Basic calculation proficiency and mathematics achievement in elementary school children

The relation between skill in simple addition and subtraction and more general math achievement in elementary school is well established but not understood. Both the intrinsic importance of skill in simple calculation for math and the influence of conceptual knowledge and cognitive factors (working memory, processing speed, oral language) on simple calculation and math are plausible. The authors investigated the development of basic calculation fluency and its relations to math achievement and other factors by tracking a group of 259 United Kingdom English children from second to third grade. In both grades the group did not retrieve the solutions to most problems, but their math achievement was typical. Improvement in basic calculation proficiency was partially predicted by conceptual knowledge and cognitive factors. These factors only partially mediated the relation between basic calculation and math achievement. The relation between reading and math was wholly mediated by number measures and cognitive factors

Self-unloading, unmanned, reusable lunar lander project

A payload delivery system will be required to support the buildup and operation of a manned lunar base. In response, a self-unloading, unmanned, reusable lunar lander was conceptually designed. The lander will deliver a 7000 kg payload, with the same dimensions as a space station logistics module, from low lunar orbit to any location on the surface of the moon. The technical aspects of the design is introduced as well as the management structure and project cost

Serving a new community: A sustaining model of international service-learning

The College of Family and Consumer Sciences at Iowa State University (ISU) pioneered service-learning in ISU study abroad programs serving a new community-a developing country. In concert with our philosophy of empowering individuals, strengthening families, and enabling communities and with Rotary International motto, service above self, a global partnership was forged among American and Kenyan Rotary clubs, universities, and Rotaract (collegiate Rotary)

Assistive technology to monitor activity, health and wellbeing in old age : The wrist wearable unit in the USEFIL project

This paper presents the assistive technology used to perform activity monitoring in the USEFIL (Unobtrusive Smart Environments for Independent Living) project, particularly the wrist wearable unit. USEFIL includes a number of activity monitoring devices alongside some condition specific medical devices, a dedicated electronic health record database and communication backend. The system is designed as an assistive technology to provide long-term monitoring for older people in their own home and communicate the data that is gathered into a decision support system that can be used by the older person's carers to improve their care and allow them to remain independent in their own home. The wrist wearable device developed for the USEFIL project, the various health indicators extracted from its inbuilt sensors and how these are used to understand the health and wellbeing of the older person are discussed in this paper

Evaluating a multicomponent survivorship programme for men with prostate cancer in Australia: A single cohort study

Objective: To evaluate the implementation of a multicomponent survivorship programme for men with prostate cancer and their carers. Design: A single cohort study, guided by the RE-AIM framework. Setting: Multiple health services in Australia. Participants: Men with prostate cancer and their carers, and health professionals. Intervention: A 12-month telehealth programme that provided centralised and coordinated decision and information support, exercise and nutrition management, specialised clinical support and practical support to men and their carers. Data collection: Multiple sources of data including participant-reported health outcomes and experience of care, qualitative interviews, records of the programme were collected at different time points. Results: Reach: Of 394 eligible men at various stages of survivorship, 142 consented (36% consent rate) and 136 (96%) completed the programme. Adoption: All men participated in general care coordination and more than half participated in exercise and/or nutrition management interventions. Participation in the specialised support component (ie, psychosocial and sexual health support, continence management) was low despite the high level of need reported by men. Effectiveness: Overall, the men reported improvements in their experience of care. Implementation: Factors such as addressing service gaps, provision of specialised services, care coordination, adoption of needs-based and telehealth-based approaches were identified as enablers to the successful implementation of the programme. Issues such as insufficient integration with existing services, lack of resources and high caseload of the intervention team, men\u27s reluctance to discuss needs and lack of confidence with technology were barriers in implementing the programme. Conclusion: Survivorship interventions are relevant to men regardless of the stage of their disease and treatments undertaken. It is possible to provide access to a comprehensive model of survivorship care to promote the health and quality of life for men with prostate cancer. Trial registration number: This study was registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12617000174381)

