Expert Judgment Versus Public Opinion – Evidence from the Eurovision Song Contest

For centuries, there have been discussions as to whether only experts can judge the quality of cultural output, or whether the taste of the public also has merit. This paper tries to answer that question empirically, using national finals of the Eurovision Song Contest. We show that experts are better judges of quality in the sense that the outcome of finals judged by experts is less sensitive to factors unrelated to quality than the outcome of finals judged by public opinion. Yet, experts are not perfect; their judgment does still depend on such factors. This is also the case in the European finals of the contest.     

Accidental digitoxin intoxication: an interplay between laboratory and clinical medicine

Introduction:

Two Italian adults arrived at the Emergency Department referring diarrhea, nausea and vomiting for 4 days; weakness, fatigue and visual hallucinations were also complained of. Patients reported the ingestion of some leaves of a plant, which they supposed to be “donkey ears”, a week before. Physical examination showed hypotension and bradycardia and ECG examination disclosed sinus rhythm and repolarization abnormalities (scooping of the ST-T complex) in both patients and a 2:1 AV block in the man.

Materials and methods:

Digoxin concentration was evaluated twice for each patient (at the admission and after 4 hours) by the automated immunoassay system ADVIA Centaur^®. Digitoxin concentration was evaluated by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).

Results:

Despite clinical picture was suggestive of digitalis intoxication, digoxin levels were undetectable. Due to the more severe clinical picture, the male patient was treated with anti-digoxin antibodies (Digifab^®) achieving a good clinical improvement and remission of the AV block within two hours. Initial diagnosis was confirmed by LC-MS/MS showing high digitoxin concentrations, but digoxin was undetectable. Patients remained stable and 48 hours later were discharged from the hospital.

Conclusion:

Whereas digoxin determination frequently relies on monoclonal antibodies which do not cross-react to digitoxin, polyclonal antibodies constituting Digifab^® recognize a large spectrum of cardiac glycosides, including digitoxin. This report emphasizes the primary role of the clinical approach to patients in the emergency setting and how an active communication and a continuous sharing of professional experiences between Laboratory and Clinicians ensure an early and correct diagnosis.     

Creatine kinase activity weakly correlates to volume completed following upper body resistance exercise

In the current study, we examined the relationship between serum creatine kinase (CK) activity following upper body resistance exercise with a 1- or 3-min rest between sets. Twenty men performed two sessions, each consisting of four sets with a 10-repetition maximum load. The results demonstrated significantly greater volume for the 3-min condition (M = 4156 kg, SD = 867, for 3 min; vs. M = 3503 kg SD = 759, for 1 min; p < .001), with no significant differences in delta CK activity between conditions (p = .574). Nevertheless, there was a weak correlation between the delta CK activity and total volume of exercise completed (r = .55 with a 1-min rest, and r = .45 with a 3-min rest). Therefore, the volume following upper body resistance exercise correlates weakly with serum CK levels, irrespective of rest interval length between sets.     

论陈鹤琴幼儿体育教育理论的现代价值

运用文献资料法、专家访谈法和逻辑分析法等研究方法,对陈鹤琴的幼儿体育教育理论进行研究。陈鹤琴幼儿体育教育理论体系包括幼儿健康第一的教育主张,和谐、全面发展的教育目的,融于五指活动的体育教育内容以及一切为儿童的体育教育原则等几个方面的内容,对我国幼儿教育事业的改革与发展产生了巨大影响。在贯彻《幼儿园教育指导纲要(试行)》和推进幼儿园课程改革与素质教育的今天,应充分认识与挖掘其幼儿体育教育理论所具有的多方面现实指导价值——高度关注幼儿的身心健康,发挥体育教育在幼儿素质教育过程中的特殊作用,倡导教育活动以游戏为基本形式,建立平等、合作与互动的师幼关系。     

不同Supply-hub营运主体下的批量与成本比较研究

本文考虑了JIT环境下基于Supply-hub的供货模式,建立了制造商、Supply-hub和供应商的平均成本函数,并提出了分别由制造商和供应商负责Supply-hub营运及成本的生产与订货批量模型。结果表明,在Supply-hub适用的条件下,相比由制造商负责,供应商负责Supply-hub的运营及成本时,对供应商有利而不利于制造商,但整个供应链的总成本减少,通过供应商与制造商之间的协商和利益转移,可以使制造商和供应商的成本都有所减少,从而实现整个供应链的Pareto优化,此外,供应商距离Supply-hub越远,相比制造商负责,由供应商负责Supply-hub的营运及成本对整个供应链更有利。     

美国环境与健康管理体制对我国的启示

通过介绍美国环境与健康的管理和科研相关工作,为我国环境与健康的管理提供借鉴。     

澳大利亚高等教育改革综述

高等教育是培养人才和出科研成果的最优途径,对国家发展起看至关重要的作用,具有很大的研究价值。从高等教育投资体制、高等教育宏观管理体制和高等学校内部管理体制等高等教育改革方面,对澳大利亚高等教育现状以及未来发展趋势进行综述,并在此基础上归纳总结出对我国高等教育改革的借鉴意义。     

浅论粉丝类词语

根据粉丝类词语的构成特征及其主要功能,在总体上把该类词语分为常用类和次常用类;从语料分析中得出该类词语的随意性、谐音相关性、物化性等显性特征。     

Chewing substances with or without tobacco and risk of cardiovascular disease in Asia: a meta-analysis

Objective  

To assess whether people who ever use any form of chewing substance in Asia are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).     

Validity and reliability testing of the Chinese (mainland) version of the 39-item Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39)

The 39-item Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39) has been tested in many languages, but not in Chinese mainland. We aimed to assess the Chinese (mainland) version of the PDQ-39. Seventy-one subjects with Parkinson’s disease (PD) completed the PDQ-39 and the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). All subjects were retested with the PDQ-39 a week later. The united Parkinson’s disease rating scale (UPDRS) and the Hoehn and Yahr (H &; Y) scale were also used to evaluate the subjects. Reliability was assessed by Cronbach’s α and intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Validity was examined in terms of agreement with SF-36, UPDRS, and H &; Y scales. The Chinese (mainland) version of the PDQ-39 demonstrated acceptable reliability (Cronbach’s α: 0.84–0.88; ICC: 0.56–0.82). The item-total correlations (0.33–0.88) and scaling success rates (77.56%) indicated satisfactory convergent and discriminant validity of the PDQ-39 items. The correlations between related constructs of the PDQ-39 and UPDRS (r=0.44–0.68) and between those of the PDQ-39 and SF-36 (r=(−0.46)-(−0.69)) were all statistically significant (P<0.01). Except for stigma, cognitions, and bodily discomfort, all other dimensions of the PDQ-39 significantly discriminated patients at different H &; Y stages indicated by the H &; Y scale. Although our observations indicate that some problematic subscales of this version of the PDQ-39 could be improved upon, this study suggests acceptable reliability and validity of the Chinese (mainland) version of the PDQ-39.