Problematic donation procedures vs. futuristic research and treatment applications: A dichotomous social representation of stem cells in Italy

IntroductionCurrently, stem cells (SC) are one of the most studied issues of medical research as well as a widespread, complex, socially and ethically relevant issue.ObjectiveThe general aim of the present study is to explore how social representations (SR) of SC is different for people more or less willing to donate SC, also comparing bone marrow SC (BMSC) donation and umbilical cord blood SC (UCBSC) donation.MethodA paper-and-pencil survey was administrated to 78 Italian respondents. A structural analysis of SC-SRs (prototypical and co-occurrence analysis) was conducted comparing people with a high/low intention to donate UCBSC/BMSC.ResultsSimilarly to other bioethically relevant issues, SR of SC seems to be ambivalent and dichotomously organized, with the donation procedure been a barrier.ConclusionThese results are in line with studies finding two sets of dichotomies: on the one hand, a gift-of-life/replacement-of-body-parts dichotomy coexisting within people's SR of organ donation; on the other hand, a help/pain and needle dichotomy within blood donation's SR. Directions for future research are suggested.     

Crowding Effects of Density and Personal Space Requirements Among Older People: The Impact of Self-Control and Social Support

Abstract

The authors examined the effects of self-control and social support among a representative sample of 300 older people, 150 in high-density and 150 in low-density households in India. The Self-Control Schedule (M. Rosenbaum, 1980), the Comfortable Interpersonal Distance Test (M. Duke & S. Nowicki, 1972), the Social Support Questionnaire, and the Judgement of Environmental Quality Scale (I. G. Sarason, H. M. Levine, R. B. Basham, & B. R. Sarason, 1983) were the measures. A 2 × 2 × 2 (Density × Social Support × Self-Control) analysis of variance for perceptions of home environment and personal space requirements revealed that the Self-Control x Social Support interaction moderated the crowding effects of density: The participants in high-density households evaluated their home environments more positively and reduced their personal space requirements.     

Density evolution during the growth of disc-shaped aluminium nanoparticles on a liquid surface

Aluminium (Al) nanoparticles (NPs) have been successfully fabricated on a liquid surface by thermal evaporation at room temperature. The Al NPs exhibit a disc-shaped morphology with mean diameter and height in the ranges 20–35 and 1.3–3.7?nm, respectively. As the nominal film thickness increases from 0.02 to 0.18?nm, the mean diameter and height are nearly independent of the thickness, implying that the density of the NPs increases during their growth. An explanation for this phenomenon is presented.     

AC loss density component in electrical steel sheets

This article proposes a new approach to the loss separation issue. The conventional loss separation into three components is abandoned. The dependence of the dynamic component of loss density versus frequency is assumed to be a power law. The model is verified for selected samples of nonoriented and grain-oriented steel.     

关于B族Ⅰ型清道夫受体研究进展的认识

B族I型清道夫受体(SR-BI)具有经典的清道夫受体功能,且是HDL的高亲和力受体,并能介导HDL中胆固醇的选择性摄取、影响血浆HDL-C水平以及介导非酯化胆固醇在脂蛋白和细胞之间的双向运动,具有抗动脉粥样硬化的作用。其研究过程反映了相对真理与绝对真理、现象与本质的辩证关系。当新现象被逐一发现,相对真理就逐渐确立,而循序渐进并运用创造性思维,最终将揭示事物的本质,实现相对真理向绝对真理的转化。     

Is Detecting a Target in a Compound Geometric Shape Influenced by Stimulus Density? A Developmental Study

We studied the pattern of performance in elementary school children and adults detecting a target in compound geometric shapes. The target was randomly presented at the global, local, or neither level of compound shapes with different elemental density. A significant difference between the pattern of performance in children and adults emerged when the geometric shape was constructed with fewer constituent parts. That is, children showed difficulties in recognizing the global level while adults could efficiently process it. We suggest that global processing continues to develop as children grow older. Also, integration ability could benefit from increasing familiarity with the geometric concepts.     

Evaluating Factorial Invariance: An Interval Estimation Approach Using Bayesian Structural Equation Modeling

In this study, we introduce an interval estimation approach based on Bayesian structural equation modeling to evaluate factorial invariance. For each tested parameter, the size of noninvariance with an uncertainty interval (i.e. highest density interval [HDI]) is assessed via Bayesian parameter estimation. By comparing the most credible values (i.e. 95% HDI) with a region of practical equivalence (ROPE), the Bayesian approach allows researchers to (1) support the null hypothesis of practical invariance, and (2) examine the practical importance of the noninvariant parameter. Compared to the traditional likelihood ratio test, simulation results suggested that the proposed Bayesian approach could offer additional insight into evaluating factorial invariance, thus, leading to more informative conclusions. We provide an empirical example to demonstrate the procedures necessary to implement the proposed method in applied research. The importance of and influences on the choice of an appropriate ROPE are discussed.     

数量认知和密度认知的关系

数量和密度认知的关系是数量认知研究的关键问题。相关研究在三个方面存在不足：首先, 先前实验研究缺乏对两种加工的有效操控和区分; 其次, 现有理论或认为“数量和密度加工完全独立”, 或认为“数量加工是对密度进行推论的结果”, 比较片面; 第三, 已有理论模型抽象, 不重视功能模块的解释。基于数量认知的多阶段加工特点, 未来研究可以讨论数量认知进行基于密度认知的整合加工的可能性, 提出整合数量和密度加工的理论构想。     

Shaping in the 21st century: Moving percentile schedules into applied settings

The present paper provides a primer on percentile reinforcement schedules, which have been used for two decades to study response differentiation and shaping in the laboratory. Arranged in applied settings, percentile procedures could be used to specify response criteria, standardizing treatment across subjects, trainers, and times to provide a more consistent training environment while maintaining the sensitivity to the individual's repertoire that is the hallmark of shaping. Percentile schedules are also valuable tools in analyzing the variables of which responding is a function, both inside and outside the laboratory. Finally, by formalizing the rules of shaping, percentile schedules provide a useful heuristic of the processes involved in shaping behavior, even for those situations that may not easily permit their implementation. As such, they may help further sensitize trainers and researchers alike to variables of critical importance in behavior change.     

Reward Density And Variable-interval Schedule Performance In An Open Economy

There is no general agreement regarding the form of the relation between response rate and reinforcement rate when single schedules of reinforcement are studied in an open economy. The present study assessed the form of this relation using reward density, which incorporates both reinforcement rate and duration of access to food, as an independent variable. Reward density was manipulated with 4 pigeons by changing the value of the variable-interval schedule, the hopper duration, or both. The relations between response rate and reward density were sharply rising and hyperbolic in 3 of 4 pigeons, replicating results obtained by Catania and Reynolds (1968). Because eating efficiency was lower in conditions that provided longer hopper durations, programmed reward densities differed from obtained reward densities. When response rates were examined as a function of obtained reward densities, the same relations were demonstrated more strongly. In further clarifying the relation between response rate and reward density in an open economy, these results lend support to the conclusion that open and closed economies yield different behavioral effects.