An integrated multicomponent care model for men affected by prostate cancer: A feasibility study of TrueNTH Australia

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of implementing an integrated multicomponent survivorship care model for men affected by prostate cancer. Methods: Using a single arm prospective cohort study design, men with prostate cancer were recruited from two regional public hospitals in Australia for a 6-months program that provided information and decision support, exercise and nutrition management, specialised clinical support, and practical support through localised and central care coordination. Carers of the men were also invited to the program. Data were collected from multiple sources to evaluate: (1) recruitment capability and participant characteristics; (2) appropriateness and feasibility of delivering the specific intervention components using an electronic care management tool; and (3) suitability of data collection procedures and proposed outcome measures. Results: Of the 105 eligible men, 51 (consent rate 49%) participated in the program. Of the 31 carers nominated by the men, 13 consented (consent rate 42%). All carers and 50 (98%) men completed the program. Most (92%) men were newly diagnosed with localised prostate cancer. All men attended initial screening and assessment for supportive care needs; a total of 838 episodes of contact/consultation were made by the intervention team either in person (9%) or remotely (91%). The intervention was implemented as proposed with no adverse events. The proposed outcome measures and evaluation procedures were found to be appropriate. Conclusions: Our results support the feasibility of implementing this integrated multicomponent care model for men affected by prostate cancer

Experience-based utility and own health state valuation for a health state classification system: why do it and how to do it

In the estimation of population value sets for health state classification systems such as the EQ-5D, there is increasing interest in asking respondents to value their own health state, sometimes referred to as "experienced-based utility values" or more correctly ownrather than hypothetical health states. Own health state values differ to hypothetical health state values, and this may be attributed to many reasons. This paper critically examines: whose values matter; why there is a difference between own and hypothetical values; how to measure own health state values; and why to use own health state values. Finally, the paper also examines other ways that own health state values can be taken into account, such as including the use of informed general population preferences that may better take into account experience-based values

4th Biennial Employment Law Institute

Materials from the 4th Biennial Employment Law Institute held by UK/CLE in June 1994

Australian utility weights for the EORTC QLU-C10D, a multi-attribute utility instrument derived from the cancer-specific quality of life questionnaire, EORTC QLQ-C30

Background: The EORTC QLU-C10D is a new multi-attribute utility instrument derived from the widely-used cancer-specific quality of life questionnaire, EORTC QLQ-C30. The QLU-C10D contains ten dimensions (Physical, Role, Social and Emotional Functioning; Pain, Fatigue, Sleep, Appetite, Nausea, Bowel Problems), each with 4 levels. To be used in cost-utility analysis, country-specific valuation sets are required. Objective: To provide Australian utility weights for the QLU-C10D. Methods: An Australian online panel was quota sampled to ensure population representativeness by sex and age (≥18y). Participants completed a discrete choice experiment (DCE) consisting of 16 choice-pairs. Each pair comprised two QLU-C10D health states plus life expectancy. Data were analysed using conditional logistic regression, parameterised to fit the quality-adjusted life-year framework. Utility weights were calculated as the ratio of each QOL dimension-level coefficient to the coefficient on life expectancy. Results: 1979 panel members opted-in, 1904 (96%) completed at least one choice-pair, and 1846 (93%) completed all 16 choice-pairs. Dimension weights were generally monotonic: poorer levels within each dimension were generally associated with greater utility decrements. The dimensions that impacted most on choice were, in order, Physical Functioning, Pain, Role Functioning and Emotional Functioning. Oncology-relevant dimensions with moderate impact were Nausea and Bowel Problems. Fatigue, Trouble Sleeping and Appetite had relatively small impact. The value of the worst health state was -0.096, somewhat worse than death. Conclusions: This study provides the first country-specific value set for the QLU-C10D, which can facilitate cost-utility analyses when applied to data collected with the EORTC QLQ-C30, prospectively and retrospectively