Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming System for Infants and Children: What are Salient Development and Research Factors to Consider?

Early childhood professionals are increasingly pressed to use evidence-based measures when assessing young children. Professional time and resources to investigate research is limited, and takes time away from the delivery of direct services. The literature review is to describe the progression of a widely used curriculum-based assessment (CBA), the Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming System for Infants and Children (AEPS). In addition to sharing the development of this early childhood measure, we identified 19 studies from the available research found in various databases that have investigated the evidence supporting the use of this measure. Findings have implications for the validity, reliability, and utility of the AEPS

Learning and innovative elements of strategy adoption rules expand cooperative network topologies

Cooperation plays a key role in the evolution of complex systems. However, the level of cooperation extensively varies with the topology of agent networks in the widely used models of repeated games. Here we show that cooperation remains rather stable by applying the reinforcement learning strategy adoption rule, Q-learning on a variety of random, regular, small-word, scale-free and modular network models in repeated, multi-agent Prisoners Dilemma and Hawk-Dove games. Furthermore, we found that using the above model systems other long-term learning strategy adoption rules also promote cooperation, while introducing a low level of noise (as a model of innovation) to the strategy adoption rules makes the level of cooperation less dependent on the actual network topology. Our results demonstrate that long-term learning and random elements in the strategy adoption rules, when acting together, extend the range of network topologies enabling the development of cooperation at a wider range of costs and temptations. These results suggest that a balanced duo of learning and innovation may help to preserve cooperation during the re-organization of real-world networks, and may play a prominent role in the evolution of self-organizing, complex systems.Comment: 14 pages, 3 Figures + a Supplementary Material with 25 pages, 3 Tables, 12 Figures and 116 reference

A Search for Very Low-mass Stars and Brown Dwarfs in the Young sigma Orionis Cluster

We present a CCD-based photometric survey covering 870 sq. arcmin in a young stellar cluster around the young multiple star sigma Orionis. Our survey limiting R, I, and Z magnitudes are 23.2, 21.8, and 21.0, respectively. From our colour-magnitude diagrams, we have selected 49 faint objects, which smoothly extrapolate the photometric sequence defined by more massive known members. Adopting the currently accepted age interval of 2-10 Myr for the Orion 1b association and considering recent evolutionary models, our objects may span a mass range from 0.1 down to 0.02 Msun, well within the substellar regime. Follow-up low-resolution optical spectroscopy (635-920 nm) for eight of our candidates (I=16-19.5) shows that they have spectral types M6-M8.5 which are consistent with the expectations for true members. Compared with their Pleiades counterparts of similar types, Halpha emission is generally stronger, while NaI and KI absorption lines appear weaker, as expected for lower surface gravities and younger ages. Additionally, TiO bands and in particular VO bands appear clearly enhanced in our candidate with the latest spectral type, SOri 45 (M8.5, I=19.5), compared to objects of similar types in older clusters and the field. We have estimated the mass of this candidate at only 0.020-0.040 Msun, hence it is one of the least massive brown dwarfs yet discovered. We also discuss in this paper the potential role of deuterium as a tracer of both substellar nature and age in very young clusters.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Main Journal. 32 pages of text and tables + 9 pages of figures. Figures 3a and 3b (gif format) provided separatel

Bacteroides fragilis requires the ferrous-iron transporter FeoAB and the CobN-like proteins BtuS1 and BtuS2 for assimilation of iron released from heme

The intestinal commensal and opportunistic anaerobic pathogen Bacteroides fragilis has an essential requirement for both heme and free iron to support growth in extraintestinal infections. In the absence of free iron, B. fragilis can utilize heme as the sole source of iron. However, the mechanisms to remove iron from heme are not completely understood. In this study, we show that the inner membrane ferrous iron transporter ∆feoAB mutant strain is no longer able to grow with heme as the sole source of iron. Genetic complementation with the feoAB gene operon completely restored growth. Our data indicate that iron is removed from heme in the periplasmic space, and the released iron is transported by the FeoAB system. Interestingly, when B. fragilis utilizes iron from heme, it releases heme-derived porphyrins by a dechelatase activity which is upregulated under low iron conditions. This is supported by the findings showing that formation of heme-derived porphyrins in the ∆feoAB mutant and the parent strain increased 30-fold and fivefold (respectively) under low iron conditions compared to iron replete conditions. Moreover, the btuS1 btuS2 doublemutant strain (lacking the predicted periplasmic, membrane anchored CobN-like proteins) also showed growth defect with heme as the sole source of iron, suggesting that BtuS1 and BtuS2 are involved in heme-iron assimilation. Though the dechelatase mechanism remains uncharacterized, assays performed in bacterial crude extracts show that BtuS1 and BtuS2 affect the regulation of the dechelatase-specific activities in an iron-dependent manner. These findings suggest that the mechanism to extract iron from heme in Bacteroides requires a group of proteins, which spans the periplasmic space to make iron available for cellular functions

Agent model for evaluating efficiency of regional human resource

In this paper we study influence of regional programs on the population resettlement in the Russian Federation at the example of the Belgorod region, where the Program of regional human resource development is being implemente

Cooperation, Norms, and Revolutions: A Unified Game-Theoretical Approach

Cooperation is of utmost importance to society as a whole, but is often challenged by individual self-interests. While game theory has studied this problem extensively, there is little work on interactions within and across groups with different preferences or beliefs. Yet, people from different social or cultural backgrounds often meet and interact. This can yield conflict, since behavior that is considered cooperative by one population might be perceived as non-cooperative from the viewpoint of another. To understand the dynamics and outcome of the competitive interactions within and between groups, we study game-dynamical replicator equations for multiple populations with incompatible interests and different power (be this due to different population sizes, material resources, social capital, or other factors). These equations allow us to address various important questions: For example, can cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma be promoted, when two interacting groups have different preferences? Under what conditions can costly punishment, or other mechanisms, foster the evolution of norms? When does cooperation fail, leading to antagonistic behavior, conflict, or even revolutions? And what incentives are needed to reach peaceful agreements between groups with conflicting interests? Our detailed quantitative analysis reveals a large variety of interesting results, which are relevant for society, law and economics, and have implications for the evolution of language and culture as well

Communication Research

Contains reports on seven research projects.Rockefeller FoundationCarnegie Foundatio

Support for smoke-free policies in the Cyprus hospitality industry

Objectives The present study used attitudinal and behavioural indicators to measure support for smoke-free policies among employers and employees in the hospitality industry in Cyprus. Methods A representative sample of 600 participants (95 % response rate) completed anonymous structured questionnaires on demographic variables, smoking status, exposure to second-hand smoke at work and related health beliefs, social norms, and smoke-free policy support. Results Participants were predominantly males (68.3 %), with a mean age of 40 years (SD = 12.69), and 39.7 % were employers/owners of the hospitality venue. Analysis of variance showed that employers and smokers were less supportive of smoke-free policies, as compared to employees and non-smokers. Linear regression models showed that attitudes towards smoke-free policy were predicted by smoking status, SHS exposure and related health beliefs, and social norm variables. Logistic regression analysis showed that willingness to confront a policy violator was predicted by SHS exposure, perceived prevalence of smoker clients, and smoke-free policy attitudes. Conclusions SHS exposure and related health beliefs, and normative factors should be targeted by interventions aiming to promote policy support in the hospitality industry in Cyprus