Integrating Curriculum-Based Dynamic Assessment in Computerized Adaptive Testing: Development and Predictive Validity of the EDPL-BAI Battery on Reading Competence

In recent decades there have been significant changes in the conceptualization of reading as well as in the perception of how this activity should be assessed. Interest in the analysis of reading processes has led to the emergence of new explanatory models based primarily on the contributions of cognitive psychology. In parallel, there have been notable advances in measurement procedures, especially in models based on Item Response Theory (IRT), as well as in the capacity and performance of specific software programs that allow data to be managed and analyzed. These changes have contributed significantly to the rise of testing procedures such as computerized adaptive tests (CATs), whose fundamental characteristic is that the sequence of items presented in the tests is adapted to the level of competence that the subject manifests. Likewise, the incorporation of elements of dynamic assessment (DA) as the prompts are gradually offered allows for obtaining information about the type and degree of support required to optimize the subject¿s performance. In this sense, the confluence of contributions from DA and CATs offers a new possibility for approaching the assessment of learning processes. In this article, we present a longitudinal research developed in two phases, through which a computerized dynamic adaptive assessment battery of reading processes (EDPL-BAI) was configured. The research frame involved 1,831 students (46% girls) from 13 public schools in three regions of Chile. The purpose of this study was to analyze the differential contribution on reading competence of dynamic scores obtained in a subsample composed of 324 (47% girls) students from third to sixth grade after the implementation of a set of adaptive dynamic tests of morpho-syntactic processes. The results achieved in the structural equation modeling indicate a good global fit. Individual relationships show a significant contribution of calibrated score that Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 1 August 2018 | Volume 9 | Article 1492 fpsyg-09-01492 August 25, 2018 Time: 10:59 # 2 Navarro et al. Curriculum-Based Dynamic Computerized-Adaptive Assessment reflects estimated knowledge level on reading competence, as well as dynamic scores based on the assigned value of graduated prompts required by the students. These results showed significant predictive values on reading competence and incremental validity in relation to predictions made by static criterion tests

Shortened Version of the Token Test: Normative data for Spanish-speaking pediatric population

OBJECTIVE: To generate normative data for the Shortened Version of the Token Test in Spanish-speaking pediatric populations. METHOD: The sample consisted of 4,373 healthy children from nine countries in Latin America (Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Puerto Rico) and Spain. Each participant was administered the Shortened Version of the Token Test as part of a larger neuropsychological battery. Shortened Version of the Token Test total scores were normed using multiple linear regressions and standard deviations of residual values. Age, age2, sex, and mean level of parental education (MLPE) were included as predictors in the analyses. RESULTS: The final multiple linear regression models showed main effects for age in all countries, such that score increased linearly as a function of age. In addition, age2 had a significant effect in all countries, except Guatemala and Puerto Rico. Models showed that children whose parent(s) had a MLPE >12 years obtained higher score compared to children whose parents had a MLPE ≤12 years in Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Spain. The child’s sex did not have an effect in the Shortened Version of the Token Test total score for any of the countries. CONCLUSIONS: This is the largest Spanish-speaking pediatric normative study in the world, and it will allow neuropsychologists from these countries to have a more accurate interpretation of the Shortened Version of the Token Test when used in pediatric populations

Symbol Digit Modalities Test: Normative data for Spanish-speaking pediatric population

OBJECTIVE: To generate normative data for the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) in Spanish-speaking pediatric populations. METHOD: The sample consisted of 4,373 healthy children from nine countries in Latin America (Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Puerto Rico) and Spain. Each participant was administered the SDMT as part of a larger neuropsychological battery. SDMT scores were normed using multiple linear regressions and standard deviations of residual values. Age, age2, sex, and mean level of parental education (MLPE) were included as predictors in the analyses. RESULTS: The final multiple linear regression models showed main effects for age in all countries, such that score increased linearly as a function of age. In addition, age2 had a significant effect in all countries, except in Honduras and Puerto Rico. Models indicated that children whose parent(s) had a MLPE >12 years of education obtained higher score compared to children whose parent(s) had a MLPE ≤12 years for Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, and Spain. Sex affected SDMT score for Paraguay and Spain. CONCLUSIONS: This is the largest Spanish-speaking pediatric normative study in the world, and it will allow neuropsychologists from these countries to have a more accurate interpretation of the SDMT with pediatric populations

