54 research outputs found
Hogyan tĂ©rnek el a papĂr-ceruza Ă©s szĂĄmĂtĂłgĂ©pes teszteredmĂ©nyek? - Szisztematikus szakirodalom ĂĄttekintĂ©s a PISA, TIMSS Ă©s PIRLS mĂ©rĂ©sekkel kapcsolatos tapasztalatokrĂłl
The National Assessment of Basic Competencies (NABC) is the largest student assessment operating in Hungary. The assessment has been measuring students in public education for twenty years. It assesses mathematical literacy and reading comprehension previously in two ( 6th and 8th), now in three grades (6th, 8th and 10th ). NABC was implemented for the first time with an electronic data collection in 2022. This is following the trends of international large scale student assessments (ILSA). PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS, in which Hungary typically participates since their beginning, have been changed to computer-based assessments during recent measurement cycles. An aim of the assessments above is to compare countries or grades and to report trends. To ensure the continuity, it is necessary to examine the possible difference between the two delivery methods, which is called mode effect. Since NABC typically follows the methodology of the ILSAs, we assumed that mode effect studies related to them could be a good source of information for the domestic assessment. Evidence can be in the own documents of the assessments or in independent analyses. Our research question was what scientific evidence can be obtained in connection with the PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS assessments in the domestic and international scientific space or in the documents of the ILSAs regarding the differences between paper-based and computer-based delivery. The documentation of the assessments typically showed a mode effect of 10-20 points. To ensure the continuity of trends mode effect was treated uniformly in forming trends, except for a few countries or items. However, critical studies point out that the mode effect may differ from country to country, leading to a false conclusion drawn from trends.Az OrszĂĄgos kompetenciamĂ©rĂ©s (OKM) a MagyarorszĂĄgon mƱködĆ legnagyobb volumenƱ tanulĂłi teljesĂtmĂ©nymĂ©rĂ©s. A mĂ©rĂ©s hĂșsz Ă©ve mĂ©ri a közoktatĂĄsban tanulĂłkat matematikai eszköztudĂĄs Ă©s szövegĂ©rtĂ©si kĂ©pessĂ©g terĂŒleten korĂĄbban kĂ©t (6. Ă©s 8.), kĂ©sĆbb hĂĄrom (6., 8. Ă©s 10.) Ă©vfolyamon. Az OKM elsĆ alkalommal 2022-ben â követve a nemzetközi tanulĂłi teljesĂtmĂ©nymĂ©rĂ©sek trendjĂ©t â valĂłsult meg elektronikus adatfelvĂ©teli mĂłddal. A PISA, TIMSS Ă©s PIRLS mĂ©rĂ©sek, melyekben MagyarorszĂĄg jellemzĆen indulĂĄs Ăłta rĂ©szt vesz, a legutĂłbbi