Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: Descriptive Report on Participating Schools 2010–11

This report is the fifth in a series of annual reports produced by the School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP) that will provide descriptive information about the schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP)

Milwaukee Longitudinal School Choice Evaluation: Annual School Testing Summary Report 2009-10

With the passage of the 2005 Wisconsin Act 125, private schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) have been required to administer annual standardized tests in reading, mathematics, and science to their MPCP students enrolled in the 4th, 8th, and 10th grades. The law further directs Choice schools to submit copies of the scores from those tests to the School Choice Demonstration Project for processing and reporting to the Legislative Audit Bureau. During the 2009-10 school year, MPCP schools administered either nationally normed tests, such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, or the state criterion-referenced Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations (WKCE). The School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP) received student test scores from 105 of the 115 schools participating in the MPCP that were required to administer tests. Specically, the SCDP received 6, 331 nationally normed student test scores and 1,217 WKCE test scores. Sixty-nine of 105 schools submitted only normed tests, 18 schools submitted only the WKCE, and 18 submitted both types of tests. Seven schools were not required to send in scores as they had no testing grades, and three schools failed to send in scores

Blaine it on Politics: The (Non-) Effect of Anti-Aid Amendments on Private School Choice Programs in the U.S. States

James G. Blaine was a prominent American politician of the late 19th Century. Although Blaine was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for President in 1884, U.S. Secretary of State, Speaker of the House, and a Senator from Maine, his primary legacy was the enshrinement of anti-aid amendments in the constitutions of 39 U.S. states. These so-called Blaine Amendments were designed to prohibit government funds from supporting sectarian religious organizations such as schools and charities. In Blaine\u27s day, sectarian was widely understood to be a euphemism for Catholic . Nondenominationally Protestant organizations such as the public schools of the day were considered to be non-sectarian and entirely worthy of government support. The Blaine Amendments ensured that government-sponsored schools in the U.S. would be pervasively Protestant, at least until religion was banned from public schools in the 1960s, and that Catholic schools would have to make do without any substantial financial assistance from the government

ジェネリックスキルテストを使用した言語学習能力評価の実行可能性：2018 年度多摩大学共同研究プロジェクト報告

This report explains the preliminary findings of a longitudinal study that uses statistical analyses of PROG scores and TOEIC scores to determine if the PROG might be an indicator of language learning ability. PROG scores for Literacy and Competency from 2018 for a group of university freshmen were correlated with English grades, TOEIC scores and changes in TOEIC scores over time. Additional correlations were calculated for sub-groups such as TOEIC range and gender. The preliminary findings indicate weak correlations between PROG scores and TOEIC scores. Similarly, there are weak to moderate correlations between PROG scores and final grades in English classes. More importantly, the correlation coefficients are statistically significant at less than .05 p value and less than .01 p value. Although more data analysis is necessary, the results indicate that generic skills tests can provide language educators with valuable information for both language course design and student placement into language course levels.本稿では、PROG が言語学習能力の指標であるかどうかを判断するために行ったPROG スコアとTOEIC スコアの統計分析を使用した縦断的研究の予備調査結果を報告する。2018 年の大学の新入生のグループが受験したPROG のリテラシーとコンピテンシーのスコアが、英語の成績、TOEIC スコア、及び時間経過に伴うTOEICスコアの変化と相関しているかを分析した。さらに、TOEIC スコアの分布や性別などの下位グループについても相関関係を調べた。予備調査の結果は、PROG スコアとTOEIC スコアの間に弱い相関があることを示している。同様に、PROG スコアと英語クラスの成績との間には弱から中程度の相関がみられた。より重要なことに、相関係数は .05ｐ値未満および .01ｐ値未満で、統計的に有意である。より多くのデータの分析が必要であるが、本研究は、ジェネリックスキルテストが語学コースの設計とコース受講者のプレースメントに役立ち、語学教育の担当者に貴重な情報を提供できる可能性を示している

Sources of inaccuracy in photoplethysmography for continuous cardiovascular monitoring

Photoplethysmography (PPG) is a low-cost, noninvasive optical technique that uses change in light transmission with changes in blood volume within tissue to provide information for cardiovascular health and fitness. As remote health and wearable medical devices become more prevalent, PPG devices are being developed as part of wearable systems to monitor parameters such as heart rate (HR) that do not require complex analysis of the PPG waveform. However, complex analyses of the PPG waveform yield valuable clinical information, such as: blood pressure, respiratory information, sympathetic nervous system activity, and heart rate variability. Systems aiming to derive such complex parameters do not always account for realistic sources of noise, as testing is performed within controlled parameter spaces. A wearable monitoring tool to be used beyond fitness and heart rate must account for noise sources originating from individual patient variations (e.g., skin tone, obesity, age, and gender), physiology (e.g., respiration, venous pulsation, body site of measurement, and body temperature), and external perturbations of the device itself (e.g., motion artifact, ambient light, and applied pressure to the skin). Here, we present a comprehensive review of the literature that aims to summarize these noise sources for future PPG device development for use in health monitoring

