An item and construct bias analysis of two language versions of a verbal analogies scale

The Woodcock Muñoz Language Survey is a test of cognitive academic language proficiency that has been adapted from English into Xhosa by a South African team of researchers. This study was primarily concerned with the Verbal Analogies Scale of the Woodcock Muñoz Language Survey and aimed to extend previous research on the equivalence of the two language versions of the scale. The study employed a monolingual two-group design consisting of 150 mainly English-speaking and 149 mainly Xhosa learners in Grades 6 and 7. The first research objective was to investigate item bias (or differential item functioning items) in the Visual Analogies Scale across the Xhosa and English versions using logistic regression and Mantel–Haenszel statistical techniques. Five items were identified as differential item functioning. The second objective was to evaluate the construct equivalence of the two versions by conducting a factor analysis after removing the differential item functioning items from the scale. Two factors were identified. The first factor displayed significant loadings across both language versions. The second factor was stable for the English version but not for the Xhosa version. Results were supported by calculating a Tucker’s phi coefficient for both factors. It was therefore concluded that Factor 1 is structurally equivalent across the two language versions but that Factor 2 was not structurally equivalent. Thus, the detection and removal of differential item functioning items did not result in structural equivalence.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Influence of Context on Item Parameters in Forced-Choice Personality Assessments

A fundamental assumption in computerized adaptive testing (CAT) is that item parameters are invariant with respect to context – items surrounding the administered item. This assumption, however, may not hold in forced-choice (FC) assessments, where explicit comparisons are made between items included in the same block. We empirically examined the influence of context on item parameters by comparing parameter estimates from two FC instruments. The first instrument was compiled of blocks of three items, whereas in the second, the context was manipulated by adding one item to each block, resulting in blocks of four. The item parameter estimates were highly similar. However, a small number of significant deviations were observed, confirming the importance of context when designing adaptive FC assessments. Two patterns of such deviations were identified, and methods to reduce their occurrences in a FC CAT setting were proposed. It was shown that with a small proportion of violations of the parameter invariance assumption, score estimation remained stable

Reproducibility of lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) assessment in endometrial cancer

Aims Lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) in endometrial cancer (EC) is an important prognostic variable impacting on a patient's individual recurrence risk and adjuvant treatment recommendations. Recent work has shown that grading the extent of LVSI further improves its prognostic strength in patients with stage I endometrioid EC. Despite this, there is little information on the reproducibility of LVSI assessment in EC. Therefore, we designed a study to evaluate interobserver agreement in discriminating true LVSI from LVSI mimics (Phase I) and reproducibility of grading extent of LVSI (Phase II). Methods and results Scanned haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) slides of endometrioid EC (EEC) with a predefined possible LVSI focus were hosted on a website and assessed by a panel of six European gynaecological pathologists. In Phase I, 48 H&E slides were included for LVSI assessment and in Phase II, 42 H&E slides for LVSI grading. Each observer was instructed to apply the criteria for LVSI used in daily practice. The degree of agreement was measured using the two-way absolute agreement average-measures intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Reproducibility of LVSI assessment (ICC = 0.64, P < 0.001) and LVSI grading (ICC = 0.62, P < 0.001) in EEC was substantial among the observers. Conclusions Given the good reproducibility of LVSI, this study further supports the important role of LVSI in decision algorithms for adjuvant treatment

Single-cell and neuronal network alterations in an in vitro model of Fragile X syndrome

The Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) is involved in many cellular processes and it regulates synaptic and network development in neurons. Its absence is known to lead to intellectual disability, with a wide range of comorbidities including autism. Over the past decades, FMRP research focused on abnormalities both in glutamatergic and GABAergic signaling, and an altered balance between excitation and inhibition has been hypothesized to underlie the clinical consequences of absence of the protein. Using Fmrp knockout mice, we studied an in vitro model of cortical microcircuitry and observed that the loss of FMRP largely affected the electrophysiological correlates of network development and maturation but caused less alterations in single-cell phenotypes. The loss of FMRP also caused a structural increase in the number of excitatory synaptic terminals. Using a mathematical model, we demonstrated that the combination of an increased excitation and reduced inhibition describes best our experimental observations during the ex vivo formation of the network connections

