Establishing normative values for 18-35 years age in neuropsychological tests used with head and brain injury patients during cognitive rehabilitation: Benton Visual Retention Test and National Adult Reading Test

The Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT) is a neuropsychological assessment of visuo-spatial and visuo-memory ability. Claims of high reliability and validity are based on solitary samples representative of a wide age range. This study validated theBVRTagainst the National Adult Reading Test (NART), a highly validated and reliable test of estimated pre-morbid IQ in an age-specific group of participants (18-35 years). Using Between-subjects factorial design, fifty-three participants (24 female, 29 male) aged 18-35 years (inclusive) were administered the NART and 3 administrations of the BVRT. Significant positive correlations were found betweenBVRTError scores and NART Error scores for administrations B and C of theBVRTwhich is when presented stimuli are followed by a short time delay before allowing respondents to recall. Significant negative correlations were found over these administrations forBVRTCorrect scores and NART Error scores. No significant relationship was found between depression and performance on theBVRT. However, a weak, non-significant relationship was found between anxiety andBVRTperformance. The BVRTis a well-validated and highly reliable neuropsychological test of visuo-spatial and visuo-memory abilities. Findings provide new data for the 18-35 years age group as well as providing a cautionary note on the possible influence of anxiety on performance levels in light of the frequent occurrence of anxiety post-neurological injury

Alien Registration- Hawkes, Stanley B. (Fort Fairfield, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/36252/thumbnail.jp

Communities in university mathematics

This paper concerns communities of learners and teachers that are formed, develop and interact in university mathematics environments through the theoretical lens of Communities of Practice. From this perspective, learning is described as a process of participation and reification in a community in which individuals belong and form their identity through engagement, imagination and alignment. In addition, when inquiry is considered as a fundamental mode of participation, through critical alignment, the community becomes a Community of Inquiry. We discuss these theoretical underpinnings with examples of their application in research in university mathematics education and, in more detail, in two Research Cases which focus on mathematics students' and teachers' perspectives on proof and on engineering students' conceptual understanding of mathematics. The paper concludes with a critical reflection on the theorising of the role of communities in university level teaching and learning and a consideration of ways forward for future research

Double-Duty Actions: Seizing Program and Policy Opportunities to Address Malnutrition in all its Forms

Actions to address different forms of malnutrition are typically managed by separate communities, policies, programmes, governance structures, and funding streams. In contrast, double duty actions, which aim to simultaneously tackle both undernutrition and problems of overweight, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (DR-NCDs) have been proposed as a way to effectively address malnutrition in all its forms in a more holsitic way. This paper identifies ten double duty actions that have strong potential to reduce the risk of both undernutrition and obesity/DR-NCDs. It does so by : 1) summarizing evidence on common drivers of different forms of malnutrition; 2) documenting examples of unintended harm caused by some undernutrition-focused programmes on obesity/DR-NCDs; and 3) highlighting a few examples of first double duty actions undertaken to tackle multiple forms of malnutrition. We find that undernutrition and obesity/DR-NCDs are intrinsically linked through early life nutrition; dietary quality; food environments; and socioeconomic factors. There is some evidence that undernutrition-focused programs have raised risks of poor quality diets and obesity/DR-NCDs, especially in countries undergoing a rapid nutrition transition. The paper builds on this evidence to develop a framework to guide the design of double duty approaches and strategies, and defines the first steps needed to deliver them. With a clear package of double duty actions now identified, there is an urgent need to move forward with double duty actions to address malnutrition in all its forms

Poisson transition rates from time-domain measurements with finite bandwidth

In time-domain measurements of a Poisson two-level system, the observed transition rates are always smaller than those of the actual system, a general consequence of finite measurement bandwidth in an experiment. This underestimation of the rates is significant even when the measurement and detection apparatus is ten times faster than the process under study. We derive here a quantitative form for this correction using a straightforward state-transition model that includes the detection apparatus, and provide a method for determining a system's actual transition rates from bandwidth-limited measurements. We support our results with computer simulations and experimental data from time-domain measurements of quasiparticle tunneling in a single-Cooper-pair transistor.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

How to engage across sectors: lessons from agriculture and nutrition in the Brazilian School Feeding Program

OBJECTIVE: To provide insights for nutrition and public health practitioners on how to engage with other sectors to achieve public health goals. Specifically, this study provides lessons from the example of integrating family farming and a nutrition into a legal framework in Brazil on how to successfully shift other sectors toward nutrition goals. METHODS: The study analyzed policy processes that led to a Brazilian law linking family farming with the National School Feeding Program. Main actors involved with the development of the law were interviewed and their narratives were analyzed using a well-established theoretical framework. RESULTS: The study provides five key lessons for promoting intersectorality. First, nutrition and health practitioners can afford to embrace bold ideas when working with other sectors. Second, they should engage with more powerful sectors (or subsectors) and position nutrition goals as providing solutions that meet the interests of these sector. Third is the need to focus on a common goal - which may not be explicitly nutrition-related - as the focus of the intersectoral action. Fourth, philosophical, political, and governance spaces are needed to bring together different sectors. Fifth, evidence on the success of the intersectoral approach increases the acceptance of the process. CONCLUSIONS: This study on policy processes shows how a convergence of factors enabled a link between family farming and school feeding in Brazil. It highlights that there are strategies to engage other sectors toward nutrition goals which provides benefits for all sectors involved

Fitness benefits of prolonged post-reproductive lifespan in women

Most animals reproduce until they die, but in humans, females can survive long after ceasing reproduction. In theory, a prolonged post-reproductive lifespan will evolve when females can gain greater fitness by increasing the success of their offspring than by continuing to breed themselves. Although reproductive success is known to decline in old age, it is unknown whether women gain fitness by prolonging lifespan post-reproduction. Using complete multi-generational demographic records, we show that women with a prolonged post-reproductive lifespan have more grandchildren, and hence greater fitness, in pre-modern populations of both Finns and Canadians. This fitness benefit arises because post-reproductive mothers enhance the lifetime reproductive success of their offspring by allowing them to breed earlier, more frequently and more successfully. Finally, the fitness benefits of prolonged lifespan diminish as the reproductive output of offspring declines. This suggests that in female humans, selection for deferred ageing should wane when one's own offspring become post-reproductive and, correspondingly, we show that rates of female mortality accelerate as their offspring terminate reproduction

Searches for New Quarks and Leptons Produced in Z-Boson Decay

We have searched for events with new-particle topologies in 390 hadronic Z decays with the Mark II detector at the SLAC Linear Collider. We place 95%-confidence-level lower limits of 40.7 GeV/c^2 for the top-quark mass, 42.0 GeV/c^2 for the mass of a fourth-generation charge - 1/3 quark, and 41.3 GeV/c^2 for the mass of an unstable Dirac neutral lepton