mĂ©rĂ©si ciklusok sorĂĄn a papĂr-ceruza teszteket elektronikusra vĂĄltottĂĄk. A fenti nĂ©gy mĂ©rĂ©s mindegyikĂ©nek cĂ©lja orszĂĄgok vagy Ă©vfolyamok összehasonlĂtĂĄsa, trendek bemutatĂĄsa, melyek folytonossĂĄgĂĄnak biztosĂtĂĄsa szĂŒksĂ©gessĂ© teszi a papĂr-ceruza Ă©s a szĂĄmĂtĂłgĂ©p-alapĂș mĂ©rĂ©si mĂłdok lehetsĂ©ges kĂŒlönbsĂ©gĂ©nek, azaz a mĂ©diahatĂĄsnak (mode effect) a vizsgĂĄlatĂĄt. Mivel az OKM jellemzĆen a nemzetközi tanulĂłi teljesĂtmĂ©nymĂ©rĂ©sek mĂłdszertanĂĄt követi, feltĂ©teleztĂŒk, hogy a nemzetközi mĂ©rĂ©sekhez kapcsolĂłdĂł mĂ©diahatĂĄs-vizsgĂĄlatok â akĂĄr a mĂ©rĂ©sek sajĂĄt dokumentumai, akĂĄr fĂŒggetlen elemzĂ©sek â jĂł informĂĄciĂłforrĂĄsok lehetnek a hazai mĂ©rĂ©s esetĂ©ben. KutatĂĄsunkban arra kerestĂŒk a vĂĄlaszt, hogy a PISA, TIMSS Ă©s PIRLS mĂ©rĂ©sekhez kapcsolĂłdĂłan a hazai tĂ©rben, a nemzetközi adatbĂĄzisokban Ă©s a mĂ©rĂ©sek sajĂĄt dokumentumaiban milyen tudomĂĄnyosan megalapozott eredmĂ©nyek Ă©rhetĆek el a papĂr-ceruza Ă©s a szĂĄmĂtĂłgĂ©p-alapĂș tesztelĂ©s közötti kĂŒlönbsĂ©gekrĆl. VizsgĂĄlatunkat szisztematikus szakirodalomelemzĂ©s segĂtsĂ©gĂ©vel vĂ©geztĂŒk el. A mĂ©rĂ©sek dokumentĂĄciĂłja jellemzĆen 10â20 pontos mĂ©diahatĂĄst mutatott ki, amit a trendek folytonossĂĄga Ă©rdekĂ©ben â nĂ©hĂĄny orszĂĄg kivĂ©telĂ©vel â egysĂ©ges mĂłdon vettek figyelembe a trendek kialakĂtĂĄsakor. A kritikai vizsgĂĄlatok ugyanakkor rĂĄmutatnak, hogy a mĂ©diahatĂĄs eltĂ©rĆ lehet az egyes orszĂĄgokban, ami a trendbĆl levont hamis következtetĂ©shez vezethet
Cronbach-alfa: vele vagy nĂ©lkĂŒle?
Håttér és célkitƱzések: Tanulmånyunkban arra vållalkozunk, hogy egy olyan eljåråst mutassunk be,
melynek segĂtsĂ©gĂ©vel megalapozottabban hasznĂĄlhatĂł az eddig is szĂ©les körben alkalmazott Cronbach-alfa
mutatĂł.
MĂłdszer: ElemzĂ©sĂŒnkben egy olyan, egyszerƱen elkĂ©szĂthetĆ szimulĂĄciĂłs eljĂĄrĂĄs alkalmazĂĄsĂĄt javasoljuk,
melynek segĂtsĂ©gĂ©vel az adatainkhoz igazodva egy, az adott helyzetben elvĂĄrt egyĂŒttes konzisztenciaszint (ĂĄt-
lagos korrelĂĄciĂłs szint) elĂ©rĂ©sĂ©hez szĂŒksĂ©ges Cronbach-alfa viszonyĂtĂĄsi pontot adhatunk.
EredmĂ©nyek: ElemzĂ©sĂŒnk ugyanis rĂĄmutat arra, hogy nemcsak a kĂ©rdĆĂvben hasznĂĄlt itemek szĂĄmĂĄtĂłl,
hanem a kĂ©rdĆĂvben alkalmazott Likert-skĂĄla Ă©rtĂ©keinek szĂĄmĂĄtĂłl is fĂŒggĆvĂ© kellene tenni a Cronbach-alfa
mutatĂł viszonyĂtĂĄsi pontjĂĄt. SzintĂ©n eredmĂ©nye az elemzĂ©sĂŒnknek, hogy az alkalmazott formulĂĄval nem a
hagyomånyosan meghatårozott 0,7-es értéket kapjuk, hanem mind a Likert-skålåtól, mind pedig az itemek
szĂĄmĂĄtĂłl, illetve az elvĂĄrt, itemek közötti kapcsolati erĆssĂ©gtĆl fĂŒggĆvĂ© lehet tenni az elvĂĄrt Cronbach-alfa
értéket.
