Bacteriology and histopathology are the most commonly used tests used for official confirmatory diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle in most countries. PCR is also being used increasingly because it allows a fast diagnosis. This test could be applied as a supplement to or replacement for current bTB confirmatory diagnostic tests but its characteristics have first to be evaluated. Th...

Our research explored the incidence and appropriateness of the much-maligned confirmatory approach to testing scientific hypotheses. Psychological scientists completed a survey about their research goals and strategies. The most frequently reported goal is to test the non-absolute hypothesis that a particular relation exists in some conditions. As expected, few scientists reported testing unive...

BACKGROUND Ingestion of water has been associated with general wellbeing. When water intake is insufficient, symptoms such as thirst, fatigue and impaired memory result. Currently there are no instruments to assess water consumption associated with wellbeing. The objective of our study was to develop and validate such an instrument in urban, low socioeconomic, adult Mexican population. METHOD...

The British Columbia Center for Disease Control laboratory performs approximately 95% of all hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody tests for the province's 4 million inhabitants. In 2002, the laboratory tested 96,000 specimens for anti-HCV antibodies, of which 4,800 (5%) were seroreactive and required confirmation of active infection. Although HCV RNA assays with a sensitivity of 50 IU/ml or less ar...

The veracity of substantive research claims hinges on the way experimental data are collected and analyzed. In this article, we discuss an uncomfortable fact that threatens the core of psychology’s academic enterprise: almost without exception, psychologists do not commit themselves to a method of data analysis before they see the actual data. It then becomes tempting to fine tune the analysis ...

The data reviewed here suggest the possibility that a global reduction of blood supply to the whole brain or solely to the infratentorial structures down to the range of ischemic penumbra for several hours or a few days may lead to misdiagnosis of irreversible brain or brain stem damage in a subset of deeply comatose patients with cephalic areflexia. The following proposals are advanced: 1) the...

We tested 190 Klebsiella pneumoniae bloodstream isolates recovered from 189 patients in 30 U.S. hospitals in 23 states to determine the occurrence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) and AmpC beta-lactamase producers. Based on growth inhibition by clavulanic acid by disk and MIC test methods, 18 (9.5%) of the isolates produced ESBLs. Although the disk diffusion method with standard break...

This research examined the validity of the Performance Environment Perception Scales (PEPS), a new instrument designed to assess performance-relevant aspects of the work environment. A sample of 156 employees of an Australian university completed the PEPS and their supervisors rated their task and citizenship performance. Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed the PEPS to have a valid factor struc...

Corresponding author: Shahrum Vahedi, PhD Assistant professor of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Tabriz. 22 Bahman Ave., Tabriz, Iran. E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 0411-3392090 Objective: The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Revised Cheek and Buss Shyness Scale (RCBS) using confirmatory factor analysi...

Uses and gratification theory aids in the assessment of how audiences use a particular medium and the gratifications they derive from that use. In this paper this theory has been applied to derive Internet uses and gratifications for Indian Internet users. This study proceeds in four stages. First, six first-order gratifications namely self development, wide exposure, user friendliness, relaxat...