Effect of cigarette smoking on sexual functions,psychological factors,and disease activity in male patients with ankylosing spondylitis

Objective: This study aims to investigate the effect of smoking on sexual functions in AS patients.

Patients and methods: A total of 67 male AS patients with a median age of 34 years (range: 18–57) reporting sexual activity at least for the past 4 weeks period were included. Patients were divided into smokers (Group 1, n?=?47) and non-smokers (Group 2, n?=?20). Fagerström test for nicotine dependence, smoking history, exhaled carbon monoxide test were recorded for smoking AS patients. Visual analogue scale (VAS), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life (ASQoL), International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were filled for both groups.

Results: There was no significant difference between smokers and non-smokers in all evaluation parameters. BASMI scores were significantly lower in the mild dependency subgroup as compared to those with moderate or severe dependency (p?=?.005 and p?=?.007, respectively). Total IIEF score and IIEF categories correlated significantly with BASDAI, BASFI, BASMI, ASQoL, pain, fatigue, and cumulative smoking. BDI showed an inverse correlation with the IIEF score and IIEF category (p?r?=?–0.520, p?r?=?–0.508, respectively).

Conclusions: Sexual function in AS patients is associated with the pain, fatigue, disease activity, functional status, quality of life, depression as well as the cumulative exposure to smoking, and that sexual functions tend to decline with increasing degree of cigarette dependency.     

Stability analysis using mixed models: A critique of tolerance interval methods and a probabilistic solution

Recently, tolerance interval approaches to the calculation of a shelf life of a drug product have been proposed in the literature. These address the belief that shelf life should be related to control of a certain proportion of batches being out of specification. We question the appropriateness of the tolerance interval approach. Our concerns relate to the computational challenges and practical interpretations of the method. We provide an alternative Bayesian approach, which directly controls the desired proportion of batches falling out of specification assuming a controlled manufacturing process. The approach has an intuitive interpretation and posterior distributions are straightforward to compute. If prior information on the fixed and random parameters is available, a Bayesian approach can provide additional benefits both to the company and the consumer. It also avoids many of the computational challenges with the tolerance interval methodology.     

System reliability under δ-shock model

δ-shock model is one of the widely studied shock models in reliability. Under this model, the system fails when the time between two consecutive shocks falls below a fixed threshold δ. In this paper, the survival function and the mean time to failure of the system are obtained when the times between successive shocks follow proportional hazard rate model.     

Adolescent Health and Well‐Being in the Twenty‐First Century: A Global Perspective

Adolescence is a critical developmental period with long‐term implications for the health and well‐being of the individual and for society as a whole. The most significant factors to adolescents' health are found in their environments, and in the choices and opportunities for health‐enhancing or health‐compromising behaviors that these contexts present (e.g., exposure to violence, supportive families). Inadequate contexts represent a failure to invest in and protect adolescents, a choice to alienate rather than integrate them into society. This article describes a number of societal trends, including growing poverty and income disparities, government instability, the changing health‐care system, the spread of HIV/AIDS, increased migration and urbanization, changing family and cultural contexts, and new information technology. The health implications of these trends for the well‐being of adolescents in the 21st century are contemplated.     

Rising Female Labor Force Participation and Gender Wage Gap: Evidence From Turkey

Social Indicators Research - This paper investigates the relation between female activity in the labor market and gender wage gaps using regional data from Turkey. Labor force participation of...     

Has SFAS 142 improved the usefulness of goodwill impairment loss and goodwill balances for investors?

Due to the concerns about the annual SFAS 142 impairment test, the FASB has recently added a project to its technical agenda to evaluate potential alternatives for measurement of goodwill. Motivated by the FASB’s consideration of a change in goodwill accounting, I examine the impact of SFAS 142 on the usefulness of goodwill write-offs and goodwill balances. I find that goodwill write-offs and goodwill balances are more strongly associated with stock returns and stock prices respectively after SFAS 142 than before SFAS 142. Furthermore, in the post-SFAS 142 period, I find that the association between stock prices and goodwill is lower for firms that avoid the recognition of the existing goodwill impairments, and that goodwill write-offs are more negatively associated with stock returns for firms where managers have more discretion over the impairment testing process. Overall, the findings suggest that despite the concerns of critics over the reliability of fair value estimates of goodwill, (1) SFAS 142 has improved the usefulness of goodwill numbers from investor perspective, and (2) investors see through the differences in reliability of reported goodwill numbers. These results have implications for standard-setting as the FASB considers new alternatives for goodwill accounting.     

浅议高校综合素质选修课《教育学》的课程定位与教学改革

综合素质选修课是以培养科学素养和人文素养为核心的选修课程.本文在厘清综合素质选修课《教育学》的课程定位的基础上,主要介绍笔者对其进行的“以学生为课堂主体”的教学改革尝试,分析所取得的阶段性成效.