Smart Quizzes

Standardized testing, while efficient for testing a large amount of people, is not an effective or holistic method of evaluating test takers. They fail to take into consideration factors such as stress, which can inhibit a student’s ability to perform well on a test. Our goal is to create a framework for creating tests that are dynamic, adaptive assessments, minimize stress levels, and overall improve student performance. This solution will produce in tests that even out the academic playing field while being more informative in their assessments

Peaks in the cosmological density field: parameter constraints from 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey data

We use the number density of peaks in the smoothed cosmological density field taken from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey to constrain parameters related to the power spectrum of mass fluctuations, n (the spectral index), dn/d(lnk) (rolling in the spectral index), and the neutrino mass, m_nu. In a companion paper we use N-body simulations to study how the peak density responds to changes in the power spectrum, the presence of redshift distortions and the relationship between galaxies and dark matter halos. In the present paper we make measurements of the peak density from 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey data, for a range of smoothing filter scales from 4-33 h^-1 Mpc. We use these measurements to constrain the cosmological parameters, finding n=1.36 (+0.75)(-0.64), m_nu < 1.76 eV, dn/d(lnk)=-0.012 (+0.192)(-0.208), at the 68 % confidence level, where m_nu is the total mass of three massive neutrinos. At 95% confidence we find m_nu< 2.48 eV. These measurements represent an alternative way to constrain cosmological parameters to the usual direct fits to the galaxy power spectrum, and are expected to be relatively insensitive to non-linear clustering evolution and galaxy biasing.Comment: Accepted for Publication in MNRAS on Sept 25, 2009. Abstract modified to remove LaTex markup

A Single Question of Parent-Reported Physical Activity Levels Estimates Objectively Measured Physical Fitness and Body Composition in Preschool Children: The PREFIT Project

Physical inactivity is recognized as a determinant of low physical fitness and body composition in preschool children, which in turn, are important markers of health through the lifespan. Objective methods to assess physical activity, physical fitness and body composition in preschool children are preferable; however, they have some practical limitations in the school context. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test whether a single question regarding physical activity level of preschool children, reported by their parents, could be used as an alternative screening tool of physical fitness and body composition. The information was obtained from 10 different cities throughout Spain, gathering a total of 3179 healthy preschool children (52.8% boys and 47.2% girls) aged 3-5 years. Physical activity levels of preschool children were reported by parents using a single question with five response options (very low, low, average, high, or very high). Physical fitness and body composition were assessed with the PREFIT fitness battery. The results showed that parents' perception of their children's physical activity was positively associated with all objectively measured physical fitness components (beta(range) = -0.094 to 0.113; all p < 0.020); and negatively with body composition indicators as measured (beta(range) = -0.113 to -0.058; all p < 0.001). The results showed significant differences in all physical fitness and body composition z-scores across the parent-reported physical activity levels (all p < 0.017 and all p < 0.001, respectively), as well as, for the fitness index (p < 0.001). Our study suggests that in school settings with insufficient resources to objectively assess fitness and body composition, parents-reported physical activity level by means of a single question might provide useful information about these important health markers in preschool children

Non-linear Evolution of Baryon Acoustic Oscillations from Improved Perturbation Theory in Real and Redshift Spaces

We study the non-linear evolution of baryon acoustic oscillations in the matter power spectrum and correlation function from the improved perturbation theory (PT). Based on the framework of renormalized PT, we apply the {\it closure approximation} that truncates the infinite series of loop contributions at one-loop order, and obtain a closed set of integral equations for power spectrum and non-linear propagator. The resultant integral expressions keep important non-perturbative properties which can dramatically improve the prediction of non-linear power spectrum. Employing the Born approximation, we then derive the analytic expressions for non-linear power spectrum and the predictions are made for non-linear evolution of baryon acoustic oscillations in power spectrum and correlation function. A detailed comparison between improved PT results and N-body simulations shows that a percent-level agreement is achieved in a certain range in power spectrum and in a rather wider range in correlation function. Combining a model of non-linear redshift-space distortion, we also evaluate the power spectrum and correlation function in correlation function. In contrast to the results in real space, the agreement between N-body simulations and improved PT predictions tends to be worse, and a more elaborate modeling for redshift-space distortion needs to be developed. Nevertheless, with currently existing model, we find that the prediction of correlation function has a sufficient accuracy compared with the cosmic-variance errors for future galaxy surveys with volume of a few (Gpc/h)^3 at z>=0.5.Comment: 25 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.

Patient-reported outcomes measures of X-linked hypophosphataemia participants: findings from a prospective cohort study in the UK

