Activity optimization method in SPECT： A comparison with ROC analysisActivity optimization method in SPECT： A comparison with ROC analysis

A discriminant method for optimizing activity in nuclear medicine studies is validated by comparison with ROC （received operating characteristic）-curves. The method is tested in 21 single photon emission computerized tomography （SPECT）, performed with a cardiac phantom. Three different lesions （Lb L2 and L3） were placed in the myocardium-wall by pairs fbr each SPECT. Three activities （84, 37 or 18.5 MBq） of 99mTc were used as background. Linear discriminant analysis was used to select the parameters that characterize image quality among the measured variables in the images [（Background-to-Lesion （B/Li） and Signal-to-Noise （S/N） ratios）]. Two clusters with different image quality （P=0.021 ） were obtained. The ratios B/Lj, B/L2 and B/L3 are the parameters used to construct the function with 100% of cases correctly classified into the clusters. The value of 37 MBq was the lowest tested activity for which good results for the B/Li ratios were obtained. The result coincides with the applied ROC-analysis （r=0.89）.     

Self-Regulation and School Readiness

RESEARCH FINDINGS: In this article, we review research on the relations of self-regulation and its dispositional substrate, effortful control, to variables involved in school success. First, we present a conceptual model in which the relation between self-regulation/effortful control and academic performance is mediated by low maladjustment and high-quality relationships with peers and teachers, as well as school engagement. Then we review research indicating that effortful control and related skills are indeed related to maladjustment, social skills, relationships with teachers and peers, school engagement, as well as academic performance. PRACTICE OR POLICY: Initial findings are consistent with the view that self-regulatory capacities involved in effortful control are associated with the aforementioned variables; only limited evidence of mediated relations is currently available.     

Structure reconsidered: Towards new foundations of explanatory transitions theory

The most prominent framework for studying socio-technical transitions to date is the multi-level perspective (MLP). While appreciated for its flexibility and usefulness for studying socio-technical transitions it has not been without its critics. In this paper we focus on the ontological foundations of the MLP and its (in)ability to explain transitions and how they come about. The purpose is to initiate development of an explanatory theory for socio-technical transitions, by carrying out an immanent critique of the ontological foundations of the MLP together with a methodological critique. We show that the ontological foundations of the MLP to a large extent inhibits explanatory capacity. The argument is fourfold: since structure and agency are understood as inseparable, (i) the causal influence of material properties are undervalued, and (ii) different degrees of structural constraint and freedom of actors are ignored. As a consequence (iii) transitions are reduced to shifts in the maturity and spread of socio-cognitive rules, without analysis of systemic change. Moreover, (iv) mechanisms are reduced to recurring patterns of events which cannot explain why some transitions fail while others succeed. To remedy these limitations we outline alternative critical realist foundations for transitions theory.     

Environmental correlates of total and domain-specific sedentary behaviour in young people. The UP&DOWN study

This study investigated the associations between the characteristics of the nearby physical environment with the total and domain-specific leisure-time sedentary behaviour (SB) in young people. The study included 1578 youth (9–18 years) from the UP&DOWN study. Total leisure-time SB was objectively-assessed by accelerometers. Participants self-reported the time spent during leisure-time in different domains of SB (i.e. screen-based, educational-based, social-based, and other-based SB). Information regarding the basic characteristics of the house, the perceived neighbourhood environment, the amount of physical activity facilities, equipment and materials attainable at home, and the media equipment available at home and in the own bedroom was collected. Linear mixed models were performed, including school and city as random effects. The availability of yard was related to lower total SB and time spent surfing the Internet in boys, but not in girls. More favourable perceived neighbourhood environment was associated with lower total SB and time spent playing video games in girls, but not in boys. The amount of physical activity materials at home was negatively associated with screen-based SB, while the availability of a computer in the own bedroom was positively related to the time spent surfing the Internet in boys and girls. The number of televisions at home and having a computer in the own bedroom was associated with lower time in educational-based SB in boys and girls, respectively. Increasing the number of PA materials at home and decreasing the number of TVs at home and the availability of a computer in the bedroom could improve SB profiles of youth.     

Ranking scholars: A measure representation

A scholar can be identified with his citation list and a scholar ranking is a complete order on the set of scholars. We characterize those scholar rankings that admit a measure representation.     

Lifelong learning policies for vulnerable young adults in post-recession Scotland

Abstract

This article shows how the Scottish Government’s (SG) political management of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) has reinforced the economic goals of lifelong learning (LLL) under the skills for work agenda. Youth unemployment has been prioritized as the main social problem to be addressed, and most of the limited public resources for LLL have been targeted towards youth at risk of unemployment at the expense of the rest of the adult population. The article adopts a Cultural Political Economy perspective to examine LLL policy discourses contained in 12 policy documents published by the SG during the period between the Scottish National Party’s arrival in power and the Independence Referendum (2007–2014). The analysis draws attention to the fact that the GFC has been used by the SG to legitimize selective cuts to the further education sector as well as a stronger labour market orientation within LLL provision.     

A review of altmetrics as an emerging discipline for research evaluation

This article analyses the scientific production of publications on altmetrics as an emergent discipline for research evaluation. The research objective was to identify the investigative tendencies that characterize the subject. The analysis studied documents indexed by Web of Science and Scopus databases. About 253 documents were retrieved, showing a growth in articles 2005–2015. We discovered that the most productive authors, journals, institutions, and countries were from Europe and North America. The collaboration networks between authors and institutions reveal a homogenous community formed by the most prolific contributors. The most explored subjects deal with (1) social media and networking, (2) internet, (3) scholarly and scientific communication and publication, (4) open access and public libraries, (5) citation analysis, (6) impact factor measurements, (7) metric disciplines, (8) information analysis, retrieval, and processing, (9) search engines and data bases, and (10) evaluative bibliometrics. We discovered a nucleus of contributors who have attempted to solidify the knowledge area, with emerging principles of high theoretical consistency.     

Engaging children in lessons: the role of efficient and effective teachers

The training of effective teachers has been one of the main aims of educational systems, in so far as it could be an important tool to improve the education performance of children and, consequently, contribute to their career progression and foster social mobility towards a more meritocratic society. The present study intends to identify these teachers by their ability to engage young students in lessons, which may reflect the capacity of their teaching practices and efficient use of available resources to increase students’ learning. We focus on 4th-grade reading and mathematics teachers in Spain – using TIMSS and PIRLS 2011 data – and we propose a 2-step procedure for this analysis: the 1st step obtains teachers’ efficiency scores, which are later employed in a 2nd step – together with teachers’ practices – to explain children’s engagement in lessons.     

Quality of Prekindergarten: What Families Are Looking for in Public Sponsored Programs

This study describes the meaning of program quality for a representative group of parents of children enrolled in public prekindergarten programs. Educators often conceptualized quality in terms of structural or process indicators; parents most often cited teacher experience and relationship to children. Families, like educators, emphasized enhancing readiness as central to program quality. In addition, families identified 3 classes of indicators not usually included in educational research or professional discussions of program quality: comprehensive service provision, convenient location, and home-school collaboration. In the decision to enroll children in a program, Whites more often relied on indicators of the classroom emotional climate, Latinos more often examined the provision of comprehensive services, and African Americans more often weighed the quality of home-school partnerships than their ethnic counterparts. For Latinos living in poverty, the concern about dual language development was salient. African Americans emphasized the importance of a close relationship with staff.