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The a priori procedure was designed as a pre-data procedure whereby researchers could find the sample sizes necessary to ensure that sample statistics to be obtained are within particular distances of corresponding population parameters with known probabilities. Researchers specify desired precisions (distances of sample statistics from corresponding population parameters) and desired confidences (probabilities of being within desired distances), and this procedure provides necessary sample sizes to meet precision and confidence specifications. Although the a priori procedure has been devised for a variety of experimental paradigms, these have all been simple. The present article constitutes its extension to analysis of variance models. A fortunate side effect of the equations to be proposed is an improvement in efficiency even for a paradigm that fits a previously published article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Al-Academy is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Loneliness-perceived social isolation-is defined as a discrepancy between existing social relationships and desired quality of relationships. Whereas most research has focused on existing relationships, we consider the standards against which people compare them. Participants who made downward social or temporal comparisons that depicted their contact with others as better (compared to other people's contact or compared to the past) reported less loneliness than participants who made upward comparisons that depicted their contact with others as worse (Study 1-3). Extending these causal results, in a survey of British adults, upward social comparisons predicted current loneliness, even when controlling for loneliness at a previous point in time (Study 4). Finally, content analyses of interviews with American adults who lived alone showed that social and temporal comparisons about contact with others were both prevalent and linked to expressed loneliness (Study 5). These findings contribute to understanding the social cognition of loneliness, extend the effects of comparisons about social connection to the important public health problem of loneliness, and provide a novel tool for acutely manipulating loneliness.

Cornel Țăranu became history. Among the works he has left us are four piano miniatures composed in the 1960s. We have set out to analyse two of them, Contrast I-II, looking at the musical contrasts that are at the basis of the genesis of these two works. We are referring to the rhythmic, dynamic, tempo, register, texture and organization contrasts of the sound material. The results show that the two works can stand alongside any other piano composition of the universal creation of the second half of the 20th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are interested in detecting a departure from the baseline in a longitudinal analysis in the context of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). In particular, we are given gene expression reads at two time points for a fixed number of genes and individuals. The individuals can be subdivided into two groups, denoted as groups A and B. Using the two time points, we compute a contrast of gene expression reads per individual and gene. The age of each individual is known and it is used to compute, for each gene separately, a linear regression of the gene expression contrasts on the individual's age. Looking at the intercept of the linear regression to detect a departure from the baseline, we aim to reliably single out those genes for which there is a difference in the intercept among those individuals in group A and not in group B. In this work, we develop testing methodology for this setting based on two hypothesis tests—one under the null and one under an appropriately formulated alternative. We demonstrate the validity of our approach using a dataset created by bootstrapping from a real data application in the context of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resumen: Este artículo propone enfocar el tema de la comunicación y de la traducción desde una perspectiva científica y con un propósito didáctico, de acuerdo con la idea de la dinamicidad del lenguaje y de la noción de interculturalidad, en función de la tramitación del mensaje. Abstract: In this article, an attempt will be made to approach the subject of communication and translation from a scientific perspective and with a didactic purpose, in accordance with the idea of the dynamics of language and the notion of interculturality, depending on the processing of the message.

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Omissions figure prominently in causal reasoning fromdiagnosis to ascriptions of negligence. One philosophicalproposal posits that omissions are accompanied by acontrasting alternative that describes a case of orthodox (non-omissive) causation (Schaffer, 2005; Bernstein, 2014). Apsychological hypothesis can be drawn from this contrastview of omissions: by default, humans should interpretomissive causations as representing at least two possibilities,i.e., a possibility representing the omission and a possibilityrepresenting a contrast. The theory of mental models supposesthat reasoners construct only one possibility (the omission) bydefault, and that they consider separate alternativepossibilities in sequential order. Two experiments test thecontrast hypothesis against the model theory, and findevidence in favor of the model-theoretic account.

Abstract There is extensive choice in R to support meta‐analyses. Two packages in this ecosystem include meta and metafor and provide an excellent opportunity to apply a structured checklist previously developed for contrasts between R packages relevant to challenges in ecology and evolution. Meta is a direct, intuitive choice for rapid implementation of general meta‐analytical statistics. Metafor is a comprehensive package best suited for relatively more complex models. Both packages provide estimates of heterogeneity, excellent visualization tools, and functions to explore publication bias. The package metafor has a steeper learning curve but greater rewards. Reference to the learning curve and capacities of the statistical software Stata provided a benchmark outside the R ecosystem and confirmed the consistency in statistics. The usefulness of meta‐analyses is not just in the synthesis of the research but in the process of doing the scientific synthesis. Reporting of contrasts and checks for robust statistics is an important contribution to more transparent and reproducible scientific syntheses.