Background X-linked hypophosphataemia (XLH) is a rare genetic condition passed on through the X chromosome which causes multiple symptoms including weakened teeth, bones, and muscles. Due to the rarity of the condition, little is known about the health outcomes as reported by people with the disease. The objectives of this study were threefold: to characterise key patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) in adults with XLH, to identify clusters of symptom-severity groups based on PROMs, and to analyse the longitudinal progression of available PROMs. Methods Data from 48 participants from the Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases cohort Study (RUDY) was used to analyse both cross-sectional and longitudinal patient-reported outcomes. We analysed data for health-related quality of life (HRQL): EuroQol 5 dimensions-5 levels (EQ-5D-5L), Short-form 36 (SF-36) Physical Component Score (PCS), and SF-36 Mental Component Score (MCS), sleep: Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and Epworth Sleepiness scale (ESS), fatigue: Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and Functional assessment of chronic illness therapy-fatigue (FACIT-F), pain: Short form McGill pain questionnaire version 2 (SF-MPQ-2) and PainDETECT, and mental well-being: Hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) anxiety and depression. Summary statistics, tests of mean differences, mixed-effects models, and cluster analysis were used to describe and examine the various health dimensions of individuals with XLH. Results Overall mean scores were EQ-5D-5L = 0.65, SF-36-PCS = 32.7, and SF-36-MCS = 48.4 for HRQL, ESS = 5.9 and PSQI = 8.9 for sleep, FSS = 32.8 and FACIT-F = 104.4 for fatigue, SF-MPQ-2 = 1.9 for pain, and HADS-depression = 4.7 and HADS-anxiety = 6.2 for mental well-being. 7% reported neuropathic pain (PainDETECT). Whilst many adults with XLH reported good outcomes, extreme or severe problems were reported across all outcomes. Cluster analysis identified that adults with XLH could be divided into two distinct groups, one reporting worse (35.3%) and the other better outcomes (64.7%) (less pain, fatigue, depression, and higher levels of sleep). Longitudinal analysis showed that FACIT-F and HADS-anxiety scores worsened slightly over two years with statistically significant (p  Conclusion Although about two thirds of adult participants of the RUDY cohort with XLH report good health outcomes, for a considerable third much worse outcomes are reported. More research is needed to examine why some experience good and others poor health outcomes and the characteristics which identify them

Mock galaxy redshift catalogues from simulations: implications for Pan-STARRS1

We describe a method for constructing mock galaxy catalogues which are well suited for use in conjunction with large photometric surveys. We use the semi-analytic galaxy formation model of Bower et al. implemented in the Millennium simulation. We apply our method to the specific case of the surveys soon to commence with PS1, the first of 4 telescopes planned for the Pan-STARRS system. PS1 has 5 photometric bands (grizy), and will carry out an all-sky 3pi survey and a medium deep survey (MDS) over 84 sq.deg. We calculate the expected magnitude limits for extended sources in the two surveys. We find that, after 3 years, the 3pi survey will have detected over 10^8 galaxies in all 5 bands, 10 million of which will lie at redshift z>0.9, while the MDS will have detected over 10^7 galaxies with 0.5 million lying at z>2. These numbers at least double if detection in the shallowest band, y is not required. We then evaluate the accuracy of photometric redshifts estimated using an off-the-shelf photo-z code. With the grizy bands alone it is possible to achieve an accuracy in the 3pi survey of Delta z/(1+z)~0.06 for 0.25<z<0.8, which could be reduced by about 15% using near infrared photometry from the UKIDDS survey, but would increase by about 25% for the deeper sample without the y band photometry. For the MDS an accuracy of Delta z/(1+z)~0.05 is achievable for 0.02<z<1.5 using grizy. A dramatic improvement in accuracy is possible by selecting only red galaxies. In this case, Delta z/(1+z)~0.02-0.04 is achievable for ~100 million galaxies at 0.4<z<1.1 in the 3pi survey and for 30 million galaxies in the MDS at 0.4<z<2. We investigate the effect of using photo-z in the estimate of the baryonic acoustic oscillation scale. We find that PS1 will achieve a similar accuracy in this estimate as a spectroscopic survey of 20 million galaxies.Comment: 23 pages, 18 figures, accepted by MNRA

Biofilm and planktonic pneumococci demonstrate disparate immunoreactivity to human convalescent sera

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Streptococcus pneumoniae </it>(the pneumococcus) is the leading cause of otitis media, community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), sepsis, and meningitis. It is now evident that <it>S. pneumoniae </it>forms biofilms during nasopharyngeal colonization; the former which facilitates persistence, the latter, a prerequisite for subsequent development of invasive disease. Proteomic evaluation of <it>S. pneumoniae </it>suggests the antigen profile available for host-recognition is altered as a consequence of biofilm growth. This has potentially meaningful implications in regards to adaptive immunity and protection from disseminated disease. We therefore examined the antigen profile of biofilm and planktonic pneumococcal cell lysates, tested their reactivity with human convalescent sera and that generated against biofilm pneumococci, and examined whether immunization with biofilm pneumococci protected mice against infectious challenge.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Biofilm pneumococci have dramatically altered protein profiles versus their planktonic counterparts. During invasive disease the humoral immune response is skewed towards the planktonic protein profile. Immunization with biofilm bacteria does not elicit a strong-cross-reactive humoral response against planktonic bacteria nor confer resistance against challenge with a virulent isolate from another serotype. We identified numerous proteins, including Pneumococcal serine-rich repeat protein (PsrP), which may serve as a protective antigens against both colonization and invasive disease.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Differential protein production by planktonic and biofilm pneumococci provides a potential explanation for why individuals remain susceptible to invasive disease despite previous colonization events. These findings also strongly suggest that differential protein production during colonization and disease be considered during the selection of antigens for any future protein vaccine.</p

Percussion Ensemble Spring Concert

Kennesaw State University School of Music presents Percussion Ensemble Spring Concert.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1406/thumbnail.jp

Advancing functional connectivity research from association to causation

Cognition and behavior emerge from brain network interactions, such that investigating causal interactions should be central to the study of brain function. Approaches that characterize statistical associations among neural time series-functional connectivity (FC) methods-are likely a good starting point for estimating brain network interactions. Yet only a subset of FC methods ('effective connectivity') is explicitly designed to infer causal interactions from statistical associations. Here we incorporate best practices from diverse areas of FC research to illustrate how FC methods can be refined to improve inferences about neural mechanisms, with properties of causal neural interactions as a common ontology to facilitate cumulative progress across FC approaches. We further demonstrate how the most common FC measures (correlation and coherence) reduce the set of likely causal models, facilitating causal inferences despite major limitations. Alternative FC measures are suggested to immediately start improving causal inferences beyond these common FC measures