Reliability of the senior fitness test in a modified environment

The Senior Fitness Test (SFT) is validated for use with older adults in well-defined environments. The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of the SFT when completed in a modified environment. Twenty-four participants completed the SFT four times (males, n = 12, 75 +/- 6 yrs; females, n = 12, 72 +/- 4 yrs). A practice SFT was performed first in a gym with a rectangular 6-Minute Walk layout. The next three trials were randomized. One session was identical to the first. Another was performed in a gym with a hallway 6-Minute Walk, and another was performed in participants\u27 homes with an outdoor 6-Minute Walk. Except for the Back Scratch component, the SFT did not differ significantly across the three trials. When performing a practice SFT test first, the SFT can be completed reliably in modified environments (intraclass correlation coefficients = .79 to .97)

Fluid quantity gaging

A system for measuring the mass of liquid in a tank on orbit with 1 percent accuracy was developed and demonstrated. An extensive tradeoff identified adiabatic compression as the only gaging technique that is independent of gravity or its orientation, and of the size and distribution of bubbles in the tank. This technique is applicable to all Earth-storable and cryogenic liquids of interest for Space Station use, except superfluid helium, and can be applied to tanks of any size, shape, or internal structure. Accuracy of 0.2 percent was demonstrated in the laboratory, and a detailed analytical model was developed and verified by testing. A flight system architecture is presented that allows meeting the needs of a broad range of space fluid systems without custom development for each user

SPECTROSCOPY OF THE LOW-ENERGY STATES OF BaO+

The BaO$^{+}$ cation is a promising candidate for studies conducted at ultra-cold temperatures. It is known that the ion can be formed by the reaction of laser-cooled Ba$^{+}$ with N$_{2}$O or O$_{2}$. Spectroscopic data are now needed for the BaO$^{+}$ cation, for both characterization of the internal state population distributions and the design of population transfer schemes. We have obtained the first spectroscopic data for BaO$^{+}$ using the pulsed-field ionization, zero kinetic energy (PFI-ZEKE) photoelectron technique. Two-color ionization was carried out via the A$^{1}$$Sigma$$^{+}$-X$^{1}$$Sigma$$^{+}$ transition of BaO. Vibronic levels of the X$^{2}$$Sigma$$^{+}$, A$^{2}$$Pi$$_{3/2}$ and A$^{2}$$Pi$$_{1/2}$ states of BaO$^{+}$ have been characterized. The results are compared with the predictions of high-level electronic structure calculations

SPECTROSCOPY OF THE LOW LYING STATES OF CaO+

Diatomic molecular ions that contain alkaline earth atoms are of interest for experiments involving ultra-cold molecular ions. The alkaline earth atomic cations are well suited for laser cooling as they have transitions that are analogous to those of the alkali metals. Hence, Coulomb crystals are readily formed in rf traps. Reactions of these atomic ions yield diatomic products that are sympathetically cooled to low translational temperatures by the surrounding atomic ions. In principle, spectroscopic measurements may be used to probe the internal energies of the molecular ions. However, gas phase spectroscopic data for the ions of interest are lacking. In the present study we have investigated CaO$^{+}$ using pulsed field ionization-zero kinetic energy photoelectron spectroscopy (PFI-ZEKE). Molecular constants for low energy vibrational levels for the ground state ($^{2}$$Pi$$_{3/2}$) and two electronic states ($^{2}$$Pi$$_{1/2}$ and $^{2}$$Sigma$$^{+}$) have been determined. These measurements also provide the first accurate value for the ionization energy of CaO. Comparisons with high-level theoretical calculations will be discussed

TWO-PHOTON IONIZATION STUDY OF THE LOW LYING STATES OF UN+

The electronic structures of UN and UN$^{+}$ are of interest for the testing and development of relativistic quantum chemistry methods. The ground state UN was probed by Matthew and Morse$^{1}$, who found that the electronic configuration (5f$^{2}$7s) differed from that of the isoelectronic UO$^{+}$ cation (5f$^{3}$). In the present study we examine the ionization energy of UN and the low energy states of UN$^{+}$ by means of pulsed-field ionization zero kinetic energy photoelectron spectroscopy (PFI-ZEKE). Resonantly enhanced two photon ionization (R2PI) coupled with a time of flight mass spectrometer was used to confirm production of the UN molecule and locate suitable electronically excited states for subsequent access to UN$^{+}$ via high-n Rydberg states. The results will be compared to the predictions from ligand field theory and high-level ab ignition calculations. 1. D. J. Matthew and M. D. Morse, J. Chem. Phys. 138, 184303 (2013

