1,720,994 research outputs found
Investigating the effect of physical games on the memory and attention of the elderly in adult day-care centers in Babol and Amol
No full textMaryam Hedayati,1,2 Shima Sum,2 Seyed Reza Hosseini,3 Mahbobeh Faramarzi,3 Samaneh Pourhadi31Student Research Committee, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran; 2Department of Social Medicines, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Mazandaran, Iran; 3Social Determinants of Health (SDH) Research Centre, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Mazandaran, IranBackground: Physical activity is a behavioral strategy that increases general (public) health, including the mental performance of individuals. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of group physical games on cognitive performance (memory, attention) of old people in adult day-care centers.Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 50 elderly people (aged >60 years) were selected from two adult day-care centers using available sampling and divided into two groups: control and intervention. As approval was received from the Babol Hamrah Salamat adult day-care center to modify the design of the center’s yard, this center was selected to conduct an intervention program. The intervention group received a physical activity program twice a week for 6 weeks. Questionnaires that were used for collecting data included demographic questions, a standard questionnaire for daily activities of living, and a short-term test, the Abbreviated Mental Test Score. Cognitive function was assessed with the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) (Form A), before and after the intervention. Statistical analysis of normal variables was performed using independent and paired t-tests and in non-standard cases with Mann–Whitney and Wilcoxon non-parametric tests at a significance level of P<0.05, using SPSS software (version 22).Results: Statistical analysis showed that the scores of the subjects in the intervention group, compared to the control group, had significantly improved. The calculated mean differences in the intervention groupwere, for memory function d=8.4±3.3 (P=0.001), and for attention and concentration d=4.18±2.38 (P<0.001) (WMS). This level of change in the intervention group was significant.Conclusion: The results of this study showed that a physical exercise program can improve the memory and attention/concentration of the elderly. Therefore, it seems that such activities are a useful method for maintaining cognitive function.Keywords: aging, cognition, Wechsler test, physical games, adult day-care cente
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Maternal mid- and late-pregnancy distress and birth outcome: A causal model of the mediatory role of pregnancy-specific distress
Get PDFBackground: There is lack of information about the effect of general distress and pregnancy-specific distress in mid- and late-pregnancy separately on neonatal outcome.
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the effects of mid-maternal distress on late-maternal distress and birth outcomes with a causal model of relationships among general distress and pregnancy-specific distress.
Materials and Methods: In this longitudinal descriptive study, 100 low-risk pregnant women participated. Participants completed three questionnaires at mid-pregnancy (13–26 wk) and at late pregnancy (27–40 wk). Pregnancy-general distress was assessed by the Perceived Stress Scale and the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale. Pregnancy specific distress was evaluated by the Prenatal Distress Questionnaire. The pregnant women were followed to after birth and neonatal outcome were assessed.
Results: All total effect pathways were significant as predictors of birth outcomes (height, weight, and head circumference). Mid-pregnancy-specific distress had a significant relationship with late pregnancy-specific distress. However, mid-maternal distress was not related directly to birth outcomes. The effect of mid-maternal distress on birth outcomes was related indirectly to late-maternal distress. Both late general distress and late pregnancy-specific distress had direct negative effects on three indexes of birth outcome. The negative effect of late general-pregnancy distress and mid-pregnancy-specific distress on birth outcome was mediated through late pregnancy-specific distress.
Conclusion: Both late pregnancy-general distress and pregnancy-specific distress have negative effects on birth outcomes. These findings support a role for negative effect as mediating the relationship between late pregnancy-specific distress and birth outcomes
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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