Regression analysis constitutes a large portion of the statistical repertoire in applications. In case where such analysis is used for exploratory purposes with no previous knowledge of the structure one would not wish to impose any constraints on the problem. But in many applications we are interested in a simple parametric model to describe the structure of a system with some prior knowledge of the structure. An important example of this occurs when the experimenter has the strong belief that the regression function changes monotonically in some or all of the predictor variables in a region of interest. The analyses needed for statistical inference under such constraints are nonstandard. The specific aim of this study is to introduce a technique which can be used for statistical inferences of a multivariate simple regression with some non-standard constraints.

Meditation, Tai Chi, and moderate aerobic exercise have been shown to positively affect executive attention. We compared the executive attention efficiency and aerobic capacity of long-term Tai Chi, meditation plus exercise, aerobic fitness, and sedentary participants. We hypothesized that because meditation and Tai Chi include moderate aerobic exertion and executive attention training, these groups would show significantly greater executive attention efficiency compared to aerobic exercisers or sedentary control groups. Our results support this. Tai Chi and meditation but not aerobic fitness practitioners significantly outperformed sedentary controls on key executive measures: percent switch costs and P3b ERP switch amplitude (Tai Chi, p = .001; p = .031, respectively; meditation, p = .006; p = .003, respectively). This suggests participation in chronic health practices requiring moderate aerobic exertion and attentional focus may offset declines in aerobic, neuromotor, and executive attention capacity often seen in normal aging.

Quedas no idoso pode ser um evento devastador. Deve ser estimulada a conscientização desse grupo quanto aos benefícios de se manterem ativos. O tai chi chuan é um exercício de prática esportiva moderada que demonstra aumento no equilíbrio, marcha e postura. O objetivo foi avaliar a influência dessa modalidade no equilíbrio, postura e marcha de idosos ativos e saudáveis. Foi realizado um estudo transversal controlado com 76 voluntários, com 51 participantes da atividade para o equilíbrio, idade média de76, 8 anos. Foram utilizados quatro testes do Sistema Balance Master da Neurocom. Para análise dos dados a comparação das idades nos dois grupos utilizou-se o teste de Mann-Whitney (Siegel, 2006). O mesmo teste foi utilizado para todas as comparações entre os dois grupos quanto ao Teste Clínico Modificado da Interação Sensorial para o Equilíbrio (TCISEM), Teste da Caminhada (TC), Teste da Transferência de Sentado para em Pé (TSP) e Teste da avaliação Unipodal (TUP). O grupo do tai chi chuan apresentou valores significativos no equilíbrio e maior capacidade de recuperação. / Falls in the elderly can be a devastating event. Should be encouraged awareness about the benefits of this group to remain active exercises. Tai-chi-chuan is an exercise in sports practice demonstrates that moderate increases in balance, gait and posture. The objective was to evaluate the influence of this modality in the balance, posture and gait of elderly people active and independent. Was conducted a cross-controlled study with 76 volunteers, with 51 participants in the activity for the balance, average age de76, 8 years. We used four tests of the system\'s Balance Master Neurocom.For analysis of the data to compare the two age groups using the Mann-Whitney test (. Siegel, 2006). The same test was used for all comparisons between the two groups on the Modified Clinical Test of Sensory Integration for the balance (TCISEM), the Walk Test (CT), Test of the Transfer of sitting for standing (TSP) and Test of the evaluation Leg (TUP). The group of tai chi chuan showed significant values in the balance and gait.

Orientador: Itamar Ferreira / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-09T17:32:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Delforge_DanielYvanMartin_D.pdf: 7860785 bytes, checksum: cfeec7bdb2d7e68eb7898036f0fb0ac0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: A reutilização dos materiais recicláveis tem como principais objetivos, minimizar os impactos ambientais e racionalizar a utilização das cadeias energéticas. No presente trabalho foram compactadas e sinterizadas amostras de mistura de cavaco de aço inoxidável austenítico AISI 316L, com pó do mesmo material. A porcentagem de cavaco variou de zero a 25% em peso, de 5 em 5%. Após a compactação, na pressão de 600MPa, as amostras foram sinterizadas, simultaneamente, na temperatura de 1473K. O comportamento mecânico do produto final foi avaliado através de Ensaios de Ruptura Transversal, recomendados e normalizados pela MPIF - Metal Powder Industries Federation e pela ASTM - American Society for Testing and Materials. As análises foram realizadas por Metalografia Convencional, associada à microscopia eletrônica de varredura nas amostras sinterizadas, resultaram em regiões de intensa difusão, portanto, regiões de sinterização de longo alcance. A resistência mecânica dos corpos-de-prova foi comparada com a resistência mecânica do aço inoxidável sinterizado, sem cavaco, determinado através do Módulo de Ruptura (MOR). A média máxima do MOR das amostras sem cavaco, foi de 457 MPa; com 5% de cavaco, de 358 MPa e com 25% de cavaco, 174MPa. Os resultados alcançados mostraram significativos valores, demonstrando ser esta uma rota alternativa para a reciclagem de cavaco de materiais metálicos, aliado à racionalização da utilização de energia e benefícios para o meio ambiente / Abstract: In the present work, samples of the mixture of 316-stainless steel chip and its powder have been sinterized. The chip weight percentage, in this particular case, has varied from zero to 25%, in increments of 5. After having been compacted under a pressure of 600MPa, all the samples were simultaneously sinterized in just one furnace batch under a temperature of 1473K. The mechanical behavior of the final product was assessed through the assays of transversal rupture test as recommended and regulated by Metal Powder Industries Federation - MPIF and by American Society for Testing and Materials ¿ ASTM. Analyses of these sinterized samples carried out by conventional quantitative metallography show areas of intense diffusion, therefore, areas of long sintered range. The mechanical strength of the assayed samples was compared to those made of sintered stainless steel, without chip. The Modulus of Rupture (MOR) achieved for samples wich contain 5%, 25% of chip and without chip were respectively 358MPa, 174MPa and 457MPa. The results achieved have overcome the expectations and there are strong evidences of the feasibility of this procedure / Doutorado / Materiais e Processos de Fabricação / Doutor em Engenharia Mecânica