This article explores the transition from work to higher education and how vocational teacher students talk about the transition from occupational work to vocational teacher education. Previous research has identified students’ experiences of coherence in higher education as a challenge, and in this article the aspect of coherence that explores the contrasts and conflicts between vocational teacher students’ past experiences as occupational workers and experiences in vocational teacher education (biographic coherence) is explored. It is a qualitative study with participant observations and focus group interviews with Norwegian vocational teacher students at their second year of a bachelor’s degree programme to become vocational teachers. The analysis shows that students use metaphors and contrasts when they talk about the transition from occupational work to higher education. The metaphors and contrasts elicit an emotional aspect of the transition from work to education, and how students use their previous experiences from occupational work to give meaning to experiences in education.

Abstract Background RNAseq is nowadays the method of choice for transcriptome analysis. In the last decades, a high number of statistical methods, and associated bioinformatics tools, for RNAseq analysis were developed. More recently, statistical studies realised neutral comparison studies using benchmark datasets, shedding light on the most appropriate approaches for RNAseq data analysis. Results DiCoExpress is a script-based tool implemented in R that includes methods chosen based on their performance in neutral comparisons studies. DiCoExpress uses pre-existing R packages including FactoMineR, edgeR and coseq, to perform quality control, differential, and co-expression analysis of RNAseq data. Users can perform the full analysis, providing a mapped read expression data file and a file containing the information on the experimental design. Following the quality control step, the user can move on to the differential expression analysis performed using generalized linear models thanks to the automated contrast writing function. A co-expression analysis is implemented using the coseq package. Lists of differentially expressed genes and identified co-expression clusters are automatically analyzed for enrichment of annotations provided by the user. We used DiCoExpress to analyze a publicly available RNAseq dataset on the transcriptional response of Brassica napus L. to silicon treatment in plant roots and mature leaves. This dataset, including two biological factors and three replicates for each condition, allowed us to demonstrate in a tutorial all the features of DiCoExpress. Conclusions DiCoExpress is an R script-based tool allowing users to perform a full RNAseq analysis from quality controls to co-expression analysis through differential analysis based on contrasts inside generalized linear models. DiCoExpress focuses on the statistical modelling of gene expression according to the experimental design and facilitates the data analysis leading the biological interpretation of the results.

This study aims to explore experiences of healthcare professionals, including midwives, obstetricians, and assistant nurses, after a perinatal death. A qualitative study design was used, and 20 participants were interviewed. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Three categories emerged from the data: (i) external responses, (ii) internal responses, and (iii) personal responses. Generally, there was a “culture of blame” in response to the perinatal death among the professionals. The lack of opportunity to deal with perinatal death and having an inappropriate way to handle feelings and experiences are the important findings of this study. If not well supported, the concerned healthcare professionals may face serious health challenges in the long term. Hence, supportive interventions need to be designed and evaluated to provide adequate support to the concerned professionals.

Copyright of Tejuelo: Didáctica de Lengua y Literatura is the property of Tejuelo. Didactica de la Lengua y la Literatura. Educacion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Loneliness—perceived social isolation—is defined as a discrepancy between existing social relationships and desired quality of relationships. Whereas most research has focused on existing relationships, we consider the standards against which people compare them. Participants who made downward social or temporal comparisons that depicted their contact with others as better (compared to other people’s contact or compared to the past) reported less loneliness than participants who made upward comparisons that depicted their contact with others as worse (Study 1–3). Extending these causal results, in a survey of British adults, upward social comparisons predicted current loneliness, even when controlling for loneliness at a previous point in time (Study 4). Finally, content analyses of interviews with American adults who lived alone showed that social and temporal comparisons about contact with others were both prevalent and linked to expressed loneliness (Study 5). These findings contribute to understanding the social cognition of loneliness, extend the effects of comparisons about social connection to the important public health problem of loneliness, and provide a novel tool for acutely manipulating loneliness.

