Development and validation of the Multi-dimensional University Research Workplace Inventory (MDURWI)

WOS:000454839600005This study describes the development and validation of an instrument aimed toward measuring organizational features of an academic research workplace. The question pool was developed based on data from a pilot study (N = 43). The survey was deployed to academic researchers in the field of higher education research worldwide (N = 850). An exploratory factor analysis conducted on 36 questions, followed by confirmatory factor analysis, which lead to a final pool of 27 questions in five subscales, one of which divided into three lower-order factors. The final model exhibited very good fit (X2/df = 2.561; CFI = 0.972; PCFI = 0.784; RMSEA = 0.043; P[rmsea ? 0.05] < 0.001; AIC = 891.018; BCC = 987.839) and psychometric properties, in the form of factorial, convergent, and discriminant validity, as well as reliability and sensitivity. Implications of this instrument for research and policymaking are discussed, as well as future research directions.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Elimination of electrically induced iontophoretic artefacts: Implications for non-invasive assessment of peripheral microvascular function

Iontophoretic assessment of skin microvascular function is complicated by the occurrence of electrically induced hyperaemia, especially at the cathode. Studies were performed to identify means of reducing such effects. Skin vasodilator responses were measured using a laser Doppler imager that controlled iontophoretic current delivery. A novel feature involved monitoring voltage across the iontophoresis chambers. Comparison between responses to vehicle (distilled H2O), acetylcholine (ACh) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) showed electrically induced hyperaemia at the cathode associated with the vehicle, whose time course overlapped with that of the SNP response. Voltage across the chambers containing drugs dissolved in H2O was significantly (p = 0.018, n = 7) lower than the voltage profile of H2O alone. H2O iontophoresis was associated with cathodal hyperaemic responses in most subjects, whereas a 0.5% NaCl vehicle produced lower voltages and eliminated this artefact. Voltage&middot;time integral rather than charge was the prime determinant of electrically induced hyperaemic responses. No significant correlation was found between skin fold thickness and either calculated skin resistance (r2 = 0.0002) or vascular response to ACh (r2 = 0.13). Smaller chamber size led to higher voltages and greater electrically induced hyperaemic responses. These appear to be prostaglandin dependent as they were ablated by cyclooxygenase inhibition. Use of a low-resistance vehicle combined with larger chamber sizes and lower currents can prevent such artefacts, thereby increasing the robustness of this methodology for clinical assessment of endothelial function

Wirkungsorientierte Jugendhilfe unter der empirischen Lupe – Welche Wirkungen sind von sozialpädagogischem Interesse und wie kann man sie erkennen

Albus S, Micheel H-G, Polutta A. Wirkungsorientierte Jugendhilfe unter der empirischen Lupe – Welche Wirkungen sind von sozialpädagogischem Interesse und wie kann man sie erkennen. Soziale Passage. 2009;1(1):102-112