Ecotoxicological models for Dutch environmental policy: Models to be addressed in the Stimulation Program Systems-Oriented Ecotoxicological Research (NWO/SSEO)

Contains fulltext : 32440.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)91 p

Theoretical investigation on the interactions of microplastics with a SARS-CoV-2 RNA fragment and their potential impacts on viral transport and exposure

Environmental Biolog

Technische rapportage van de update van de bestrijdingsmiddelenatlas met gegevens van de jaren 1997, 1998 en 2004

Environmental Biology - ol

Застосування меланіну як стреспротектора півкуль головного мозку в залежності від стресостійкості тварин

На модели острого стресса обоснована стрессоустойчивость полушарий головного мозга крыс и стресспротекторные свойства меланина. Меланин проявляет стресспротекторные свойства за счет уменьшения содержания окислительномодифицированных белков, ТБК-реактантов и увеличения антиоксидантной защиты в тканях полушарий головного мозга в условиях острого стресса.A stress-resistance of rats’ cerebral hemispheres and melanin’s stressprotective properties were substantiated on the model of an acute stress. Melanin shows its stressprotective properties at the expense of oxidatively-modificated proteins’ decrease, TBA-reactants’ decrease and antioxidative protection’s increase in the tissues of cerebral hemispheres in conditions of an acute stress

Multilingual assessment of early child development: Analyses from repeated observations of children in Kenya.

In many low- and middle-income countries, young children learn a mother tongue or indigenous language at home before entering the formal education system where they will need to understand and speak a countrys official language(s). Thus, assessments of children before school age, conducted in a nations official language, may not fully reflect a childs development, underscoring the importance of test translation and adaptation. To examine differences in vocabulary development by language of assessment, we adapted and validated instruments to measure developmental outcomes, including expressive and receptive vocabulary. We assessed 505 2-to-6-year-old children in rural communities in Western Kenya with comparable vocabulary tests in three languages: Luo (the local language or mother tongue), Swahili, and English (official languages) at two time points, 5-6&nbsp;weeks apart, between September 2015 and October 2016. Younger children responded to the expressive vocabulary measure exclusively in Luo (44%-59% of 2-to-4-year-olds) much more frequently than did older children (20%-21% of 5-to-6-year-olds). Baseline receptive vocabulary scores in Luo (β&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.26, SE&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.05, p&nbsp;&lt;&nbsp;0.001) and Swahili (β&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.10, SE&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.05, p&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.032) were strongly associated with receptive vocabulary in English at follow-up, even after controlling for English vocabulary at baseline. Parental Luo literacy at baseline (β&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.11, SE&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.05, p&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.045) was associated with child English vocabulary at follow-up, while parental English literacy at baseline was not. Our findings suggest that multilingual testing is essential to understanding the developmental environment and cognitive growth of multilingual children

Treatment algorithm in patients with ovarian cancer

Most ovarian cancer patients are diagnosed only at advanced stages when survival outcomes are worse, and when therapeutic decisions might prove challenging. The fundamental treatment for women with ovarian cancer includes debulking surgery whenever possible and appropriate systemic therapy (chemotherapy, targeted and antiangiogenic agents). In the last few years, knowledge about histological and molecular characteristics of ovarian cancer subtypes and stages has increased considerably. This has enabled the development and improvement of several options for the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer in a patient-tailored approach. Accordingly, therapeutic decisions are guided by the characteristics of the patient and the tumour, especially the molecular features of the cancer subtype and disease stage. Particularly relevant are the advances in early genetic testing of germline and somatic mutations involved in DNA repair, and the clinical development of targeted agents. In order to implement the best individual medical strategies, in this article, we present an algorithm of treatment options, including recently developed targeted agents, for primary and recurrent ovarian cancer patients in Belgium