Loneliness—perceived social isolation—is defined as a discrepancy between existing social relationships and desired quality of relationships. Whereas most research has focused on existing relationships, we consider the standards against which people compare them. Participants who made downward social or temporal comparisons that depicted their contact with others as better (compared to other people's contact or compared to the past) reported less loneliness than participants who made upward comparisons that depicted their contact with others as worse (Study 1–3). Extending these causal results, in a survey of British adults, upward social comparisons predicted current loneliness, even when controlling for loneliness at a previous point in time (Study 4). Finally, content analyses of interviews with American adults who lived alone showed that social and temporal comparisons about contact with others were both prevalent and linked to expressed loneliness (Study 5). These findings contribute to understanding the social cognition of loneliness, extend the effects of comparisons about social connection to the important public health problem of loneliness, and provide a novel tool for acutely manipulating loneliness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is extensive choice in R to support meta‐analyses.Two packages in this ecosystem include meta and metafor and provide an excellent opportunity to apply a structured checklist previously developed for contrasts between R packages relevant to challenges in ecology and evolution.Meta is a direct, intuitive choice for rapid implementation of general meta‐analytical statistics. Metafor is a comprehensive package best suited for relatively more complex models.Both packages provide estimates of heterogeneity, excellent visualization tools, and functions to explore publication bias.The package metafor has a steeper learning curve but greater rewards. Reference to the learning curve and capacities of the statistical software Stata provided a benchmark outside the R ecosystem and confirmed the consistency in statistics.The usefulness of meta‐analyses is not just in the synthesis of the research but in the process of doing the scientific synthesis. Reporting of contrasts and checks for robust statistics is an important contribution to more transparent and reproducible scientific syntheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ámbitos: Revista de Estudios de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades is the property of Asociacion de Estudios de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: RNAseq is nowadays the method of choice for transcriptome analysis. In the last decades, a high number of statistical methods, and associated bioinformatics tools, for RNAseq analysis were developed. More recently, statistical studies realised neutral comparison studies using benchmark datasets, shedding light on the most appropriate approaches for RNAseq data analysis. Results: DiCoExpress is a script-based tool implemented in R that includes methods chosen based on their performance in neutral comparisons studies. DiCoExpress uses pre-existing R packages including FactoMineR, edgeR and coseq, to perform quality control, differential, and co-expression analysis of RNAseq data. Users can perform the full analysis, providing a mapped read expression data file and a file containing the information on the experimental design. Following the quality control step, the user can move on to the differential expression analysis performed using generalized linear models thanks to the automated contrast writing function. A co-expression analysis is implemented using the coseq package. Lists of differentially expressed genes and identified co-expression clusters are automatically analyzed for enrichment of annotations provided by the user. We used DiCoExpress to analyze a publicly available RNAseq dataset on the transcriptional response of Brassica napus L. to silicon treatment in plant roots and mature leaves. This dataset, including two biological factors and three replicates for each condition, allowed us to demonstrate in a tutorial all the features of DiCoExpress. Conclusions: DiCoExpress is an R script-based tool allowing users to perform a full RNAseq analysis from quality controls to co-expression analysis through differential analysis based on contrasts inside generalized linear models. DiCoExpress focuses on the statistical modelling of gene expression according to the experimental design and facilitates the data analysis leading the biological interpretation of the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Associations between root distribution and bean growth habit may contribute to the selection of genotypes adapted to restrictive environments. The present work aimed to relate and compare root distribution with the growth habit in beans. 10 bean genotypes of different growth habits (I, II and III) were evaluated for root distribution in two agricultural years (2014/15 and 2015/16). The genotypes responded similarly for the trait root distribution throughout the agricultural years, without any simple effect of the genotype x year interaction. The factors genotype and years were significant for the trait. The genotypes of a determinate habit showed significant differences compared to other genotypes (II and III), which were ascribed to their poor performance in the average of years. They include the Carioca Precoce, which showed a behavior similar to the other habits. It could be considered a “plastic” genotype under restrictive conditions. The contrasts revealed significant differences between the growth habits II vs I (2.87) and III vs I (3.64) for root distribution. The differences were also significant for grain yield. Thus, genotypes of indeterminate growth habit show greater root distribution than those of a determinate habit, regardless of the agricultural years. Therefore, they are promising for use in blocks of crosses, when the purpose is the selection of cultivars adapted to low input environments.

The objective was to determine the predominant genetic inheritance in the trait root distribution in common bean and define the selection strategy. An experiment involving 40 genetic constitutions (segregating and fixed populations), was developed during the agricultural years 2014/15 and 2015/16. The experiment was arranged in a Federer's augmented block design with 3 replicates. The root distribution was evaluated by Bohm method. Estimates of mean contrasts between the F4 progenies and their parents did not reveal any significant differences in any comparison. The generations F5 and F6 presented the same behavior. The distribution of the component of the additive genetic variance was similarly conducted for the segregating generations. Thus, since the predominant inheritance of the root distribution is additive, the selection of this trait is recommended to be performed at the end of the breeding program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we contrast different aspects of non-profit organizations’ performance from the perspective of their funding sources. Based on previous empirical results indicating that sources of funding influence fundraising performance, we extend the existing research to the analysis of overall non-profit organizational performance. We use the social constructivist approach to non-profit performance to discuss contrasts between privately and publicly funded humanitarian organizations in Croatia. Some differences in growth- and development-oriented measures of nonprofit performance for these groups are identified and discussed in the context of future regional research.

