Concurrent Validity of the "Working with Others Scale" of the ICIS Employment Interview System

Concurrent Validity of the "Working with Others Scale" of the ICIS Employment Interview System Martha W. Cassidy ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to determine if the Working with Others Scale from the American Association of School Personnel Administrators (AASPA) Interactive Computer Interview System (ICIS) was a valid predictor of practicing teachers' interpersonal skills and abilities to work well with colleagues. Participants in the study were all employed by the same Midwestern school district. Two elementary school principals and sixty teachers from two elementary schools took part in the study. Teacher and principal survey responses regarding staff members' positive, as well as negative interpersonal skills, and interview scores from the Working with Others scale and the Total scale of the ICIS interview instrument composed the data for this study. Strong inter-item correlations amongst the teacher and principal survey items were observed. The teacher survey items demonstrated a greater level of correlation to the Working with Others mean and the Total mean of the Interactive Computer Interview System than did the principal survey. The ICIS instrument, when compared to the teacher surveys, demonstrated that it is a moderately valid and reliable instrument that has the capacity to predict the interpersonal skills of teachers

Population biology analysis of Pythium cryptoirregulare in rhododendron nursery soils in Oregon

Pythium cryptoirregulare (Garzon, Yanez and Moorman) is a recently described plant pathogenic species. P. cryptoirregulare was originally believed to belong to the species of Pythium irregulare, however, ITS and cox I-II sequencing, and colony morphology determined that this was actually a new species, with different characteristics from those of P. irregulare sensu stricto. P. cryptoirregulare causes major disease problems for nursery growers in the Pacific Northwest each year. Millions of acres suffer from root rots and damping off. Through the use of population biology studies, we can assess the movement of this pathogen as well as other epidemiological information on the species.This study takes a deeper look into the population structure of this species. Using isolates from rhododendron nurseries in Oregon, we assess the genetic differentiation among populations of this species in order to determine patterns and gain information on genetic relatedness within and among populations of the species. Using population genetic analyses, we were able to visualize epidemiological patterns within four rhododendron nursery populations of P. cryptoirregulare. With this information, we will be able to provide better management recommendations to nursery growers who deal with the major damages that P. cryptoirregulare causes through root rots and damping off

Outcomes and Duration of Tidal Evolution in a Star-Planet-Moon System

We formulated tidal decay lifetimes for hypothetical moons orbiting extrasolar planets with both lunar and stellar tides. Previous work neglected the effect of lunar tides on planet rotation, and are therefore applicable only to systems in which the moon's mass is much less than that of the planet. This work, in contrast, can be applied to the relatively large moons that might be detected around newly-discovered Neptune-mass and super-Earth planets. We conclude that moons are more stable when the planet/moon systems are further from the parent star, the planets are heavier, or the parent stars are lighter. Inclusion of lunar tides allows for significantly longer lifetimes for a massive moon relative to prior formulations. We expect that the semi-major axis of the planet hosting the first detected exomoon around a G-type star is 0.4-0.6 AU and is 0.2-0.4 AU for an M-type star.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 19 pages, 19 figure

Sleep Issues of Older Adults: Lived Experience and Occupational Performance

Introduction: Sleep issues are prevalent among older adults which can affect occupational performance; however, there is a gap in the research in examining lived experiences of this population. This research may provide insight into these areas concerning this population. Method: This qualitative phenomenological study was conducted via semi-structured interviews which were recorded. No identifiable information was collected during data collection. The inclusion criteria of the study sample were as follows: (a) aged 65 years or older; (b) have sleep issues or self-perceived sleep issues; (c) community-dwelling; (d) English is primary language; (e) live in West and Central Michigan. Exclusion criteria included those who have cognitive impairments (\u3c 24 on the Mini-Mental State Exam). Results: Participants of this study (N= 12; 4 male, 8 female) were older adults, ages 67 to 88 (M= 74; SD). Mini-Mental State Exam scores of participants ranged from 25 to 30 (M=27.83). Five main themes were constructed from the data using thematic analysis: health, routine, sleep experience, environment, and relationships. Conclusions: Older adults in this study perceived that sleep issues affected their occupational performance in areas related to health, routine, sleep experience, environment, and relationships. Additional research in this area is needed to build a better understanding of how to address the occupational performance of sleep with this population. Future research should include a more diverse, broader sample. This could include measuring sleep and sleep quality with objective measures relating to the themes of our study

Learning by doing: do economics students self-evaluation skills improve?

