IAEG - Factors Affecting the Adoption and Impact of CGIAR Innovations: A Synthesis of Findings

Summation of the findings of the IAEG-sponsored project 'Factors Affecting the Adoption and Impact of CGIAR Innovations' presented at CGIAR International Centers Week 1998. Companion documents containing a project overview and executive summaries of nine case studies are provided separately. The document reviews the characteristics of technological innovations with high rates of adoption and impact, and the practices these characteristics suggested for successful project planning

Factors Affecting the Adoption and Impact of CGIAR Innovations: A Project Overview

An initial report on a large scale project mounted by IAEG to determine whether international agricultural development research is having the intended effects. It reports on ten integrated case studies.The document gives the evolution of thinking in the IAEG since its founding, and lays out the case study strategy and methodology being employed. An appendix described the issues to be addressed in all the studies, as a basis for synthesis of results.This material was prepared for distribution at the CGIAR International Centers Week in October 1997, but in fact reached members by mail after the meeting

Achievement of the planetary defense investigations of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission was the first to demonstrate asteroid deflection, and the mission's Level 1 requirements guided its planetary defense investigations. Here, we summarize DART's achievement of those requirements. On 2022 September 26, the DART spacecraft impacted Dimorphos, the secondary member of the Didymos near-Earth asteroid binary system, demonstrating an autonomously navigated kinetic impact into an asteroid with limited prior knowledge for planetary defense. Months of subsequent Earth-based observations showed that the binary orbital period was changed by –33.24 minutes, with two independent analysis methods each reporting a 1σ uncertainty of 1.4 s. Dynamical models determined that the momentum enhancement factor, β, resulting from DART's kinetic impact test is between 2.4 and 4.9, depending on the mass of Dimorphos, which remains the largest source of uncertainty. Over five dozen telescopes across the globe and in space, along with the Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids, have contributed to DART's investigations. These combined investigations have addressed topics related to the ejecta, dynamics, impact event, and properties of both asteroids in the binary system. A year following DART's successful impact into Dimorphos, the mission has achieved its planetary defense requirements, although work to further understand DART's kinetic impact test and the Didymos system will continue. In particular, ESA's Hera mission is planned to perform extensive measurements in 2027 during its rendezvous with the Didymos–Dimorphos system, building on DART to advance our knowledge and continue the ongoing international collaboration for planetary defense

Aggression and fire: The structure of antisocial behavior in firesetting and non-firesetting juvenile offenders

This study examines the structure of antisocial behavior in 219 juvenile offenders. The study shows, through a series of nested model comparisons via confirmatory factor analysis, that reliable data on firesetting juvenile offenders (n = 85) best fits a three-factor model composed of overt, covert, and oppositional antisocial behavior. The same three-factor model also best fits the data for comparable non-firesetting juvenile offenders (n = 134). It is argued that results from this study support a conceptualization of firesetting as likely part of a pattern of developmentally advanced, persistent, antisocial behavior. Though the same general structure of antisocial behavior best fit the data for both groups, the firesetting group exhibited a significantly higher frequency and variety of antisocial acts. Finally, the present study illustrates and discusses the implications of large methods effects due to source of information (i.e., parent and child ratings) in typical measurement approaches to youthful antisocial behavior

Empirical Evaluation of the Utility and Effectiveness of Clinically Flexible Application in Evidence-Based Treatments

A common criticism of the adoption and use of empirically supported treatments is their perceived lack of applicability to complex individual cases. For example, some individual clients present with multiple problems, comorbid conditions, or respond poorly to the best available psychological treatment. An ongoing dilemma for scientifically-minded clinicians in such situations is whether and how best to proceed with deviations from manualized treatments. Conscientious clinical scientists may be reluctant to deviate from protocol without some means of assessing whether outcome will be better or worse than proceeding with the protocol. Some clinicians may abandon the protocol and the principles on which it is based, and proceed as guided by clinical judgments based on recollections of similar cases and roadblocks. How does the conscientious clinical scientist evaluate whether deviations from treatment protocol enhance or degrade outcome? I will discuss the relative merits and possibilities of the Polaris-MH-data-informed approach provided by Grissom and Lyons (2006), with attention to (a) its potential for providing evidence-based feedback to clinician and client, and (b) how it might be particularly useful in the context of empirically-supported treatments. I will also propose principles for how clinicians can use evidence from relevant literature to inform and evaluate the utility of deviations from protocol