Copyright of Literature / Literatura is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar quais os principais erros e acertos na aplicação de testes de comparação de médias em trabalhos científicos, demonstrando alternativas viáveis no sentido de aumentar a imparcialidade dos resultados obtidos pelos pesquisadores. Um dos maiores desafios do pesquisador é a interpretação dos resultados de forma fidedigna. Apesar da preocupação com a análise dos dados, muitas vezes pode ser observado certo descaso com a interpretação dos resultados, em que a aplicação incorreta de testes estatísticos pode levar à divulgação de informações pouco confiáveis. Foram revisados 226 trabalhos científicos publicados na revista Ciência Rural de 2002 a 2006, somente na área de Fitotecnia, sendo utilizados 148 trabalhos para discussão. A maioria dos trabalhos que estudaram mais de um fator foram classificados como incorretos (72%) devido ao abuso dos testes de comparações de médias. Por outro lado, 4 e 24% foram classificados como parcialmente corretos e corretos, respectivamente.The objective of this research was to verify which are the main mistakes and the successes in the application of mean comparison tests in scientific studies, demonstrating viable alternatives in the sense of increasing the impartiality of the results obtained by researchers. One of the researcher's largest challenges is the interpretation of the obtained results in a trustworthy way. In spite of the concern of most researchers with the data analysis, many times certain disregard is observed in the interpretation of the results. Thus, the incorrect application of statistical tests leads the researchers to publish information not completely reliable. One hundred and forty-eight papers dealing with one or more than one factor were evaluated. All of them are related to the crop production major area, published from 2002 to 2006, in the 'Ciência Rural', a Brazilian scientific journal. Most of the studies (72%) were classified as incorrect due to the abuse of means comparison tests. In addition, only 4% and 24% were classified respectively as partially correct and correct.

The objective of this work was to verify the researcher’s main difficulties in the use of means comparison tests, as well as to propose alternatives for a better statistical inference. For a correct application of the statistical tests it is fundamental for the researcher to know the experimental design, the factors, the variables and the treatments that will constitute the work, because these are decisive in the choice of the statistical test. Two hundred and ninety-two scientific papers from plant sciences were revised. These papers were published in the Brazilian Qualis A journal, from 2000 until 2006. The papers were classified by their use of means comparison tests as i) appropriate, ii) partially appropriate, and iii) inappropriate. There were diffi culties involved in choosing the correct statistical procedure in relation to the experimental design used. The papers in which more than one factor was studied (75%) were classified as inadequate due to their abuse of the means comparison tests. On the other hand, 3% and 22% were classified as partially appropriate and appropriate, respectively.

Aims: The aim of this guide is to provide practical help for ecologists who analyze data from biodiversity-ecosystem functioning experiments. Our approach differs from others in the use of least squares-based linear models (LMs) together with restricted maximum likelihoodbased mixed models (MMs) for the analysis of hierarchical data. An original data set containing diameter and height of young trees grown in monocultures, 2- or 4-species mixtures under ambient light or shade is used as an example. Methods: Starting with a simple LM, basic features of model fitting and the subsequent analysis of variance (ANOVA) for significance tests are summarized. From this, more complex models are developed. We use the statistical software R for model fitting and to demonstrate similarities and complementarities between LMs and MMs. The formation of contrasts and the use of error (LMs) or random-effects (MMs) terms to account for hierarchical data structure in ANOVAs are explained. Important Findings: Data from biodiversity experiments can be analyzed at the level of entire plant communities (plots) and plant individuals. The basic explanatory term is species composition, which can be divided into contrasts in many ways depending on specific biological hypotheses. Typically, these contrasts code for aspects of species richness or the presence of particular species. For significance tests in ANOVAs, contrast terms generally are compared with remaining variation of the explanatory terms from which they have been 'carved out'. Once a final model has been selected, parameters (e.g. means or slopes for fixed-effects terms and variance components for error or random-effects terms) can be estimated to indicate the direction and size of effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is the second largest producer of potatoes in the world. Shallow root system makes potato crop an inefficient nutrient consumer and sensitive to water stress. Anecdotal evidence hints that many potato growers of northwest India prefer complex NPK fertilizers or compound NP fertilizers over the straight fertilizers because they believe the former to be more efficient on agronomic basis. Thus, this study was aimed at conducting a comparative evaluation of various fertilizer sources across different irrigation and FYM regimes over two years on a loamy sand soil. A field experiment in split-split plot design was used with one additional blocking factor of soil variability. The main plot involved two FYM levels (0 and 50 t ha-1) and three irrigation water pan evaporation (IWPE) based irrigation regimes (IR1 with IWPE 2.0, IR2 with IWPE 1.4, and IR3 with IWPE 0.8) in sub-plots. Four fertilizer treatments in sub-sub plot involved a check (T0); T1 with N,P, and K respectively from straight fertilizers urea, single superphosphate (SSP), muriate of potash (MOP); T2 with P from DAP, remaining N from urea, and K from MOP; T3 with P from NPK complex (12:32:16) fertilizer and the remaining N from urea and K from MOP. General trends in tuber yield and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) during the year 2011 and statistically proven results of various a priori single degree of freedom contrasts showed that NPK complex fertilizer and NP compound fertilizer performed better than straight fertilizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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