Bayesian network analysis for the dynamic prediction of early stage entrepreneurial activity index

Entrepreneurship plays a critical role for the development and well-being of society. Illustration of its dynamic relationship with entrepreneurial attitudes and aspirations can provide a guideline for the cause of such activities. However, a time-lagged causal relationship among these concepts has not yet been established. In this study, we examine a dynamic relationship among early stage entrepreneurial attitudes, activities, and aspirations using Bayesian network (BN) analysis. In addition, we propose an early stage entrepreneurial activity index that can predict the percentage of both nascent entrepreneur and new business owner using the variables related to entrepreneurial attitudes of the previous year. This index, in turn, can be used to predict various aspects of entrepreneurial aspiration of the following year. The proposed index turns out to have very high prediction accuracy and is expected to provide effective policies to boost future entrepreneurial activity and aspiration.     

The Visual Resources Association,its role and its future

The Visual Resources Association is an international organization for those involved in image information management. Membership includes image specialists of all types, librarians, museum curators, gallery representatives, system vendors, historians, artists, and those involved in intellectual property. The Association has a publications program, and has been working on several initiatives over the last ten years in the areas of intellectual property, the development of image cataloguing standards, and professional status standards. As the image information profession changes, the Association is moving in new directions to continually serve its membership.     

Student perspectives on mentoring in a science outreach project

Abstract

The focus of this paper is an examination of mentorship relationships developed as a result of six students’ participation in a local community science centre sponsored through an NSERC/CRYSTAL project. Each year, a number of students participate in after‐school activities sponsored by the community science centre. Much of this work involves a one‐to‐one approach, with a middle years or high school student working with a professor partner. The professor acts as a mentor to the student, facilitating learning in a manner not always feasible within a school setting with large class sizes. For some students this research may be the basis of a science fair project; for others if is simply a study based on individual interest. Mentored students were interviewed about the nature of that mentorship, with the goal of describing the experience from the students’ perspective. Questions focused on the student's experience of working with a mentor, including how the mentorship relationship was formed, what the importance of the voluntary nature of mentoring was, what the benefits and challenges of working with a mentor were, how the mentorship relationship affected the level of content knowledge the student gained, and what effect the mentoring relationship had on the student's continuing interest in science. The mentorship program offers students the opportunity to work within a developing community of practice.     

Influence of clay in limestone fillers for self-compacting cement based composites

High workability together with a good resistance to segregation is needed for cement based composites, specifically fresh self-compacting mortars (SCM); in this prospect, the amount of coarse materials has to be reduced and replaced by fine material. Several limestone fillers are here compared and analysed. These by-products are issued from different industrial sectors, such as the aggregate and lime production industry (quarrying operations) and the ornamental stones industry (sawing operations).Particular attention has been paid to clay content, as consistency of fresh mortars was varying, while other physical characteristics like granulometry remained the same. Relationship between the physico-chemical properties of the fillers and the properties of fresh and hardened mortars are brought forward. Even if it may affect fresh properties of mortars, results clearly show that clay type and content has minor influence than limestone filler itself.     

Norman Garmezy (1918–2009).

Norman Garmezy, a pioneer in research on risk and resilience, died in Nashville, Tennessee, on November 21, 2009, at the age of 91. He was a legendary mentor as well as an eminent scientist in clinical psychology. Norm was born on June 18, 1918, in New York City and grew up in the Bronx in a Jewish neighborhood where educational attainment was highly valued. The scientific study of resilience as conceived by Norman Garmezy, his peers, and students has transformed the science and practice of multiple disciplines, from the molecular level to the global ecosystem, infusing a strength-based and recovery-oriented approach into psychology, education, social work, and psychiatry. Current research on resilience ranges from studies of plasticity in brain development to effective planning for resilience in the context of disaster. Norm’s influential ideas and research earned him international acclaim and many honors for lifetime achievements in science. Throughout his career, Norm held many leadership roles. Throughout his life, Norm spoke with great love about his wife of 63 years, Edie Garmezy (who died just months before him in 2009), and their children. In addition to his work and his family, Norm had three abiding passions—theater, movies, and politics. During the last two decades of his life, Norm and those who loved him endured his long decline from Alzheimer’s, which slowly stole his brilliant mind and hilarious sense of humor. Nonetheless, the incredible spirit and humanity of this giant scholar continued to shine through this terrible disease. To the end of his life, Norm’s face would light up with a smile as he greeted the people he loved, and he would often exclaim, “Wonderful!” Norman Garmezy was a remarkable person and scholar who left an extraordinary legacy of love and work to inspire future generations in their efforts to understand and promote the human capacity for competence and resilience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neurocognitive signs in prodromal Huntington disease.

