A shortened version of Raven's standard progressive matrices for children and adolescents

Numerous developmental studies assess general cognitive ability, not as the primary variable of interest, but rather as a background variable. Raven's Progressive Matrices is an easy to administer non-verbal test that is widely used to measure general cognitive ability. However, the relatively long administration time (up to 45 min) is still a drawback for developmental studies as it often leaves little time to assess the primary variable of interest. Therefore, we used a machine learning approach - regularized regression in combination with cross-validation - to develop a short 15-item version. We did so for two age groups, namely 9 to 12 years and 13 to 16 years. The short versions predicted the scores on the standard full 60-item versions to a very high degree r = 0.89 (9-12 years) and r = 0.93 (13-16 years). We, therefore, recommend using the short version to measure general cognitive ability as a background variable in developmental studies

Performance of a GridPix detector based on the Timepix3 chip

A GridPix readout for a TPC based on the Timepix3 chip is developed for future applications at a linear collider. The GridPix detector consists of a gaseous drift volume read out by a single Timepix3 chip with an integrated amplification grid. Its performance is studied in a test beam with 2.5 GeV electrons. The GridPix detector detects single ionization electrons with high efficiency. The Timepix3 chip allowed for high sample rates and time walk corrections. Diffusion is found to be the dominating error on the track position measurement both in the pixel plane and in the drift direction, and systematic distortions in the pixel plane are below 10 $\mu$m. Using a truncated sum, an energy loss (dE/dx) resolution of 4.1% is found for an effective track length of 1 m.Comment: To be published in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section

Chromosome Numbers In Compositae Vii: Astereae Iii

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142139/1/ajb207543.pd

Can Action Research Strengthen District Health Management and Improve Health Workforce Performance? A Research Protocol.

The single biggest barrier for countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to scale up the necessary health services for addressing the three health-related Millennium Development Goals and achieving Universal Health Coverage is the lack of an adequate and well-performing health workforce. This deficit needs to be addressed both by training more new health personnel and by improving the performance of the existing and future health workforce. However, efforts have mostly been focused on training new staff and less on improving the performance of the existing health workforce. The purpose of this paper is to disseminate the protocol for the PERFORM project and reflect on the key challenges encountered during the development of this methodology and how they are being overcome. The overall aim of the PERFORM project is to identify ways of strengthening district management in order to address health workforce inadequacies by improving health workforce performance in SSA. The study will take place in three districts each in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda using an action research approach. With the support of the country research teams, the district health management teams (DHMTs) will lead on planning, implementation, observation, reflection and redefinition of the activities in the study. Taking into account the national and local human resource (HR) and health systems (HS) policies and practices already in place, 'bundles' of HR/HS strategies that are feasible within the context and affordable within the districts' budget will be developed by the DHMTs to strengthen priority areas of health workforce performance. A comparative analysis of the findings from the three districts in each country will add new knowledge on the effects of these HR/HS bundles on DHMT management and workforce performance and the impact of an action research approach on improving the effectiveness of the DHMTs in implementing these interventions. Different challenges were faced during the development of the methodology. These include the changing context in the study districts, competing with other projects and duties for the time of district managers, complexity of the study design, maintaining the anonymity and confidentiality of study participants as well as how to record the processes during the study. We also discuss how these challenges are being addressed. The dissemination of this research protocol is intended to generate interest in the PERFORM project and also stimulate discussion on the use of action research in complex studies such as this on strengthening district health management to improve health workforce performance

Degradation of Dichloromethane Containing Laboratory Wastewater Using Photoelectric Fenton Process

Conducting laboratory experiments in educational institutions has been linked with the increased amount of chemical waste disposed in the environment. The excessive usage and disposal of Dichloromethane (DCM) has been attributed to financial and environmental concerns. This present study aimed to treat the DCM containing laboratory wastewater using Photoelectric Fenton (PEF) process. The PEF treatment was done at varying ultraviolet (UV) light intensity (3, 6 and 9 Watts), sacrificial anode (Al, Cu and TiO2), and oxidizing agent (OA) loading ratio (1.13, 3.76, and 6.39 w/w) under 30oC and 1 atm. Results have shown that the highest degradation (99.82%) of DCM was obtained at 9 Watts of UV light intensity, 3.76 w/w [H2O2]:[Fe2+] OA loading ratio, and with TiO2 coated with IrO2 and RuO2 as the anode. It was detected that higher UV light intensity favors the degradation efficiency when using the TiO2 coated with IrO2 and RuO2 anode. On the other hand, higher OA loading ratios proved to negatively affect the process as high concentrations of H2O2 become ineffectual for the degradation of organics. Finally, analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed the positive correlation between degradation efficiency and UVA light intensity.  This confirmed the applicability of the PEF process in degrading of recalcitrant pollutants in wastewater, thus showing potential for mitigating its environmental impact

Regression, developmental trajectory and associated problems in disorders in the autism spectrum: the SNAP study

We report rates of regression and associated findings in a population derived group of 255 children aged 9-14 years, participating in a prevalence study of autism spectrum disorders (ASD); 53 with narrowly defined autism, 105 with broader ASD and 97 with non-ASD neurodevelopmental problems, drawn from those with special educational needs within a population of 56,946 children. Language regression was reported in 30% with narrowly defined autism, 8% with broader ASD and less than 3% with developmental problems without ASD. A smaller group of children were identified who underwent a less clear setback. Regression was associated with higher rates of autistic symptoms and a deviation in developmental trajectory. Regression was not associated with epilepsy or gastrointestinal problems

Operationalising and measuring language dominance

The paper offers a new way to measure language ability in bilinguals, based on measures of lexical richness. The validity of proposed approach is tested in a variety of ways