KövetkeztetĂ©sek: A javasolt algoritmus segĂtsĂ©gĂ©vel a Cronbach-alfa mutatĂłnak egy olyan alkalmazĂĄsĂĄt
lehet megvalĂłsĂtani, mely alkalmas arra, hogy a kĂ©rdĆĂvĂŒnkhöz (a vĂĄlaszadĂĄsi Likert-skĂĄlĂĄhoz) igazodva,
illetve a skĂĄla itemszĂĄma alapjĂĄn referenciapontot adhassunk e megbĂzhatĂłsĂĄgi mutatĂłhoz
High-soluble CGA levels are associated with poor survival in bladder cancer
Recently, a neuroendocrine-like molecular subtype has been discovered in muscle-invasive urothelial bladder cancer (BC). Chromogranin A (CGA) is a widely used tissue and serum marker in neuroendocrine tumors. Our aim was to evaluate serum CGA (sCGA) concentrations and their associations with clinical and follow-up data in BC and renal cell carcinoma (RCC). sCGA concentrations were analyzed in the following cohorts: (1) BC training set (n = 188), (2) BC validation set (n = 125), (3) RCC patients (n = 77), (4) healthy controls (n = 97). CGA immunohistochemistry and RT-qPCR analyses were performed in 20 selected FFPE and 29 frozen BC tissue samples. Acquired data were correlated with clinicopathological parameters including comorbidities with known effect on sCGA as well as with patientsâ follow-up data. sCGA levels were significantly higher in BC but not in RCC patients compared to healthy controls. High sCGA levels were independently associated with poor overall and disease-specific survival both in the BC training (P < 0.001, P = 0.002) and validation set (P = 0.009, P = 0.017). sCGA levels were inversely correlated with glomerulus filtrating rate (GFR) and linearly correlated with creatinine clearance and urea concentrations. These correlations were not related to the prognostic value of sCGA. Tissue CGA levels were low to absent independently of sCGA concentrations. Our results demonstrate elevated levels and an independent prognostic value for sCGA in BC but not in RCC. Despite the significant correlation between sCGA and GFR, the prognostic relevance of sCGA seems not related to impaired renal function or other comorbidities
MicroRNA-24 inhibits growth, induces apoptosis, and reverses radioresistance in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma by targeting X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein
Regular and chaotic orbits in barred galaxies - I. Applying the SALI/GALI method to explore their distribution in several models
The distinction between chaotic and regular behavior of orbits in galactic
models is an important issue and can help our understanding of galactic
dynamical evolution. In this paper, we deal with this issue by applying the
techniques of the Smaller (and Generalized) ALingment Indices, SALI (and GALI),
to extensive samples of orbits obtained by integrating numerically the
equations of motion in a barred galaxy potential. We estimate first the
fraction of chaotic and regular orbits for the two-degree-of-freedom (DOF) case
(where the galaxy extends only in the (x,y)-space) and show that it is a
non-monotonic function of the energy. For the three DOF extension of this model
(in the z-direction), we give similar estimates, both by exploring different
sets of initial conditions and by varying the model parameters, like the mass,
size and pattern speed of the bar. We find that regular motion is more abundant
at small radial distances from the center of the galaxy, where the relative
non-axisymmetric forcing is relatively weak, and at small distances from the
equatorial plane, where trapping around the stable periodic orbits is
important. We also find that the variation of the bar pattern speed, within a
realistic range of values, does not affect much the phase space's fraction of
regular and chaotic motions. Using different sets of initial conditions, we
show that chaotic motion is dominant in galaxy models whose bar component is
more massive, while models with a fatter or thicker bar present generally more
regular behavior. Finally, we find that the fraction of orbits that are chaotic
correlates strongly with the bar strength.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, MNRAS, in pres
In Vitro Dedifferentiation of Melanocytes from Adult Epidermis
In previous work we described a novel culture technique using a cholera toxin and PMA-free medium (Mel-mix) for obtaining pure melanocyte cultures from human adult epidermis. In Mel-mix medium the cultured melanocytes are bipolar, unpigmented and highly proliferative. Further characterization of the cultured melanocytes revealed the disappearance of c-Kit and TRP-1 and induction of nestin expression, indicating that melanocytes dedifferentiated in this in vitro culture. Cholera toxin and PMA were able to induce c-Kit and TRP-1 protein expressions in the cells, reversing dedifferentiation. TRP-1 mRNA expression was induced in dedifferentiated melanocytes by UV-B irradiated keratinocyte supernatants, however direct UV-B irradiation of the cells resulted in further decrease of TRP-1 mRNA expression. These dedifferentiated, easily accessible cultured melanocytes provide a good model for studying melanocyte differentiation and possibly transdifferentiation. Because melanocytes in Mel-mix medium can be cultured with human serum as the only supplement, this culture system is also suitable for autologous cell transplantation
