Stationary set preserving L-forcings and the extender algebra

Wir konstruieren das Jensensche L-Forcing und nutzen dieses um die Pi_2 Konsequenzen der Theorie ZFC+BMM+"das nichtstationäre Ideal auf omega_1 ist abschüssig" zu studieren. Viele natürliche Konsequenzen der Theorie ZFC+MM folgen schon aus dieser schwächeren Theorie. Wir geben eine neue Charakterisierung des Axioms Dagger ("Alle Forcings welche stationäre Teilmengen von omega_1 bewahren sind semiproper") in dem wir eine Klasse von L-Forcings isolieren deren Semiproperness äquivalent zu Dagger ist. Wir verallgemeinern ein Resultat von Todorcevic: wir zeigen, dass Rado's Conjecture Dagger impliziert. Des weiteren studieren wir Generizitätsiterationen im Kontext einer messbaren Woodinzahl. Mit diesem Werkzeug erhalten wir eine Verallgemeinerung des Woodinschen Sigma^2_1 Absolutheitstheorems. We review the construction of Jensen's L-forcing which we apply to study the Pi_2 consequences of the theory ZFC + BMM + "the nonstationary ideal on omega_1 is precipitous". Many natural consequences ZFC + MM follow from this weaker theory. We give a new characterization of the axiom dagger ("All stationary set preserving forcings are semiproper") by isolating a class of stationary set preserving L-forcings whose semiproperness is equivalent to dagger. This characterization is used to generalize work of Todorcevic: we show that Rado's Conjecture implies dagger. Furthermore we study genericity iterations beginning with a measurable Woodin cardinal. We obtain a generalization of Woodin's Sigma^2_1 absoluteness theorem

Evaluating an automated number series item generator using linear logistic test models

This study investigates the item properties of a newly developed Automatic Number Series Item Generator (ANSIG). The foundation of the ANSIG is based on five hypothesised cognitive operators. Thirteen item models were developed using the numGen R package and eleven were evaluated in this study. The 16-item ICAR (International Cognitive Ability Resource1) short form ability test was used to evaluate construct validity. The Rasch Model and two Linear Logistic Test Model(s) (LLTM) were employed to estimate and predict the item parameters. Results indicate that a single factor determines the performance on tests composed of items generated by the ANSIG. Under the LLTM approach, all the cognitive operators were significant predictors of item difficulty. Moderate to high correlations were evident between the number series items and the ICAR test scores, with high correlation found for the ICAR Letter-Numeric-Series type items, suggesting adequate nomothetic span. Extended cognitive research is, nevertheless, essential for the automatic generation of an item pool with predictable psychometric propertie

Individualized assignments, group work and discussions. How they interact with class size, low socioeconomic status, and second language learners

Varied teaching techniques are an important aspect of a successful classroom. Student and classroom factors such as ability level, lower socioeconomic status, and/or native language can interact with teaching techniques. Previous work suggests that each teaching technique may be more effective for different students or in different classroom situations, but few studies have directly examined which factors relate to effective teaching techniques. This study uses data for early secondary school students in Germany from the National Education Panel Study (NEPS) to examine the effects of group work, discussions, and individualized assignments on reading and math competency change between 7th and 9th grade. Additionally, we model the interactions of effects of class size, second language learners background, and lower socioeconomic status with these teaching techniques. We conclude that group work relates to more competency growth in math for second language learners, while classroom discussions relate to less growth for second language learners. Discussions relate to less growth in math competency for smaller classes and more growth in larger classes. Group work was also related to slower reading competency growth for children with a higher prior ability level. Findings are discussed in relation to existing theories of teaching techniques

Thermal Perceptual Thresholds are typical in Autism Spectrum Disorder but Strongly Related to Intra-individual Response Variability

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often reported to exhibit an apparent indifference to pain or temperature. Leading models suggest that this behavior is the result of elevated perceptual thresholds for thermal stimuli, but data to support these assertions are inconclusive. An alternative proposal suggests that the sensory features of ASD arise from increased intra-individual perceptual variability. In this study, we measured method-of-limits warm and cool detection thresholds in 142 individuals (83 with ASD, 59 with typical development [TD], aged 7–54 years), testing relationships with diagnostic group, demographics, and clinical measures. We also investigated the relationship between detection thresholds and a novel measure of intra-individual (trial-to-trial) threshold variability, a putative index of “perceptual noise.” This investigation found no differences in thermal detection thresholds between individuals with ASD and typical controls, despite large differences between groups in sensory reactivity questionnaires and modest group differences in intra-individual variability. Lower performance IQ, male sex, and higher intra-individual variability in threshold estimates were the most significant predictors of elevated detection thresholds. Although no psychophysical measure was significantly correlated with questionnaire measures of sensory hyporeactivity, large intra-individual variability may partially explain the elevated psychophysical thresholds seen in a subset of the ASD population

Relationships Between Religion and Intolerance Towards Muslims and Immigrants in Europe:A Multilevel Analysis