Development of New Tuberculosis Vaccines: A Global Perspective on Regulatory Issues

What are the regulatory challenges for testing and introducing investigative TB vaccines into countries where the disease is endemic

“It seems impossible that it’s been made so quickly”: a qualitative investigation of concerns about the speed of COVID-19 vaccine development and how these may be overcome

The speed of COVID-19 vaccine development has been identified as a central concern contributing to hesitancy in acceptance. We conducted qualitative interviews to gain a greater understanding into these concerns and to identify what might address them. Twelve qualitative interviews were conducted with participants identifying as hesitant for COVID-19 vaccination and reporting concern about the speed of vaccine development. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used. Concerns about speed comprised the linked themes of i) difficulty understanding the pace, and, ii) worry about the implications for vaccine safety. Uncertainties concerning the pandemic led to a notable desire for credible and understandable information regarding the vaccines, which many participants felt was not available. Four routes to resolving uncertainty about whether to be vaccinated were identified. First, waiting for more information about the vaccines, such as about their contents and impact on transmission. Second, a growing perception that the vaccines must be safe given the large numbers already vaccinated. Third, viewing the vaccines as necessary - even if unappealing - for ending the pandemic. Finally, a feeling that there would be no choice but to have a vaccine. Examples of what might reduce hesitancy were given, including interviews with vaccine developers and knowing others of similar age having safely been vaccinated. The pace of development broke expectations set earlier in the pandemic. This was interpreted negatively due to a perceived lack of credible information. Most participants could envisage ways their concerns could be resolved, enough for them to have a vaccine

The Cross-Species Mycobacterial Growth Inhibition Assay (MGIA) Project, 2010-2014.

The development of a functional biomarker assay in the tuberculosis (TB) field would be widely recognized as a major advance in efforts to develop and to test novel TB vaccine candidates efficiently. We present preliminary studies using mycobacterial growth inhibition assays (MGIAs) to detect Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccine responses across species, and we extend this work to determine whether a standardized MGIA can be applied in characterizing new TB vaccines. The comparative MGIA studies reviewed here aimed to evaluate robustness, reproducibility, and ability to reflect in vivo responses. In doing so, they have laid the foundation for the development of a MGIA that can be standardized and potentially qualified. A major challenge ahead lies in better understanding the relationships between in vivo protection, in vitro growth inhibition, and the immune mechanisms involved. The final outcome would be a MGIA that could be used with confidence in TB vaccine trials. We summarize data arising from this project, present a strategy to meet the goals of developing a functional assay for TB vaccine testing, and describe some of the challenges encountered in performing and transferring such assays

Injection fears and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

BACKGROUND: When vaccination depends on injection, it is plausible that the blood-injection-injury cluster of fears may contribute to hesitancy. Our primary aim was to estimate in the UK adult population the proportion of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy explained by blood-injection-injury fears. METHODS: In total, 15 014 UK adults, quota sampled to match the population for age, gender, ethnicity, income and region, took part (19 January-5 February 2021) in a non-probability online survey. The Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Scale assessed intent to be vaccinated. Two scales (Specific Phobia Scale-blood-injection-injury phobia and Medical Fear Survey-injections and blood subscale) assessed blood-injection-injury fears. Four items from these scales were used to create a factor score specifically for injection fears. RESULTS: In total, 3927 (26.2%) screened positive for blood-injection-injury phobia. Individuals screening positive (22.0%) were more likely to report COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy compared to individuals screening negative (11.5%), odds ratio = 2.18, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.97-2.40, p < 0.001. The population attributable fraction (PAF) indicated that if blood-injection-injury phobia were absent then this may prevent 11.5% of all instances of vaccine hesitancy, AF = 0.11; 95% CI 0.09-0.14, p < 0.001. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was associated with higher scores on the Specific Phobia Scale, r = 0.22, p < 0.001, Medical Fear Survey, r = 0.23, p = <0.001 and injection fears, r = 0.25, p < 0.001. Injection fears were higher in youth and in Black and Asian ethnic groups, and explained a small degree of why vaccine hesitancy is higher in these groups. CONCLUSIONS: Across the adult population, blood-injection-injury fears may explain approximately 10% of cases of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Addressing such fears will likely improve the effectiveness of vaccination programmes