A Cross-Sectional Evaluation Of The Factorial Invariance Of Anxiety Sensitivity In Adolescents And Young Adults

This study examined the cross-sectional factorial invariance of anxiety sensitivity in an ethnically diverse sample of adolescents (n=173; mean age 15.5 years) and young adults (n=291; mean age 20.1 years). Research in adult and youth samples suggests that anxiety sensitivity is best understood as a hierarchical construct with several lower-order factors. Factor models based on previous research using both adult and youth samples were compared and a hierarchical model with three lower-order factors provided the best fit to the data. Results supported the hypothesis that the factor structure of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index was invariant across age and gender. The factor scores also demonstrated differential correlations with symptoms of anxiety and depression. Results are discussed with regard to construct validation and understanding the structure of anxiety sensitivity in youth. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Existential Anxiety In Adolescents: Prevalence, Structure, Association With Psychological Symptoms And Identity Development

Existential anxiety is hypothesized to be a core human issue in a great deal of theoretical and philosophical writing. However, little is known about the emergence of these concerns and their relation to emotional functioning in youth. The purpose of this study was to examine the phenomenon of existential anxiety in a sample of adolescents. Data on existential concerns, identity development and psychological symptoms were collected on a sample of 139 youth in grades 9-12. Results indicated that existential anxiety concerns have a theoretically consistent factor structure, are common among adolescents, and are associated with psychological symptoms, as well as identity issues. Results are discussed with regard to the importance of existential concerns in the lives of youth and the need for additional research. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc

Empirically supported couple and family interventions for marital distress and adult mental health problems.

This article evaluates the efficacy, effectiveness, and clinical significance of empirically supported couple and family interventions for treating marital distress and individual adult disorders, including anxiety disorders, depression, sexual dysfunctions, alcoholism and problem drinking, and schizophre-nia. In addition to consideration of different theoretical approaches to treating these disorders, different ways of including a partner or family in treatment are highlighted: (a) partner-family-assisted interventions, (b) disorder-specific partner-family interventions, and (c)more general couple-family therapy. Findings across diagnostic groups and issues involved in applying efficacy criteria to these populations are discussed. Since the 1970s, there has been a major shift in knowledge regarding the effectiveness of couple-based and family-based interventions for treating adult mental health problems. During this period, various theoretical perspectives have been articu-lated, specific manual-based intervention strategies have been developed, and controlled treatment outcome investigations have explored a number of specific issues of importance. The curren

Reflexive Gaze Shifts and Fear Recognition Deficits in Children with Callous-Unemotional Traits and Impulsivity/Conduct Problems

The ability to efficiently recognize the emotions on others’ faces is something that most of us take for granted. Children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits and impulsivity/conduct problems (ICP), such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, have been previously described as being “fear blind”. This is also associated with looking less at the eye regions of fearful faces, which are highly diagnostic. Previous attempts to intervene into emotion recognition strategies have not had lasting effects on participants’ fear recognition abilities. Here we present both (a) additional evidence that there is a two-part causal chain, from personality traits to face recognition strategies using the eyes, then from strategies to rates of recognizing fear in others; and (b) a pilot intervention that had persistent effects for weeks after the end of instruction. Further, the intervention led to more change in those with the highest CU traits. This both clarifies the specific mechanisms linking personality to emotion recognition and shows that the process is fundamentally malleable. It is possible that such training could promote empathy and reduce the rates of antisocial behavior in specific populations in the future