Generating samples from generalized hyperbolic distributions and non-central chi-square distributions by inversion has become an important task for the simulation of recent models in finance in the framework of (quasi-) Monte Carlo. However, their distribution functions are quite expensive to evaluate and thus numerical methods like root finding algorithms are extremely slow. In this paper we demonstrate how our new method based on Newton interpolation and Gauss-Lobatto quadrature can be utilized for financial applications. Its fast marginal generation times make it competitive, even for situations where the parameters are not always constant. / Series: Research Report Series / Department of Statistics and Mathematics

Objectives: Among different factors, diet patterns seem to be related to depression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the consumption of fruits and/or vegetables and depressive symptoms. Methodology/Principal findings: A secondary data analysis was conducted using information from a population-based survey from 25 regions from Peru. The outcome was the presence of depressive symptoms according to the Patient Health Questionnaire (cutoff 15 to define major depressive syndrome); whereas the exposure was the self-reported consumption of fruits and/or vegetables (in tertiles and using WHO recommendation 5 servings/day). The association of interest was evaluated using Poisson regression models controlling for the complex-sample survey design and potential confounders. Data from 25,901 participants were analyzed, mean age 44.2 (SD: 17.7) and 13,944 (54.0%) women. Only 910 (3.8%; 95%CI: 3.5%–4.2%) individuals reported consuming 5 servings of fruits and/or vegetables/day; whereas 819 (2.8%; 95%CI: 2.5%–3.1%) had depressive symptoms. Those in the lowest tertile of fruits and/or vegetables consumption had greater prevalence of depressive symptoms (PR = 1.88; 95% CI: 1.39–2.55) than those in the highest tertile. This association was stronger with fruits (PR = 1.92; 95%CI: 1.46–2.53) than vegetables (PR = 1.42; 95%CI: 1.05–1.93) alone. Conclusions: An inverse relationship between consumption of fruits and/or vegetables and depressive symptoms is reported. Less than 5% of subjects reported consuming the amount of fruits and vegetables recommended by the WHO. There is a need to implement strategies to promote better diet patterns with potential impact on mental health. © 2017 Wolniczak et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Context. Color can be used to convey allot of information but in particularly when it comes to tellingwho is good and who is evil. The most common color to use when displaying good and evil is blue forgood and red for evil. Objectives. This study will take a look at what colors people automatically associated with good andevil respectively. Methods. The two methods that are used in this paper is a survey in the form of a questionnaire andthe second method is a statistical hypothesis testing that was done on the data collected in the survey.The statistical hypothesis testing was done in the form of a chi-square test. From the chi-square testyou get a chi-square value and a p-value. Results. The result of the survey was that most participants thought of green, white and blue as goodcolors, while black and red where thought of as evil. The statistical hypothesis testing revealed thatthere where a significant statistical difference when comparing two colors in all but two cases. Thosecases where white vs. blue and orange vs. purple. Conclusions. The conclusions that can be drawn are that there is a significant statistical differencebetween how a color is perceived as good or evil. The perceived convention for what a good charactershould have, as a color is that it should be green and the perceived convention for an evil character isthat it should be either red or black.

The diploma thesis titled "Political developments in Vietnam from 1954 to the present" focuses on the political development of Vietnam after the war in Indochina until present days. It describes what led Ho Chi Minh to adopt communism, after what and by whom he was inspired and why communism has nowadays still a strong position in Vietnam. The main attention is devoted to the reforms of Doi Moi, that have lifted the country's economy. It outlines the positive and negative aspects following the introduction of these reforms.

