the developed approach embraces the recursive dynamics which arise as a result of cultural ‘embeddedness’ of the analyst and the processes which s/he seeks to elucidate, mirroring similar dynamics in the cultural production of meaning and knowledge. The framework of ‘embedded cultural enquiry’ is then used to analyse the practices of liberal peacebuilding as a particular culture, which shapes the interaction of the liberal peace with its ‘subjects’ and critics as well as framing its reception of the cultural problematic generally (Chapter 4). The application of the analytical framework to the case study investigates the interaction between the liberal peace and ‘local culture,’ offering an alternative reading of the conflict and peace process in Sierra Leone (Chapter 5). The study concludes that a greater attention to cultural meaning-making offers a largely untapped potential for peacebuilding, although any decisions with regard to its deployment will inevitably be made from within an inherently biased cultural perspective
Pain chronification and the important role of non-disease-specific symptoms in patients with systemic sclerosis
Get PDFBACKGROUND: Pain is a frequent, yet inadequately explored challenge in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). This study aimed to conduct an extensive pain assessment, examining pain chronification and its association with disease manifestations.
METHODS: Consecutive SSc patients attending their annual assessment were included. SSc-specific features were addressed as defined by the European Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) guidelines. Pain analysis included intensity, localization, treatment, chronification grade according to the Mainz Pain Staging System (MPSS), general well-being using the Marburg questionnaire on habitual health findings (MFHW) and symptoms of anxiety and depression using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).
RESULTS: One hundred forty-seven SSc patients completed a pain questionnaire, and 118/147 patients reporting pain were included in the analysis. Median pain intensity was 4/10 on a numeric rating scale (NRS). The most frequent major pain localizations were hand and lower back. Low back pain as the main pain manifestation was significantly more frequent in patients with very early SSc (p = 0.01); those patients also showed worse HADS and MFHW scores. Regarding pain chronification, 34.8% were in stage I according to the MPSS, 45.2% in stage II and 20.0% in stage III. There was no significant correlation between chronification grade and disease severity, but advanced chronification was significantly more frequent in patients with low back pain (p = 0.024). It was also significantly associated with pathological HADS scores (p < 0.0001) and linked with decreased well-being and higher use of analgesics.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study implies that also non-disease-specific symptoms such as low back pain need to be considered in SSc patients, especially in early disease. Since low back pain seems to be associated with higher grades of pain chronification and psychological problems, our study underlines the importance of preventing pain chronification in order to enhance the quality of life
The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in patients with systemic sclerosis: a psychometric and factor analysis in a monocentric cohort
No full textOBJECTIVES: To evaluate the feasibility, validity, reliability, and responsiveness of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and to analyse its model structure in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).
METHODS: In this study, 316 systemic sclerosis patients were included; of these, 159 participated in the responsiveness analysis. Psychometric properties were tested in analogy to the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) filter and an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was performed to examine the structure of HADS.
RESULTS: The HADS showed adequate feasibility, validity, reliability, and responsiveness to clinically relevant worsening of the disease. For our population of SSc patients, the HADS model with two sub-scales, HADS-A and HADS-D, and a general scale HADS-S, measuring anxiety, depression, and distress, respectively, was most appropriate. The rates of anxiety, depression, mixed anxiety-depressive disorder (MADD) and distress identified by HADS were 32.2%, 25.9%, 18.5%, and 49.5%, respectively, in our cohort.
CONCLUSIONS: The psychometric properties of the HADS make it useful for screening in SSc, where anxiety, depression, MADD, and distress represent a significant burden to patients
- …