A Longitudinal Study of Rural Youth Involvement in Outdoor Activities throughout Adolescence: Exploring Social Capital as a Factor in Community-Level Outcomes

This study examined youth participation in both organized and unstructured outdoor activities throughout adolescence, in a rural region in the northeastern United States. Survey data were collected at 7th, 8th, 10th, and 12th grade from 186 respondents across the region and was analyzed explore the relationship between antecedent predictors, outdoor activity participation, and outcomes related to developmental and educational achievement. Higher outdoor activity involvement was linked with positive outcomes but was also associated with other known predictors of development success including parents\u27 educational level, marital status, and involvement in future planning. The concept of social capital helps to explain overall patterns in the data, to broaden understanding of social dimensions of outdoor activity involvement, and to suggest directions for future research on positive youth development through outdoor activity

The Development of a Point of Care Clinical Guidelines Mobile Application Following a User-Centred Design Approach

This paper describes the development of a point of care clinical guidelines mobile application. A user-centred design approach was utilised to inform the design of a smartphone application, this included: Observations; a survey; focus groups and an analysis of popular apps utilised by clinicians in a UK NHS Trust. Usability testing was conducted to inform iterations of the application, which presents clinicians with a variety of integrated tools to aid in decision making and information retrieval. The study found that clinicians use a mixture of technology to retrieve information, which is often inefficient or has poor usability. It also shows that smartphone application development for use in UK hospitals needs to consider the variety of users and their clinical knowledge and work pattern. This study highlights the need for applying user-centred design methods in the design of information presented to clinicians and the need for clinical information delivery that is efficient and easy to use at the bedside

Design, development and validation of a model of problem solving for Egyptian Science classes

Educators and policymakers envision the future of education in Egypt as enabling learners to acquire scientific inquiry and problem-solving skills. In this article, we describe the validation of a model for problem solving and the design of instruments for evaluating new teaching methods in Egyptian science classes. The instruments were based on an established model for problem solving and were designed to assess seventh grade students’ problem solving, experimental strategy knowledge, achievement and motivation towards science. The test for assessing students’ knowledge has been developed based on the topic, density and buoyancy which will be taught in seventh grade in a later intervention study. The instruments were partly self-developed and partly adapted from newly performed studies on strategy knowledge and problem solving in Germany. All instruments were translated into Arabic; the translation process and quality control are described. In order to determine the quality of the instruments, 44 students in Egypt completed the questionnaires and tests. The study’s aim to develop and validate the instruments did require an ad hoc and typical sample which was drawn from an accessible population. Accordingly, the characteristics of the sample are described. Data were analysed according to the classical test theory, but to underpin the results, the instruments were additionally analysed using the even stronger Rasch model. The findings demonstrated the reliability of the items and aspects of validity. In addition, this study showed how test items can be successfully developed and adapted in an international study and applied in a different language

The Role of Intuition in the Generation and Evaluation Stages of Creativity

Both intuition and creativity are associated with knowledge creation, yet a clear link between them has not been adequately established. First, the available empirical evidence for an underlying relationship between intuition and creativity is sparse in nature. Further, this evidence is arguable as the concepts are diversely operationalized and the measures adopted are often not validated sufficiently. Combined, these issues make the findings from various studies examining the link between intuition and creativity difficult to replicate. Nevertheless, the role of intuition in creativity should not be neglected as it is often reported to be a core component of the idea generation process, which in conjunction with idea evaluation are crucial phases of creative cognition. We review the prior research findings in respect of idea generation and idea evaluation from the view that intuition can be construed as the gradual accumulation of cues to coherence. Thus, we summarize the literature on what role intuitive processes play in the main stages of the creative problem-solving process and outline a conceptual framework of the interaction between intuition and creativity. Finally, we discuss the main challenges of measuring intuition as well as possible directions for future research