Objective: PREDICT-HD is a large-scale international study of people with the Huntington disease (HD) CAG-repeat expansion who are not yet diagnosed with HD. The objective of this study was to determine the stage in the HD prodrome at which cognitive differences from CAG-normal controls can be reliably detected. Method: For each of 738 HD CAG-expanded participants, we computed estimated years to clinical diagnosis and probability of diagnosis in 5 years based on age and CAG-repeat expansion number (Langbehn, Brinkman, Falush, Paulsen, & Hayden, 2004). We then stratified the sample into groups: NEAR, estimated to be ≤9 years; MID, between 9 and 15 years; and FAR, ≥15 years. The control sample included 168 CAG-normal participants. Nineteen cognitive tasks were used to assess attention, working memory, psychomotor functions, episodic memory, language, recognition of facial emotion, sensory–perceptual functions, and executive functions. Results: Compared with the controls, the NEAR group showed significantly poorer performance on nearly all of the cognitive tests and the MID group on about half of the cognitive tests (p = .05, Cohen's d NEAR as large as ?1.17, MID as large as ?0.61). One test even revealed significantly poorer performance in the FAR group (Cohen's d = ?0.26). Individual tasks accounted for 0.2% to 9.7% of the variance in estimated proximity to diagnosis. Overall, the cognitive battery accounted for 34% of the variance; in comparison, the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale motor score accounted for 11.7%. Conclusions: Neurocognitive tests are robust clinical indicators of the disease process prior to reaching criteria for motor diagnosis of HD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognition-based and affect-based trust as mediators of leader behavior influences on team performance.

We develop a model in which cognitive and affective trust in the leader mediate the relationship between leader behavior and team psychological states that, in turn, drive team performance. The model is tested on a sample of 191 financial services teams in Hong Kong and the U.S. Servant leadership influenced team performance through affect-based trust and team psychological safety. Transformational leadership influenced team performance indirectly through cognition-based trust. Cognition-based trust directly influenced team potency and indirectly (through affect-based trust) influenced team psychological safety. The effects of leader behavior on team performance were fully mediated through the trust in leader variables and the team psychological states. Servant leadership explained an additional 10% of the variance in team performance beyond the effect of transformational leadership. We discuss implications of these results for research on the relationship between leader behavior and team performance, and for efforts to enhance leader development by combining knowledge from different leadership theories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mind-body skills groups for posttraumatic stress disorder and depression symptoms in Palestinian children and adolescents in Gaza.

A mind-body skills group program was evaluated to determine its effects on symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, and on hopelessness in children and adolescents in Gaza. The 10-session mind-body skills groups included meditation, guided imagery, breathing techniques, autogenic training, biofeedback, genograms, and self-expression through words, drawings, and movement. Data were analyzed from 129 children and adolescents meeting criteria for PTSD. Significant improvements in PTSD and depression symptoms and a significant decrease in a sense of hopelessness were observed immediately following participation in the program. At 7-month follow-up, the improvements in the total PTSD and depression scores were largely maintained and the decreased sense of hopelessness was fully maintained despite ongoing violent conflict and economic hardship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

USGS Streamflow Data and Modeling Sand-Bed Rivers

United States Geological Survey streamflow data are commonly used for hydraulic model calibration and boundary conditions. The transitory nature of sand-bed rivers’ bathymetry is problematic for the traditional automated stream gauging methods used by the USGS. This note seeks to assess the limitations of streamflow measurements for use in hydraulic models. An overview of USGS rating-curve development and use is presented with a focus on the specific challenges of sand-bed rivers. Measurements from three consecutive USGS gauges for a storm event on the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, New Mexico, illustrate the outlined problems with rating curves. These gauges are utilized to study the impact of uncertainty in rating-curve discharges on hydraulic model results. A one dimensional hydraulic model of the study reach indicates up to 25% reduction in the calculated flow depth if questionable rating-curve discharges are used as model input. Recommendations for using USGS streamflow data in hydraulic models are outlined.     

Reliability performance of safety instrumented systems: A common approach for both low- and high-demand mode of operation

Safety instrumented systems (SISs) are usually divided into two modes of operation, low-demand and high-demand. Unfortunately, this classification is not easy to justify and the available formulas that are used to quantify the reliability performance in these two modes of operation are unable to capture combined effects of functional testing, spurious activations, and successful responses to demands. This article discusses some important modeling issues for SIS reliability performance quantification, and demonstrates their implementation in a Markov model. The accuracy of the Markov model for a simple case study of a pressure transmitter is verified through comparison with a scenario-based formula, and it is shown that the Markov approach gives a sufficiently accurate result for all demand rates, covering both low- and high-demand modes of operation.