Orientador: Sylvia Monica Allende Serra / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Artes / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-18T11:07:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silva_EusebioLoboda_D.pdf: 4244574 bytes, checksum: 69a16f48d417156a1e41938a6588aa7d (MD5) Previous issue date: 1993 / Resumo: O objetivo deste trabalho: "Método de Ensino Integral da Dança. Um Estudo do Desenvolvimento dos Exercícios Técnicos Centrado no Aluno" é criar instrumentos que possibilitem o desenvolvimento de uma habilidade motora específica para o dançarino, a partir do potencial de cada indivíduo, sem que este desenvolvimento esteja desvinculado da sua pessoa. Adotamos os conceitos de: a) Tendência Atualizante definido por ROGERS, b) de Ser Integral da filosofia oriental, principalmente exposto por HUANG, LIANG, LIU, BIN, etc., c) de Unidade Psicofísica definido por todos os autores pesquisados neste estudo, os quais coincidem no respeito à individualidade do sujeito e na a sua capacidade de auto-compreensão e auto-desenvolvimento. A idéia de tendência ao crescimento enunciada por ROGERS (1969, 1974, 1977) (Tendência Atualizante) abre-nos novos horizontes na compreensão do processo de ensino/aprendizagem em Exercícios Técnicos de Dança. Isto é dizer que o professor de dança busca alcançar a liberação desta potencialidade no processo educativo da dança. Aplicamos alguns aspectos básicos destas abordagens num inter-jogo teórico prático visando a elaboração de um novo método que permita ao aluno de dança desenvolver seu repertório expressivo de forma global. Acreditamos que o processo de desenvolvimento do dançarino que parta da premissa da Tendência Atualizante permite o desenvolvimento de uma habilidade motora, sem por isto excluir as técnicas tradicionais e sem que esta habilidade fique separada da sua globalidade. ...Observação: O resumo, na íntegra, poderá ser visualizado no texto completo da tese digital / Abstract: The objective of this work: "An Integral Teaching Method of Dance. A study of the Development of Technical Exercise in the Student Centered Approach, has the purpose of creating instruments to enable the dancer to develop a specific motor skill. In order to achieve this goal, we start from each individuals potential value, without separating its development from the person as a whole. We adapted the concepts of: a) Actualizing Tendency defined by ROGERS (1977); b) the idea of Integral Being of the oriental philosophy, mainly expressed by HUANG (1973), among others (LIANG, 1977; LIU, 1974, 1986; EDDE, 1986; BN, 1982; CATHERINE, 1981); c) the Psychophysical harmony defined by each author surveyed in this study, which coincide with the caring and respect to the person's individuality, as well as to his capacity for self-understanding and self-development. The idea of Actualizing Tendency conceptualized by ROGERS (1969, 1974, 1977) spread out the scope of the understanding of the teaching/learning processes in Technical Dance Exercises. We applied some basic aspects of these approaches in a theoretical-pratical interplay, aiming to elaborate a new method of developing the dance student's expressive repertory in a global manner. This is to say that the dance teacher seeks to release the student's potentiality within the dance educational process. ...Note: The complete abstract is available with the full electronic digital thesis or dissertations / Doutorado / Doutor em Artes

abstract: Weight gain and unfavorable body composition are prevalent among midlife and older women; shifts in these characteristics can have detrimental implications on emotional and physical health and longevity. Efforts to attenuate weight-related factors detailing the potential development of obesity are traditionally driven by manipulation of nutrition and/or physical activity; however, sustained results are limited. Novel and integrative approaches are needed to reduce the burden of adverse changes in weight and associated consequences. This dissertation is built around a model of effects of Tai Chi/Qigong in body composition and a pilot test of this intervention and model factors in a group of midlife/older women (N = 36). Three resulting manuscripts include: 1) a proposed biobehavioral model detailing how a Tai Chi/Qigong intervention may improve weight-related outcomes through psychological, behavioral, and physiological pathways, 2) a paper examining pre- to post- intervention differences in the primary outcomes of percent body fat, sleep quality, and emotional eating and the exploratory outcomes of perceived stress, mood state, mindfulness, self-compassion and body awareness; and 3) an exploratory analysis examining correlations between primary (sleep quality, emotional eating), exploratory (perceived stress, mood state, mindfulness, self-compassion and body awareness), and neurophysiological (heart rate variability) outcomes of interest—further, regression models were conducted to explore the predictive value of the independent variables on the dependent variables and associated changes. In manuscript two, dependent t-tests were used to assess pre/post-differences (percent body fat and survey measures); this single group study (8-weeks of Tai Chi/Qigong) did not have a control group. Results of manuscript two demonstrate significant changes in sleep quality (p = .04), perceived stress (p = .05), and body awareness (p = .01). Findings of manuscript three indicate changes in the dependent variable of sleep quality were partially explained by perceived stress (adjusted R2 = 13.4%) and changes in the dependent variable of emotional eating were significantly explained by self-compassion (adjusted R2 = 42.1%). In the context of weight gain and unfavorable body composition in midlife/older women, results of this pilot study, using a standardized Tai Chi/Qigong intervention, indicate that select psycho-emotional factors may be important to explore further. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Nursing and Healthcare Innovation 2019