This paper attempts to (1) measure the students' ability to accurately self-evaluate the quality of their own work, (2) see if this level of accuracy changes when students evaluate a second year essay, having evaluated a similar piece of work in the first year, (3) Investigate whether there is any significant variation in any of the observed changes and (4) identify any factors that might explain any of the observed variation. The data is generated from one cohort of students who were studying for an economics degree at a UK university. The self-evaluation exercise was introduced on two out-of-class essay assessments – one in the first year and one in the second year. Statistical analysis revealed that, on average, the students were significantly more accurate at self-evaluating the quality of their work in the second year than they had been in the first year. However there was considerable variation in this improvement. Those students who demonstrated the greatest improvement were firstly those who were awarded higher marks by the tutor for their second year essay and secondly, those who had been the least accurate at judging the quality of their first year essay. Other student characteristics such as different measures of student ability and gender had no significant impact on the changes in accuracy. However, there is no clear picture about what exactly is driving the improvement

Development and validation of the suicidal behaviours questionnaire - autism spectrum conditions in a community sample of autistic, possibly autistic and non-autistic adults

BackgroundAutistic people and those with high autistic traits are at high risk of experiencing suicidality. Yet, there are no suicidality assessment tools developed or validated for these groups.MethodsA widely used and validated suicidality assessment tool developed for the general population (SBQ-R), was adapted using feedback from autistic adults, to create the Suicidal Behaviours Questionnaire—Autism Spectrum Conditions (SBQ-ASC). The adapted tool was refined through nine interviews, and an online survey with 251 autistic adults, to establish clarity and relevance of the items. Subsequently, 308 autistic, 113 possibly autistic, and 268 non-autistic adults completed the adapted tool online, alongside self-report measures of autistic traits (AQ), camouflaging autistic traits (CAT-Q), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (ASA-A), thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness (INQ-15), lifetime non-suicidal self-injury, and the original version of the suicidality assessment tool (SBQ-R). Analyses explored the appropriateness and measurement properties of the adapted tool between the groups.ResultsThere was evidence in support of content validity, structural validity, internal consistency, convergent and divergent validity, test–retest validity, sensitivity and specificity (for distinguishing those with or without lifetime experience of suicide attempt), and hypothesis testing of the adapted tool (SBQ-ASC) in each group. The structure of the SBQ-ASC was equivalent between autistic and possibly autistic adults, regardless of gender, or use of visual aids to help quantify abstract rating scales.LimitationsThe samples involved in the development and validation of the adapted tool were largely female, and largely diagnosed as autistic in adulthood, which limits the generalisability of results to the wider autistic population. The SBQ-ASC has been developed for use in research and is not recommended to assess risk of future suicide attempts and/or self-harm. The SBQ-ASC has been designed with and for autistic and possibly autistic adults, and is not appropriate to compare to non-autistic adults given measurement differences between these groups.ConclusionsThe SBQ-ASC is a brief self-report suicidality assessment tool, developed and validated with and for autistic adults, without co-occurring intellectual disability. The SBQ-ASC is appropriate for use in research to identify suicidal thoughts and behaviours in autistic and possibly autistic people, and model associations with risk and protective factors

Field‐based adipose tissue quantification in sea turtles using bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy validated with CT scans and deep learning

