collected from South and South-eastern regions of Turkey

A total of 45 lizards (Acanthodactylus harranensis [n = 15], Acanthodacthylus schreiberi [n = 9] and Mesalina brevirostris [n = 21]) were collected from South and Southeastern Regions of Turkey and examined for helminth fauna. Acanthodactylus harranensis harbored 1 species of Nematoda (Skrjabinodon sp.), 1 species of Cestoda (Oochoristica tuberculata) and 1 species of Acanthocephala (Centrorhynchus sp. [cystacanth]). Acanthodactylus schreiberi harbored unidentified cysticercoids. Mesalina brevirostris harbored 1 species of Nematoda (Spauligodon saxicolae). All lizards represents new host records for the helminths reported in this study

In-class vs. online administration of concept inventories and attitudinal assessments

This study investigates differences in student responses to in-class and online administrations of the Force Concept Inventory (FCI), Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM), and the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS). Close to 700 physics students from 12 sections of three different courses were instructed to complete the concept inventory relevant to their course, either the FCI or CSEM, and the CLASS. Each student was randomly assigned to take one of the surveys in class and the other survey online using the LA Supported Student Outcomes (LASSO) system hosted by the Learning Assistant Alliance (LAA). We examine how testing environments and instructor practices affect participation rates and identify best practices for future use.Comment: 4 pages, 3 tables, 3 figures, Physics Education Research Conference proceeding

The Impact of Learning Assistants on Inequities in Physics Student Outcomes

This study investigates how Learning Assistants (LAs) and related course features are associated with inequities in student learning in introductory university physics courses. 2,868 physics students' paired pre- and post-test scores on concept inventories from 67 classes in 16 LA Alliance member institutions are examined in this investigation. The concept inventories included the Force Concept Inventory, Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation, and the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism. Our analyses include a multiple linear regression model that examines the impact of student (e.g. gender and race) and course level variables (e.g. presence of LAs and Concept Inventory used) on student learning outcomes (Cohen's d effect size) across classroom contexts. The presence of LAs was found to either remove or invert the traditional learning gaps between students from dominant and non-dominant populations. Significant differences in student performance were also found across the concept inventories.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables, 2016 Physics Education Research Conference Proceeding

Being Surveyed Can Change Later Behavior and Related Parameter Estimates

Does completing a household survey change the later behavior of those surveyed? In three field studies of health and two of microlending, we randomly assigned subjects to be surveyed about health and/or household finances and then measured subsequent use of a related product with data that does not rely on subjects' self-reports. In the three health experiments, we find that being surveyed increases use of water treatment products and take-up of medical insurance. Frequent surveys on reported diarrhea also led to biased estimates of the impact of improved source water quality. In two microlending studies, we do not find an effect of being surveyed on borrowing behavior. The results suggest that limited attention could play an important but context-dependent role in consumer choice, with the implication that researchers should reconsider whether, how, and how much to survey their subjectsEconomic

Processing Speed Mediates Age Cohort and Prospective Memory Performance

Age has been shown to negatively impact prospective memory (PM), the ability to carry out intentions in the future. However, many age-related cognitive changes may reflect underlying declines in processing speed (Salthouse et al., 2004). The purpose of this study was to investigate whether processing speed mediates the relationship between age cohort and prospective memory performance. Older (n = 52) and younger adults (n = 40) completed WAIS-IV Coding and the Virtual Kitchen Protocol, which includes PM tasks with both time-based and event-based cues both in and out of virtual reality. Processing speed mediated the relationship between age cohort and PM performance both in and out of virtual reality. Partial mediation was observed in the analog-based PM, whereas full mediation was observed in the virtual reality-based PM. Processing speed may explain age-related changes in PM as measured by both analog and virtual reality tasks

Relationship between nano-architectured Ti1−xCux thin film and electrical resistivity for resistance temperature detectors

Ti1−xCux thin films were produced by the glancing angle deposition technique (GLAD) for resistance temperature measurements. The deposition angle was fixed at α = 0° to growth columnar structures and α = 45° to growth zigzag structures. The Ti-to-Cu atomic concentration was tuned from 0 to 100 at.% of Cu in order to optimize the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) value. Increasing the amount of Cu in the Ti1−xCux thin films, the electrical conductivity was gradually changed from 4.35 to 7.87 × 105 Ω−1 m−1. After thermal “stabilization,” the zigzag structures of Ti1−xCux films induce strong variation of the thermosensitive response of the materials and exhibited a reversible resistivity versus temperature between 35 and 200 °C. The results reveal that the microstructure has an evident influence on the overall response of the films, leading to values of TCR of 8.73 × 10−3 °C−1 for pure copper films and of 4.38 × 10−3 °C−1 for a films of composition Ti0.49Cu0.51. These values are very close to the ones reported for the bulk platinum (3.93 × 10−3 °C−1), which is known to be one of the best material available for these kind of temperature-related applications. The non-existence of hysteresis in the electrical response of consecutive heating and cooling steps indicates the viability of these nanostructured zigzag materials to be used as thermosensitive sensors.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of the Strategic Funding UID/FIS/04650/2013 and Project PTDC/EEI-SII/5582/2014. A. Ferreira and C. Lopes thanks the FCT for Grant SFRH/BPD/102402/2014 and SFRH/BD/103373/2014. The authors thank financial support from the Basque Government Industry Department under the ELKARTEK Programinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mapping Flow-Obstructing Structures on Global Rivers

To help store water, facilitate navigation, generate energy, mitigate floods, and support industrial and agricultural production, people have built and continue to build obstructions to natural flow in rivers. However, due to the long and complex history of constructing and removing such obstructions, we lack a globally consistent record of their locations and types. Here, we used a consistent method to visually locate and classify obstructions on 2.1 million km of large rivers (width ≥30 m) globally. We based our mapping on Google Earth Engine’s high resolution images, which for many places have meter-scale resolution. The resulting Global River Obstruction Database (GROD) consists of 30,549 unique obstructions, covering six different obstruction types: dam, lock, low head dam, channel dam, and two types of partial dams. By classifying a subset of the obstructions multiple times, we are able to show high classification consistency (87% mean balanced accuracy) for the three types of obstructions that fully intersect rivers: dams, low head dams, and locks. The classification of the three types of partial obstructions are somewhat less consistent (61% mean balanced accuracy). Overall, by comparing GROD to similar datasets, we estimate GROD likely captured >90% of the obstructions on large rivers. We anticipate that GROD will be of wide interest to the hydrological modeling, aquatic ecology, geomorphology, and water resource management communities

Best practices for addressing missing data through multiple imputation

A common challenge in developmental research is the amount of incomplete and missing data that occurs from respondents failing to complete tasks or questionnaires, as well as from disengaging from the study (i.e., attrition). This missingness can lead to biases in parameter estimates and, hence, in the interpretation of findings. These biases can be addressed through statistical techniques that adjust for missing data, such as multiple imputation. Although multiple imputation is highly effective, it has not been widely adopted by developmental scientists given barriers such as lack of training or misconceptions about imputation methods. Utilizing default methods within statistical software programs like listwise deletion is common but may introduce additional bias. This manuscript is intended to provide practical guidelines for developmental researchers to follow when examining their data for missingness, making decisions about how to handle that missingness and reporting the extent of missing data biases and specific multiple imputation procedures in publications

A Picture of the Research Field of Doctoral Education from the Students’ Perspectives : Studies Using Questionnaires and Scales

Peer reviewe