A general multivariate latent growth model with applications in student careers Data warehouses

The evaluation of the formative process in the University system has been assuming an ever increasing importance in the European countries. Within this context the analysis of student performance and capabilities plays a fundamental role. In this work we propose a multivariate latent growth model for studying the performances of a cohort of students of the University of Bologna. The model proposed is innovative since it is composed by: (1) multivariate growth models that allow to capture the different dynamics of student performance indicators over time and (2) a factor model that allows to measure the general latent student capability. The flexibility of the model proposed allows its applications in several fields such as socio-economic settings in which personal behaviours are studied by using panel data.Comment: 20 page

Total cover and cover quality: predicted and actual effects on a predator\u27s foraging success

I tested the importance of both total cover and cover quality to the foraging ability of large Fundulus heteroclitus fish in tanks. Total cover was measured as the combined areas of all the individual structures, viewed as shadows. I divided total cover by the bottom area of the tank to form C-t/A(t), an index that measures the total amount of structure available in a given area for prey to hide behind. Cover quality was measured as the width of each individual structure divided by the width of the individual prey organism (C-w/P-w). This index measures how visible a prey organism is when hiding behind an individual structure. Both of these complexity indices are dimensionless and potentially applicable to any habitat type and habitat scale. I predicted that prey survivorship should increase hyperbolically with increasing C-t/A(t), because increasing the amount of structure within a habitat increases the amount of the habitat blocked off from detection, but with diminishing returns. Past experiments demonstrated that increased C-t/A(t) does increase prey survivorship, but the shape of the relationship was unclear. I also predicted that prey survivorship should increase hyperbolically with increasing C-w/P-w. I predicted this by simulating a prey organism hiding behind a flat structure being viewed by a predator from all potential angles. In this simple simulation, the \u27average amount of the prey hidden from view\u27 increased hyperbolically with increasing C-w/P-w, to an asymptote of 0.5. 1 performed 2 experiments to test these ideas, In the first, I kept C-t/A(t) constant between treatments and varied the width of the individual structures relative to the width of shrimp prey Paleomonetes spp. In the second experiment, I kept the inter-structural space widths nearly constant between treatments and varied C-t/A(t). The prey for the second experiment were mobile amphipods. I tested the hypothesis that survivorship and treatment were independent using log-linear models for both experiments. I found that there was no significant difference in survivorship between treatments for the C-w/P-w, experiment, and there was a significant difference in survivorship between treatments for the C-t/A(t) experiment. The relationship between C-t/A(t) and prey survivorship appeared to increase hyperbolically, as predicted. Finally, I used the results of the C-t/A(t) experiment, and results from a past study, to form a modeled regression equation of the survivorship surface for large F. heteroclitus feeding on amphipods for various levels of C-t/A(t) and Sp/Pr (inter-structural space size/predator width). This equation was highly significant, and fit the data well. In this regression, amphipod survivorship increased hyperbolically with increasing C-t/A(t), and decreased sigmoidally with increasing Sp/Pr

Integrating land use issues into transportation planning: scenario planning, bibliography

BibliographyOver the past 15 years, land use-transportation scenario planning has become an increasingly common technique in regional and sub-regional planning processes. This study investigates the breadth of the technique and some of the themes that are emerging by reviewing 80 scenario planning projects from more than 50 metropolitan areas in the U.S. The study identifies the antecedents to current land use-transportation scenario planning, observes trends emerging from the recent examples, and explores whether the technique has entered the state of the practice in land use-transportation planning. The study provides references to an annotated bibliography and a digital library containing information on source data

Integrating land use issues into transportation planning: scenario planning, a summary report

ReportOver the past 15 years, land use-transportation scenario planning has become an increasingly common technique in regional and sub-regional planning processes. This study investigates the breadth of the technique and some of the themes that are emerging by reviewing 80 scenario planning projects from more than 50 metropolitan areas in the U.S. The study identifies the antecedents to current land use-transportation scenario planning, observes trends emerging from the recent examples, and explores whether the technique has entered the state of the practice in land use-transportation planning. The study provides references to an annotated bibliography and a digital library containing information on source data

Students Enhancing Their Learning Experience: From Evaluation to Action

Much of the formal module evaluation takes place at the end of a module through questionnaires developed by higher education institutions (HEIs) as part of their effort to improve modules. However, there is limited literature on approaches to module evaluation in collaboration with students. This deficiency in the literature represents an opportunity to involve students in the formative and summative evaluation of the module in order for them to enhance their learning experience from module evaluation to module improvement. This Student as Academic Partner (SAP) project focuses on an undergraduate module enhancement in terms of learning, teaching and assessment for the benefit of current and future students

Seasonal variations in Greenland Ice Sheet motion : Inland extent and behaviour at higher elevations

Peer reviewedPreprin

Individual Variation in Contagious Yawning Susceptibility Is Highly Stable and Largely Unexplained by Empathy or Other Known Factors

The contagious aspect of yawning is a well-known phenomenon that exhibits variation in the human population. Despite the observed variation, few studies have addressed its intra-individual reliability or the factors modulating differences in the susceptibility of healthy volunteers. Due to its obvious biological basis and impairment in diseases like autism and schizophrenia, a better understanding of this trait could lead to novel insights into these conditions and the general biological functioning of humans. We administered 328 participants a 3-minute yawning video stimulus, a cognitive battery, and a comprehensive questionnaire that included measures of empathy, emotional contagion, circadian energy rhythms, and sleepiness. Individual contagious yawning measurements were found to be highly stable across testing sessions, both in a lab setting and if administered remotely online, confirming that certain healthy individuals are less susceptible to contagious yawns than are others. Additionally, most individuals who failed to contagiously yawn in our study were not simply suppressing their reaction, as they reported not even feeling like yawning in response to the stimulus. In contrast to previous studies indicating that empathy, time of day, or intelligence may influence contagious yawning susceptibility, we found no influence of these variables once accounting for the age of the participant. Participants were less likely to show contagious yawning as their age increased, even when restricting to ages of less than 40 years. However, age was only able to explain 8% of the variability in the contagious yawn response. The vast majority of the variability in this extremely stable trait remained unexplained, suggesting that studies of its inheritance are warranted

Integrated transportation scenario planning FHWA-HEP-10-034

Repor