Evaluation of a Partial Genome Screening of Two Asthma Susceptibility Regions Using Bayesian Network Based Bayesian Multilevel Analysis of Relevance
Genetic studies indicate high number of potential factors related to asthma. Based on earlier linkage analyses we selected the 11q13 and 14q22 asthma susceptibility regions, for which we designed a partial genome screening study using 145 SNPs in 1201 individuals (436 asthmatic children and 765 controls). The results were evaluated with traditional frequentist methods and we applied a new statistical method, called Bayesian network based Bayesian multilevel analysis of relevance (BN-BMLA). This method uses Bayesian network representation to provide detailed characterization of the relevance of factors, such as joint significance, the type of dependency, and multi-target aspects. We estimated posteriors for these relations within the Bayesian statistical framework, in order to estimate the posteriors whether a variable is directly relevant or its association is only mediated. With frequentist methods one SNP (rs3751464 in the FRMD6 gene) provided evidence for an association with asthma (OR = 1.43(1.2â1.8); p = 3Ă10â4). The possible role of the FRMD6 gene in asthma was also confirmed in an animal model and human asthmatics. In the BN-BMLA analysis altogether 5 SNPs in 4 genes were found relevant in connection with asthma phenotype: PRPF19 on chromosome 11, and FRMD6, PTGER2 and PTGDR on chromosome 14. In a subsequent step a partial dataset containing rhinitis and further clinical parameters was used, which allowed the analysis of relevance of SNPs for asthma and multiple targets. These analyses suggested that SNPs in the AHNAK and MS4A2 genes were indirectly associated with asthma. This paper indicates that BN-BMLA explores the relevant factors more comprehensively than traditional statistical methods and extends the scope of strong relevance based methods to include partial relevance, global characterization of relevance and multi-target relevance
Dermacentor reticulatus: a vector on the rise
Dermacentor reticulatus is a hard tick species with extraordinary biological features. It has a high reproduction rate, a rapid developmental cycle, and is also able to overcome years of unfavourable conditions. Dermacentor reticulatus can survive under water for several months and is cold-hardy even compared to other tick species. It has a wide host range: over 60 different wild and domesticated hosts are known for the three active developmental stages. Its high adaptiveness gives an edge to this tick species as shown by new data on the emergence and establishment of D. reticulatus populations throughout Europe. The tick has been the research focus of a growing number of scientists, physicians and veterinarians. Within the Web of Science database, more than a fifth of the over 700 items published on this species between 1897 and 2015 appeared in the last three years (2013â2015). Here we attempt to synthesize current knowledge on the systematics, ecology, geographical distribution and recent spread of the species and to highlight the great spectrum of possible veterinary and public health threats it poses. Canine babesiosis caused by Babesia canis is a severe leading canine vector-borne disease in many endemic areas. Although less frequently than Ixodes ricinus, D. reticulatus adults bite humans and transmit several Rickettsia spp., Omsk haemorrhagic fever virus or Tick-borne encephalitis virus. We have not solely collected and reviewed the latest and fundamental scientific papers available in primary databases but also widened our scope to books, theses, conference papers and specialists colleaguesâ experience where needed. Besides the dominant literature available in English, we also tried to access scientific literature in German, Russian and eastern European languages as well. We hope to inspire future research projects that are necessary to understand the basic life-cycle and ecology of this vector in order to understand and prevent disease threats. We conclude that although great strides have been made in our knowledge of the eco-epidemiology of this species, several gaps still need to be filled with basic research, targeting possible reservoir and vector roles and the key factors resulting in the observed geographical spread of D. reticulatus. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1599-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users
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