Success at Scale: Outcomes of Community-Based Neurodevelopment Intervention (CASITA) for Children Ages 6–20 months With Risk of Delay in Lima,Peru

This study is a randomized controlled trial of a 12-week community-based group parenting intervention (“CASITA”) in Lima, Peru. CASITA improved neurodevelopment in a pilot study of 60 Peruvian children and subsequently scaled to 3,000 households throughout the district. The objective of this study was to assess intervention effectiveness when implemented at scale. A total of 347 children ages 6–20 months (52.7% male, 100% identified as “mestizo”) at risk for developmental difficulties were randomized to immediate or delayed CASITA. At 3 months after enrollment, the immediate arm showed significantly higher overall development, based on the Extended Ages and Stages Questionnaire and Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment scores (Cohen’s ds = .36 and .31, respectively). Programs demonstrably effective at scale could help address children’s development risks worldwide.     

Novel self-excited alternating operation of coupled commutator machines

Through the coupling of commutator machines, self-excited alternating power can be spontaneously generated with no external electrical excitations. Standard frequency- domain analysis is applied to the various equivalent circuits for each configuration. Conventional series and shunt self-excited generators are shown to have a single pole in the right-half s plane, indicating growing exponential solutions, whereas coupled generators are shown to have a pair of complex conjugate poles in the right-half s plane, indicating overstable modes, which oscillate as they grow, resulting in self-excited two-phase alternating power generation. Because of this interesting result, the analysis is extended to consider N-coupled generators which shows the existence of many overstable modes, resulting in multi-frequency, multi-phase power generation. The existence of electromechanical alternating self-excitation is demonstrated with the periodic speed reversals of a separately exited d.c. motor, which has its armature in series with the field and armature windings of a generator. Experimental results are presented which indicate that the linear circuit representation is appropriate for the onset and early time interval of these self-excited machines. The magnetic saturation characteristic limits the exponential growth so that a steady state results. These devices are of use in low-frequency, high-power applications, as well as serving as a model for other spontaneous mechanisms in nature.     

Language tourism destinations: a case study of motivations,perceived value and tourists’ expenditure

The economic potential of language tourism is manifested in the number of summer courses organised by some countries. Even if learning the language is the main motivation for travelling, the tourists also take into account other characteristics when choosing a destination, such as the location, the safety, the quality of the language or the cultural attractions. The objective of the current study is to analyse the profile of language tourists according to their motivations to study Spanish and their perception of the destination and to examine this profile as a driver of tourists’ expenditures. Specifically, this work analyses a sample of tourists who attended Spanish courses in language schools and academies in the city of Valladolid (Spain). The analysis of their expenditure during the stay reveals that expenditure is affected by visitors’ motivations and perceptions.     

The 'Ideal Teacher'. Implications for student evaluation of teacher effectiveness

Assessment of teachers through student opinions has been the most used method to define the characteristics of teaching quality. There is no previous literature applying the Semantic Differential (SD) with this objective. SD can detect the attributes of the 'ideal teacher', and find the evaluative, emotional or affective components linked to this concept. In this work, we analyse the factorial structure of a SD scale, to test the hypothesis of the existence of EPA factors, usually found in research directed to different objects of attitude. The most relevant dimensions of the 'ideal teacher' show similar profiles to those dimensions obtained with other assessment procedures. This result confirms the adequacy of SD as an instrument to assess of quality teaching.     

Reversible atransferrinemia in a patient with chronic enteropathy: is transferrin mandatory for iron transport?

Herein, we report the case of a 42-year-old woman, hospitalized in a French tertiary hospital for a relapse of a chronic enteropathy, who was found on admission to have no detectable serum transferrin. Surprisingly, she only exhibited mild anaemia. This atransferrinemia persisted for two months throughout her hospitalization, during which her haemoglobin concentration remained broadly stable. Based on her clinical history and evolution, we concluded to an acquired atransferrinemia secondary to chronic undernutrition, inflammation and liver failure. We discuss the investigations performed in this patient, and hypotheses regarding the relative stability of her haemoglobin concentration despite the absence of detectable transferrin.     

The PCC ISNI Pilot: Exploring Identity Management on a Global,Collaborative Scale

Abstract

The Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) conducted a multi-institution Pilot project to contribute metadata to the International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI) database. In addition to describing the goals, structure, and activities undertaken in the Pilot, this article examines some of the experiences of PCC metadata practitioners as they sought to incorporate ISNIs into their metadata workflows and pursue a wide range of ISNI use cases. Lastly, the article outlines next steps that flowed from the Pilot as the PCC has parlayed its newly developing identity management expertise into additional PCC program explorations.     

西班牙教育制度简介

西班牙的学校可以是公立的,也可以是私立的。学校的经费来源于政府或者私人。西班牙的学制分为幼儿园、小学、中学教育和高中、大学、职业、成人、特殊教育。职业学校毕业的学生可以直接升大学,高中毕业的学生要参加高考。     

Is sports science answering the call for interdisciplinary research? A systematic review

Sports science research is traditionally monodisciplinary despite calls for an interdisciplinary focus. The primary purpose of this systematic review was to identify studies on talent identification, talent selection and competition performance to determine whether interdisciplinary research is being conducted. Thirty-six studies met the selection criteria. These studies were critiqued relative to sport, skill level, sport science sub-disciplines included, and whether the research was multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary. The secondary purpose of the review was to critique the level of analysis and level of representative task design in performance tests used in the studies. Twenty-five studies were categorised as interdisciplinary, with 11 categorised as multidisciplinary. Thirteen sports were represented with soccer the most frequent followed by field hockey, Australian Rules football, handball and rugby league. Thirty-two studies completed their analysis at a group level and four at an individual level. A total of 337 performance tests were rated for representative task design with 64 categorised as low, 123 as medium and 150 as high. The results pertaining to interdisciplinary studies and individual analyses are discussed in relation to constraints theory, which predicts that interacting variables can explain sport performance. Sports science research is beginning to fulfil the call for interdisciplinary research. Future research, however, needs to consider individual analyses and representative task design of tests to progress sports science knowledge.