Search results for "edge"

The effects of experimentally manipulated yolk androgens on growth and immune function of male and female nestling collared flycatchers Ficedula albi…

2009

Hormone-mediated maternal effects may be an important mechanism for adjusting offspring phenotype to particular requirements of the environment. We manipulated the levels of testosterone and androstenedione in the yolk of collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis eggs to investigate the effects of pre-natal exposure to androgens on growth and immune function. Androgen treatment tended to reduce the growth of males, and enhance the growth of females, as indicated by significant interaction between sex and androgen treatment. Cellular immune function was not affected by androgen treatment or sex. Survival of nestlings until fledging was not related to androgen treatment. Our results indicate th…

Knowledge about diabetes mellitus among Polish medical students

2020

Introduction. Due to high prevalence of diabetes mellitus all over the world it is essential for students who will become doctors of different specialties to possess a basic knowledge of it in this field. This pilot surveybased study was designed to assess diabetes related knowledge among faculty of medicine students from all of the medical universities in Poland. Materials and methods. Students were invited to fulfill the questionnaire during Students’ Diabetology Conference and via the Internet (social media). The survey consisted of questions about respondent’s age and personal history of diabetes and diabetes related knowledge (etiology, symptoms, risk factors, complications and treatme…

Opolskie voivodeship secondary school students’ knowledge about fetal alcohol syndrome and its determinants

2019

Background: Alcohol consumption during pregnancy may result in a wide range of morphological and neurodevelopmental abnormalities, most notably fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Objectives: To evaluate: (1) Opolskie Voivodeship high school students’ level of knowledge on the subject of FAS (2) the factors contributing to this level of knowledge (3) sources of information about FAS which are accessible and preferred by secondary school students. Materials and methods: The study was conducted in 2018 among 228 adult students of Opole secondary schools. The authors used a diagnostic survey based on original questions they developed for the study. The students’ knowledge was assessed using a four-l…

Nutritional self-care among a group of older home-living people in rural Southern Norway

2015

Bjørg Dale, Ulrika SöderhamnCentre for Caring Research – Southern Norway, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Agder, Grimstad, NorwayBackground: Older home-living people are an at-risk group for undernutrition, particularly those who are living alone. Lack of knowledge about healthy dietary habits, altered taste sensation, and declined health status are shown to be some of the factors related to undernutrition. The aims of this study were to explore how a small group of older people in Southern Norway perceived their nutritional self-care.Methods: An exploratory qualitative approach, combined with a simple self-report questionnaire, was used. Fi…

Preliminary experience with lumbar facet distraction and fixation as treatment for lumbar spinal stenosis

2017

Objectives: To assess the properties of facet fixation with the Facet Wedge system in patients affected by lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). Summary of Background Data: Implant of intra-articular spacers is an emerging technique for lumbar degenerative disease. Methods: This study included forty patients (Group 1) with symptomatic LSS in whom intra-articular spacers have been implanted along with microdecompression (MD) of the neural structures. Group 1 has been compared with a homogeneous group of patients with LSS treated with MD without intra-articular spacers implant (Group 2). Clinical findings have been observed preoperatively and 3, 6, 12 months postoperatively using dedicated questionna…

The vaccinaTion & Hpv Knowledge (THinK) questionnaire: a reliability and validity study on a sample of women living in Sicily (southern-Italy)

2019

Objective The aim of this study was to introduce the VaccinaTion & Hpv Knowledge (THinK) questionnaire to assess knowledge about human papillomavirus (HPV) and attitude to HPV-vaccination. Its reliability and validity was demonstrated in a sample of women living in Sicily (southern Italy). Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted on a sample of 220 women at the “Paolo Giaccone” University Hospital in Palermo (Sicily), aged 18–61. Data were analyzed through Cronbach’s alpha and exploratory factor analysis, followed by a structural equation model with measurement component. The two-level data structure was explicitly considered. Results Three dimensions were found: “knowledge of HP…

Changes in Self-Reported Physical Fitness, Performance, and Side Effects Across the Phases of the Menstrual Cycle Among Competitive Endurance Athletes

2019

Purpose: To investigate changes in self-reported physical fitness, performance, and side effects across the menstrual cycle (MC) phases among competitive endurance athletes and to describe their knowledge and communication with coaches about the MC. Methods: The responses of 140 participants (older than 18 y) competing in biathlon or cross-country skiing at the (inter)national level were analyzed. Data were collected via an online questionnaire addressing participants’ competitive level, training volume, MC history, physical fitness, and performance during the MC, MC-related side effects, and knowledge and communication with coaches about the MC and its effects on training and performance. …

2020

Interruptions (interfering stimuli to respond to) and distractions (interfering stimuli to be ignored) have been shown to negatively impact performance, particularly in tasks requiring working memory (WM). This study investigated how these two types of external interference affect task performance and attentional and WM processes as indexed by specific event-related potentials (ERPs) of the EEG. A Continuous Number Task (CNT) was applied, in which participants had to either decide whether the current number (condition without WM load) or the sum of the current and the preceding number (condition with WM load) was odd or even while responding to interlaced single letters (interruptions) or i…

Salesperson adoption and usage of mobile sales configuration tools

2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine salespersons’ adoption and usage of mobile sales configuration tools (MSCT) and to identify areas for further development in this realm. Another objective is to offer a conceptualization of MSCT adoption.Design/methodology/approachFor this purpose, a qualitative case study approach was selected as the research method to better understand acceptance of a mobile configuration tool used by business-to-business (B2B) salespersons. Primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews, which included a series of open-ended questions to gain more detailed and contextual data.FindingsThe results obtained from the interviews indicated several …

External knowledge sourcing for R&D activities: antecedents and implications of governance mode choice

2014

This paper investigates how internal and external factors affect the choice between alliances and joint ventures (A&JVs) and mergers and acquisitions (M&As) for the external sourcing of research and development (R&D) activities, and whether or not such a choice is really con- tingent, that is, is it the best choice in terms of its impact on firms’ innovative performance under those circumstances? We build a set of hypotheses based on both the transaction-cost theory and the resource-based view, and test them through a secondary data source analy- sis. We found that companies adopt either R&D M&A or A&JV depending on internal (e.g. resources and capabilities, innovation experience) and exter…