This paper examines relationships between religiosity and intolerance towards Muslims and immigrants among Europeans living in non-Muslim majority countries by applying multilevel modeling to European Values Study data (wave four, 2010). Thus relationships across 44 national contexts are analyzed. The analysis found large between-country differences in the overall levels of intolerance towards immigrants and Muslims. Eastern Europeans tend to be more intolerant than Western Europeans. In most countries Muslims are less accepted than immigrants,—a finding which reflects that in post-9/11 Europe Islamophobia is prevalent and many still see Muslims with suspicion. A key result is that believing matters for the citizen’s attitudes towards Muslims and immigrants. Across Europe, traditional and modern fuzzy beliefs in a Higher Being are strongly negatively related to intolerance towards immigrants and Muslims, while fundamentalism is positively related to both targets of intolerance. Religious practice and denominational belonging on the other hand matter far less for the citizen’s propensity to dislike the two out-groups. With the only exception of non-devout Protestants who do not practice their religion, members of religious denominations are not more intolerant than non-members. The findings are valid for the vast majority of countries although countries differ in the magnitude of the effects

Integrated technology for neutralization of mercury presented in industrial wastewater

Przedstawiono nową, zintegrowaną technologię unieszkodliwiania rtęci w ściekach przemysłu chemicznego. Podstawą tej technologii jest bkredukcja toksycznej rtęci jonowej Hg(II) do względnie nieszkodliwej formy Hg(0) z wykorzystaniem żywych bakterii. Proces mikrobiologiczny jest zintegrowany z jednoczesną sorpcją rtęci na złożu węgla aktywnego w bioreaktorze. Technologia ta została z powodzeniem wdrożona w Zakładach Azotowych w Tarnowie.A novel, integrated technology for neutralization of toxic mercury in industrial wastewaters is presented. A basic principle of the method is bioreduction of Hg(II) to relatively non-toxic Hg(0) using mercury resistant bacteria. The bioprocess was integrated with sorption of mercury onto an activated carbon bed in the bioreactor. The integrated technology was applied in industrial scale in the Chemical Company Tarnów-Mościce, Poland

Effect of protein aggregation in the aqueous phase on the binding of membrane proteins to membranes.

Analysis of the binding of hydrophobic peptides or proteins to membranes generally assumes that the solute is monomeric in both the aqueous phase and the membrane. Simulations were performed to examine the effect of solute self-association in the aqueous phase on the binding of monomeric solute to lipid vesicles. Aggregation lowered the initial concentration of monomeric solute, which was then maintained at a relatively constant value at the expense of the aggregated solute, as the lipid concentration was increased. The resultant binding isotherm has a more linear initial portion rather than the classic hyperbolic shape. Although this shape is diagnostic of solute self-association in the aqueous phase, various combinations of values for the membrane partition coefficient and the solute self-association constant will generate similar isotherms. Data for cytochrome b5 were analyzed and, when the self-association constant was estimated by gel filtration, a unique value for the membrane partition coefficient was obtained. Thus, to obtain a true partition coefficient the state of the solute in the aqueous phase must be known. If the concentration of the monomeric solute species in the aqueous phase can be independently determined, then, even with heterogeneous aggregates, the true partition coefficient can be obtained

Statistical modeling of dynamic eye-tracking experiments: Relative importance of visual stimulus elements for gaze behavior in the multi-group case.

This paper presents a model that allows group comparisons of gaze behavior while watching dynamic video stimuli. The model is based on the approach of Coutrot and Guyader (2017) and allows linear combinations of feature maps to form a master saliency map. The feature maps in the model are, for example, the dynamically salient contents of a video stimulus or predetermined areas of interest. The model takes into account temporal aspects of the stimuli, which is a crucial difference to other common models. The multi-group extension of the model introduced here allows to obtain relative importance plots, which visualize the effect of a specific feature of a stimulus on the attention and visual behavior for two or more experimental groups. These plots are interpretable summaries of data with high spatial and temporal resolution. This approach differs from many common methods for comparing gaze behavior between natural groups, which usually only include single-dimensional features such as the duration of fixation on a particular part of the stimulus. The method is illustrated by contrasting a sample of a group of persons with particularly high cognitive abilities (high achievement on IQ tests) with a control group on a psycholinguistic task on the conceptualization of motion events. In the example, we find no substantive differences in relative importance, but more exploratory gaze behavior in the highly gifted group. The code, videos, and eye-tracking data we used for this study are available online

Validity and reliability of automatically generated propositional reasoning Items: a multilingual study of the challenges of verbal item generation

This study introduces a newly developed public-domain multilingual automatic item generator that creates propositional reasoning (PR) items belonging to 15 item families by using various inference rules. Psychometric properties of the resulting written PR test were investigated in three diverse samples in English, simplified Chinese, and German, respectively. Internal consistency was good to excellent across samples. The ICAR16 short form test of cognitive abilities (Condon & Revelle, 2014) was used to evaluate construct validity. Correlations of ICAR16 scores and PR scores were high. Furthermore, items within families appeared to be equivalent, with only minor differential item functioning between the Chinese- and English-speaking samples. Performance on the PR test was shown to be reasonably stable over the course of 1 week. Differences of total scores between test forms (pen and paper vs. computerized administration) were not detected. Findings suggest that the automatically generated PR test is a valuable instrument for the assessment of propositional reasoning ability.ESRC (ES/L016591/1