Newly developed Learning and Verbal Memory Test (TAMV-I): Normative data for Spanish-speaking pediatric population

OBJECTIVE: To generate normative data for the Learning and Verbal Memory Test (TAMV-I) in Spanish-speaking pediatric populations. METHOD: The sample consisted of 4,373 healthy children from nine countries in Latin America (Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Puerto Rico) and Spain. Each participant was administered the TAMV-I as part of a larger neuropsychological battery. Free recall, memory delay and recognition scores were normed using multiple linear regressions and standard deviations of residual values. Age, age2, sex, and mean level of parental education (MLPE) were included as predictors in the analyses. RESULTS: The final multiple linear regression models indicated main effects for age on all scores, such that scores increased linearly as a function of age. Age2 had a significant effect in all countries except Cuba, and Puerto Rico for free recall score; a significant effect for memory delay score in all countries except Cuba and Puerto Rico; and a significant effect for recognition score in in all countries except Guatemala, Honduras, and Puerto Rico. Models showed an effect for MLPE in Chile (free recall), Honduras (free recall), Mexico (free recall), Puerto Rico (free recall, memory delay, and recognition), and Spain (free recall and memory delay). Sex affected free recall score for Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Spain, memory delay score for all countries except Chile, Paraguay, and Puerto Rico, and recognition score for Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Spain, with girls scoring higher than boys. CONCLUSIONS: This is the largest Spanish-speaking pediatric normative study in the world, and it will allow neuropsychologists from these countries to have a more accurate way to interpret the TAMV-I with pediatric populations

Dasyhelea necrophila Spinelli & Rodriguez, 1999 (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae): ADN-barcode y registro más austral para la Argentina

Dasyhelea necrophila Spinelli & Rodríguez (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) pertenece a la tribu Dasyheleini. Esta especie ha sido reportada para México, Uruguay y Argentina (Prov. Buenos Aires). Su presencia en áreas urbanas se debe a que utiliza como criadero los contenedores artificiales que acumulan agua. Los ejemplares fueron colectados como larvas en el Cementerio Municipal de Puerto Madryn (Chubut) y fueron criados en laboratorio hasta la emergencia del adulto. En el marco del proyecto Ceratopogonidae of the Neotropical (IANCE) de la plataforma BOLD (Barcoding Of Life Data), el ADN genómico fue extraído a partir del tórax utilizando el kit Qiagen DNeasy blood and tissue, en el Laboratorio del Centre for Freshwater Ecosystems, La Trobe University, Australia. La amplificación de la región de ADN barcode (COI5´) se realizó con los primers HCO2198 y LCO1490 siguiendo las condiciones propuestas por Hebert et al., 2003. El análisis bioinformático de las secuencias se realizó con los programas DNA Baser version 2.91.5 y ClustalX de MEGA versión 5.2. La secuencia barcode resultante (IANCE008-19) tiene 657 pb, y un porcentaje de GC de 33,8. Para confirmar la identificación de esta especie mediante herramientas moleculares, se secuenciaron además ejemplares provenientes de la provincia de Buenos Aires identificadas como D. necrophila (IANCE009-19), ambas secuencias fueron comparadas con la herramienta Blast y el alineamiento se realizó según los parámetros establecidos por default del programa. El alineamiento resultante tuvo un porcentaje de identidad entre secuencias de 99,7% y un E-value de 0, lo cual indica que la coincidencia entre ambas es altamente significativa. Presentamos así el registro más austral de la especie D. necrophila y su secuencia del gen mitocondrial COI, constituyendo los primeros aportes de biología molecular aplicada al estudio del género Dasyhelea Kieffer en la región.Fil: Anjos Dos Santos, Danielle. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica; ArgentinaFil: Ayala, Mahia Mariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores; ArgentinaFil: Mynott, J. H.. La Trobe University. School of Life Sciences. Centre for Freshwater Ecosystems; AustraliaFil: Díaz, Florentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores; Argentina9° Congreso Argentino de LimnologíaEsquelArgentinaConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónic

A New Cu(I) Complex that Mimics the Cresolase Reaction of Tyrosinase and the Crystal Structure of its Oxygenated Cu(II) Complex

A new dinuclear Cu-II complex with a unique structural arrangement and containing a doubly bridged macrocyclic ligand has been prepared from two different routes, one of which involves the reaction of oxygen and a Cu-I precursor, thus mimicking the cresolase activity of tyrosinas