Loss of adipose tissue in vertebrate wildlife species is indicative of decreased nutritional and health status and is linked to environmental stress and diseases. Body condition indices (BCI) are commonly used in ecological studies to estimate adipose tissue mass across wildlife populations. However, these indices have poor predictive power, which poses the need for quantitative methods for improved population assessments. Here, we calibrate bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy (BIS) as an alternative approach for assessing the nutritional status of vertebrate wildlife in ecological studies. BIS is a portable technology that can estimate body composition from measurements of body impedance and is widely used in humans. BIS is a predictive technique that requires calibration using a reference body composition method. Using sea turtles as model organisms, we propose a calibration protocol using computed tomography (CT) scans, with the prediction equation being: adipose tissue mass (kg) = body mass − (−0.03 [intercept] − 0.29 * length2/resistance at 50 kHz + 1.07 * body mass − 0.11 * time after capture). CT imaging allows for the quantification of body fat. However, processing the images manually is prohibitive due to the extensive time requirement. Using a form of artificial intelligence (AI), we trained a computer model to identify and quantify nonadipose tissue from the CT images, and adipose tissue was determined by the difference in body mass. This process enabled estimating adipose tissue mass from bioelectrical impedance measurements. The predictive performance of the model was built on 2/3 samples and tested against 1/3 samples. Prediction of adipose tissue percentage had greater accuracy when including impedance parameters (mean bias = 0.11%–0.61%) as predictor variables, compared with using body mass alone (mean bias = 6.35%). Our standardized BIS protocol improves on conventional body composition assessment methods (e.g., BCI) by quantifying adipose tissue mass. The protocol can be applied to other species for the validation of BIS and to provide robust information on the nutritional and health status of wildlife, which, in turn, can be used to inform conservation decisions at the management level

Osteogenic lineage restriction by osteoprogenitors cultured on nanometric grooved surfaces – the role of focal adhesion maturation

The differentiation of progenitor cells is dependent on more than biochemical signalling. Topographical cues in natural bone extracellular matrix guide cellular differentiation through the formation of focal adhesions, contact guidance, cytoskeletal rearrangement and ultimately gene expression. Osteoarthritis and a number of bone disorders present as growing challenges for our society. Hence, there is a need for next generation implantable devices to substitute for, or guide, bone repair in vivo. Cellular responses to nanometric topographical cues need to be better understood in vitro in order to ensure the effective and efficient integration and performance of these orthopaedic devices. In this study, the FDA approved plastic polycaprolactone, was embossed with nanometric grooves and the response of primary and immortalised osteoprogenitor cells observed. Nanometric groove dimensions were 240 nm or 540 nm deep and 12.5 μm wide. Cells cultured on test surfaces followed contact guidance along the length of groove edges, elongated along their major axis and showed nuclear distortion, they formed more focal complexes and a lower proportions of mature adhesions relative to planar controls. Down-regulation of the osteoblast marker genes RUNX2 and BMPR2 in primary and immortalised cells was observed on grooved substrates. Down-regulation appeared to directly correlate with focal adhesion maturation, indicating the involvement of ERK 1/2 negative feedback pathways following integrin mediated FAK activation

Production and stability of low amount fraction of formaldehyde in hydrogen gas standards

Formaldehyde is an intermediate of the steam methane reforming process for hydrogen production. According to International Standard ISO 14687-2 the amount fraction level of formaldehyde present in hydrogen supplied to fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) must not exceed 10 nmol mol−1. The development of formaldehyde standards in hydrogen is crucial to validate the analytical results and ensure measurement reliability for the FCEV industry. NPL demonstrated that these standards can be gravimetrically prepared and validated at 10 μmol mol−1 with a shelf-life of 8 weeks (stability uncertainty <10%; k = 1), but that formaldehyde degrades into methanol and dimethoxymethane, as measured by FTIR, GC-MS and SIFT-MS. The degradation kinetics is more rapid than predicted by thermodynamics, this may be due to the internal gas cylinder surface acting as a catalyst. The identification of by-products (methanol and dimethoxymethane) requires further investigation to establish any potential undesirable impacts to the FCEV